BusinessDay 19 Jan 2020

Building collapse: No end in sight 9

Nigeria is still in pains 50 years after civil war 16 - Ikokwu

Joana Choumali; looks back at Bassam with pictures 24

The interview that broke facebook

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Vol 1, No. 297 N300

Amotekun: Why the odds are stacked against FG See page

Government’s lethargic response to herdsmen’s repeated attacks on states Invasion of S/West states, others by kidnappers, herdsmen

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Existence of Hisbah, civilian JTF in the North without govt’s resistance Yoruba to hold protest in support of ‘Amotekun’

Government should have increased tax net and not VAT - Ijezie 18

The Supreme Court judgment that dethroned Ihedioha 36

Flour Mills to refinance existing short-term debt with N20bn 39 bonds

Bribery, extortion thrive as LAGESC, taskforce officers frustrate small 40/41 businesses

L-R: Seyi Makinde, Oyo State governor; Obadara Nkom, president, Nigerian Mining and Geosliances Society, and Akinade Olatunji, general secretary of the society, during the society visit to the Governor’s Office Secretariat, Ibadan.

PHOTO: Oyo State Government House

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Cover

Amotekun: Why the odds are stacked against FG Obinna Emelike and Iniobong Iwok, Lagos; Razaq Ayinla, Abeokuta, & Remi Feyisipo, Ibadan

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or some years now, citizens of Nigeria , particularly those at the epicenter of insecurity in the North East, have continued to suffer heavy casualties.

On a daily basis, they lament their woes and helplessness in the face of constant attacks.

In the last few years, many parts of the country have suffered so much in the hands of herdsmen who overrun and sack villagers from their ancestral homes; killing, maiming, raping women and girls and abducting people for ransom.

There has been little or no resistance from regular security agencies.

Many states in the North Central, particularly Benue, have borne the brunt of these unprovoked attacks. The attackers operate as if they had the licence to the lives of the people in those places. In all of these, the Federal Governmen t’s respons e has been feeble. Where punishment was expected to be meted out to the perpetrators, it has been mere slap on the wrist.

Last year, indigenes and residents of Zamfara State were under serious attacks by bandits.

The busy Abuja-Kaduna road has since become a dangerous terrain, where people ply with their heart in their mouth.

Instead of putting the bandits and kidnappers to rout, security authorities decided to negotiate with them, thereby emboldening them.

An analyst, who spoke with BDSUNDAY on condition of anonymity, said: “Mohammed Adamu, the inspector-general of police (IGP), was in one of such meetings with these bandits. In fact, he said this in one of the ‘peace meetings’: ‘We will take measures to dialogue with the bandits to become better citizens…’”

The analyst recalled that “it was even reported that the bandits were bribed to keep the peace. But this approach did not stop the killings. The fact is, the atrophic security threat assailing the country cannot be tackled by pandering to the whims of the antagonists.

When there is no retribution for crime it festers. And while the government was still ‘dialoguing’ with the bandits, they were spreading their tentacles into other parts of the country.

Not long afterwards, the SouthWest became a flashpoint of banditry and kidnapping.”

The bandits have taken over everywhere. The highways in South-West have become the “quickest routes to hell”.

“So, it is the inability of the Federal Government to con-

tain these bandits- whether they are herdsmen or kidnappers- that angered many Nigerians. Again, the rate at which they invade other parts of the country was so alarming that the governors of South West decided to take the bull by the horns in the interest of their people. The South West was so getting increasingly insecure that some people reasoned that something drastic needed to be done,” he said.

He recalled that “In July, 2019, Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Pa Reuben Fasoranti, Afenifere leader, was killed savagely by bandits on Ondo road. Many other citizens had been killed in a similar pattern in the region. And the killings continued unabated.”

It has been reported that the enlistment of some irregular security outfits such as Hisbah and the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) has to a large extent contributed to the recent success recorded by the military in the fight against the insurgents in the North East.

The argument in some quarters is, if the Federal Government should give a tacit support for these irregular security outfits in the north, why is it resisting their replication in the South West or any other part of the southern part of the country for the same purpose?

Ayomide Kolade, a trained psychologist, wondered why the formation of Amotekun should be a debatable issue, given the increasing rate of insecurity in the country. “ Fr o m m y p r o f e s s i o n a l background, I can tell you the trauma many Nigerians are going through as a result of the insecurity in the land. I can tell you for free that more than half of the kidnappings, rapes and other bizarre things going on in this country on a daily basis are not being reported. Many Nigerians are going through mental torture as a result of these. If the Federal Government is giving its support for the establishment of irregular security outfits in the North, why is it giving its support for such things in the South; are we not in the same country. Isn’t what’s sauce for the goose also sauce for the gander?” Kolade said.

Recall that while defending the formation of the security outfit, Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti State, had explained that “Amotekun is nothing but a confidence building strategy for our people in the western zone.

When those elements that are going to work in the joint task force with the mainstream security agencies undertake this assignment, they are going to do it with the knowledge of the terrain, language and culture of the community they are going to work.”

L-R: Garba Abari, DG, National Orientation Agency; Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman/CEO Nigerian in Diaspora Commission, and Mike Omotosho, president, Hepatitis Zero Nigerian Commission, during the fifth edition of the Picture by TUNDE ADENIYI. foundation’s annual lecture in Abuja.

The apparent dichotomous treatment of various parts of the country by the Federal Government has been alleged to have emboldened the originators of the “Operation Amotekun” to insist that there is no going back on it despite the pronouncement by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami that the outfit was illegal.

The floating of the security initiative, which has been termed by some observers as “ingenious”, has since been condemned by some Nigerians, including the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore.

In a release by Alhassan Saleh, national secretary of Miyetti Allah, the group said: “This Amotekun scheme is political and is not the solution to the problem of insecurity.

What the South-West governors should have done is to continue to push for state police. Where did they expect to get the funding from at a time some of them are struggling to pay salaries?

“It is best they give up on this idea because it may affect the chances of the South-West to produce the President in 2023.

The thinking is that if the SouthWest, a major stakeholder in this government, can be toying with this idea now, they may do worse when they get to power.”

“We are in agreement with the AGF that Amotekun is illegal. In fact, we are unhappy that it took the AGF this long to react,” it further said.

Afe Babalola, a legal luminary and senior advocate of Nigeria

(SAN), while disagreeing with the illegality stamp put on Amotokun by the AGF, said, among other things, that “It is an issue of public safety and protection of property.”

Ac c o r d i n g t o B a b a l o l a , “There is no law in Nigeria that prevents citizens from being able to secure their lives and property. Indeed, without protecting the right to life and property, no other right can be exercised as one has to be alive to enforce other rights as guaranteed in the Constitution. The Nigeria Police does not enjoy exclusive jurisdiction when it comes to the protection of lives and property.”

Yo r u b a t o r a l l y f o r Amotekun Me a n w h i l e , a n u m b r e l l a body of all Yoruba socio-cultural groups, Yoruba World Congress (YWC), has threatened to hold a rally in support of Amotekun.

YWC in a response to the launch said it has concluded plans to organise a rally in all the six state capitals of the region on Tuesday.

The g rou p u rg e d Yoru b a sons and daughters to come out in their large numbers on Tuesday 21st January 2020 to stage a protest rally in support of Operation Amotekun, a security network recently established by governors from Western Nigeria to wage war against the spate of insecurity ravaging the zone.

Victor Taiwo, YWC director of contacts and mobilisation, in a statement made available on Saturday, said the protest code-named ‘Amotekun Solidarity Walk’ will take place

in all the South West States capital.

He added that the protest will hold simultaneously in Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Osogbo, Akure and Ado-Ekiti from 9am.

“All Yoruba people are urged to come out in their millions any where they are in Oduduwa Land on Tuesday to show to the world that Amotekun has come to stay,” the group said.

The YWC, which is being led

by Yoruba Leader, a Professor of History and Second Republic Senator, Banji Akintoye, added, “We must show to the external forces and their internal collaborators who want to stampede our resolve to protect ourselves, safeguard our land from kidnappers, armed-robbery and put an end to consistent destruction of our farm lands that enough is enough.

“Well-meaning Yoruba people and leaders of thought would be at designated venues to address the protest. We want to assure our governors that Yoruba people are behind them on Amotekun. We urge them not to shiver and they must never shiver. It is no retreat, no surrender. We will not surrender Amotekun.” “ On t h e m e e t i n g p o i n t s , those in Lagos are to converge on Gani Faweyinmi Freedom Park, Ojota; Oyo: Opposite Agodi Cenotaph, Ibadan; Ogun: Pansheke Junction, Abeokuta; Osun: Nelson Mandela Freed o m Pa r k , Os o g b o ; On d o : Alagbaka Roundabout, opposite First Bank, Akure while those in Ekiti are to converge on Fajuyi Roundabout, AdoEkiti,” it further said.

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News

Ihedioha to APC: ‘Don’t celebrate the Supreme Court judgment that sacked me’ Solomon Ayado

...As Secondus leads PDP NWC on solidarity visit

he immediate past governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha has asked the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) not to celebrate the Supreme Court judgment that sacked him from office, saying the verdict has put more questions about the future of democracy in Nigeria.

Ihedioha said because the verdict is like broad day robbery, fully orchestrated by powerful people in government, he is optimistic that justice will prevail at the end of the day.

He stated this in Abuja, Saturday, when members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) paid him a solidarity visit at his residence.

The NCW was led by the National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus. The meeting was to empathise with Ihedioha over the Supreme Court judgment and encourage him to remain faithful.

Ihedioha, who described the judgment as not only shocking but mysterious, said he has taken solace in the Book of Ecclesiastics 3:1 and that he is very sure that the judgment will redefine the nation’s

democracy.

He further stated that those who orchestrated the illegality should be mindful that their present action has become precedence and would redefine the future.

“This is not the time to celebrate; I pity anyone who is celebrating that sad event. If anyone is celebrating, that person is not a student of democracy. Our forefathers worked so hard to get us to where we are, and that is indisputable. So, at a time like this, what are we bequeathing the future generation?

“Our children are asking questions that have not yet been answered and the facts speak for themselves. I hope they will be addressed. It is a redefining moment, it is a time for sober reflection because to my own understanding of lawmaking, it is about precedence, it is about reference, and so we need to be guided on how to move forward.

“This is a replica of the kind of attention the event of that black Tuesday 14th January resonated across the country. We are as shocked as you; it was never anticipated. All legal pundits and democratic watchers never imagined and anticipated; so, for us it

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Uche Secondus remains a mystery.

“But we take solace in the Book of Ecclesiastics 3:1 that to everything, there is a season and time for every purpose under heaven. I believe that that event will define obviously our democracy. I am certain that the judiciary and electoral system are well aware that they are on trial,” he said.

“And what is fundamental about this is that the facts of the matter as relates to Imo State governorship election is that the

foundation of our democratic processes, the elections in Imo were closely monitored, well advertised and everybody in Nigeria followed it through. The results were very clear, the electoral umpire still has the results, and INEC has stated clearly that the results in question and the figures are not summing up.

“It is not about Emeka Ihedioha, it is not about Imo State, it’s about the future of our country and democracy. It’s about what do we do tomorrow? Do you go into an electoral process without having an idea; it has to be resolved one way or the other.

“I am calm and we are calm, and that is why you see in Imo, there is calmness. The calmness is coming out of shock, it is coming of belief.

It is coming out of the fact that people are saying, let us still see, can this be possible! We are waiting for answers and I believe there will be answers.

“And I am certain that from the events of that day, Nigeria will emerge a stronger and greater country. I want to urge you to continue to work with all lovers of democracy across board so that we can all put our heads together and match forward,” Ihedioha said.

Speaking earlier, Secondus explained that the visit was to encourage Ihedioha to remain resolute, and to assure him that the judgment would be reviewed and reversed.

“What we seek in the case of Imo is for the Supreme Court to review and I believe that God will touch them to review it and they will reverse it in the interest of our nation so that we don’t celebrate the situation we found ourselves.

“Very eminent people are not speaking out; today it is at the door of Imo, tomorrow it will be at the door of another person; so people must speak out. The truth is what we are seeking. We are saying that the figures are not adding up. Can they look into it again?” Secondus questioned.

According to him, the APC should not in any way trivialise the judgment as the PDP will do everything possible to reclaim its mandate forcefully taken away.

“With deep pains in our hearts, still grieving since on the 14th, right from the bottom of our hearts, we are communicating to our Creator and we believe that all Nigerians are doing the same. It is no longer politics, elections are over; we are talking about good governance.

APC accuses PDP of beating war drum ...Indicts INEC, tribunal, Appeal Court of illegality James Kwen, Abuja

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he All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of calling for war with what it described as “reckless comments” by its National Chairman, Uche Secondus who called for the immediate review and reversal of the decision of the Supreme Court on the Imo State governorship election.

The apex court had declared Hope Uzodinma, candidate of the APC as the winner of the March 9 governorship election in Imo State and sacked Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP. Reacting to the judgment, Secondus said reviewing the Supreme Court’s decision would be in the interest of justice and also called on Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Tanko to resign.

But in his response, APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole argued that PDP made reckless statements that are designed to intimidate the judiciary with a view to undermining the peace and stability of the Nigerian nation.

Oshiomhole, at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, hailed the apex court for the sound judgment,

insisting that the PDP candidate did not have the spread to be declared winner of the Imo state governorship election.

“We commend the courage of the Supreme Court and we condemned the attempt by Secondus and the PDP to try to personalise a panel of eminent jurist in their unanimous judgment who were clear about the position of the law and these are the fact.

“For Secondus and the PDP to call for the resignation of the Chief Justice of Nigeria because they have lost a state that they never won. I want to appeal to them not to behave like the proverbial English Turkey that wanted the Christmas to come a little early because on Christmas day, every English man will slaughter a Turkey.

“When they make statement such as this is a coup, this is a threat to our democracy, they behave as if they have another passport. But the rest of us who have only one passport, the green passport, this democracy has come to stay. We must contribute our own quota to deepen it by obeying the rules of the game.

“It is now a fact of history that PDP tried to deepen the culture of do-or-die politics. It is a fact that

Adams Oshiomhole PDP is a beneficiary of electoral fraud year-in-year out and it became part of their sing song over time to rig them out and let them go to court,” Oshiomhole noted.

According to the APC National Chairman, the law of the land stipulates that to win the governorship seat of a state, the candidate must not only score the highest vote in that election but must necessarily have two-third of local

government areas to qualify to be declared the winner.

He reasoned that Imo state has 27 local government areas and Ihedioha scored votes only in 12 and two-third of 27 is 18, leaving a huge deficit of six local government areas which Ihedioha or any other person must necessarily have to be able to be declared the winner of a governorship election.

While accusing INEC of illegally declaring the PDP candidate winner of Imo gubernatorial polls, Oshiomhole said: “The collation officer, a professor of mathematics, curiously did not know that 12 was not two-third of 27 local government areas and proceeded to unlawfully declare Emeka Ihedioha as governor of Imo state”.

“In a society that is committed to fairness and rule of law, that returning officer ought not only to be dismissed; he ought to have reported himself to the security how he arrived at the decision to declare Emeka Ihedioha as governor.

“It has been the philosophy of PDP, particularly from 2003 after the 1999 elections, to arrogantly ask their agents or activists and manipulate INEC to add vote and tell the loser who would have been the winner to go to court

and challenge if he is not ready to accept the fraud perpetrated between INEC and PDP. “That exactly what they did in the case of Imo and I think that was the height of irresponsibility on the part of INEC. Now that it has been established that the Professor went out of boundaries and indulged in this reckless pronouncement that has led us to this situation that we are in, he cannot enjoy the comfort of his zone while he has laid foundation that all kinds of political vultures are trying to feast on”.

On the decisions of Imo State Governorship Election Tribunal and Appeal Court that upheld the victory of Ihedioha, the APC leader said: “Once you lie, you will need more lies to cover the first lie. Truth be told; once they conveniently ignored these 388 polling unit, they also ignored the accredited voters in those units.

“In fact, between the returning officer and INEC as well as the Judges at the tribunal and the majority of the judges at the court of appeal level, they excised these 388 units as if they are not part of Imo state. Unless they amend the constitution and redraw the map of Imo state and exclude the people that voted in these units, I believe that those judges have more questions to answer particularly”.

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News Group describes call for Omo-Agege’s resignation as ploy to deprive Urhobo nation its rights IFEOMA OKEKE

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he highest sociocultural umbrella body of the Urhobo Nation, the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), has described the call for the Deputy President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Ovie Omo-Agege, to resign, both as a senator and deputy president of the Senate, as a reprehensible grand scheme to further rape and deprive the country’s fifth largest nationality of her rightful place in the National Scheme.

In a statement issued by the Office of Moses Oghenerume Taiga, the UPU president-general, UPU, while describing the allegation against Ovie OmoAgege as most obnoxious, odious, repugnant and devilishly wicked, said that those

Omo-Agege

calling for Omo-Agege’s resignation are enemies of the “Live and Let Live” basics of democracy, which include fair hearing, due process, based on irrefutable facts.

The statement declared that, “for the avoidance of doubts, the UPU has never supported criminality or immorality in the polity.

Therefore, ordinarily, if there was any iota of substance in their call for his resignation, the Urhobo Nation would have been boxed into a tight corner, but would still have stood firmly and stoutly for moral rectitude. Rather, the call, by the group, lacks the slightest whiff of believable scent.

“The UPU is well briefed that this odious matter has long been disposed of in the earliest days of OmoAgege’s entry into the political arena. Our senator has been going to the United

States of America before he became a senator, and even recently, as his family partly resides there. Even, as we speak, Ovie Omo-Agege’s Californian Law Licence is very much active.”

The group further said: “On the issue of the forcible seizure of the Mace of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, OmoAgege was exonerated of any complicity by an Abuja High Court sitting in Bwari.”

The statement called on all those who feel OmoAgege has a case to answer to go to court, “instead of this undemocratic resort to mudslinging and nuisance to the public peace.” It also urged the Civil Society Coalition, threatening to mobilise a noisome coterie of those they would be misinforming against our senator, to have a rethink.

The UPU said that the

role and position of the Urhobo Nation in the Nigerian Project, not only in size, but even more critically in her economic well being, dictates that her rights be fully recognised, and upheld, such that no frivolous group should lightly contemplate depriving her of her rightful place in such a critical chamber of policy-making, as the Senate.

It declared that the Urhobos are constitutionally and legally, as well rich enough in numbers to also, mobilise her own people to counter any form of assault on her rights.

The statement put the entire Urhobo Nation on the alert, reminding all that this is the all-time highest position any of their nationality has ever held. It states that “it behoves all Urhobo persons the need to be vigilant and watch one of theirs being casually and callously rubbished.”

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Sunday 19 January 2020

News Ikpeazu to share N100,000 seed money to Abia petty traders …Receives award from BusinessDay

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UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia o v e r n o r Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has said that his Administration has commenced the distribution of N100,000 seed money to all petty traders in the state to assist them grow their businesses.

Ikpeazu dropped the cherry news at Government House, Umuahia when the management of BusinessDay led by the Editor, Patrick Atuanya came to present him awards won

by Abia State in the areas of Most Improved State in Promotion of Education and Most Improved State in Promotion of Indigenous Products and SMEs. The governor said that the awards by BusinessDay would serve as a tonic for his administration to do more in order to develop the state.

Ikpeazu

He further said that the awards had confirmed earlier award to the state by World Bank as one of the best states in Ease of Doing Business.

He noted that Education

was pivotal to the economic growth of the nation, no matter the type of business one was engaged in, adding that 100 Abians would be leaving for Australia on scholarship soon.

Akwa Ibom targets N100bn IGR this year ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo

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kwa Ibom State government is set to double its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N50 billion yearly to N100 billion in 2020 as it seeks to rake in more funds for its massive infrastructure upgrade and industrialisation scheme.

Apart from the construction of a 21-storey office complex to draw International Oil Companies (IOCs) to the state, it is embarking on the construction of a number of road projects including a dual carriage way from Uyo, the state capital, to Eket, in the Southern senatorial district, covering a distance of more than 20 kilometres.

Linus Nkan, commissioner

Udom

for finance, who made this known in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, expressed the determination of the state government to double its IGR from what it used to collect in the previous years.

“Our efforts to boost the economy have increased our IGR. That of 2019 was almost doubled what we got in 2018.

We should not do anything less than N100 billion in 2020.

We are doing all these industries, they will now pay taxes and those employed are also paying taxes to government,” he said.

Describing IGR as a function of economic activity, he said the state government has witnessed an increase in its IGR which, according to him, is needed for its “transformational programmes” aimed

at achieving sustainable economic development.

Nkan, who confirmed that the state government had received refunds from the Federal Government for the funds spent on the construction of federal roads in the state, explained that the amount refunded was far less than what is reported.

He did not disclose the amount received.

Ita Enang, senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Niger Delta had claimed that the Federal Government refunded N78 billion to the Akwa Ibom State Government.

Nkan said: “Akwa Ibom State government got some refunds on Federal roads, what we got was far less what was reported,” adding that it was not the responsibility of the Federal Government to instruct the state government on how the refunds should be spent as it was suggested in some quarters.

The finance commissioner also disclosed that the state government has secured funding from the World Bank for the construction of the Ibrahim Babangida way, a major road in Uyo, which had been damaged by flooding over the years.

Nkan, who described the industrialisation programme of the state government as a huge success, added that a solid foundation has been laid for the economy of the state.

Ikpeazu dedicated the awards to his team and ordinary Abians.

Patrick Atuanya, earlier in his speech said that the award ceremony took place last year November when Abia State won the two awards, saying that BusinessDay had deemed it fit to honour states that had performed creditably in different categories of the yearly event.

He said that BusinessDay Newspapers had observed with keen interest that Abia was doing well in infrastructure and promotion of SMEs. “Abia is key, especially Aba, in SMEs. We support the strides that you are making in Enyimba Economic City and your support to SMEs. Before we give award, we subject it to rigorous screening by our various editors. We don’t award anyhow because BusineesDay is credible,” the Editor said.

GEPCare Foundation to intensify fight against human trafficking among Nigerians in diaspora SEYI JOHN SALAU

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EPCare Foundation, a not-forprofit organisation that focuses on reducing instances of human trafficking among young girls and women, is intensifying the anti-human trafficking campaign especially among Nigerians in the diaspora with a 2-day summit between 31 January and 1 February in Dublin, Ireland.

Themed “Getting Involved,” the summit will feature a seminar, movie screening of “Osato” a movie coproduced by Susan Jackson, Deborah Gahan, and Angela Ify Mojekwu-Egbera and directed by Eddy Ifeanyichukwu. Osato is based on the true story of a trafficked victim that raises awareness on the ills of human trafficking.

“We urge you, with a sense of urgency, to join in on this multilateral action! We invite you to attend this lifechanging summit that aims to contribute to the exposure and reduction of this human trafficking beast. It is time to speak out,” said Deborah Gahan, director at GEPCare Foundation.

According to her, the summit will also include a fundraiser geared at engaging industry stakeholders, the flashpoint demography and the government, to commit to working together in line with the global goals of United Nations against the trafficking of persons.

Gahan opined that the foundation would be riding on its partnership with government agencies, such as the Nigerian Embassy, the Office of the Deputy Senate President of Nigeria, and support from the Department of Justice and Equality, to bring more awareness, especially among Nigerians in the diaspora and shine more light on the stigma, whilst seeking ways to reduce it to its possible minimum.

“The indifference to human abuse and exploitation around us, takes a negative toll on the society. From construction to food production to consumer goods, countless businesses and enterprises benefit from this misery. There is no doubt; we all have a role to play in bringing an end to this scourge of human trafficking,” said Gahan stating that more than 21 million people worldwide have been enslaved by human traffickers.

Educationist calls for improvement in technologically-driven trainings for children David Ibemere

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upe Oni, an educationist, has called for a critical examination to the curriculum in Nigeria and ensure it is technologicallydriven which will help prepare students for the 4th industrial revolution.

According to Oni, unless Nigeria begin to do it right now and at the very early stage, the country’s unemployment figure will become a burden too much to bear and that above all Nigerian children will become irrelevant in the fast-evolving way of life in the near future.

Oni, who was speaking to newsmen in Lagos recently, said that the changing workplace pattern and fusion between human and machine in carrying out task in today’s world should be enough justification for Nigeria to phase out conventional ‘read and pass examination’ pattern that characterises Nigeria’s curriculum.

“Today, we talk about so many graduates unemployed. Google says they don’t need graduates anymore, Uber says the same.

They are unemployed because they have a certificate but they don’t have

the required skills that can work with technology. The certificate means nothing because, what people are looking out for, is the skill that you bring with your certificate,” she said.

According to her, “They all want skills, and what skill do they want? Skills that can work with technology. So, it’s not everybody that has to be an engineer in technology, but everybody has to be able to know enough about technology to work in a technology-driven space. The future of work is within that space. There’s absolutely nothing that will go on 10 years from today in the world that will not have technology embedded in it.”

Oni further reminded decision makers, on the worrisome figure from Davos 2019 when the future of work was discussed, on how sub-Saharan Africa and other poor countries around the world, will lose over 75 million jobs in the next 10 years to be replaced by 135 million new jobs, that would require new skills that the country must be prepared for.

“This 21st-century shift in perspective on education and technology is happening and we must begin to prepare our children at an early

age to learn and acquire skills for a better life,” she said.

The Executive Director of Standard Bearer School, at the heart of Lekki also advocated specifically for digital skills to be deeply embedded in the training of children and a close working relationship between the private and public schools, to help create a total Nigerian child.

“We also have to create an environment where learning comes first and lineal status takes the back seat. It’s not good enough that our children are going out in cars and are having a good time; there are lessons to be learned on the road of life, and in the street of life. If we can’t take them through the streets, we should allow them to have some contact in schools with children from that category and in doing that, they will get wise,” she said.

“America has a lot of private schools but today, public and private schools are merging, which is like a way to bridge the gap created by social class. This is a desperate need to change the mindset of children, as they spend too much time doing irrelevant things. Private sector pampered kids. The public sector doesn’t have enough exposure, resources are not available,” she noted.

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News

Kwara govt Vs Saraki’s land dispute: Court adjourns suit to January 24 for hearing SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin

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Kw a r a S t a t e High Court sitting in Ilorin, the state capital, has fixed January 24, 2020 for commencement of hearing proper on the case between the state government and Asa Investment Ltd over the disputed land on which Ile Arugbo was built.

Agents of the state government had in a dawn operation on January 2nd 2019 demolished some structures on plots of land at the Ilofa road, GRA Ilorin, belonging to the late Second Republic Senate Leader, Abubakar Olusola Saraki, alleging illegal acquisition.

Dissatisfied with the government’s action, the Asa Investments Limited filed a motion ex-parte through its counsel, AbdulAzeez Ibrahim for stay of execution on the further demolition of the property.

The court accordingly restrained the defendants and anyone acting on their behalf from further demolishing or further destroying the alleged property of the claimant. Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, state House of Assembly, state AttorneyGeneral and Justice Commissioner, Director-General, Kwara Bureau of Lands and

Abdulrahman

Saraki

the Inspector-General of Police are the defendants in the suit.

Earlier, Counsel to Asa Investments Limited, AbdulAzeez Ibrahim had told the court that the case was for hearing on motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.

Adding that he had filed motion ex-parte for service on defendants/respondents on substituted means.

He told the court that he had not been able to serve the fifth respondent (IGP), saying that the “first to the fourth respondents had been served and they responded too. But the fifth respondent has not been personally

served.” He added that the “motion on notice was dated and filed 13th and 14th January, 2020.”

According to him, “The application for the motion exparte is supported by seven paragraphsaffidavitdeposed to by one Ayo Ibrahim. We rely on all the averments therein. We also filed a written address in support of the affidavit. I pray the court to grant the order so that we can make progress.”

Pending the time all the court processes would have been served the fifth respondent, Ibrahim said: “We are applying orally for the court to order all the parties to

Vicar Hope Foundation trains, empowers 600 Abians on skills acquisition programmes UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia

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ix hundred Abians have so far been trained under the Vicar Hope Foundation Springboard Skill Acquisition Training and Empowerment Programme within the last four years.

Of this number, 450 persons have received equipment and start-off capital running into millions of naira while 150 others who finished their training at the end of 2019 would receive equipment in a few weeks.

Nkechi Ikpeazu, wife of Abia State governor and the president of Vicar Hope Foundation, who disclosed this in a message from her foundation to mark the commencement of activities for the year, said that her pet project

was aiming at training and equipping 1,065 persons before the end of the programme.

The Abia first lady disclosed that equipment so far distributed include, computer sets, generators, cameras, hair salon equipment, sewing machines and other equipment germane to photography, cloth-making, hairdressing, cosmetics making, events planning, confectioneries, shoe-making, among others.

She said new trainees would be absorbed early this year, hinting that the Foundation would also introduce courses in business plan development, bookkeeping and financial management, as well as product marketing strategies so that trainees could grow their businesses in the long run.

maintain status-quo in the interest of peace and justice as well as an extension of tenure of the interlocutory injunction”.

In his reply, state AttorneyGeneral and Commissioner of Justice, Salman Jawondo said with respect to motion on substituted service, “We can only be seen but not heard.”

He further said: “We are opposed to the application of tenure extension of the interlocutory injunction or whatever name it is called.

The application is also an invitation to chaos as the case has attracted much heat and attention even beyond its content.” Ruling on the motion ex-parte for substituted service to the fifth respondent, presiding judge, Justice A. A. Adebara granted the application.

“In this application, attempts at personal service to the fifth respondent met the rock. I am satisfied that the service be made by pasting court processes on the notice board in the premises of the KwaraStatepolicecommand, Ilorin, Kwara State,” he said.

Declining to make express statement on the application for tenure elongation of the interlocutory injunction, Justice Adebara urged all the parties in the case to maintain their calm and seek peaceful resolution of the issue.

Abia governor hands over additional documents to royal fathers UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia

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overnor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has handed over additional recognition documents to two traditional rulers in Abiriba Community, Ohafia Local Government Area of the state.

John Okiyi Kalu, Abia Commissioner for Information and Strategy, while presenting the recognition documents issued by the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, on behalf of Abia State governor, expressed appreciation to the Enachioken-in-Council for ensuring lasting peace and unity in the community and called on the people to support them to take the community to higher levels.

He informed the people that the governor would soon unfold his plan for infrastructural facelift of the kingdom which he said was at the centre of the governor’s heart.

The people of Abiriba Kingdom during the event commended Governor Ikpeazu for his peaceful disposition in leadership as well as support for the rapid development of their community in particular and Abia State in general.

Speaking during the event, the two recipients, HRH Benjamin Uche (Effa of Agboji) and HRH Eme

Uguru Ikpoka (Ugbaghari of Amaogudu), at Nde Oko-ogo Royal Compound, Amaeke Abiriba, and the first Deputy Chairman of Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers and Enachioken of Abiriba, HRM Eze Kalu Kalu Ogbu (IV) thanked the governor for his timely intervention in the request for protocol recognition for the two traditional rulers.

According to them, “The people of Abiriba appreciate the love and kindness of Otuba Okwojie (Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, PhD) for the expeditious and favourable handling of our request to recognise Effah and Ukpaghari and offer them all necessary official courtesies as traditional rulers of Agboji and Amaogudu Abiriba communities, respectively. Only someone who loves Abiriba people will handle the matter the way he has done, without delay, thereby saving us from avoidable conflict.

“We also wish to use this opportunity to congratulate him on his well deserved victory at the Supreme Court and assure him that our people are solidly behind him and his administration. While we thank him immensely for the construction of Ugwu Ezi Road which has lasted for more than years years without spotting, we also wish to use this opportunity to plead

Ibom Air records over 97% scheduled flight reliability ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo

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even months after the commencement of commercial flight, Ibom Air has recorded over 97 percent scheduled reliability as well as about 3,000 operated flights.

Idongesit Nkanga, chairman of Ibom Airport Authority made this known in Uyo. He noted that the performance of Ibom Air has surpassed scheduled projection in the areas of scheduled reliability, on-time performance and on-time departure, adding that the remaining three

percent is due to weather and VIP travels.

Nkanga noted that Ibom Air carries 70 percent of the total passengers leaving or coming to Akwa Ibom while the rest is shared among the other airline operators, adding that members of the public evidently have confidence in Ibom Air and they were challenged to do more.

He disclosed that two new aircraft will soon join the fleet, maintaining that before the end of 2020, Ibom Air will commence limited regional flight operation which will start with selected routes,

including Uyo to Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) to Douala in Cameroon and Kinshasa (Congo) for the Central African route.

According to him, the West African route will include Accra, Dakar, Conakry, Abidjan and Monrovia.

He recalled that Ibom Air started with few routes in Nigeria, including Uyo to Abuja, Uyo to Lagos, Abuja to Uyo, and Lagos to Uyo and has increased it to include Lagos to Abuja and Abuja to Lagos.

Nkanga, himself a pilot, noted that as part of efforts to serve its customers better, Ibom Air has opened a new of-

fice at the Akwa Ibom State Secretariat Annex (Dakkada Secretariat) located at Udo Udoma Avenue which opens by 6 am and closes at 7 pm.

The former military governor of Akwa Ibom also disclosed that before the expiration of the Governor Udom Emmanuel administration, Ibom Air will have 10 aircraft in its fleet.

He noted that the Ibom Air has brought substantial improvement in the economy of the state as there are people who arrive or leave Akwa Ibom on a business trip and with the intention to return same day.

While urging Akwa Ibom people to embrace peace and support the Emmanuel-led government, he noted that government was planning big for her citizens, including the aviation school which is underway.

He used the medium to appreciate all the patrons of Ibom Air and prayed for God’s blessings upon their families, especially this New Year, 2020.

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Sunday 19 January 2020

PhotoSplash

L-R: Isa Pantami, minister of cummunication and digital economy; President Muhammadu Buhari; Dame Pauline Tallen, minister of women affairs; Betty Okagua-Apiafi, chairman, senate committee on women affairs, and Sharon Ikeazor, minister of state for environment, at the inauguration the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs building in Abuja. NAN

Sadiya Umar-Faruk (2nd r), minister of humanitarian affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development; Mallam Kabir Yusuf (l), chairman of Daily Trust Media Limited; Festus Mogae (3rd l), former president of Botswana; Mama-Rosie Mashale (3rd r), the awardee, and other dignitaries, during the 2020 African of the Year award and dinner organised by Daily Trust Media Limited in Abuja. NAN

Olanike Adeyemo, deputy vice chancellor, research and innovation, University of Ibadan, speaking at an interactive session theme: Raising the Next Generation of African Female Scientists orgainsed by Tech Girls Club in collaboration with Success Waymarks Foundation, at the University of Ibadan. NAN

L-R: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; U.S Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard and others U.S officials, during the Ambassador’s visit to the Presidential Villa in Abuja. NAN

L-R: Uchechukwu Mba, research and technical officer, Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA); Emeka Udeze, ECCIMA president, and Nduka Awuregu, ECCIMA director-general, during a planning meeting for the launch of Enugu State Business Agenda Policy document, in Enugu. NAN

L-R: Admu adamu, minister of education; Dame Pauline Tallen, minister of women affairs, and Ignatius Kaigama, Bishop of Abuja Archdiocese, at the inauguration the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs building in Abuja. NAN

Lion Tolulope Senbanjo (3rd l), past president of Ikeja Dynamic Lions Club and Zone 3A chairperson, and Lion Phina Origho, (1st r), past region chairperson flanked by Lions Clubs of Zone 3A, District 404B2 Nig, at the 2nd District Governor Advisory Committee Meeting

L-R: Raymond Murphy, CEO, Mouka; Sanni Liman, commandant, Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre, and Bashir Salihi Magashi, minister of defence, at an event in honour of ex- service men at the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre, Oshodi, Lagos

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Inside Lagos

Building collapse: No end in sight …as two cave in same day in Lagos, victims rescued alive Stories by JOSHUA BASSEY

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t was a day of building collapse in Lagos on Friday, January 17, 2020, as two buildings in different locations within the metropolis, caved in.

The first to collapse in the morning hours was a threestorey building undergoing construction at No. 12, Alasepe Street, off Community Road, Ago Palace Way, in Okota area of the state.

Hours after the first incident, in which an adult male was trapped, another, located at 69, Palm Church, behind Lagos State Central Mosque, on Lagos Island, came down. Lagos Island has become synonymous with building collapse, and several, over the last decade, have caved in, with heavy losses recorded in human and material resources.

Femi Oke-Osayintolu, the Director General of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), who confirmed both incidents, said the three-storey building on Alapese Street, Okota, was approaching completion when it came down on Friday.

A victim being rescued at the building collapse site in Okota

According to Oke-Osayintolu, LASEMA response team mobilised to the site was able to rescue a trapped male adult at about 11a.m.

The victim was said to have been trapped under the rubble since 9 a.m when the building collapsed.

“Our initial finding confirmed that the collapsed building was a three-storey building under construction and that the impact of the

collapse had affected the adjacent structure.

“The crowd was put under control to allow us penetrate the scene. The extrication and recovery of the trapped person with the use of all Emergency Light Tools at our disposal was successful,” Oke-Osanyintolu said.

He disclosed that once the operation had been completed, the remaining part of the structure would

LASCODA, LASPARK to plant 500,000 urban-friendly coconut seedlings

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agos State Coconut Development Authority (LASCODA) on Friday said it would partner Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK) to plant over 500,000 urbanfriendly coconut seedlings in 2020.

Dapo Olakulehin, the General Manager, LASCODA, said that the seedlings would be planted under the state’s coconut renewal initiative.

The agency will plant the coconut trees in orchards, gardens, parks and some streets where they will not disrupt or cause harm to vehicles and populace.

Olakulehin said the exercise would be carried out in partnership with LASPARK to tap into the economic and environment potential of the cash crop.

He said presently, there were about 2.5 million trees in the urban areas and the plan was to increase it to three million by the end of 2020.

The LASCODA boss added that the aim of the initiative was to make coconut a household tree whereby people would understand the economic benefits of the crop.

“Lagos State is synony-

mous with coconut. It is a major producer of coconut in country. This initiative, as coconut renewal initiative, is where we want the state to fully tap into economic and environment potential of coconut.

“We are looking at having coconut on the landscape of Lagos State so that the economic benefits and environment benefit will be maximally utilised.

“Presently, we have about 2.5 million trees in urban Lagos. We want to increase the number; we want to make use of backyards, open space and lands that are not close to the traffic area.

“If we are able to utilise all these spaces within the urban area, we can have up to three million trees in the urban areas. This will compliment what we are getting from the rural areas,” he said.

Olakulehin said LASPARK was very critical in the exercise, having been given the responsibility to beautify the state through tree planting.

He said the agency had direct engagement with the communities and residents’ association and corporate organisations in the urban area, thereby the partnership

became important.

“The strategies we are going to use apart from the tree planting day in July 14, is that the exercise will be a continuous thing. We are going to visit schools, local government secretariats, and public places. There will be a lot of engagements to educate the people and buy into coconut planting.

“Coconut is the tree of Lagos State, it is known as tree of life.

“If we are able to carry out the exercise, we will be addressing Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) goals, on health environment and economy,’’ Olakulehin said.

He said economically, households could rely on coconut for their income as the crop had high economic value.

He said under the THEME (Traffic Management and Transportation; Health and Environment; Education and Technology; Making Lagos a 21st Century State) agenda of the state government, about 10 million coconuts would be planted within five years.

Olakulehin said of the number, three million was expected to be planted in the urban areas.

The Lagos Island building collapse site

undergo a controlled demolition to ensure the safety of lives in the environment.

But while evacuation and rescue operations were still ongoing at Okota, a two-storey building came down on Lagos Island, at 69 Palm Church, behind the Central Mosque.

But unlike the Okota building which was under construction, the partially collapsed house on the island was fully occupied.

“On arrival at the incident scene, it was observed that a 2-storey residential building had partially collapsed from the back-end.

Further investigation at the scene revealed that the house collapsed at 12:00pm as a result of substandard rehabilitation materials used for re-construction and aging of the building which made the entire building under duress,” said LASEMA.

He, however, confirmed that no life was lost or injuries sustained by the occupants of the building, who have been evacuated to safety.

“Our response team, Nigeria Police Force LASAMBUS, Cobra Unit were all mobilised to the scene to ensure proper evacuation of all residents from the building and adjoining buildings to avert a secondary incident,” the LASEMA said on Friday.

Fela’s statue now to stand at Toyin-Opebi Junction

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he liberation statue of Nigerian music legend and social crusader, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, removed from the Allen Avenue-Awolowo Way Roundabout, in Ikeja, is now to stand at the Opebi-Toyin Street Junction, also in Ikeja, the Lagos State government has said.

The government also has described as false, the news making the rounds on the social media that the Fela’s statue, and that of first premier of Western Region of Nigeria, Obafemi Awolowo - both formerly erected at the Allen roundabout had been destroyed.

Frederic Oladeinde, the state commissioner for transportation, who debunked the social media story, said con-

trary to the claims by ill informed individuals, the statues were removed for the purpose of development.

Oladeinde said the need to carry out junction improvements in some identified locations necessitated the removal of street furniture, statues of very notable personalities, art works and billboards.

The commissioner noted that the state government holds the nation’s heroes in high esteem and would not do anything to bring down the exalted heights they have attained during their lifetime directly or indirectly.

He said: “the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration, in a bid to finding a lasting solution to traffic gridlocks in the State, identified about sixty conges-

tion points and have started work to improve traffic experience in five major locations.

Oladeinde said the government duly informed and consulted the Fela Anikulapo-Kuti family before the action was taken, noting that the whole process is for the benefit of Lagos residents.

The commissioner confirmed that the Fela statue would be relocated to the roundabout between Allen Avenue and Opebi-Toyin Street.

“We are in the process of erecting the beautiful work of art, depicting Fela AnikulapoKuti at the Opebi-Toyin junction. The ministry of tourism, arts and culture is also working on a befitting location to erect the old Obafemi Awolowo statue,” he said.

Teenager charged with theft of conduit wire

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teenager has been charged before a Chief Magistrate Court, in Ikorodu, Lagos for allegedly stealing a conduit wire worth N16, 000.

The police charged the 17-year boy, whose address was not provided, with two counts of theft and breach of peace.

The prosecution counsel, John Iberedem, told the court that the defendant alleg-

edly committed the offences on January 4, at about 1:30 a.m along Ijede road area of Ikorodu.

Iberedem said the defendant also conducted himself in a manner likely to cause breach of peace. According to Iberedem, the offence contravened the provisions of sections 287 and 168(1) (d) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.

While section 287 of the

criminal law of the state stipulates three years for stealing, section 168 of same law prescribes three month imprison or N15,000 fine for causing breach of peace. The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The chief magistrate A.F. Azeez, however, admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N5,000, and adjourned the matter until July 7, 2020 for mention.

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Sunday 19 January 2020

NewsFeature Delta youths to be masters of own destinies

…As state enrolls 850 into entrepreneurial skills, agric training Mercy Enoch, Asaba

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total of 850 unemployed youths in Delta State are set to begin a programme to acquire entrepreneurial skills and agricultural training that will make them masters of their own destinies, bringing to end the years they depended on people for economic survival.

They do not need to blame anybody anymore for their economic woes, said the Chief Job Creation Officer of the state, Eric Eboh, a professor.

The training commencing this week, would mark the official kick off of the 2019/2020 cycle of the Job Creation Scheme of the state which has recorded a total of 5,105 beneficiaries since its pilot scheme in 2015/2016 cycle till the current cycle.

Last week, the trainees in Skills and Training Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP) who are among the lucky youths this year, partook in a one-day Orientation and Personal Effectiveness Training (OPET) organised for them by the state.

The OPET took place in three locations of the state, namely Warri, Ughelli and Asaba on 8th, 9th and 10th for the three Senatorial Districts of the state namely, Delta South, Delta Central and Delta North, respectively.

A day before the OPET, a one-day orientation workshop for the 141 trainers engaged to train the STEP trainees, otherwise known as STEPreneurs, was held in Asaba, the state capital. The trainers same day and at the same event, received their Letters of Engagement from the Office of the Chief Job Creation Officer.

The trainings were to prepare both the trainers and trainees ahead the skills and entrepreneurship programme that would take place in the various STEP accredited trade centres. They would be trained between two and eight months period.

The skills are Catering and Confectionery; Decoration and Event Management; Fashion Design and Textile Design; Cosmetology (Skin and Facial Care); Hairdressing and Makeover.

Others include, Braiding; Information Technology Services (Open to youths with a minimum of OND/NCE; and Welding and Fabrication.

The rest skills are Electrical and Solar Works; Carpentry and Joinery; Tiling and Interlocking; Plumbing; Production of Cleaning Agents; POP,

A cross section of STEP trainees of 2019/2020 Delta Job Creation Programme, being addressed by the Chief Job Creation Officer of the state, Professor Eric Eboh, in Asaba.

Screed-Making and Painting; and Audio-visual Services.

Addressing the STEP trainees in Asaba, Eboh, said the aim of the orientation was to work on the mindsets and attitudes of the youth for them to stop blaming anybody for their woes.

The average mentality of the Nigerian youth is that every other person is responsible for his problem and that he is the only one free from blame, said Eboh. “But in this programme, we train them (the beneficiaries) to change their mindsets to seeing themselves as those who would prosper and also prosper other youths in the state”, he declared.

The beneficiaries in Delta North District, were seated in well-decorated Ikah Hall of Hotel Benizia, Asaba, wearing the STEP blue T-shirt which is Delta colour. The blue T-shirt matched greatly with the colours of the hall, especially the red seats.

Thus, Eboh continued, “The hall you are in shows that you are now branded. You are distinguished from others as Job Creation Programme looks into you to bring out that thing that makes you distinctive. So, you are unique and branded.

“Today is historic in your life because you are joining the train of prosperity that the state governor has packaged for the youth of this state at his inception of office.”

“First, you must know your end product of this training – to prosper and prosper others.

Knowing the end from the beginning enables you to reach your goal. The end product of this orientation is that you own

and manage or run your own business,” he said.

He told them further, “Personal effectiveness is important for you to succeed as a business owner because somebody who has personality crisis would hardly be a good business manager. We also take you on how to tackle business challenges as well as handle your customers”. While cautioning them not to compromise on discipline, he noted that “discipline is why the Job Creation programme is rated number one in the country.”

According to Eboh, the beneficiaries of the programme are meant to be successful entrepreneurs because the state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa had prepared the ground for them to succeed by providing the needed funds and equipment to enable them start up and rise to success.

The success story of the programme has made the Okowa’s administration sustain the programme so much that it has enrolled 850 youths to be trained under STEP and YAGEP this year.

Eboh pointed out that the STEP had been classified into two categories- the Green STEP and the Brown STEP. The Green STEP beneficiaries are those who have no knowledge of their skills but require training before establishment while the Brown STEP trainees are those who have knowledge and reasonable competences in their chosen skills, but only needed refresher courses and support for establishment by government.

He said the duration of training for these skills would range

between three months to eight months for Green STEP while Brown STEP trainees would be trained between two months to four months.

He explained that the programme selection process was allocated at the grassroots level among the 278 wards in the state which clearly was a demonstration of the governors leadership style of allinclusiveness and fulfilment of his promise of prosperity for all Deltans.

He emphasised that the programme was designed to train, reorient, equip and support youths to accumulate occupational skills of their choice and personal effectiveness skills together with entrepreneurial skills to own and run their enterprises.

He advised them to abide by the Code of Conduct for Trainees, stressing that the programme is a full time programme as the state government would not condone indiscipline among them. He added that the state government would provide them with monthly stipend throughout the duration of their training.

Eboh enjoined them to take the training seriously as all graduates of STEP would go through a Post Training Proficiency Test (PTPT) to qualify them to undergo further training in Entrepreneurship and Business Management before establishment with starter packs.

Same message was handed out to the trainees at Warri and Ughelli.

Ifeanyi Egwunyenga, commissioner for Youth Development, admonished the trainees

to make good use of the seed given to them by taking the programme seriously, adding that the governor expects return on investment.

Resource Person, Adun Afolabi, in his lecture, noted that some entrepreneurs were not leaders but that “the essence of the training is to make these ones leaders”.

Executive Assistant to the Governor on Mentoring and Monitoring, Eddy Mekwuye said the Directorate of Youth Mentoring and Monitoring (DYMM) was established to ensure that after receiving the starter packs, the beneficiaries are mentored and monitored to success. He urged them to make best use of the opportunity offered them.

The 141 STEP trainers are expected to help the state government sustain the Job Creation Programme by putting in their best to ensure professionalism; quality, integrity and discipline are maintained during the training, which Eboh said were the brand ingredients that had made the job creation programme earn awards and endorsements nationally and internationally.

He reiterated the state government’s commitment to monitoring and mentoring of trainers during training and after establishment to ensure sustainability of the programme.

Like their counterparts in Asaba, the trainees were happy being part of the programme.

For instance, Bernard Magrignor (Ughelli North LGA) and Margaret Ohwofasa (Okpe) both in Catering and Confectionery expressed their gratitude to the government for initiating the programme.

Fortune Sakpra (Udu LGA) in Hairdressing and Makeover, on behalf of others, thanked the state government for creating the platform for youths to excel.

They were hopeful of achieving their dreams of becoming successful entrepreneurs and thus, they pledged to abide by the Guidelines and Code of Conduct in order to sustain the programmes.

The engaged STEP trainers are also elated. One of them, Bridget Chineze of Brijtopnet International Fashion, could not hide her joy as she expressed readiness to give back to the society by imparting knowledge on the trainees.

The trainees seen as special entrepreneurs are expected to have right mindset to see the value of Job Creation Programme which would determine how far they could go five to 10 years from now.

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Ogun Watch Commissioners that matter in Abiodun’s quest for good governance in Ogun

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RAZAQ AYINLA

inally, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state on Friday sworn in 19 Commissioners, forming the much awaited State Executive Council in accordance with the Section 192 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The appointment of Commissioners into various offices with different portfolios by the governor was undertaken to ensure that “Building our Future Together Agenda” slogan of Dapo Abiodun’s government is achieved with pride, hence, he warned all the Commissioners not to listen and take directives from political godfathers as the mandate given to the government by Ogun State people must not be betrayed.

He said: “I urge you to be steadfast, prudent, accountable and to efficiently integrate your vision into our two approaches to governance. On one hand, our focus on the “Pillars” such as education, health, agriculture and food security, infrastructure and others will Olaolu Olabimtan (Budget And Economic Planning)

For a state or country to develop and grow economically, there must be a robust budgeting and economic planning which addresses every sector of economy and human development, that always requires involvement of core professional that can stand shoulder to shoulder with any core professionals in the whole world.

That was found in Olaolu Olabimtan, a Fellow of various chartered institutes of taxation and accounts in both Nigeria and United Kingdom, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) and an Associate of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) of the United Kingdom.

Olaolu, who was born of a Royal Family in Ilaro, Yewa South in Ogun West Senatorial District, holds B.Sc. Accounting and the M.B.A Finance Degrees of the University of Lagos and he is a Certified IFRS Expert, CMD Certified Management Consultant & Trainer) Managing Partner/CEO; Olaolu Olabimtan & Co (Chartered Accountants)/Financial & Business Advisory Associates.

go a long way towards amplifying the “Enablers” of progress, such as good governance, ICT and digital transformation, and improving on the enabling business environment.

“Both these enablers and pillars will manifest through our policies and programmes, thus actualising the “Building our Future Together” Agenda. We will re-vitalise our educational system, create jobs and employment opportunities, develop our infrastructure and guarantee security of lives and property. The path to further development for our dear state also relies on further improving the power/energy sectors, our environment and physical planning as well as promoting vocational training. By doing this, we will surely create more prosperity for our people.”

Having considered the governor’s action and commitment to good governance and economic prosperity, BDSUNDAY however, comes up with track records, challenges, prospects and agenda setting in order for the Commissioners to achieve the desired goals Olaolu has led the practice on a full-time basis since 2009. He has led the team in serving Federal Inland Revenue Service, Osun State Internal Revenue Service and Lagos State Internal Revenue Service. The team has also provided tax advisory services to several companies.

Olaolu is a Certified Fraud Examiner, a Certified Forensic Accountant and is also certified by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants as an IFRS expert.

With all this lofty track record of Olaolu Olabimtan, spanning two of the BIG FOUR in international accounts and audit services; KPMG and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, one can easily conclude that the man, Olaolu Olabimtan, was appointed as the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning by Governor Dapo Abiodun in order to effect invaluable change in Ogun state.

Samson Adeola Odedina (Agriculture)

Samson Odedina, who is of Egba-Abeokuta extraction in Ogun Central Senatorial District, holds an M.Sc. in Crop Science from Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port-Harcourt and Ph.D. in Crop Production from the

Tomi Coker

set by Governor Dapo Abiodun to turn around the state.

BDSUNDAY brings excerpts of profiles, challenges, prospects and agenda of some key ministries expected to drive the policies and economies of the state here.

Tomi Coker (Health) Dr (Mrs) Tomi Coker is of Egba, Abeokuta, Ogun Central Senatorial District extraction and was born on the 29th of March,1967

Federal University of Technology, Akure. Odedina also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Agricultural Education from Wolverhampton Polytechnic (now Wolverhampton University) United Kingdom.

He obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Vegetable Science and Technology from Beijing Vegetable Research Centre, China in 2000. In 2001, he obtained a Post Ph.D Certificate in Biotechnology from the Brazilian Corporation for Agricultural Research (EMBRAPA).

Odedina, a former Provost of the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure in Ondo state and immediate past Rector of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun state, has involved and worked in agricultural and agribusiness programmes both nationally and internationally as part of effort to guarantee food security in the country.

He has now been appointed Commissioner for Agriculture in Ogun state in recognition of Governor Dapo Abiodun’s commitment to drive a production-based economy that en-

in Washington DC, United States of America.

Young Tomi studied Medicine at the prestigious University of Ibadan and underwent her Housemanship at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. Dr. Coker, a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist who rose to be a Clinical Director at the West Hertfordshire NHS Trust, is a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and also an alumnus of Leadership Training in Healthcare Management at Harvard Business School, USA. As part of her annual charitable causes, BDSUNDAY reports that until now, Dr. Tomi Coker had been on several mission trips to various states in Nigeria as part of annual her charitable outreach and she had successfully deployed birth kits to several women in rural communities, to support the effort in reducing Maternal Mortality rate in Nigeria.

She was also involved in general medicine screening of people in the rural areas to promote good general health. All these, she quietly practiced for well over fifteen years. sures a larger percentage of supplies of raw materials used in manufacturing firms sourced locally from farmers through all-inclusive agric policies that attract desired growth and development for the state.

Oladapo Rahaman Okubadejo (Finance) Oladapo Rahaman Okubadejo was born in Ijebu Ode in Ogun East Senatorial District of Ogun state.

Although, Dapo Okubadejo, as he is being called, holds his first degree in Agriculture from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), he muscled his way through economics, finance, accounting and forensic auditing, having got Master Degree in International Finance with Distinction from the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom in 2003 through UK FCO Chevening Scholarship.

Dapo, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and former Partner an Africa Head of Deal Advisory and Private Equity at KPMG, is an expert on Corporate Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions, Project Finance, Investments, Private Equity and Business Transformation.

He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria. Alumnus of the Global Executive Leadership Program of INSEAD, France as well as alumnus of Lagos Business School; Gordon Institute of Business Studies (GIBS) South Africa; London Business School, UK and Harvard Business School USA, where he attended several leadership and management development courses.

Kikelomo Longe is of Egba-Abeokuta extraction in Ogun Central Senatorial District

L

onge is an investment banker of international repute, who holds Bsc in Accounting from University of Lagos.

She began her modest career at the one of the BIG FOUR - Deloitte, Nigeria where she spent four years working on various audit and tax engagements.

Longe had worked in various capacities, ranging from financial controls, venture capital and general management at Ventures and Trusts Limited (V&T), Nigerian venture capital/project finance company that managed a venture capital fund for the European Investment Bank, a mid-sized merchant bank before she joined other professionals at the African Capital Alliance (ACA).

She had been Head of Investor Relations and Fund Administration at African Capital Allaince (ACA), before she became the Vice President of African Capital Alliance (ACA).

Longe was appointed and sworn in as the Commisioner for Commerce and Industry by Governor Dapo Abiodun to manage the industry, trade and investment portfolio of the largest industrial hub in the country.

She comes at a time when Seleem Adegunwa-led Executives of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Ogun state chapter will surely challenge her to surpass the unprecedented records made by her predecessor - Bimbo Ashiru, another investment banker, who attracted many manufacturing and servicebased industries to the state.

Longe will surely be faced with three major challenges in the State Ministry which is regarded as golden goose that lays golden eggs, namely, bad roads infrastructure, multiple taxation and industrial land grabbing syndrome which Bimbo Ashiru was able to manage effectively.

The very first challenge that will be put forward by investors under the auspices of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria will be poor roads network within the state, especially around the industrial areas such as Atan-Lusada-Igbesa-Agbara road, Sagamu-Ogijo-Ikorodu road, Papalanto-Sagamu Interchange road, among others.

12

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9th senate and the Lagos question

Frank Aigbogun

editor Zebulon Agomuo DEPUTY EDITOR John Osadolor, Abuja MANAGING DIRECTOR Dr. Ogho Okiti

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

I

t is no longer news that a bill seeking for an Act to make special provision for Federal grants to Lagos State in recognition of its strategic socioeconomic significance and other connected purposes was rejected by the 8th Senate.

The bill, which was then sponsored by Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central), purportedly sparked huge uproars at the upper chamber that it took the frantic intervention of Senator Ike Ekweremadu who presided and had to bang the gavel a number of times to still fraying nerves.

Indeed, that was the second time that the said Bill would be experiencing stiff opposition at the upper chamber. Recall that it was earlier presented during the 7th Senate, but was turned down at the committee level on the ground that according Lagos such status should be a matter of political decision, which should be kept out of the Constitution. Thus, it could be said that with the 8th Senate, the

bill made an appreciable progress.

Though in the second instance, when the bill was eventually put into voice vote the nays obviously had the day.

From the tone of strong opposition to the bill in the previous Senate, the following could be inferred. First, it was supposed Lagos already had sufficient resources to take care of its needs.

Second, tribal interplay was quite evident as senators who supported or opposed the bill did so in a manner that suggests tribal sentiment. Third, legal or constitutional constrain was a major issue.

Fourth, political contemplation was equally a strong factor.

The truth, however, is that the need to accord a special status for Lagos is more of a national project.

There is hardly any Nigerian that doesn’t have a stake in Lagos. A special federal grant for Lagos is, therefore, a necessary blueprint for the development of the country. Being the pane through which the whole world views the country, granting a special status to Lagos remains the best possible way to drive Nigeria’s development as Lagos is the country’s most industrialized city with needs that align with national growth and development.

On the position that Lagos State already has sufficient resources to meet its many needs, it is must be stressed that the population, cosmopolitan and commercial nature of Lagos put enormous pressure on its resources and infrastructure.

Recent downturn in the national

economy equally exerts further pressure on Lagos as it seen by many as a place that offers soccour for economic survival.

In-spite of its small landmass, Lagos is presently experiencing such phenomenal population explosion that it is being projected to be the largest megacity in the world by 2022. Many are of the view that, the city’s best possible population is 40 million. Whereas the annual population growth in the developing world is 3% and Nigeria’s is 2.7%, that of Lagos stands at a stunning 8% and it is likely to keep accelerating.

Today, Lagos does about 10,000 metric tons of refuse daily, more than what the whole of Ghana is generating. The branch networks that some banks have in Lagos outstrip what they have in the whole country. The number of heavy duty trucks and other vehicles that ply Lagos roads on a daily basis is quite alarming. Same goes for the number of pupils in its public schools as well as those that daily visit its public hospitals.

Consequently, the State spends more on infrastructure upgrade and provision of other basic life necessities than any state in the country. Lagos, with over 150,000 workers in its employment, apart from the Federal Government, remains the greatest employer of labour in the country. Ironically, many of the states in the country with lesser population and infrastructural needs receive almost same monthly federal allocation as Lagos.

Aside the pressure on its infrastructure, there is a crucial moral angle to the quest to accord Lagos a special status. When the FCT was moved from Lagos to Abuja, there was a subsisting agreement that the city would not be abandoned.

Indeed, the Late General Murtala Mohammed acknowledged the onerous nature of the responsibility of leaving Lagos alone to deal with the burden of infrastructure the FG were leaving behind then, bearing in mind that if Lagos hadn’t been the federal capital, it probably would not have been having these problems.

No nation grows by treating the needs of its golden geese with discomfiture. Undoubtedly, the future growth of Nigeria is tied to the development of Lagos which generates the bulk of the VAT accruable to the country, hosts over 85 per cent of Nigeria’s industrial hub and over 65 per cent of its financial nucleus as well as over 75 per cent of its active workforce.

One hopes that the current Senate, under the leadership of Senator Ahmad Lawan will dispassionately look into the subject and do the right thing. Given the centrality of Lagos to the overall social-economic aspiration of Nigeria, the upper chamber and other critical stakeholders should rise above primordial considerations and treat the Lagos special question more impassively.

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

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

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Politics ‘Progress may continue to elude Nigeria, unless…’

John Baiyesha, an Ilorin-based constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), recently headed the panel that investigated and exonerated the former Kogi State deputy governor of allegations against him. In this exclusive interview with INIOBONG IWOK, he provides legal perspectives to some burning issues in the polity. He also speaks about the recent Imo State gubernatorial election judgment by the Supreme Court, among other issues. Excerpts: What is your take on the Supreme Court verdict on the Imo gubernatorial election? ou see, ordinary people may not understand how the person that came fourth in the election would now become the first person and declared winner of the election. But based on the results presented, it means that he was actually supposed to be the first but he was manipulated to the fourth position. Judges act on evidence, because the result from 388 polling units shows that he had more than two thousand votes. If you add that to 98,000 votes which was initially recorded for him, it means that he was the one who initially won that governorship election. So, that is it. People may not understand, you would have to go to the evidence provided and what the law says. People may not know this but you have to juxtapose this with the law. Those who know how to enjoy victory should also learn how to enjoy defeat.

You may ask why I am talking like this.

Look at Zamfara State case it was a total removal of elected officials there, including the governor, the House of Assembly members, all of them. In a clean sweep, the Supreme Court threw them away and installed another set of people who were defeated in the field in the elections. So, the cry now I don’t understand. That is my position. I want to go by the evidence presented to the Supreme Court. I am not surprised by the judgment; the law works with evidence.

are as Nigerians. But some Judges have shown boldness; look at the Judge in the Omoyele Sowore case, you don’t just take isolated matters and paint the whole system in ugly case. Look at the case in Oyo State; the same Supreme Court delivered judgment in favour of the PDP in the state, saving the state from anarchy. Everybody praised them to high heavens then. I think we should be careful not to generalise on issue. I am not saying that they are 100 percent, ok. Are we saying that we have not seen anything good about some of our Judges who have stood on their feet against authorities? I think if we are saying that they have been compromised, we should have our facts. I have my own experience of having suffered from a compromised system but that does not mean I should cast doubt on the whole system.

Y

But there have been talks that the number of registered voters may be more than the number of declared votes in these constituencies. How do you see that?

I don’t know about that. If there is anything like that I hope it was presented, that may be the reason why it was cancelled.

388 polling units is quite a sizeable number and if the irregularity for which INEC cancelled the results in the first place was so much, what they would have done was to hold a rerun election before they can declare somebody a winner. Look at the case of Osun State; they had to declare a rerun election in seven polling units. It means you want to throw away over two thousand votes in this Imo case, and that is even votes recorded for Uzodinma and not for other parties. If the votes cast are more than the registered voters in that place, if you are to nullify the elections and you have to declare somebody a winner you have to hold fresh elections in 388 polling units.

Are you saying a rerun should have been a favourable judgment?

Yes, if there has been evidence that the total votes cast were more than the registered voters, but what the Supreme Court said was that the votes were too much to be ignored. Do you understand? I think if INEC says the results do not match with the registered voters then they should have gone back to hold another election.

What does the electoral law say in regard to cancelling of election results and the role of the presiding officer?

Ones the Presiding Officer certifies a results; he would pass it over to the

John Baiyesha

INEC office. However, in this case INEC cancelled results in the 388 polling units, but it is the Presiding Officer who is on the field that can cancel results because he knows how the election went. Apart from that the only authority that can cancel election results is the Court or tribunal, but I don’t know the evidence this people presented. Of course, the Tribunal agreed with them, the Court of Appeal agreed with them, but the Supreme Court said no. I am just talking about the magnitude of votes cancelled in these polling units, which the Supreme Court said was too much to be cancelled.

Is there a precedent on this Emeka Ihedioha and Hope Uzodinma case in Imo State?

Yes, there is a precedent on the issue; the Zamfara State case is a precedent that is similar. Look at what happened in Zamfara State; all the Senators, House of Representatives, I mean all elected public officials were sacked and someone who was a distance loser was declared the winner. That is why I am saying those who know how to celebrate victory to high heavens, must know how to celebrate to high heavens when they lose.

What does the law say about the President’s daughter using his official aircraft for personal use, just like what happened in Buhari daughter’s situation recently?

That is abnormal. It is wrong; it cannot happen anywhere in the world. In a more civilised societies, you cannot do that and get away free. If the President was travelling with his family, that is a different case entirely, but for her to use the presidential jet alone, that is an abuse. The President’s media team can say anything to defend an ugly situation. When they do what is

wrong they should be humble enough to admit it.

What is your take on ‘Amotekun’; the federal government recently declared illegal?

The only thing that the law says you cannot do is that you cannot have regional police. But if you decide to have vigilante, it is not bad. This would look after the security of the people to the communal level; for example, look at Hisbah, they have it in Kano, Zamfara, Sokoto, and Niger States.

They enacted laws to set up even Court for such purpose, but nobody talked about it, and then look at the areas where terrorism is high in the North-east they had Civilian Joint Task Force that helps the security in the zone because they know the terrain, they know the area and they can enter the bush. We all know that this is like a gorilla war. These people know the forest; they can go in and know the hiding places of those terrorists. If you have to declare this illegal you have to declare everything illegal and constitutionally, it is not wrong. They are not Police they don’t have powers of police and just want to help their people. The Police cannot even enter where they would operate. They would enter the bushes and make sure that people are not kidnapped and taken for ransom or killed. In fact, they should be commended.

There has been growing concern about the independence of the judiciary; some say it has been pocketed by the executive. How do you react?

It would appear to me as a criticism taken too far. If you look at me, I cannot join those people to make such comment. I cannot say so, the judgments may not be ok with some people but that is how we

But some of your colleagues I have spoken to agree that the judiciary is corrupt; while the process of appointment of judges is questionable. Don’t you agree?

I agreed with them totally, but what I am saying is that we cannot use that to generalise. I am concerned about appointments in the judiciary, but I cannot condemn the whole system. Appointments in the judiciary is not fair, it is from bottom to top. We suggested that people from the private bar should be included, but the system said no. I agreed that the Judges’ appointment is faulty in Nigeria. But all the same, when we are talking we have to be specific. The judiciary is a function of the dysfunctional nature of the Nigeria system. The Nigerian society that we knew under judges like Kayode Eso, Karibi Whyte, Nnamani were fearless and courageous. People try to corrupt current ones and many of them could not resist; that is why I say we should not generalise so that we would not be guilty of blaming the whole. There is no doubt that the system is crumbling and the standard of everything is going down, even governance and education.

What is your take about President Buhari’s moves to set up special Court for graft cases?

It is not the hood that makes the monk.

It is not about creating special court it is the kind of people you put there. If you create special court and the appointment process is not transparent, you would still be in a mess. Under the present system they would still mess it up. After all, Federal High Court started as revenue court. So, it is not even the law; we have to start from politicians who are indicted but facing corruption charges, the horrible things they do while in office and you still allow such people to contest and win elections and get to the highest positions in the county; there is no country where it is done. Which people that want to make progress is doing what we are doing now? We would not make progress. In Britain and America, if you are found accused of stealing public money you would be put in prison until your case is finished at the court but they may fast-track your case. Look at the bad governance going on here; people use influence to frustrate the work here. That is why I say you cannot blame one arm of government. If we don’t deal with the fundamental issue of corruption they would still mess it up at the end of the day.

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Sunday 19 January 2020

Politics North East, South West, South East shut out of APC management ... As party fails to replace Adebayo, Buni, Moghalu long after resignation

T

James Kwen, Abuja

he North East and South East geopolitical zones have been locked out from the day-to-day running of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The party has failed to replace the former Deputy National Chairman (South), Niyi Adebayo since he resigned and took ministerial appointment in August.

Also, Mai-Mala Buni, the former National Secretary (North East) who resigned since December 2018 after he won the party’s ticket to contest for Yobe governorship election and emerged winner at the general election has also not been replaced.

Similarly, the immediate past National Auditor of APC, George Moghalu (South East) was appointed Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) since October 2019 and has not been replaced.

The affected offices constitute the National Working Committee (NWC), the party organ charged with the responsibility of the day-to-day administration of the party.

According to section 13(4) of the APC Constitution, the NWC shall be responsible for the administration of the party and putting into effect the decisions of the National Executive Committee (NEC), the highest decision making organ of the party.

The section stipulates that the NWC shall carry out the day to day running of the affairs of the party and it shall in particular: “Prepare the agenda for the National Convention subject to ratification by the National Executive Committee.

“Prepare and submit reports and budgets for consideration of the National Convention subject to the ratification of the National Executive Committee.

“Provide financial guidelines for the approval of the National Convention subject to the ratification of the National Executive Committee.

“Propose policies and programmes for the Party, which shall be considered by the National Executive Committee and approved by the Board of Trustees.

“Propose to the National Executive Committee, Party electoral regulations, to govern the conduct of elections to all Party offices at every level and to govern the Procedure for selecting Party candidates for elective offices, subject to the provisions of this Constitution.

“Invite such person(s) as it deems necessary, desirable or expedient, to attend meeting(s) and take part in deliberations provided that such invited person(s) shall have no voting right.

“Have power to make Standing Orders for the approval of the National Executive Committee and ratification by the Board of Trustees.

“Deal with any other matters referred to it by the National Executive Committee

Adams Oshiomhole

or the Board of Trustees.

“Deal with appeals and other problems referred to it by the State Working Committee, and or coming from the Zones and States of the Federation.

“Establish Ad-hoc and, or Standing Committees of the Party and appoint members to such Committees.

“Examine the actions, policies and programmes pursued and legislations made by the Governments of the Federation from time to time in order to determine whether or not they are in accordance with the manifesto and the Constitution of Party and if not to make recommendations to the National Executive Committee for its action.

“Recommend for approval by the National Executive Committee, the proportion of income from subscription from each Ward, Local Government Area/Area Council and States that shall be remitted to the National Office.

“Nominate for appointment, Members of Board of Trustees for the ratification of the National Executive Committee.

“Organise Primary Election for the nomination of its Presidential Candidates, Governorship Candidates and Candidates for ejection into the National and State Assemblies.

“Subject to the approval of the National Executive Committee, the National Working Committee may in special circumstances grant a waiver to a person not otherwise qualified under Article 31 of this Constitution if in its opinion, such a waiver is in the best interest of the party.

“The National Working Committee shall have the power to set up a caretaker committee in place of any organ where there exists in the opinion of the National

Working Committee a lacunae by virtue of any act or omission done in furtherance of this Constitution, and “Any such Caretaker Committee so set up shall have a defined tenure and renewable upon a further review by the National Executive Committee”.

Thus, the continued non-replacement into the affected offices implies that the individual states and geopolitical zones of the former occupants are not being carried along in the performance of those functions, more so that NWC offices are distributed mostly according to geopolitical zones.

So far, except, the National Secretary in the North East, there are no strong moves to replace the resigned officers with party members, either directly from their states

Any such Caretaker Committee so set up shall have a defined tenure and renewable upon a further review by the National Executive Committee

or at least their zones.

Meanwhile, efforts to appoint a National Secretary to occupy the vacancy created by Buni’s election as Governor of Yobe has opened a new chapter of crisis in the APC over which state to take the slot.

This is sequel to the alleged rejection of the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole anointed candidate for the position of National Secretary, Waziri Bulama from Borno State, and this has since elicited fresh crisis.

The APC North/East Zonal Chairman, Mustapha Salihu, while addressing journalists after an acrimonious meeting of the NWC last week, maintained that it was unconstitutional and against the precedence of APC to move the office hitherto zoned to Yobe to Borno without involvement of stakeholders from the zone.

Salihu told journalists that, “I am here just to give you a brief of what transpired just now, the illegality that just transpired now. This has been prevalent in this party since Adams Oshiomhole took over.

“Yesterday, I held my zonal meeting and we agreed on how to go about the position of National Secretary. Behold, today Adams Oshiomhole ordained somebody from somewhere and said he is going to be the National Secretary.

“I want to tell you this is an illegality because of two things: number one, this party has set precedence, Babachir left, I replaced him from Adamawa State, Lai Mohammed left Bolaji replaced him from Kwara, Bolaji left Onilu replaced him from Kwara State”.

Recall that at the end of its meeting early last week, APC North/East Zonal Caucus said the vacant position of National Secretary has been micro-zoned to Borno and Yobe States and the two states involved had been directed to meet and endorse a candidate for the position.

The Caucus stated that the states will present the endorsed candidate for final confirmation during its next meeting, latest by next month (February) for final recommendation and presentation to the national leadership of the party.

In a communiqué issued after the meeting, the North/East APC frowned at a letter going round for the endorsement of a particular candidate for National Secretary.

“After exhaustive discussion on the progress and unity of our great party, the All Progressives Congress North East Zone hereby resolve as follows: “That the APC North East zone frowns at and is not aware of a letter going round for the endorsement of a particular candidate for National Secretary purportedly said to be from the APC North East zone.

“That all issues pertaining to the National Secretary shall be discussed and thrashed at the state level and thereafter brought to the Zonal level for presentation to the National level as constitutionally provided”, the communiqué’ read in parts.

Sunday 19 January 2020

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BDSUNDAY 15

Politics

Nigeria, 50 years after the civil war

T

Iniobong Iwok

he year 2020 marks fifty years after the brutal Nigeria’s civil war. Nigeria’s history cannot be complete without a mention of the war and the events that led to it.

For some Nigerians who witnessed the war and particularly for the millions of Easterners who were at the forefront, the mention of it elicit goose pimples.

Perhaps, in a 21st century Nigeria and to the youth born in this generation who incidentally form the bulk of Nigeria’s estimated 200 million population, the remembrance of the war may just be another event in the calendar.

The Biafra or civil war ended precisely on January 15, 1970, when the instruments of surrender were officially received by the government of Yakubu Gowon, the then Nigerian military head of state.

The fratricidal war, which cost Nigeria about two-and-half million lives and property worth billions, was caused by a chain of events. The most prominent triggers of the war were the January 15, 1966 coup and the counter coup of July 29, 1966.

Following the ethnic tension, power struggle, rancour and violence that rocked post-independence Nigeria, group of young army officers mostly of Igbo extraction, led by Chukwuma Nzeogwu, a major in the army, who thought they had answers

to the myriad of crises, staged a coup on January 15, 1966 and destroyed the First Republic.

Nzeogwu and his men killed the then Prime Minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa; the powerful Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello; Premier of the Western Region, Samuel Akintola and other prominent people mostly of northern extraction including senior army officers.

The fallout of the coup angered elements in the North as they felt shortchanged that most of the perpetrators of the coup were Igbo, while their victims were mostly non-Igbo, especially northerners.

This caused bitter feelings, suspicions and the desired for revenge. The coup was wrongly interpreted as an Igbo attempt to seize power and dominate the rest of the country. The counter coup then followed as the northern army officers staged their own coup on July 29, 1966 and carried out a purge of Igbo officers in the army beginning with the killing of Igbo head of state, Aguiyi Ironsi, who had taken over as the military head of state after the collapse of the First Republic.

The crisis deteriorated further as innocent Igbo civilians living in the north were also targeted and killed in their thousands by northern mobs. This pogrom threatened the Igbo and other easterners and they moved in large numbers back to the east, their traditional homeland as the regime of Yakubu Gowon, who took over the reins of power

after Ironsi was killed, appeared to have failed to provide security for them.

Gowon also disagreed on several issues with the Eastern regional governor, Emeka Ojukwu. The issues were later taken to Aburi in Ghana, where agreements were reached by Gowon and Ojukwu. But upon their return to Nigeria, both men subjected the agreement to different interpretations and the stage for war was set. On May 30 1967, Ojukwu, probably fearing more massacre of Easterners, announced that the Eastern region had seceded from Nigeria.

Gowon then vowed that no part of Nigeria shall be allowed to secede; he declared war to bring back the east to the country.

But within a year, the Federal Government troops surrounded Biafra, capturing coastal oil facilities and the city of Port Harcourt.

The blockade imposed during the ensuing stalemate led to mass starvation. During the twoand-half years of the war, there were about 100,000 overall military casualties, while between 500,000 and 2 million Biafran civilians died of starvation.

In mid-1968, images of malnourished and starving Biafran children saturated the mass media of Western countries.

The plight of the starving Biafrans became a cause célèbre in foreign countries, enabling a significant rise in the funding and prominence of international non-governmental organisation (NGO).

The United Kingdom and the Soviet Union were the main supporters of the Nigerian government, while France and Israel and some other countries supported Biafra.

The war, which started on July 6, 1967, however, ended on January 15, 1970.

But fifty years after the brutal war, despite the bitter experience of the war, the issues that led to the war are still very much alive. Ethnic tensions, religious crisis, rancorous politics, nepotism and ethnic cleansing have led to death of many and heightened divisions across the country.

The Boko Haram menace, which had succeeded the multiple religious crises in the north, coupled with the rampaging activities of the Fulani herdsmen have aggravated insecurity in the country and deepened bitterness and divisions.

In one of his articles, former governor of the old Anambra State, the late Christian Onoh, lamented that Nigeria should have been greater in science and technology if only they imbibed the technological achievements of the Biafra side during the war.

He regretted that Nigeria destroyed what would have been an opportunity to put the country on the map of technology.

“At the end of the World War 2, the British and Americans were scrambling for the scientists in Germany. It was these scientists that developed the atom bomb. When the Nigerian

civil war ended instead of Nigeria adopting the same system, they proceeded to destroy everything that is related to the Igboman.

We produced Ogbunigwe, they destroyed it, Uli airport, was destroyed; everything the Research and Production (RAP) Biafra produced they destroyed,” he said.

In an interview with BDSUNDAY, public affairs analyst, Katch Ononuju, said Nigeria had not learnt anything from the war, stressing that the issues which necessitated the world are still prevalent.

“All across the world after every war historically the people will sit down to look at the remote and primary causes of the war and try to mitigate a recurrence but Nigeria did not,” he said.

He added that the triple ‘Rs’ of Reconstruction, Reconciliation and Rehabilitation initiated

by Gowon after the war did not work, alleging that the money was not spent in the war-ravaged eastern region dominated by the Igbo.

According to him, “The reconstruction money was not spent in the east. The money was used to rebuild Lagos and when the reconstruction started happening outside the east, easterners started leaving the east to the other areas where the reconstruction happened.

“As for the reconciliation, the defeated people were forced to toe the line of government while Continues of page 16

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Sunday 19 January 2020

Politics Nigeria is still in pains 50 years after civil war - Ikokwu Guy Omenife Ikokwu, lawyer and member of inner caucus of the pan Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, in a brief interview with ZEBULON AGOMUO, in retrospect, said Nigeria has grown worse 50 years after the civil war. Recalling some of the events of those days, the war veteran urged Nigerians to avoid a repeat of the sad event. Excerpts: As one of those who took active part in the civil war; may we know some of your special assignments then, and some of the things that transpired, from your own perspective? es, as a war veteran and dramatis persona I witnessed it all. Zik’s version was a solemn truth. He wrote the Biafran Anthem lyric and got us the recognitions from African countries which no other Biafran leader could, but for most of the time he was incarcerated in the middle of Biafra in Imo State. He saw the real essence of the spirit of our people who were blockaded and agonised with the resilience of our people’s spirit. I was a commando regulator with our media which did most of the fighting motivationally esprit de corps.

Inside the Bunker we wrote Ojukwu’s speech for the reply to General Yakubu Gowon which we approved on Blood Oath. Chukwumerije, Echeruo, Ekwensi, etc agreed unanimously. We informed Zik, Mbu, Okpara, Effiong, Achuzia, Okoro, etc, but Mojekwu as AG of Biafra went to Zurich enroute Ethiopia with The People’s General, Ojukwu and doctored Biafra’s response speech against True Federalism or even Confederalism similar to our slogan of ‘On Aburi We Stand’ by insisting that Biafran Sovereignty is Not Negotiable... We listened to the speech with the core Biafran warlords through Macpress of Switzerland in my War Information Bureau in Umuahia, sitting on the floor and fasting. That was the day the war ended because the Grass Could Not Fight Anymore and Starvation and Kwashiorkor were instruments of the civil war, plus financial penury, et al. Zik left for Addis Ababa in self exile in search of peace which has eluded us since 1970.

The Generals and the Caliphate took over

They claim to be patriots but they lack the spirit of patriotism.

Y

It is always said that Nigeria is lagging its peers in everything; do you think so?

There is no doubt about that. 59 years of Independence compared with Singapore and China which even share the same sovereign date with us; we have done badly and continue to do badly. We can only solve our developmental problems by changing our governance and constitutional system for the devolution of powers to our ethnic nationalities where sovereignty lies or like many other nations, go our separate ways in peace not in pieces. We should never forget the resonate words of our elders. When we fail to learn we shall always repeat the same mistakes. To be forewarned is to be fore armed.

Guy Omenife Ikokwu

and Nigeria is still in pains.

Do you think any lesson has been learnt?

The lessons of the war have not been learnt as Nigeria is now the Poverty Capital of the World and we are plagued with monumental corruption, unemployment, environmental ravages, Illiteracy, diseases, decayed infrastructure, financial bankruptcy, unpayable external and domestic debts, and absolute misgovernance. We have now become the more intolerant of one another, and have been further pushed apart on account of religion and ethnicity.

A lot of people believe another civil war is not the option; what do you think?

This had been said even before now. The later day Ikemba Eze Gburuburu Ojukwu on his return from exile in Ivory Coast said we should not fight another civil war. But we have to stand up for our rights otherwise we are doomed. That’s where we are today.

There is more insecurity in Nigeria today as there is no peace with rampant criminality, treasury looting, kidnapping, banditry, devaluation, depression, unviable budgets for 5years. There is no development. We now hear some people echo about ‘Arise oh compatriots without an iota of patriotism.’

The way things are going in the country presently, the anger and lack of tolerance for one ethnic group or the other; how can Nigeria be healed permanently?

Well, I am afraid. Look at the Amotekun and all the talks around it from various quarters; look at the Supreme Court’s rulings; look at the reply by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) almost saying that the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) may have been compromised and giving indication that people are losing their patience, and that it may be ‘to your own tents O Israel’ very soon, and the media is being intimidated and people are no longer free to air their views as should be in a democratic setting. When you put all these together, you see that we are at the brink. Are we going to have another civil war after 50 years or do we in clear conscience arrange for how we can live together? This should be the question every true citizen of this country should be asking at this point in time.

Nigeria, 50 years after the civil...

Continued from page 15

He also alleged that the government of President, Muhammadu Buhari has also divided the people of Nigeria with alleged nepotism and lopsided appointments, giving his Fulani ethnic group a clear advantage which he warned may force other groups to realign against the Fulani, which has a potential threat to the unity of the country.

When reminded that Nigeria achieved some success in the war at least by sticking together as a nation, he said, “Staying together and you don’t progress it does not make sense. Staying together became a strategy to mitigate the progress of people.

“If you stay together not based on merit you cannot progress, why should staying together not bring progress?”

“How come all the things we use to have before we don’t have them anymore, Nigerian Shipping Line, Nigerian Airways, Unity Schools, they were all destroyed,” he added.

His views, were corroborated by some eminent Nigerians at an event to mark the fifty years after the war held at the Muson centre in Lagos last week titled ‘Never Again Conference 2020’ organised by Igbo thinktank, Nzuko Umunna, and Ndigbo Lagos, which was in collaboration with civil society organisations.

Speaking in a video message at the event, Gowon warned leaders to take measures to forestall any future war.

He demanded total and patriotic commitment from Nigerians, adding that leaders

must ensure the wellbeing of the country in politics, economy and security, while urging the citizens to reconcile their differences to avert another war.

Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka in a presentation said the tragic death of about twoand-a-half million people in the war should provoke sober reflection.

The eminent scholar also demanded for the entrenchment of democratic principles to forestall war.

According to him, “No nation has ever survived two civil wars. The sovereignty of the country is non-negotiable and the wisdom of not holding a banknote over a flame is not a justification to tempt fate. We need

to ask, are we being heard?” he said.

In his address, the chairman of the occasion, Anya O. Anya, demanded justice for all as an important principle for the nation’s survival.

“A proposition could be made that we went to war because of the failure of leadership, and marginalisation. Let Nigerians eschew violence because ‘those who lead by the sword shall die by the sword’.

“We haven’t learned lessons from our past. Germany fought a war and in less than 30 years after became the strongest economy. Losing a war doesn’t mean economic backwardness,” he said.

Fifty years after the brutal war, perhaps, it must be said that at no point in her history had Nigeria been in a more precarious situation and in need of a lift from ashes then now.

Political observers say, incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari must strive to eliminate and solve complaints of nepotism and marginalisation which have characterised his administration since he assumed office and which had led to more ethnic divisions among Nigerians.

Buhari must tackle impunity in the polity. Perhaps the most dangerous hurdle to Nigeria’s unity is the worsening insecurity situation in the country which has led to increasing spate of killings and kidnapping for ransom.

In view of recent events this issues must be urgently tackled to forestall a repeat of another civil war.

Sunday 19 January 2020

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Interview

We are now covering about 82% of Taraba State in terms of immunization - Jauro Aminu Hassan Jauro is the executive secretary, Taraba State Primary Health Care Development Agency. In this interview with Journalists in Jalingo, he spoke on the achievements and challenges of the agency. NATHANIEL GBAORON was there and brings the excerpts:

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hat is the mandate of this agency?

Taraba State never had an existing healthcare agency, not until the administration of the then Governor Sani Abubakar Danladi, and subsequently, the present Governor of Taraba State, Darius Dickson Ishaku.

Back then, Governor Darius was the one who pushed for the establishment of the primary healthcare center because we felt that Taraba state was almost left behind.

I was appointed on the 23rd February 2015 as the pioneer executive secretary of the agency.

We were given the mandate to reposition the agency as an agency of the government that is saddled with the responsibility of providing healthcare services to the entire people of Taraba state.

Healthcare is divided into three: primary, secondary and tertiary and majority of the population lives in the rural areas. That is why the primary healthcare centers are given the responsibility to carter for these people.

The agency has about 10 components that are summed up into four including preventive, curative, rehabilitative and promoting services. These are services that we render.

With this mandate, the responsibility now rest on my shoulder to reposition the agency. To achieve this, I continue to liaise with the Head of Service, Civil Service Commission, Local Government Commission and indeed the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and the Secretary to the State Government to ensure that the essence which this agency was established is accomplished.

It has not been easy; it has been a very difficult and demanding task. But we give glory to God because we have succeeded in repositioning the agency for the benefit of humanity.

Presently, we have six functional departments in the agency which comprises of Department of Community Health, Department of Primary Health care, Department of Immunization and Disease Control, Health Plan Research and Statistics, and the Department of Admin and Finance, which is been headed by the director of Admin who doubles as the secretary of the agency.

We also have different programme units which comprises of; maternal and child health, family planning, immunization

Aminu Hassan Jauro and nutrition among others, working for the attainment of the agency’s goal.

In the first two years, we never had any budget allocation. We relied so much on our partners for support and funding, but subsequently, when our partners discovered that the agency has come of age, and fully repositioned, then the state government decided to give us budget allocation.

We have a subject and a head that is being used to provide these services across board and the areas of our services cut across the 16 LGAs having 168 wards and 1,048 health facilities.

However, we had to cut the number of health facilities through the Minimum Service Package (MSP), considering the fact that having more health facilities makes it difficult to handle adequately and provide quality health services due to limited resources. The number of our health facilities dropped to 168, which is one PHC functional per ward.

Presently, about 90 wards, out of the 168 are functional.

Thanks to World Bank and the Governor of Taraba State. These Primary Health Centers are working in collaboration with nine General Hospitals, so that cases that cannot be managed by healthcare centers can be sent to the General Hospital for proper management.

Looking at these efforts and your service delivery initiatives, are you satisfied with the impact of the agency on the health needs of the people of Taraba State?

I will say yes, but we are not there yet. This is because if you look at the diversity of the state and the perception of some people at the national level, Taraba is like an orphan state. I say so because none of the partners wants to come to Taraba state due to the wrong impression about the state. There is no part of the country that does not have its own problems peculiar to it. But in the case of Taraba, its own issues have been overblown to the extent that partners don’t want to come.

I say yes due to what we have put together. We want to ensure that we keep a legacy and create an enabling environment so that people can know where to go and get healthcare. But I have to appreciate the fact that we have achieved a lot, looking at where we started. When I took over, the immunization coverage was below 16 percent but now we have recorded about 82 percent coverage of the state in terms of immunization.

Immunization is just one aspect of it. I use immunization as the backbone of our service delivery which is free and efficient. Another example is the Hard to Reach Project, an

initiative of Governor Ishaku in collaboration with the Canadian Government and the UNICEF. A quantum of money was set aside for partnership and collaboration with counterparts coming from the state and indeed the state base line survey was conducted across the state.

It was realised that Taraba has about 650 hard to reach ends.

These are people living behind riverine areas, mountain, behind thick forest and others, who have never received medical attention or seen health personnel before and their distance to health facilities is up to 30 – 40 kilometers.

We have changed our approach to providing integrated Primary Healthcare services across all the 16 LGAs through capacity building of our staff, training, among other activities, and also provide them with all the necessary requirements.

Now, patients in various hospitals have reduced because they trust our Primary Health Care centers. The environments are hospitable, the drugs are there, the diagnoses units are there and they have proper diagnoses.

Through Nigeria steady investment project, we do N-ship, a home based service that provides and allows the facilities to perform independently. We don’t even buy drugs for them.

All we do is to allow them develop what we call a work plan.

What this means is that, you can access your own facility by telling us what your problem is.

You send your request to us, we look at it holistically and give approval and money will be sent into your account, ensuring that the needful is done in collaboration with the ward development committee because there must be communities buy in.

To what extent is the Taraba State government supporting the agency?

The Taraba State Government under the leadership of Governor Ishaku has given us the enabling environment. If the governor had not given us such environment, those partners working here in Taraba state and particularly in the agency with us wouldn’t have worked with us.

Whenever there is an issue, the government also gives us funding. So, the Taraba state government has been consistent in releasing funds as and when due. The Governor had personally attended all our flag up ceremonies and that goes a long way to show his political will and commitment.

He has been consistent in providing funds and that is even the reason all the partners have

also keyed in to ensure that funding to the agency does not seize. The prominent partners in Taraba state are WHO, UNICEF, IPAS, the Challenge Initiative, CDC, Mario Stack and others.

What are the challenges?

The first challenge we have faced as a state and as an agency is security because there are some local governments and settlements that we are unable to reach due to security challenges in those areas.

But, we are trying all we could to collaborate with the security agencies and regional groups in those domains to ensure that we reach out.

Then, the second challenge has to do with human resource for health, skilled manpower. If you look at the number of years the state was created till date, many staffs that are technical have retired from service, and some have transferred their services to other organizations seeking for greener pastures.

These vacuum has been a challenge to us because, we have over one thousand health facilities but we have decided not to close all the facilities but to ensure that our emphasis is on one PCM per ward and this one PCM per ward requires the compliment of nine trained staff per facility which comprises of two or four midwives, six Community Health Workers and others.

But, we are trying to ensure that we make do with what is available and then ensure that there is proper distribution of staff to ensure that we cater for our populace.

Another factor has to do with office accommodation but to God be the glory this is where we are today though we are occupying an office that belongs to TACA and we are looking forward to having our own office accommodation.

Another challenge is for people to understand exactly what our mandate is. What is expected of us and what is expected of them is also a challenge. What I mean is community linkage and collaboration.

As a pioneer leader of this agency what is your dream; what kind of Taraba Primary Health Care Agency would you like to leave behind?

I will like to leave a State Primary Health Care Development Agency that has a solid foundation and a workforce that will stand the test of time of providing integrated primary health care delivery that will translate into reduction of maternal mobility and mortality in the state.

By implication, reducing out of pocket expenses to the common man.

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Interview

Government should have increased tax net and not VAT - Ijezie Blakey Okwudili Ijezie is the founder and managing partner/chief executive officer of Okwudili Ijezie & Co, a Chartered Accountants and Tax Consultants firm. Speaking in an interview with NGOZI OKPALAKUNNE, Ijezie who has 37 years of experience in accounting and taxation opined that the government decision to increase VAT from 5 to 7.5 percent may not be beneficial to Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSEMEs). He also spoke on his organisation’s forth coming seminar on 2019 Financial Act. Excerpts:

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ith the new tax regime in the country, give us an idea of what awaits Nigerians with the 2020 financial year?

I urged the Federal Government to drop the idea of increasing VAT rate until the economy of the country is in good shape. I lamented that many businesses were merely struggling to remain afloat and the increase, if effected, could lead to their sudden deaths. Subsequently, I held a two-day tax seminar at Sheraton Lagos Hotel on this VAT rate increase. At the seminar, I urged the National Assembly not to pass the aspect of the Finance Bill 2019, that involves the increase of Value Added Tax rate from 5 percent to 7.5percent. This was turned down; it’s now a Law that the new VAT rate is here to stay. With the passage of this bill and the subsequent implementation, industries may not find it easy.

However, to alleviate the negative implications of this VAT increase, a number of palliatives are embedded in the Finance Act 2019. They are especially intended for MSMEs - Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.

These incentives include: The expansion of VAT Exemption List, which includes: basic food items (agro and aqua based staple foods) such as additives, cereals, cooking oils, culinary herbs, fish of all kinds (other than ornamented), flour and starch, fruits, live or raw meat and poultry, milk, nuts, pulses, roots, salt, vegetables, and water; locally manufactured sanitary towels, tuition (primary, secondary and tertiary education); and services rendered by Microfinance Banks.

However, I understand the contention of the Federal Government towards this VAT rate increase, that a large sum of money realised from the increase in Value Added Tax would go to the States and Local Government Areas. The sub-nationals (states and local governments) receive 85 percent of the VAT proceeds. The Federal Government only retains 15 percent of VAT. This VAT increase proceeds will help the states meet the increase in payroll resulting from the increase in the minimum wage.

Tax compliance in our country is believed to be the lowest in Africa, if not in the world. What instruments can government apply to get its people and institution to pay tax?

Take for instance, the multinational; is government getting enough from them?

Multinational companies usually are tax compliant. They adhere strictly to payment of taxes as and when due.

Multinational companies are mostly listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). These companies usually adhere to good corporate governance.

They hardly ‘cut corners’.

Some Multinational companies include; Nestle Nigeria plc, Unilever Nigeria plc, Guinness Nigeria plc, Nigerian Breweries plc, Lafarge Africa

Blakey Okwudili Ijezie plc and a host of others. The government should put mechanisms in place to eliminate leakages as a large chunk of the Internally Generated Revenue realised does not find its way into government coffers.

I urge the government via the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the various States’ Internal Revenue Service to embark on aggressive taxpayers’ enlightenment and expansion of the Tax net to capture more corporate organisations and individuals, as it had been reported that less than 40 percent of Nigerians were tax complaints.

Assuming you were the Budget Minister, what will you do differently in the 2020 budget document? Many insist it has no human face.

As part of efforts to consolidating some macroeconomic effects and help reduce budget deficits, the Finance Act 2019 was promulgated, to amend various tax laws in the country.

The Finance Act 2019 is an amendment to seven extant fiscal laws, which are: the Value Added Tax Act, the Companies Income Tax Act, the Personal Income Tax Act, the Petroleum Profits Tax Act, the Capital Gains Tax Act, the Stamp Duties Act and the Customs and Excise Tariff Act. The Finance Act 2019 has five strategic objectives, in terms of achieving incremental, but necessary, changes

to the fiscal laws.

These objectives are: promoting fiscal equity by mitigating instances of regressive taxation; reforming domestic tax laws to align with global best practices; Introducing tax incentives for investments in infrastructure and capital markets; Supporting Micro, Small and Medium-sized businesses in line with our ease of doing business reforms; and raising revenue for government.

The Finance Act 2019 increases the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate by 50 percent, from 5 percent to 7.5 percent.

It is this whopping 50 percent increase that makes people say that the 2020 Budget ‘has no human face.’ For an economy already grappling with multiple taxation, high energy cost, high import duty, high regulatory charges, and general lack of infrastructural facilities, the timing of this VAT rate increase is not apt. One would have expected the Budget Minister to think outside the box and proffer ideas on how to aggressively increase the tax net, instead of increasing the tax rate at this time. There are many individuals and corporate organisations that are outside the tax net that need to be brought into the net.

This 50 percent increase in the VAT rate is highly inflationary. I predict that the rate of inflation will soar to close to 20 percent because of this

increase. It was not well thought out.

The Federal Government’s share of Value Added Tax revenue of about N2.08 trillion, is only N315.47 billion, representing 15percent. The bulk of the VAT revenue goes to the States (N1.04 trillion, representing 50 percent) and the Local Government Areas (N751.43 billion or 35 percent).

To me, the rationale for this increase of the VAT rate: ‘to provide more funds to the 36 States and the 774 Local government areas to enable them to meet pressing financial needs, especially the payment of the new minimum wage of N30,000 per month’ is not tenable.

This upward review of the VAT rate at this time will hurt businesses, the economy and the citizens. The timing is so bad, as many businesses are currently with the high production and operating cost which has made sustainability difficult for many enterprises.

My opinion is that the various tiers of government should prune down their overheads and personnel costs. This cost of governance must be brought down significantly, to ensure fiscal sustainability of the governments.

What is the value addition of your forth-coming seminar on 2019 Financial Act to society/participants ?

The Finance Act 2019 is an amend-

ment to seven extant fiscal laws, which are: the Value Added Tax Act, the Companies Income Tax Act, the Personal Income Tax Act, the Petroleum Profits Tax Act, the Capital Gains Tax Act, the Stamp Duties Act and the Customs and Excise Tariff Act. The Finance Act 2019 has five strategic objectives, in terms of achieving incremental, but necessary, changes to the fiscal laws.

These objectives are: promoting fiscal equity by mitigating instances of regressive taxation; reforming domestic tax laws to align with global best practices; Introducing tax incentives for investments in infrastructure and capital markets; Supporting Micro, Small and Medium-sized businesses in line with our ease of doing business reforms; and raising revenue for government.

Many are not aware of 2019 act, so the seminar will create a lot of awareness both to the participants and members of the society.

Our organsation has assembled eggheads to deliver papers for the benefits of the participants.

What are your views on Vision 2020, do you see it as a lip service?

‘By 2020, Nigeria will be one of the 2020 largest economies on the world, able to consolidate its leadership role in Africa and establish itself as a significant player in the global economic and political arena.’ The above is the VISION 2020, a 10-year development plan conceived by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006 and launched in September 2009, following the failure of VISION 2010 which was conceived and launched in the 1990s under the military rule of Sani Abacha.

To achieve this vision, the VISION 2020 identified six interwoven pillars including good governance and an efficient state, skilled human capital, vibrant private sector, world class physical infrastructure and modern agriculture and livestock, all geared towards prospering in national, regional and global markets.

The expiring VISION 2020 has failed to make Nigeria one of the 20 strongest economies in the world by 2020. The year 2020 is here, but the country’s economy is nowhere near the position envisioned. Nigeria is ranked the 27th largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP. Today, the country is worse that it was in 2009, when VISION 2020 was launched.

It has become the world’s poverty capital. Epileptic power supply, dilapidated roads and comatose rail system, a housing deficit of about 17 million units, low life expectancy (around 51 years), high maternal and child mortality rates, high unemployment, are shamelessly evidence that the VISION 2020 aspirations were not achieved.

Any future long-term developmental plan should be an Act of Parliament that would compel successive governments to implement.

Sunday 19 January 2020

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Interview We are helping to change the negative narrative of Africans in the Diaspora - Adeleke Adebayo Adeleke is a dynamic leader with global insights on a wide array of issues. He is passionate about seeing a human world that works. As an example of how immigrants have immensely contributed and sacrificed in making America the great nation it is today, he is committed to changing the negative narratives of immigrant in the US and raising visionary leaders. In this interview with DESMOND OKON, he talks about his work through his foundation and his time as a US soldier. Excerpts:

F

or the benefit of our readers, may we know your background?

My name is Adeb a y o A d e l e ke , m a n a g i n g partner at Pantote Solutions LLC (Dallas, TX), principal partner, Senior Supply Chain Consultant for Epot Consulting Limited, and Lecturer in Supply Chain Management at the Sam Houston State University.

I am a retired U.S Army Major with over 20 years of military service and multiple combat tours. I was born in Ilesa, Osun State, Nigeria, and I spent my formative years in the ancient city of Ile-Ife. I left Nigeria after my secondary school education and joined the United States Army. I’ve spent the last 20 years fighting and participating in the global war against terrorism.

This experience offered me the opportunity to build my tactical and strategic leadership abilities, and appreciate different cultures. The experience has been humbling, eye-opening, engaging, inspiring, and educating.

What is Rising Leadership Foundation about, and what inspired you to start it?

Rising Leadership Foundation was inspired by the aphorism - Rising Tides lift all boats’. Traveling around t h e g l o b e a l l ow e d m e t o visit countries with little or no natural resources and see how they successfully developed their economy.

On the other hand, I also got the opportunity to see countries with an abundance of resources struggling to develop.

RLF was created to help third world countries bridge the gap. I believe that if the human capital in these countries is trained and mentored, the rate of development in their country will improve.

How has RLF impacted the African immigrant community in the Diaspora?

RLF’s modus operand is to sharpen leadership narratives using technology and mentoring. It does not focus on the current leadership disposition because there’s little that can be done to change it.

being plagued will become non-existent.

How is your organisation helping to address those concerns?

One major goal of RLF is to help develop and create a platform to understand what service is all about.

The idea of servicing a cause that is greater than oneself is strange in certain corridors.

RLF wholeheartedly believes that through service, ideologies plaguing leadership and governance in Africa can be addressed. There is no curriculum to train or teach service, it is only done through actions and we have been proactive enough to make sure that service is entrenched in all our activities.

Adeleke

We strongly believe that we can shape the leadership of the future.

The foundation is currently engaging African Immigrant Communities in the US on global opportunities. We do this by exposing them to their counterparts and international organisations that are excelling globally. This way they are inspired to do more for their home communities, and the world at large. Teenagers and youths in the US believe that they don’t need to know what their counterparts are doing. This is a misguided ideology.

The foundation is providing a hub where technology and ideas are fused to create solutions, by doing this, we are positioning the African immigrant to share ideas with their global counterparts. With the hub, young leaders will use technology to tackle local and global issues. The hub is a safe place for African teenagers all around America to meet and discuss their communal issues. RLF will also provide them with the opportunity to be paired with a mentor in relevant industries.

African immigrants, or anything of immigrant origin, have been attached to negative narratives. I believe that we need to remember that a high percentage of American industries were created by immigrants and immigrants contribute greatly to the economy of the US. RLF will continue to reinforce these

narratives and champion the new narrative for the immigrant community.

Research shows that your w o r k s h o p l o c a t i o n s a re only in the US. What plans do you have to connect with Ni geri an s th rou gh you r training?

Our plans are not only for the US. We have detailed plans to engage and develop young African leaders via fellowship programs. We also have leadership exchange p rograms among African young leaders and global leaders. Additionally, we plan to create a mentorship platform for young African leaders to engage mentors globally. This, we believe will foster the necessary energy to bridge the leadership and governance gaps.

What are the most pressing concerns you have about governance in Nigeria, and by extension, Africa?

From my perspective, the most pressing concern about governance in Nigeria and Africa is the collective understanding of service. What does it mean to serve? Can better governance be created through service? I believe that the core competency of African leadership and governance is deeply rooted in the idea of service. If the continent can get that right, every other aspect of leadership and governance that is

As a profound and dynamic leader, what is your take about leadership in Nigeria?

I believe that Nigeria sees leadership development as an afterthought. There is no deliberate action towards developing leadership frameworks to foster posterity and groom young leaders. Until the country produces progressive leaders, it cannot make the needed transition from its current disposition to a place of competitive advantage.

Are there any other projects you are working on and why should we look forward to them?

We are partnering with several non-profit organisations in Africa that are aligned with our values and vision.

We b e l i ev e t h a t t h ro u g h deliberate collaborations we can reach more communities.

RLF will add two programmes next year- Solve It, and the African Youth Symposium. ‘Solve It’ is a programme that brings young Africans in the Diaspora together to solve certain communal issues. We are confident that this will foster growth and help these young leaders contribute their quota to their local community’s development.

RLF will also be developing a framework symposium where young African leaders can discuss, and proffer solutions to issues plaguing their country, the continent, and the world at large.

Ibadan schools demolition: Oyo govt to investigate, prosecute offenders REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

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yo State government has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the illegal demolition of classrooms in two state-owned primary schools within Ibadan metropolis.

Information had reached the Government early on Thursday to the effect that some unknown individuals in Egbeda and Ona-Ara Local Government Areas of the State illegally entered the premises of two primary schools and demolished blocks of classrooms.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the governor had promised to prosecute the perpetrators.

The statement indicated that some individuals had unlawfully entered the premises of the Community Primary School, Ayepe, in Egbeda Local Government Area and Methodist Primary School, Gangansi in Ona-Ara Local Government Area, where they demolished blocks of classroom without authorisation.

The Government described the act as illegal, untoward and totally condemnable, adding that it would not sit down and watch saboteurs destroy public properties for whatever reasons.

According to the statement, the individuals who destroyed the classrooms got no approval from the State Universal Basic Education Board, which holds the schools in trust for the Government and the people.

“While the State Government is desirous of working with goodspirited members of the society in managing public infrastructure, the administration will not condone lawlessness and failure to adhere to due process,” the statement read.

The statement added: “The Government frowns on the demolition of blocks of classrooms at the Community Primary School, Ayepe and Methodist Primary School, Gangansi in Egbeda and Ona-Ara Local Government Areas respectively by some hoodlums purportedly on the order of a National Assembly member from the state.

“The act, to say the least, is untoward, illegal and totally condemnable. No one, no matter how highly placed, is allowed to unlawfully enter a public school premises and demolish buildings under whatever guise without approval from Government.

“We see this as an act of provocation and lawlessness and as a Government; we will not sit down and watch some lawless individuals have their ways in sabotaging Government by destroying school properties or embarking on renovations of public property using lawless means simply for political showmanship.

“Governor Seyi Makinde has mandated the relevant security agencies to commence investigation into the circumstances that led to the demolition of the classrooms in the two aforementioned schools.

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Sunday 19 January 2020

Life&Living

Top beauty trends for 2020

T

Ifeoma Okeke

he New Year has started and we want to look better than ever, so it’s time to dig into what 2020 has in store for us. Just like every other year, there are major beauty trends for 2020. Take them in, and you can have a fresh and beautiful start to the year.

From makeup to skincare, and everything in between, 2020 has plenty of new things to offer in the beauty department.

Gemstone eyes aka ‘Euphoria’ sparkle You can blame it on the hit HBO show ‘Euphoria.’ In any case, sparkly eyes are a thing in 2020.

Creative braids Who said braids are boring? Not in 2020, they’re not! Get creative with your braids this year.

Crazy lashes Go wild with false lashes in 2020.

Everything goes!

Shine From translucent gloss to slickeddown hairstyles, 2020 is the year to shine!

Pastel eye shadow Pastel shades are in for 2020.

Think lemon, peach, powder blue, or lilac, for instance.

Micro French manicure Yes, they’re back! The difference is that this year the tips are shorter and thinner, and painted on the nails (rather than adding acrylics).

Knotted headbands Yes, 2020 will see the return of this classic. There are plenty of choices and they’re quite cheap, so you can try different options.

Red smokey eye Expect to see more people rocking this look in 2020.

Hair clips This old school accessory is back in 2020. From adorned bobby pins to crystal and pearl clips, there’s plenty to choose from.

Twilighting No, this has nothing to do with vampires. This is a hair-coloring

technique for brunettes who want a touch of warmth and gold in their hair.

Draped blush Pink, preferably! Yes, an ‘80sinspired sweep of blush is preferred to a heavy bronze tone.

Touches of neon Instead of going full-on with neon makeup, take a minimalist approach.

Add a touch to the corner of your eyes, for example.

Coloured mascara Indeed, 2020 is the year to experiment with your lashes. Try some brightly coloured mascara.

Subtle lips Instead of going with bold-colored lipsticks, opt for lip stains in 2020.

Crop hair From grown-out pixies to bobs, crops have never been cooler.

Pearl-adorned braids Buy some stick-on pearls and have fun adorning your braids with them.

Crystal nails While you might not be able to afford Swarovski crystal nails, you can always try applying some chunky glitter polish at home.

Anti-pollution skincare The demand for skincare products with anti-pollution properties will grow in 2020. These might potentially become as important as sunscreen.

Microbiome skincare We all have different bacteria on our skin. Personalized skincare (taking this information into account) is the future, and it is estimated to grow in 2020.

Mature skincare Also in 2020, we’ll be seeing new skincare products for women over 45 arriving on the shelves. Many brands are investing in Generation X women.

Blue beauty Solid beauty products are growing in 2020, and so are products with less polluting ingredients for the oceans.

Structured brows In 2020, you want your eyebrows to look structured and strong.

It’s all about the jaw Juvederm Volux might be the next big thing this year. This filler can restore and create volume in the chin and jaw area.

Aromachology Odors have an impact on our feelings and emotions. Scents are being developed based on this and are likely to grow in 2020.

Why it’s important to understand your partner’s love language Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson

W

henever people meet a couple that have lasted more than 10 or 20 years in marriage, the first question they tend to ask is, “what’s the secret to your lasting marriage”?

Well, according to many marriage councilors and relationship experts, the only secret to keeping a healthy and happy marriage or relationship is to really understand the ‘Love Language’ of your significant other by knowing exactly what ticks their boxes.

There are times when you feel like you and your partner are not on the same page even though you love each other. The most common issue in any relationship is the communication barrier. Everyone experiences love differently and it is very easy to miss the mark when it comes to showing your partner that you really care, especially when your partner does not understand or appreciate your communication method.

So what are the love languages, and how would I know which best suits my partner? You may ask. Ac-

cording to Gary Chapman, the author of 5 Love Languages series, there are five ways we express and experience love (he calls them “love languages”): Gift Giving, Quality Time, Physical Touch, Acts of Service (Devotion), and Words of Affirmation. We all “speak” one of them most fluently in each of our relationships - especially in a marriage.

• Words of affirmation: Ijeoma Okeke, a 23 years old Law graduate says she loves it when her boyfriend reassures her of his love for her by actually telling her. “I like it when he tells me that I’m beautiful, when he tells me how much he loves me and wants me to be his wife. However, some men do not usually like to be expressive by saying mushy things,” she told BDSunday.

Here, we can see that Ijeoma’s primary love language is ‘words of affirmation’.

Appreciation and love for her are best affirmed through words from her partner.

• Receiving gifts: A lot of people usually mistake this love language on materialism; the receiver of the gifts thrives on the love, thoughtfulness and effort behind the gift. Women or men who speak this language fell more prized and cared for when they

are given the perfect gift and no matter how much you tell them that you love them, giving a gift would be more affirmative and acceptable to them.

• Act of service: If this is your partner’s love language, then nothing speaks louder and truer than nice and thoughtful acts of service. Things like making them breakfast in bed, helping out with house chores or doing something that you typically wouldn’t do,

would make them fell super special.

• Quality time: This is by far, the most common love language for both men and women. Nothing says “I love you” than full, undivided attention and time together with your lover.

For some people, quality time is their primary love language and if they don’t get that from their partner, then they don’t feel loved. If your husband or wife’s love language is quality time,

then try as much as possible to give it. Spend more time cuddling up in bed, gisting, sitting to watch a movie together and just being around and focusing on your partner.

• Physical touch: A person whose primary language is physical touch is, not surprisingly, very touchy. Hugs, pats on the back, holding hands, and thoughtful touches on the arm, shoulder, or face – they can all be ways to show excitement, concern, care, and love. Just the physical act of a kind and warm touch lowers one’s blood pressure and releases the “love hormone,” oxytocin. And it goes both ways, those that give hugs for example, also have a similar physiological reaction. Touching is also a key factor to a lasting relationship.

In a relationship, you need to constantly study your significant other to identify his or her love language or languages, as individuals may speak more than one love language. Love language can also change depending on circumstances in life.

Yo u a n d y o u r p a r t n e r c a n take a short quiz on https:// www.5lovelanguages.com/ to identify your love languages and work on building an everlasting marriage.

Sunday 19 January 2020

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The Sunday Magazine

Fireworks over ‘Amotekun’: FG Vs South West- who blinks first?

P

REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan recisely on January 9, this year, the muchtalked about Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN) code-named ‘Amotekun’ was launched by six governors of the South West geo-political zone.

The birth place was Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

The security network, which will be piloted by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission is to tackle the problem of insecurity within the region.

Ta g g e d ‘ O p e r a t i o n Amotekun’; it is expected to complement the efforts of the regular police force in the zone to combat kidnapping, armed robbery, banditry, herdsmen and farmers contentions, among others.

The establishment of the outfit was as a result of failure of the current security system to bring the needed safety of lives and property.

Before this time, there were cases of killings, kidnapping, raping and other life-threatening incidents that made the roads and forests unsafe for residents and especially those traveling within the zone.

Nigerians will not forget in a hurry in 2015 with the kidnap of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Olu Falae, by herdsmen in his farm in Akure, Ondo State.

Falae was lucky to have regained his freedom after parting with N5 million, but an aide of his was killed and his body

dismembered. And many have been kidnapped, terrorised and also killed either on the highway, in the forest or even in their residences.

Funke Olakunrin, daughter of the national leader of pan Yoruba Social-political organisation, Afenifere, Reuben Fasoranti was brutally murdered at Kajola, along Ore-Shagamu Expressway.

Her killers are yet to be found while the investigations into the incident by the police is still ongoing. The convoy of Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, in June, last year, was attacked by bandits.

Nigerians would also recall the sad tales of kidnapping and wanton killing which engulfed the Akure–Ibadan expressway, the Ore-Benin Expressway and the Owo-Akoko axis.

Ekiti State also witnessed gruesome incidences of kidnapping, armed robberies and ritual murders.

Also, suspected killer herdsmen on Akure-Ilesa Expressway, Otan-Ile and Imesi in Obokun, Osun State, kidnapped many travelers. It took the efforts of local hunters, vigilantes and O ’o d u a Pe o p l e ’s C o n g r e s s (OPC) members and later the

police and State Security Service to secure freedom of less than half of the passengers.

Likewise, in May, a Professor of Medicine at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Olayinka Adegbehingbe, was abducted on the Ibadan-Ife Expressway. The surgeon said he paid a ransom of over N5million to regain his freedom.

Dayo Adewole, son of former minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, was kidnapped in his farm in Iroko village near Fiditi in Afijio Local Government Area of Oyo State in June last year; he was released after paying an undisclosed ransom.

Similarly, three people traveling between Lagos and Ibadan suffered the same fate in July, last

“

Nigerians will not forget in a hurry in 2015 with the kidnap of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Olu Falae, by herdsmen in his farm

year. It took days for them to regain their freedom, among other numerous incidents of inhuman activities of kidnappers and Fulani herdsmen in the region.

This informed decision by the governors of the Southwest states to create operation ‘Amotekun’.

Before the eventual launch of the outfit, a regional security summit had been held in Ibadan in June 2019. It was the decision at the meeting that gave rise to ‘Amotekun.’.

The six governors from the zone; Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos) and Kayode Fayemi ((Ekiti) and Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), at the June 2019 meeting had agreed to establish Amotekun, aimed at strengthening the security situation in the six states of the region.

Pre-and-post launch efforts to frustrate ‘Amotekun’ Before the launch, there were alleged sinister moves against the actualisation of the security network.

There were oppositions from powerful quarters that mounted pressure on the Federal Government and police authorities to stop it.

A day before the launch, there were rumours that Southwest governors had been summoned to brief the Presidency on the operations of the security outfit which then sent jitters down the spines of some people.

But, Seye Oyeleye, director-general, DAWN Commis-

Continues on page 22

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Sunday 19 January 2020

The Sunday Magazine

Governor Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti State

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor Dapo Abiodun, Ogun State

Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, Osun State

Fireworks over ‘Amotekun’: FG Vs South West- who blinks first?

Continued from page 21 sion, assured that the launch of Amotekun would take off as scheduled as local security personnel such as O’odua People’s Congress (OPC), local vigilance groups and security experts had already been mobilised in each state to work with the conventional security agencies to combat security lapses in the Southwest region.

The same scenario however, played out on Tuesday when the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami declared the outfit as illegal.

In a statement by his media aide, Umar Gwandu, the minister said he was not consulted on the matter, adding that if he had been consulted, proper information and guidance would have been offered to preserve Nigeria’s defence and corporate entity at all times.

“The Federal Republic of Nigeria is a sovereign entity and is governed by laws meant to sustain its corporate existence as a constitutional democracy.

“It is a federation of states, but with the Federal Government superintending over matters of national interests. The division of executive and legislative authority between the federal and state governments has been clearly defined by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).

“It is against the same background that matters relating to the peace, order and good government of the federation and in particular, the defence of the country, are enshrined in the Exclusive Legislative List.”

The letter added that the Second Schedule in Item 17 deals with defence, saying this is a matter that is within the exclusive operational competence of the Federal of Government.

Malami further said that according to schedule, no other authority at the state level, whether the executive or legislature has the legal authority over defence.

According to him, “The setting up of the paramilitary organisation called ‘Amotekun’ is illegal and runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian law.

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) has established the Army, Navy and Air Force, including the police and other numerous paramilitary organisations for the purpose of the defence of Nigeria.

“As a consequence of this, no state government, whether singly or in a group, has the legal right and competence to establish any form of organisation or agency for the defence of Nigeria or any of its constituent parts.

“This is sanctioned by the provision of Item 45 of the Second Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) authorising the police and other Federal Government security services established by law to maintain law and order.”

Malami further said that the law would take its natural course in relation to excesses associ-

Governor Seyi Makinde, Oyo State

ated with organisation, administration and participation in ‘Amotekun’ or continuous association with it as an association.

Afenifere urges aggrieved parties to go to court Reacting to the pronouncement of the attorney-general, Olawale Oshun, chairman of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), has described as “rubbish” Mal-

ami’s statement.

While challenging Malami to declare Hisbah Corps, (a religious police force responsible for the enforcement of Sharia) and Civilian Joint Task Force among others in the Northeast illegal, Oshun said: “He is talking arrant nonsense.”

According to him, “Let him declare Hisbah police in the 10 Northern states illegal and also let him declare illegal the Civilian Joint Task Force in the Northeast; those are not Nigerian police institutions and they are not Nigerian security institutions but they were created because there is a need.”

Urging the governors of the Southwest to go ahead with the implementation of the ‘Amotekun’, he noted that it was created because there is a need for it.

Gani Adams blows hot Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba-

“

It is against the same background that matters relating to the peace, order and good government of the federation and in particular, the defence of the country, are enshrined in the Exclusive Legislative List

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, Ondo State

land, Gani Adams has written an open letter to Malami, saying: “I find it disturbing your statement of Tuesday, January 14, 2020, declaring the security initiative of South-West governors, ‘Amotekun’, as illegal. You also threatened that the full course of the law will be applied to anybody promoting the Amotekun security initiative. Maybe, you

have forgotten. I need to remind you that you are the AttorneyGeneral of the country, not a section of the country.

“So, your outburst against the governors who were elected, not selected or appointed is against the spirit of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The right to life is universal and no government can legislate against that.

I don’t need to bother you about killings, kidnappings, banditry and other criminal vices in the South-West recently.”

‘Amotekun’ not a regional police – Fayemi, others While dispelling the rumours making the round that the outfit is a regional police, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), said Amotekun was neither an alternative to any of the conventional security agencies in the country nor a state police. Fayemi said that the Southwest governors were not out to undermine the integrity and sovereignty of Nigeria but were providing the Yoruba people with a “confidence-building strategy” to tackle crime and criminality in the sub region.

“Amotekun is nothing but a confidence-building strategy for our people in the western zone.

When those elements that are going to work in the joint task force with the mainstream security agencies undertake this assignment, they are going to do it with the knowledge of the terrain, language and culture of the community they are going to work,” the Ekiti State governor said.

According to him, “Amotekun is not a duplication neither is it a replacement for the Nigeria Police Force. Amotekun is a complement that gives our people the confidence that they are being looked after by the people they elected into office.

We do not want this to create fear in the mind of anyone. We are not creating a regional police force. We are not oblivious of the steps we need to follow in forming state police. We are law-abiding citizens of Nigeria.

We know that will require a constitutional amendment and we are not there yet.”

Fayemi emphasised that “Amotekun is nothing but a community policing response to a problem that our people would like to put an end to. But pending the time that the community policing strategy being put together by the Nigeria Police comes to fruition, it is clearly important

Continued from page 23

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23

The Sunday Magazine Continued from page 22 that we give our people a confidence boosting strategy.”

The governor, who commended the role played by the mainstream security agencies in tackling kidnapping and banditry in the zone, noted that Amotekun would reduce the burden on the agencies which he described as “overstretched”.

“We are daily assaulted by the spate of kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery across the length and breadth of the South West.

We obviously sought succour in all the right places and the mainstream security tried their best in arresting the security situation. It was in the context of this development that we lost the daughter of our leader in Afenifere, Pa Fasoranti,” he pointed out.

Fayemi pointed out that as elected leaders of various States, the primary responsibility according to Section (14)2 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, is the security and welfare of our citizens and “that’s what informed the coming together of my colleagues and I to fashion a way that we can utilise to complement the work of our mainstream security agencies that are quite overstretched in their efforts to curb the menace that has afflicted not just our zone, but the entire country at the time.”

On his part, the Chairman of the South West Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu said that governors in the zone were committed, in all ramifications, to the ideals that will make the country stronger and more united, and not to divide it.

He added that the establishment of Amotekun was without prejudice to the expectations of patriotic discharge of our mandates as provided in our laws, noting that the region is concerned with the security of its people and property.

Akeredolu said: “It is appropriate for me at this juncture, to state that the Southwest states of the Federation believe in the unity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its indissoluble sovereignty. We are committed, in all ramifications, to the ideals that will make the country stronger and more united.

“The various nation-states within the Federation are diverse, yet almost all of us agree that our strength is in our unity.

Consequently, we shall continue to support the Federal Government, under the able and indefatigable leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, in its avowed commitment and determination to take the country to the next level. Let me on this note thank DAWN Commission for the wonderful job done in crafting the operational framework for Amotekun.

“The Commission has taken care of all grey areas that could cause friction in the operations of the personnel that will be deployed for the programme.

As a matter of fact, the Nigeria Police will oversee and moderate the activities of Amotekun, thus making its operation conform to the acceptable standards.

Amotekun is the Yoruba name for the Leopard. It is not the Tiger, Ekun. It is also important that I allay the fears of all those who have expressed misgivings as regards the quality of the personnel to be recruited to serve in the outfit. There is an adequate recruitment mechanism for the exercise. The conventional security agencies will participate, actively, in profiling the recruits.

“Nobody with questionable character will participate in the programme. We will make it difficult for undesirable elements to compound the challenges being encountered. Proper background checks will be carried out on personnel to be recruited while the needed registration/ identification of such personnel will be done to ensure accountability. Let me seize this oppor-

tunity to once again appreciate the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police, State Security Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other security agencies for their unrelenting efforts in combating the various crimes threatening peace and security in the entire country.

In his remarks, Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo State, said” “Traditionally, we have to scare the fear, so the fear can be afraid as well. In Yorba adage they said, we have to conquer fear. Six months ago, we the six governors of the Southwest zone met, to discuss on the way forward on the level of the security of our states.

“We demanded that we set up a regional security outfit that will complement the mainstream security outfit we have in Nigeria, so as to assure we have a well robust security outfit in our states.

Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola who was represented

Otunba Gani Adams, Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland

by his Deputy, Benedict Alabi, had thanked the service chiefs for their support in tackling insecurity in the region.

He assured that Amotekun would work in collaboration with all security agencies said “this is in further fulfilling of our promises to our people, for providing a security of lives and properties for our people especially in our region.

“Welfare of our people is very important to us, and after we have brainstormed with ourselves, we decided to come up with this plan. Amotekun is the joint security outfit for our people in the South west region, and Amotekun is nothing but to protect everything in South west region.”

The Royal blessing On the day it was launched, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, had said: “This is not unlikely in our races; we the traditional rulers are in support of the Amotekun, we have to support our governors to achieve success on this project; we all know what happened in Oyo Town of recent and I can say that Baba Alaafin absence here can be linked to that fire incident.

But I can tell you that Baba is in support of this project.”

Oba Ogunwusi said that the governors in the region have done their best and that it was left for the personnel and the citizens of the region to work together for the success of the security outfit.

He added that all the traditional rulers in the region were in support of the new security outfit.

“All the traditional rulers are in support. The success of this security outfit will be of benefit to the present generation and the generation yet unborn,” he said.

Our farmers can now go to farm without fear - Akintoye Banji Akintoye, a foremost historian and Yoruba leader, said: “We the Yorubas are very grateful for the fact that our governor’s can come together irrespective of their differences to find a way forward to our security issues. They have fulfilled

one of their promises, and this one is a serious issue, because we all know that security issue is a vital issue.

“Our farmers can no longer go to farm anymore, because of the fear of some attack from some people, we cannot just sit and continue to watch this event going on without doing nothing; we cannot continue to watch with our hands fold, when this menace of day kidnapping, rubbing us from our farm lands, started, it’s not that we cannot do the needful then, but we are people of impeccable character and we did not fight anybody but we waited for our leaders to act on our behalf and now you can all see what has happened.

Today, we are launching the Amotekun Security outfit for our dear region and I think, our governors deserve kudos for this achievement.”

Makinde replies Malami In the wake of the attorneygeneral’s pronouncement, Governor Makinde wondered how the AGF would just wake up in the mid of sleep and declared Operation ‘Amotekun’ as illegal and unconstitutional.

“My personal position is that you actually don’t run a government on the social media. If I see a letter or if I get a call from the AGF telling me what you (journalists) just said then it will be a different type of reaction.

“I have been reading just like you (journalists) read on the social media. I haven’t seen anything official to that effect.

“Besides, I don’t think for a country like Nigeria, the AGF will just wake up and make his own laws. He may interpret and advise the President if there are legal issues but I haven’t seen anything that gives that power to the AGF to make such declaration.

“This outfit is complimentary to the efforts of the Nigeria Police and other Security agencies in fighting insecurity in the Southwest region.”

Primate Ayodele spiritualises ‘Amotekun’ Like many things Nigerian, spiritual angles are always brought to bear on every issue. The Founder and Spiritual Leader at INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Babatunde Ayodele, was said to have spiritualised the ‘Amotekun’ outfit, warning the governors of South West that they were embarking on a risky venture.

Ayodele, who was quoted to have released the warning in his message at a church service in Lagos, said the governors have set the tone for those who would exploit their good intention for fanatical purposes.

“Southwest governors are creating internal terrorists. The governors must be careful,” Ayodele cautioned, “so that Amotekun does not become another terror group in the Southwest region through those who might want to use it for purposes other than solving people’s security challenges.”

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Sunday 19 January 2020

Arts Joana Choumali; Ivorian photographer, looks back at Bassam with pictures

M

OBINNA EMELIKE

arch 13, 2016 was a day most peace-loving Ivorian people will not forget in a hurry, especially Joana Choumali, a female photographer of international acclaim.

That day, terrorists attacked Grand-Bassam, a peaceful beach town in Côte d’Ivoire, leaving behind scores of victims, unfulfilled dreams and sadness for family members and the country at large.

Speaking of Bassam, she says, “It is my refuge, the place I go to unwind and to be by myself”. Truly, at one hour drive from Abidjan, Bassam is a place full of history, a quiet and peaceful little town.

“Bassam reminds me of insouciance, all these childhood Sunday afternoons I used to spend with my loved ones on this same beach where the attacks took place”, she says further.

Rather than dismiss her feelings after the attacks with the popular saying, “Ça va aller” (It will be OK), she took to her photography; her calling and chose to explore them via the gesture of slowly stitching, sometimes over several months.

With the unique photographs taken three weeks after the attacks at Bassam, Choumali instinctively turns to embroidery as a way to process the trauma of the event, instead of following other helpless citizens to continue saying, “Ça va aller” (It will be OK).

The photographs truly present the attacks in another perspective because of the unique style Choumal employs, the great presentation and the sustained message they pass across to the viewers.

Again, the photographs were richly worked and reflect not only the artist’s physical touch but also her emotional evolution as she uses the medium to present a crucial moment of national grief and even for herself.

Joana Choumali

The application of embroidery in processing and presenting the situation offer her another level to freely express her feelings and represent critical issue like terrorists attack.

Explaining the stress of getting the photographs, she says, “The pictures were shot with my iphone, three weeks after the terrorist attacks. I chose to use my iphone instead of my DSLR camera to capture people discreetly. They do not know that they are photographed, so their attitude is natural. I took the pictures as if I was doing a scan of the city”.

As well, she needs the pictures in order to compare the town before

A work from the Ça va aller series

and after the attacks as the atmosphere of the little town changed after the attacks with sadness that enveloped everywhere. The seeming melancholy that invaded the town is want she wants to capture and she did.

What baffles her is that most of the pictures show empty places, and people by themselves, walking in the streets or just standing, sitting alone, lost in their thoughts, yet many are saying, “ça va aller” that “it will be ok” even for situation that is obviously not going to be ok.

One bad thing about the attacks is that it reopens the mental wounds left by the post electoral war of 2011.

Bearing that in mind, Choumali set out to present each stitch in her photograph as a way to recover, to lie down the emotions, the loneliness, and mixed feelings she feels.

“The act of adding colorful stitches on the pictures had a soothing effect on me, like a meditation.

Embroidery was an act of hope, as well”, she says.

In November 2019, Choumali becomes the first African photographer to scoop the Prix Pictet prize for Ça va aller (it will be ok), her series of embroidered photographs responding to the trauma of terrorist attacks in Bassam, Ivory Coast in 2016.

The works were truly breathtaking and display of her creative ingenuity. She prints the photographs on to canvas before embroidering stitches directly on to the surface, combining photographic imagery with fabric to create conceptual portraits.

In appreciative of the sheer creativity of the works, the judges of Prix Pictet prize describe her work as carefully calibrated, while using it as a response to terrorist atrocities, for the judges, is unanimous.

Sir David King, the former UK government chief scientific adviser, who chaired the jury, says Choumali’s work “stood out as a brilliantly original meditation on the ability of the human spirit to wrest hope and resilience from even the most traumatic events”.

On the rationale for the seeming peace advocacy with photography, she says, “In Côte d’Ivoire, people hardly talk about their feelings, and each conversation is quickly shortened by a resigned ‘ça va aller’”. For her, the work is a way to address the way Ivorian people deal with mental health.

In 2020, the award-winning artist, who uses photography to explore her own identity, is hoping to take on other issues affecting her people, participate in residences, more exhibitions among others in and outside the African continent.

Dear Affy premieres next month with plot twist OBINNA EMELIKE

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ovie lovers across the country will be celebrating valentine season with the premiere of Dear Affy, a romantic comedy with a super plot twist.

In the new movie that seems so unprecedented, EMS Agency is bringing together eclectic of stars that have not been seen in a long time in Nollywood.

Offering stellar performances in the new movie are superstars such as: Hafiz Oyetoro, Jide Kosoko,

Toyin Abraham, Williams Uchemba, Kehinde Bankole, Mawuli Gavor, Charles Inojie, Chiwetalu Agu, Chinedu Ikedieze, Faithia Williams, Bimbo Ademoye, Bimbo Akintola and others.

The movie is a joint production between 007 Global, Aul Media Studios, Track and Dolly Productions, Miss Tola Elatuyi and Inside Life Studios.

It is directed by Samuel Olatunji (Bigsam), a celebrated media entrepreneur who executive produced Ghost and The Tout and Seven And A Half Dates. Bigsam has a certificate in Film Making, Film Editing and has spearheaded the marketing of most of the successful Nollywood movies

Teni, set to make her debut in Dear Affy

all means just few weeks to his wedding. All hell was let loose when the detail of his affair became subject of headline for the media, plot turns out to be a race of redemption for the fiancé, the man, the billionaire and their friends and family.

Speaking on the new movie, Samuel Olatunji, the director, said, “Dear Affy is an ambitious project.

We want to tell a different kind of Nollywood story; we want to be very professional and excellent in our doing. We want to provide 100 percent entertainment and unpredictable story at the cinema and we have cast of who-is-who that can deliver

the perfect performance. We are not stopping there, we have dreams, we have ambitions, we believe Nigeria is a place where dreams are possible.

“We believe Dear Affy will be the first Nollywood movie to hit N500 million at the box office. We have had people tell us it was an impossible dream because of the gigantic nature of the dream but that will not stop us because the guys from Hollywood do not have two heads and we believe in this dream”.

Dear Affy will be released in cinemas across the country on February 2, 2020 and will be distributed by Filmhouse Cinemas.

Sunday 19 January 2020

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Arts African art on spotlight at 1-54 fair in Marrakech

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OBINNA EMELIKE he 2020 edition of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in Marrakech will welcome 20 leading galleries from 10 countries including Belgium, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

A leading international art fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and the African diaspora, the fair is in its third edition and will take place at La Mamounia, from February 22-23, 2020 with VIP and press previews scheduled to hold on February 20 and 21, 2020.

It was always important for Touria El Glaoui, founding director, to initiate 1-54 on the African continent, and in February 2018, the fair was successfully launched in Marrakech. This has allowed the fair to broaden its reach and further diversify its portfolio of exhibiting and promoting gallerists, as well as, artists who are connected to Africa, adding to the global network 1-54 has cultivated over the past seven years. Marrakech is home to one of the continent’s most dynamic arts scenes and 1-54 Marrakech aims to build on the city’s creative energy fostered by its artists, galleries and institutions.

1-54 brings together a diverse set of perspectives from around the world

and has carefully selected leading galleries from 10 countries, with more than half of the exhibitors being from Africa. The exhibitors include: Afronova Gallery (Cape Town, South Africa), Eclectica Contemporary (Cape Town, South Africa), galerie 127 (Marrakech, Morocco), Galerie Cécile Fakhoury (Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and Dakar, Senegal), Goodman Gallery (Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa and London, UK), GVCC (Casablanca, Morocco), L’Atelier 21 (Casablanca, Morocco), Loft Art Gallery (Casablanca, Morocco), LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery (Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire), Mashrabia

Gallery of Contemporary Art (Cairo, Egypt), So Art Gallery (Casablanca, Morocco), UBUNTU art gallery (Cairo, Egypt), VOICE gallery (Marrakech, Morocco) and WHATIFTHEWORLD (Cape Town, South Africa).

Also, 10 galleries will participate in 1-54 Marrakech for the first time, including: Afikaris (Paris, France), Afronova Gallery (Cape Town, South Africa), Eclectica Contemporary (Cape Town, South Africa), galerie 127 (Marrakech, Morocco), GVCC (Casablanca, Morocco), Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art (Cairo, Egypt), Nil Gallery (Paris, France), So Art Gallery (Casablanca, Morocco), UBUN-

Elisabeth Efua Sutherland presents ‘aya’ at Gallery 1957

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lisabeth Efua Sutherland, a contemporary Ghanaian artist, is presenting ‘aya’, her debut solo exhibition at Gallery 1957. The exhibition, which opened on January 18, 2020 will run until February

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15, 2020 and will honour rites of reflection, endurance, and meditation.

Nestled in a grove of ferns and selected plants, 12 headsntiri- serve as memoriam, or maybe as witness - sculpted portraits through which

Sutherland echoes the tradition of Akan female potters, who in precolonial times cast terracotta heads to commemorate the deceased.

Birthed from the same master moulds, each head is given a distinct identity by cracking, carving and hand marking. Sutherland crafts these busts from layers of ayilo- white clay, plaster, white cement, and red earth, merging and manipulating industrial and natural material in the alchemical process of casting.

The relationship between earth, humanity, and heritage frames the exhibition, exploring how identity and legacy could be shaped by our environment, both spiritually and physically. The earth is with us, and of us, but extends beyond us. Through text and texture, Sutherland offers a reflection on how she makes sense of our relationship with the earth through ritual figures, identity, religion, and nature.

TU Art Gallery (Cairo, Egypt) and WHATIFTHEWORLD (Cape Town, South Africa).

The fair will showcase the work of more than 70 artists, both emerging and established, working in a wide variety of mediums and from a range of geographical locations comprising 20 countries: Angola, Belgium, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, France, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Togo and the United States.

1-54 Marrakech will be accompanied by 1-54 Forum, the fair’s extensive talks and

events programme, which will include artist talks and panel discussions with international curators, artists and cultural producers, to be held at La Mamounia, ESAV and Le 18 in parallel to the fair. For the 2020 Marrakech edition, 1-54 Forum will be curated for the first time by independent art space, The Showroom, London.

The project will be led by The Showroom’s curatorial team and takes its methodology from the organisation’s programme of engagement with its local north-west London community, Communal Knowledge. Entitled On focus: Communal Knowledge at Large, 1-54 Forum will explore the potential

of that methodology to be translated to other contexts.

Nurtured by the insightful contributions of local and international agents, 1-54 Forum will become a platform to interrogate multiple practices of socially engaged art, leading to the production of a new roadmap of organisational and institutional collective methodologies originated by this encounter between artists, activists, institutions and community organisers.

1-54 will also present special projects and a wide programme of bespoke events in partnership with Musée d’Art Contemporain Africain Al Madeen (MACAAL), Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech, Montresso Art Foundation, Le 18, Comptoir des Mines Galerie and Institut Français, amongst others.

Touria El Glaoui, founding director of 1-54, commented: “We are thrilled to be returning to Marrakech for the third year with such a strong line-up of new galleries and a record number from across the African continent. It’s an exciting moment to contribute even further to the market by continuing to provide a platform for international visibility, giving artists the opportunity to meet collectors, curators and other artists on their home soil. We look forward to forming deeper connections to this culturally rich city and giving visitors a great insight into its thriving art scene.”

Ultimate Love, new reality TV show, premieres February 9 on DStv, GOtv

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eality television in Nigeria is set to hit a whole new level as Ultimate Love, the brand new reality TV show from MultiChoice, premieres on February 9, 2010 on DStv and GOtv. The reality series follows the journey of single men and women living in isolated location in their quest to find life-long love and build a relationship as a couple that could culminate in marriage. They will be joined by a resident counsellor known as ‘Aunty’ who will assist them in finding the perfect partner and provide the necessary counselling sessions and support needed. The winning couple will be rewarded with a lavish traditional wedding ceremony and a fully furnished home if they commit to getting married.

For the maiden edition, a total of 16 strangers, comprising eight men and eight women

Scene from Lion Heart, which now trends on Netflix

will be live on television for 24 hours throughout the duration of the show as they participate in a series of locally inspired activities to test their compatibility as couples, with viewers voting off their least favorite couple every week.

The show presents a fresh new reality TV entertainment as viewers follow the progress of these individuals,

who have long searched for their love interest, jostle to find and potentially settle with the right partner.

Ultimate Love will be live and 24/7 on DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus, DStv Compact, DStv Confam and DStv Yanga packages on channel 198; and on GOtv Max and GOtv JOLLI packages on channel 29.

26 BDSUNDAY

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Sunday 19 January 2020

ExecutiveBookshelf With Chido Nwakanma • Reviews • News • Interview • List

My book world

Ifeoma Malo Reading is a religion - it is a culture; it is a science eet Ifeoma Malo, our distinguished guest and bibliophile •LL.B - Law - University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State • B.L. – Nigerian Law School – Lagos, Nigeria • MA – University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA • PGD – Public Policy – University of Massachusetts, Boston • LL.M - Masters in Law – Harvard Law School, Cambridge Massachusetts, USA • MBA – University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA • MSc – Information Technology – University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA • Certificate in Early Warning Systems – West Africa Network for Peace Accra, Ghana (Fall, 2000) • Certificate in Corporate Negotiations – Negotiation and Conflict Management Group – Lagos, Nigeria – (Fall, 2001) • Award - Certificate in Conflict Transformation – Initiatives for Peace – Caux, Switzerland (Summer, 2004) • Certificate in Multi-Party Negotiations and Conflict Resolution, Soliya Connect Group – New York, NY – (Spring, 2005) • Certificate in Cross-Cultural Facilitation – Consensus Building Institute – Boston, Massachusetts – (Fall, 2006) • Award - Certificate in Leadership – Private Investors for Africa Program, ALI – Ghana – (Fall, 2012) • Certificate in Leadership and Development – African Leadership Institute – Desmond Tutu Fellowship – (Fall 2013) • Award - Certificate in Leadership Development – Prestigious President Dwight Eisenhower Fellowship Program – Pennsylvania, - USA ( Spring 2015) S • Selected country experience: Nigeria, Ghana, United States, Switzerland • Languages: English, Igbo,

M

Yoruba • Key Qualifications: Over fifteen years of experience in Public Policy Development; Public Sector Programming and Advisor, Project Development; Program Implementation and Execution, Energy Regulations and Policies, Energy Access, Energy Sustainability, Energy Financing, Rural Development, Infrastructure, Governance and Regulatory Reforms, Monitoring and Evaluation, Human Rights, Investment Promotion, Conflict Resolution, Law and Development, Strengthening Civil Society, Political Economy, Gender Mainstreaming, Training, Capacity Building, Coaching.

The intimidating profile above belongs to the bibliophile who would discuss her book-reading preferences with us in the Executive Bookshelf in BusinessDay Sunday on November 17.

Pick a copy. Let’s engage.

1. What are you reading currently?

I have two books on my reading list currently. The first is “Burden of Service - Reminiscences of Nigeria’s Former Attorney General by Mohammed Bello Adoke and the second is Bad Blood - Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup -- by John Carreyrou.

2. What informs your choice of a book to read?

I read anything. I could be reading fiction one minute and an autobiography the next. It boils down to interest. I often find myself also re-reading classics or books that I read many years ago. I call those my comfort books.

3.

Which books would you rate as the Top Ten in your reading experience?

This is a difficult choice - considering the hundreds of thousands of books I have read over time. I could maybe try and rate them, but in no particular order because they are books I go back to often. If you ask me in a few years, it might have changed. a. Chinua Achebe- Things Fall Apart b. Chukwuemeka Ike - The Potter’s Wheel c. Flora Nwapa - One is Enough d. Flora Nwapa - Efuru e. Cyprian Ekwensi - Passport of Mallam Ilia f. William Golding - Lord of the Flies g. Malcolm Gladwell - Outliers h. Christopher Buckley - Losing Mum and Pop i. Ayan Rand - Atlas Shrugged j. John Tavis - The Vatican Diaries 4.

What books would you return to again and again?

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall

Apart and Flora Nwapa’s Efuru.

These are two books that fundamentally shaped my life.

5. Which books would you consider essential or critical in your profession or line of business? a.

Dr Spencer Johnson’s Who Moved My Cheese is a book that taught me to think of change and adaptability in a fastmoving world in a very different way.

Bruce Patton, Douglas b.

Stone and Sheila Heen - wrote a best seller called Difficult Conversations. This was a book I read for postgraduate school. It taught me how to frame conversations that could otherwise be best avoided.

6. Please suggest five essential books in your field and five general interest books that are must-reads for young people.

It is difficult for me to be prescriptive in any way and in the case of industry-specific books - it is almost impossible to say what would be essential in future so while I would like to pass on that or suggest tips from the answers to question seven below but I will say that I have enjoyed the following books lately: a. Frugal Innovation: How to do better with less - Navi Radjou and Jaideep Prabhu b. Cultural Intelligence - Julia Middleton c. Deep Thinking - Garry Kasparov d. Deep Work - Carl Newport e. The Coming Jobs War - Jim Clifton However, for general interest books, I would recommend that people read more about the history books that tell the stories of their countries or continents. a. This Present Darkness --by Stephen Ellis b. A swamp full of dollars -- by Micheal Peel c. Power, Politics and Death: A front-row account of Nigeria under the late President Yar’Adua --- by Segun Adeniyi d. Love does not win elections -- Ayisah Osori e. In Biafra, Africa Died -- Emefina Ezeani 7. Which three to five books would you recommend as a leader and manager? a. How to win friends and influence people --Dale Carnegie b. Getting to Yes -- William Ury and Roger Fisher c. How to Talk to Anyone -- Leil Lowndes d. Just Listen: Discover the Se-

The interview that broke Facebook

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eaders reacted most positively to the My Book World interview with Ifeoma Malo. On the Facebook wall of Mr Chido Nwakanma, editor of the Executive Bookshelf pages, it garnered more than 600 likes and com-

cret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone -- Mark Goulsten e. The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People -- Stephen Covey 8. Do you prefer hard copy or digital texts?

The smell of a new book, the texture of its cover or hardbound copy, the joy of leafing through pages- it never gets old. I am more inclined to analogue when it comes to books.

9. What are the significant differences and appeal of each in your view?

I think the differences are in the ease of accessibility. Depending on where in the world you reside - and with the ease of the Internet, digital texts are most convenient and certainly more comfortable to carry around.

You could also do a lot with digital texts these days - making it easier for people with disabilities to interact with books in ways they cannot do with hard copies alone. I think these are the major differences.

10. Any preference between fiction and non-fiction?

I have no preference. I would read either if they are well written.

11. Who are your all-time favourite authors? a. Christopher Buckley for political satire. b. Chinua Achebe - For African cultural renaissance. c. Flora Nwapa - For every time I need to deepen my understanding of womanity.

12. Do you do audiobooks?

What are your thoughts on audiobooks?

Yes, I do have quite a few audiobooks, but I always have a hard copy as a back-up. I like audiobooks for their accessibility and the fact that it is able to be more inclusive to a more diverse audience. I recently had a friend who told me about his parents, both professors, who are pushing

ments.

There were several draws.

Her resume was “intimidating” and a subject of much interest.

Then the answers she gave.

We run again the interview and the resume that drew so much attention.

80yrs old and have both lost their sight and the only way they have kept up with their little pleasure of reading is through audiobooks.

If there were no audiobooks, the only way they can read is either by learning braille in their twilight years or having someone read out to them. Audiobooks give them independence to read at their own pace and enjoy these books at their leisure.

13. Any preference between Nigerian or foreign authors in your choice of books?

Which ones predominate in your library and why?

I have an equal amount of both foreign and Nigerian authors.

Lately, I am investing heavily in African literature — both those written by African authors, or by authors who are writing about Africa.

14. Do you share the notion that Nigerians do not read?

What informs your response either way?

We, unfortunately, do not have the most robust reading culture in Nigeria. And this is reflected in our academic and educational system today. The advent of technology has made it worse as people are only able to read or digest information in bite sizes these days.

15. Any thoughts on reading generally and what it contributes to readers?

Reading is a religion - it is a culture; it is a science. It will teach you many things and help shape your values in many ways. It can help define your world and your understanding of your place in the world. It will take you places that gravity might never be able to. Our interactions with books help to shape our minds, feeds our souls and nourishes our bodies. I know that I am biased but readers I believe live a fuller and more fulfilled life.

BusinessDay, November 17, 2019 h t t p s : / / w w w. p r e s s r e a d e r. com/nigeria/business-day-nigeria/20191117/page/29

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BDSUNDAY 27

BookReview A critical literature review of ‘Naked Coin’ Author: Albrin Junior (Alex Aigbike) Reviewer: Ohio (z) Okhai

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n one of the English translations of a popular book is the phrase “...because time and unexpected events, overtake (man).... For man doesn’t know his time. Just as fish is caught in an evil net and birds are caught in trap, so the sons of men are ensnared in a time of disaster, when it suddenly overtakes them”.

The ‘man’ here is Ikenna’s family including his still living father (Nna), mother (Nne), his sister (Ndidi), his relative (Igbane) and as discovered later his halfbrother, Chijioke and Efosa who didn’t die thankfully but lived to marry Ndidi, after he met her in ‘Abia State’. The family, excluding Chijioke, lived in Benin.

The ‘time’ rests like butter between two loaves of bread in-between the years 1967and 1970, when the two-and-half years Nigeria’s Civil War happened. The ‘unexpected events and disaster that suddenly over takes them’ alongside the romance is what makes Naked Coin an interesting read.

There is ‘romance’ in this war setting, and it’s not about Ndidi and Efosa per se. No! It’s about Ikenna and ‘your smile that makes my smile, smile’, a romantic line phrase Ikenna used to which I turned into analias for Ivie Osezwa, who Ikenna directed the romance phrase sentence to.

Efosa and Ndidi were just nice distractions created by the author to keep us reading; It’s the same strategy he used with the jealousy scene when Nne finds out at the same time with Nna, Ikenna and Ndidi that Nna has another son (Chijioke) from another woman with the name Mrs. Anulika who they met when they had to find their way to ‘Abia State’, as they were setup to believe they needed to run their lives.

The story shows the unexpected change of fortune of this Igbo family at the breakout of the war. Though they live outside the territory called Biafra, the tribal sentiments and suspicion affects them. It is at this time Ikenna, who is seeking admission into the University, meets and falls in love with ‘your simile that makes my smile, smile’, who too is equally seeking admission as well.

To know if ‘your smile that makes my smile, smile’ and Ikenna reunite for a continuation of their ‘roma roma’ romance after the war separates them, I need to leave the comfort of my home, go to Benin and become by ‘by fire by force’ a member of their family without their consent.

This I did successfully.

Ikenna’s family was well to do but lost it, and would be driven to try to recapture it after the war, especially by Nne, who moved from a normal house wife to murderer, not once, not twice but thrice- and if you consider Chijioke’s death to be from her directly, that would be four times a murderer.

The author did well to keep us glued; gave us many twist and turns. I found myself later scanning paragraphs sometimes to get to the end to see if Ikenna would reunite with Ivie and hopefully not die.

‘Die!’ Death! For a war setting, if death was not part of the story, it would have been like leopard not having spots; it would have been totally incomplete; totally unusual. Death came quickly for many. It took Igbane, Chijioke, a certain Mr. Chigbo, his solider man and very emotionally for me, Nne’s mother who she had not seen for more than twenty years or so, (after Nne ran away with her lover-turned husband); right there at mother and daughter’s reunion.

For a book attempting to make Lagos State Secondary School Literature Scheme of work of recommended books, the author’s avoidance of (the use of too many) big English words, was ok; this is a trap young or amateur authors fall into. With my busy schedule, I certainly didn’t want to consult the dictionary too often.

Language level was at Junior Secondary School, so it’s easy to comprehend by educated levels above Junior Secondary school.

As I was taught, if one is writing for undergraduates, you use the language that Senior Secondary school can comprehend for them. For PhD students, use P.G.D or undergrads language.

What attempted to kill my interest was poor choice of words for a 1960s Benin setting, typos, etc. One was ‘Guy’ (a nickname for males among young people today). 2020 may be ruled by Americana but in the 1960, it was ‘Britico’. Ikenna who was the narrator for the author was in his twenties during the sixties, so he would have in his 50’s in the year 2020- an old man already.

‘Guy’ certainly won’t still be in his ‘vocab’ to say his children or grand children.

Yes, there was Igbo language being spoken, as well as Nigerian type of English. That’s natural and understandable. The author using them gave authenticity to his literary work but in Benin, Pidgin English is the order of the day. I didn’t experience it. While

the saying ‘your smile that makes my smile, smile’ is actually ok, I would have thought he would have expressed it in pigdin- ‘na your smile, dey make my smile, smile’; (unfortunately, I can’t add ‘you dey feel me so’, as it’s a modern pigdin saying) or he would have attempted to toast in the native Benin Languagethe author is from Edo State by the way.

A part that would have been interesting was the Igbo versus Yoruba scene, which Nne and her tenant neighbour, Iya Rotimi, were given the roles to handle.

It died out just as it started, leaving me to wonder why it was brought up in the first instance.

Did the author chicken out or was it edited out, leaving just the intro as a strategy? That part could have been used as lessons on tribal tolerance leading to national unity to our young and vibrant youth in highly tribalised no trust of other tribes in our society but it now amounted to a lost opportunity.

When Mr. Oyibo, a friend of the family, informed Nna that they (Nna’s family) had been sold out by Papa Rotimi, to which the decision to leave Benin was made, I knew it was a setup, and Nna’s house was about

to change ownership to Mr. Oyibo. That was an easy read. I had read something like that in another novel, years ago. Then, developing the Iya Rotimi versus Nne part, would be useful here to teach that Yorubas are good people, as in the end it was not a Yoruba man that deceived them but someone from their ownalthough the author didn’t say Mr.Oyibo was Igbo, he did infer that Mr.Oyibo was not Yoruba.

The novel did inform about Mr. Chigbo and solider-man are Biafrans. They, both as Igbos, did plan to kill Nna and Ikenna, then rape Nne and Ndidi- all Igbos. So, Igbo can kill (like Nne did to Chijioke indirectly), rape Igbo, just like any other non-Igbo tribe and Yoruba can save Igbo, just like Igbos will do for another Igbo.

Also predictable was the killing of Mr. Chigbo and his soliderman.

Quality printing was also an issue. There were parts that were faded, thus I could not digest any information- hopefully this and others will be corrected by the next printing.

There was the issue of the use of the term ‘Abia State’. During the Civil War, there was no Abia State during the Nigerian Civil War, unless I didn’t inquire well.

And, I am not sure if Abia as a word, town or place existed then.

I did find out from online research that Abia is a four abbreviation of the most densely populated regions (Aba, Bende, Isuikwuato and Afikpo) that make up the state formed in 1991, at least, twenty one years after the Civil War ended.

The author erred there. He should have consulted the history books. Maybe, it’s a case of poetic licence- if so, why for this aspect? What did he hope to gain?

He equally erred by not letting me experience the cannibalism resulting from deep starvation history books informed me about as I toured with the family. No mention of the kwashiorkorinfected children, smell from dead bodies which fluid and food delight to the house flies and other animals- only bodies falling as they walked.

For a war that took close to three years, it looked like three days. If more of this real life horrors etc were there, the literary work would have been classified a ‘gothic fiction’ fit for turning into a Nollywood show piece.

I was able to locate online information like that of Captain Ben Gbulie; a Civil War veteran’s interview from the Vanguard newspaper, there was that from Cornel Daily Sun; Vol. 86; Number 73 dated third February 1970 with title ‘Biafran Cannibalism’.

On rape and torture which is a triplets to death during a war, if you exclude starvation etc, then more gory scenes should have been added. Or is it a case of the publisher cutting out information like these to save cost of typing, printing, etc, as I have heard happens? The ‘disjoint’ on page 230 and 231 resulting in the joining of two incomplete paragraphs or sentences suggests this is what has happened.

Whichever the case, secondary school students are at a loss here as they will have to wait a longer time to learn from history.

History which can help teach unity instead of the faceoff major tribes have against one another in Nigeria or global unity as dearly needed- the U.S.A-Iran faceoff and blown plane, etc have certainly got many scared.

Two morals stand out- man’s injustice to man can come from the same tribe; and tomorrow can never be predicted accurately. Things that are normal or good now can go bad in a second, but if one picks the good out of bad, one can still succeed. All in all, for a first timer literary work; it’s a good start.

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Sunday 19 January 2020

BookReview Treasury Single Account Policy in Nigeria Author: Salawu Adeku Zubairu, mni, FCA Address: Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, The Treasury House, Abuja, Nigeria Publisher: National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau State, Nigeria Reviewer: Prof. Kabiru Isa Dandago

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t is with high sense of humility that I accept to be the reviewer of this book titled ‘Treasury Single Account Policy in Nigeria’, authored by my very good brother and friend, Salawu Adeku Zubairu, of the Office of the AccountantGeneral of the Federation, The Treasury House, Abuja, Nigeria.

Salawu is now a director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja.

The book is to be counted as part of the creative works the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation encourages its staff to be embarking upon, with a view to enriching literature in the field of Public Sector Accounting and Finance.

TSA is simply a means of aggregating cash resources for effective and efficient deployment for budget execution. TSA, as a bank account or a set of linked accounts, ensures compliance with the principle of unity of cash custody and the unity of treasury.

It emphasises on the need for all revenues to be fully collected and accounted for with a view to supporting service delivery, while spending efficiency by MDAs is encouraged and institutionalised.

These are the issues amplified and simplified by this timely empirical study book, which emphasises on the implementation of TSA at the Federal Government.

The bookis an excellent effort towards updating the knowledge of students, accounting officers and accounting professionals/ practitioners in Nigeria and beyond, especially on new development in Governmental Accounting and Finance.It is expected that students of accounting at the professional level and tertiary educational institution level, public sector accounting officers, accounting practitioners/professionals and other people desirous of deep understanding and intimate knowledge of Treasury Single Account (TSA) would find the book a necessary companion.

The book is packaged in six (6) exciting chapters, each carrying peculiar information and knowledge relevant to the readers.

Chapter 1 of the book titled ‘Changing the Landscape of Public Cash Management’ builds the background for the book, including statement of its scope, relevant conceptual clarifications and the reasons behind the Treasury Single Accounting (TSA) policy. The chapter also strongly links TSA to the need for world class public financial management at the Federal Government level.Theoretical Framework and Methodology statement are other important issues covered

by the chapter, where the theoretical foundation of the subject matter and the statement of the methodology employed in the conduct of the empirical study were made clear.

The chapter highlights two theories: Principal-Agent Theory or Agency Theory and Transaction Cost Theory as the underpinning theories to the study. This is to prove that every empirical study has its theoretical background, and the study leading to the production of this book cannot be an exception, especially as the author has shown excellent understanding of the two theories and how they sharpen thoughts before actions. The statement of methodology was also very apt; that the study used mixed design, involving the adoption of qualitative and quantitative techniques (the Qual-Quan method)! This is to enhance triangulation of data, with a view to achieving valid, relevant and accurate deductions on the effect of TSA policy on the operations of MDAs. ‘Conceptual Discourse of the Operations of TSA’ is the subject of discussion in Chapter 2. Readers would appreciate the key concepts for an intimate understanding of TSA, matters to consider in making good decision to implement TSA, the sequence to follow in the implementation of TSA, the scope and structure of TSA, the custody (place of

domicile) of TSA, and the benefits of centralization of TSA at Central Bank. All these issues are fairly and simply discussed in the chapter to carry all readers along.

Chapter 3 addresses ‘Models of TSA in Some Countries’, to establish some case studies for critics to appreciate the fact that Nigeria is not the only or the first country to adopt TSA policy for its economic beneficial implementation. Brazil, Indonesia and Uganda (from Latin America, Asia and Africa) are the three countries discussed in the chapter, in respect of the variant of TSA they implement, the challenges they face and how they overcome the challenges in the best interest of their economies.

The chapter has also highlighted more 20 countries cutting across all the continents of the world that are operating one variant of TSA or another.

‘Overview of TSA and the Operations of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)’ are the subjects of discussion in Chapter 4. The chapter presents the historical development of TSA and its overview in relation to the operations of MDAs. It also discusses the policy framework of TSA and its implementation strategies and identification of monitoring and evaluation (M & E) agencies for actual implementation of TSA. The chapter also highlights the 6 objectives of implementing TSA and the highlights of some laws of the land

(Nigeria) in full support of TSA implementation, especially for effective Cash Management. Some of the laws are the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Finance (Control and Management) Act 1958, Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007, CBN Act 2007, Evidence Act 2011, and Financial Regulations 2009 (revised).

Chapter 5 is about ‘Empirical Evidence on the Implementation of TSA’. The chapter presents and analyses the filed data obtained on implementation of TSA in key MDAs, response rate of survey interviews, socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents and the current state of implementation of TSA at the Federal Government level in Nigeria. The chapter also presents the results of the assessment conducted on the institutional mechanisms put in place for effective implementation of the TSA policy in MDAs. From the Chapter, readers will appreciate the level of satisfaction with coverage of TSA policy at the Federal Government MDAs, assessment of GIFMIS Platform in the TSA process, assessment of REMITA Platform in the TSA process, legal and regulatory frameworks for TSA operations, reliability of ICT infrastructure in delivering on TSA policy objectives, level of coordination among the institutions driving the TSA policy, the capacity of key institutions to drive TSA policy, knowledge of the operations of TSA, efficiency of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of TSA policy, among many other important issues.

This lengthy Chapter also summarises findings of the empirical study. Current state of the implementation of TSA policy by the Federal Government’s MDAs, institutional mechanisms for implementation of TSA policy in relation to MDAs, effects of the implementation of TSA policy on operations of MDAs, and the challenges of effective implementing TSA policy in relation to the operations of MDA in Nigeria are the issues highlighted as the major findings of the study.

Chapter 6, which is the last chapter, is about the ‘Conclusions and Recommendations’ of the study. The chapter reaches conclusions based on the findings of the study and highlights 8 powerful recommendations based on the findings/conclusions of the study. One of the recommendations is that the Federal Government should initiate the process of enacting Public Financial Management Act. Another important recommendation is that the moni-

toring and evaluation mechanism for ensuring the effectiveness of the TSA policyshould be strengthened to make it watertight, especially by the OAGF and CBN (the two government agencies that are deeply involved in the implementation of the TSA policy).

As the first of its kind in the field of Public Finance Management in Nigeria, the book suffers from some shortcomings that need to be improved upon in its second edition. The book is silent about the need to trickle down the TSA policy to the state governments and local government council levels, so that the huge benefits of the policy could be enjoyed at all levels. The way the policy would carry along autonomous government agencies like CBN, FIRS, NDIC, Federal Universities, DMO, etc for all-inclusive, effective and efficient implementation of the TSA policy have not been adequately captured in the book.

Again, there are some technical and grammatical errors (a sort of printer’s devil) that need to be further detected and corrected.

Based on the scope and contents of the six chapters, the book is an excellent public sector accounting and finance companion to accounting and finance students of both academic and professional institutions/institutes. It should be made a reference material in the public sector accounting and finance syllabi of university degree programmes (BSc and MSc), the syllabi of polytechnic diploma programmes (ND and HND) and the syllabi of ICAN, ANAN, etc.

I strongly recommend the book to the lecturers and students of those institutions and professional bodies and, of course, to the public sector accounting and finance officers at the Federal, States and Local Government Council levels.

It is also recommended to all chief executive officers of MDAs and other government functionaries who are desirous of obtaining intimate knowledge and deep understanding of the TSA policy.

On a final note, I congratulate the author for making excellent use of his one-year stay at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru to conceive the idea of conducting the research captured in the book and the successful delivery of this “handsome baby”, hoping that more of such deliveries are on their way. .Dandago is of the Department of Accounting, Bayero University, KanoNigeria kidandago@gmail.com, +2348023360386

Sunday 19 January 2020

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Bliss with Nonye Ben-Nwankwo

BDSUNDAY 29

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

I thank God for His grace – Ubi Frankin A

Bringing someone else down can’t lift you – Omoni Oboli

ctress Omoni Oboli didn’t mince words telling everybody who cared to listen that nothing was going to stop her from moving forward this year.

While not mentioning names, Omoni wrote on her social media page that bringing down somebody will not uplift anybody even as she advised that people should stop “talking” about other people.

On her handle, Omoni said: “I’m a very ambitious person and I’ve learnt to stop apologising for it.

I also believe very strongly that we can ALL win together. If you think bringing someone else down is the only way you can climb, darling, that’s witchcraft right there!

“We are all striving to be better than we were yesterday.

Stop talking about other people!

HUSTLE on your lane!!! I’m not going to dumb down to make you feel better. Get up, let’s go!

S

ince his recent political appointment, music executive, Ubi Franklin has been all smiles and also grateful to God for shining this light on him.

Just as Ubi has been appointed the special adviser on Tourism to Governor Benedict Ayade of Cross Rivers State, the Triple M boss has said he is grateful to God for the favour received.

Making the announcement via his social media handle, Ubi said it is an honour to be recognised and asked to serve in this capacity.

In a post on his instagram handle, Ubi said: “I, Ubi Ekapong Ofem (Ubi Franklin) wish to inform the public that I have been appointed Special Adviser on Tourism to His Excellency, Professor Benedict Ayade, Governor of Cross River State. It is indeed an honour to be deemed fit by His Excellency to serve the good and resilient people of Cross River State in this capacity.

“More so, I am most delighted to be functioning in the Tourism sector, one sector which is dear to my heart and one which I believe I fit into appropriately considering my background in the entertainment industry.

“I thank God for His grace upon my life. I thank Governor Benedict Ayade for giving me this golden opportunity to serve. I

thank my family, friends and well wishers for all the support and encouragement.

On behalf of myself and my family, I promise to work diligently and efficiently with all necessary stakeholders in ensuring that Cross River State returns to the summit of the world’s tourism index. God bless Cross River State.”

Friends and fans stormed his handle to congratulate him and wish him the best in this new appointment.

Some of his friends and colleagues in the entertainment industry who congratulated him include Comedian Julius Agwu, DJ Jimmy Jatt, Banky W and Iyanya, who was formerly signed to his label.

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Joseph goes to cinemas

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are singer/songwriter Shontelle (T-Shirt and Impossible) and Queen of Soca, Alison Hinds (Roll it Gal), and several international actors.

Joseph is selected for screening at the Pan African Film Festival, the largest Black film festival in the USA, and is set to top the pack of most successful African movies of 2020.

Vitamin D to SimplyDeji.”

SimplyDeji said it was actually his mentor and senior colleague, Gbenga Adeyinka that advised him to rebrand and get a better stage name.

Deji said nobody complained about his former name but, “they would always laugh when they hear my name is Vitamin D. So many people still call me Vitamin D; they are finding it hard to call me SimplyDeji. They tell me they are used to Vitamin D. But I believe with time, they would get used to the new stage name.”

oseph, the highly acclaimed trans-Atlantic story of self discovery of one man’s quest to break social and cultural constraints; to find true identity, premieres in Lagos this January.

The story trails the life of a young and successful medical doctor in the Caribbean whose drive to discover his roots takes him on a journey to parts unknown.

Defiant and rebellious, Joseph dismisses the warnings and threats of his affluent family of cross-generational medical doctors to seek a reconnection to his roots and his purpose.

Joseph surveys the central character’s journey to his land of origin, regaling viewers with tales of love, acceptance and freedom; upending universal misconceptions about his people; himself awed by the many things that have remained unchanged between his two people in spite of generations of separation across continents.

In celebration of the Year of Return, Joseph premiered in Ghana to rave review, as Nollywood sensations, Mawuli Gavor and Sika Osei, and lead actor, Kevoy Burton, headlined and wowed.

Also featured in the movie

order to give them access to additional quality entertainment,” says MultiChoice Nigeria Chief Customer Officer Martin Mabutho.

Mabutho disclosed that active customers on DStv Access, Yanga, Family, Confam, Compact and Compact Plus - packages and GOtv JOLLI, PLUS, JINJA, VALUE & LITE can take advantage of this offer to experience entertainment available on higher packages by paying their subscription on time.

Customers who are currently disconnected can simply reconnect during the offer period to benefit.

DStv and GOtv customers will be able to enjoy a wide array of content on their boosted offering including world-class sporting action alongside exciting local content, international movies, series, telenovelas, music, news and kids’ entertainment for less.

He also said the exciting FA Cup action is also back. “Feel the FA Cup heat and catch blow by blow live coverage on DStv & GOtv. Also, catch Tyler Perry’s The Oval Thursdays on BET (Ch. 129) at 9:30 pm. The Oval carries the audience alongside the first family

moving into the White House and highlighting their private lives.”

“Whether you’re a drama, sports, edutainment or current affairs fan, you’ll never have to wonder what to watch next because DStv Compact Plus has so much on offer. Awards season is the big drawcard for January and February; viewers can tune in for one of the most anticipated musical events! The 62nd annual GRAMMY Awards will air live on 1Magic (DStv Ch. 103) on January 27 at 02:30 AM and again at 08:30 PM,” he said.

‘Why I changed my name to SimplyDeji’ udding comedian, Oladeji Oyeyode, who was better known as Vitamin D, has said he is no longer comfortable with the stage name and has even gone ahead to have another stage name.

In a recent chat with Bliss, Oladeji said he is now known as SimplyDeji.

Explaining the need for the change of name, Oladeji said: “It is actually due to rebranding and in order to give better service delivery, I had to change my name from

PS: If you really can’t stand the heat, honey, leave the kitchen!

It’s 2020 #Omonifam, let’s WIN.”

MultiChoice rewards customers

T

heFestiveseasonmaybeover butMultiChoiceNigeriaisstill in the spirit of giving with the DStvandGOtvStepUpofferwhich givesloyalcustomersmorereasons to stay connected in the New Year.

According to a press release sent to Bliss, active and disconnected DStv Access, Family, Yanga, Confam, Compact, and Compact Plus customers who pay for their current packages will be bumped up to a higher package for 30 days of access to a wider viewing experience from this January. Step Up also allows existing

GOtv customers to see varied programming available across higher packages, at the price of a lower package, making great content more accessible to a wider group of customers.

“At MultiChoice, we put our customers at the heart of everything we do. This offer is just one of the ways in which we want to show our loyal customers that we value them. We understand the economic pressures that the beginning of the year can bring and for this reason, we have decided to meet our customers halfway in

30

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Sunday 19 January 2020

Travel

Uganda set to gather global travel, tourism trade at POATE 2020 OBINNA EMELIKE

I

f you are wondering why Uganda is acclaimed as the Pearl of Africa, the reasons are abound.

One of them was offered

by Winston Churchill in one of his famous quotes, “For magnificence, for variety of form and colour, for profusion of brilliant life - bird, insect, reptile, beast - for vast scale - Uganda is truly “the Pearl of Africa.”

Of course, ‘the proof of the budding is in the eating’, hence the Ugandan To u r i s m B o a rd ( U T B ) i s inviting the world for a memorable encounter with its beautiful and breathtaking nature, very hospitable people, and most importantly, a networking platform at this year’s edition of the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE).

The UTB, which promises to surpass previous editions of the travel fair, assures that the country is an adventure that awaits hosted buyers, global tourism stakeholders and visitors that will attend the show.

Now in its 5th edition, the annual tourism and travel trade exhibition will hold

Murchison Falls National Park is Uganda’s largest national park.

from February 4-6, 2020 at the Speke Resort in Munyonyo, Kamapala, Uganda.

As expected, it will bring together regional and international tour operators, travel agents, destination agencies, and various players in the tourism trade to network and facilitate tourism business.

As well, the 3-day expo, which will hold on the theme; ‘Inspiring high value engagement to promote intra-Africa travel for leisure, business and adventure’ will also integrate business to business (B2B), business to consumer (B2C), among other networking trade event.

Speaking on the up-

coming expo, Lily Ajarova, Expo, CEO, Uganda Tourism Board, notes that POATE aims at raising Uganda’s profile as a preferred destination in the East African region and internationally as preparations for the country’s biggest tourism and travel trade show continues unabated.

“As Uganda and the Pearl of Africa, we have the strategy to position ourselves as the best destination in Africa and the world at large. We have the diversity in Uganda to be able to attract as many visitors as possible ranging from nature, to culture, to lifestyle, to filming, to sports, and other products”, Ajarova says.

She further notes that the country is positioning itself as a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) destination and that her country is well-equipped with facilities to host conferences and meetings for global audiences.

She urges global tourism and travel stakeholders to visit the travel trade expo for unique opportunities for tourism businesses to meet new clients, network, and market their services and products.

Uganda also hopes to use the expo to further showcase the country’s best in culture, cuisine, nightlife, wildlife, fauna and flora.

There will be exciting activities on and off the expo ground, especially tours across the country to see her beautiful landscape and attractions, games, awards dinner, among others.

GTA woos Dutch market at Vakantiebuers, set for FITUR travel show

A

fter a successful outing in the Year of Return where over 1 million foreigners visited Ghana by the end of 2019, surpassing the organisers’ goal by 25 percent, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) is taking the campaign further with the participation in the 42nd Vakantiebeurs in Utrecht, Netherlands from January 10-15, 2020.

The Vakantiebeurs, which is an annual event in the Netherlands, is a combined consumer and trade fair for tourism organised by VNU Exhibitions Europe. The event has been running for over three decades and has grown to become the largest consumer holiday fair in the world.

Vakantiebeurs offers a perfect platform for promoting destinations tourist product to consumers.

However, Vakantiebeurs is the first of the selected inter-

national fairs this year that the GTA will be participating to showcase Ghana’s unique historical, cultural, ecological attractions and conference facilities. Ghana’s attire, cuisine and traditional dances featured at the stand to attract potential visitors, especially those from the Scandinavia.

With its participation, GTA looks to encourage Dutch tour operators to highlight Ghana in their tour circuits by providing them with publicity and promotional materials and competitive tour packages on regular basis.

The fair also afforded Ghana the opportunity to inform and sensitize investors about investment incentives and opportunities available in the tourism sector.

In a related development, the GTA will also participate in the Spanish International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR)

Ghanaian contigent at an international tourism fair

scheduled for January 22-26, 2020, in Madrid, Spain. The Authority intends to market Ghana as the most preferred tourist destination in Africa to the Spanish speaking and

European markets.

FITUR is a meeting point for tourism professionals, who meet to establish lines of action, strategies and business alliances to energize and

consolidate tourism business, globally. Tourism promotion agencies, operators, hotels, travel agencies, consultants and experts in International tourism management and development will also be present in Madrid for the fair.

Sunday 19 January 2020

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BDSUNDAY 31

Travel

The best-designed travel destinations for 2020 IFEOMA OKEKE

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or every travel experience you get, there is always a story to tell.

Travel can be made more interesting and delightful with best-designed destination. Countries offering these destinations in 2020 are enumerated in this article.

Marrakech, Morroco: Where the ancient meets the modern The beauty of Marrakech’s buildings can be elusive. You might glimpse a tiled courtyard or panels of delicate fretwork, but then a door swings shut or you turn a corner. The city’s riads were designed to keep the best decoration on the inside.

Luckily, there are more accessible examples of the city’s architecture, ranging from 19thcentury palaces to the ultra-contemporary. For palatial Islamic style, head to Palais Bahia and Dar Si Said. There is perfection in the small details – the geometric tiling and carved ceilings – but step back and a calmer overall symmetry reveals itself.

Vestiges of Morocco’s colonial past live on in the city’s Ville Nouvelle and Gueliz areas. This is where you will find the 30s Grande Cafe de la Poste, with its checkerboard tiles, elegant staircases and lazily turning fans.

The building was revived in 2006

by Parisian architects Studio KO, who have a base in the city and are better known for designing the nearby Musée Yves Saint Laurent. Its silhouette of intersecting arcs and sharper angles was inspired by drawings in the fashion designer’s archives, and exterior brickwork is arranged to resemble the warp and weft of fabric. Interior surfaces are softer and smoother, designed to evoke the lining of a couture jacket.

Los Angeles, US: new frontier town for design Los Angeles has never quite achieved the cultural kudos of New York or San Francisco, but with tech startups priced out of northern California and LA offering low-cost spaces for artists and designers, it has become a frontier town for new ideas in work, wellness and creativity.

Landmark buildings are reopening with new purpose – workspace hub NeueHouse has moved into Downtown’s Bradbury Building (built in 1893), a 1927 fire station has become the Arts District Firehouse hotel and a Beverly Hills villa once owned

by Elvis Presley is now Casa Perfect, the California outpost of New York gallery The Future Perfect.

“The design scene here is a lot less saturated than it is in New York,” says Tom Parker, co-founder of London’s Fettle Design, which has an LA office. Fettle recently completed

restaurant Olivetta on Melrose Avenue. “There is more space to find a niche for yourself as there are no big design agencies here and the European aesthetic blends well with California’s laidback, beachy style.”

West Hollywood in particular is turning into a pedestrianfriendly design centre, home to talent such as textile artists Block Shop and ceramicists Bari Ziperstein and Ben Medansky. After the hugely successful launch of Frieze LA last year at Hollywood’s Paramount Studios, this year’s fair has expanded to include Focus LA, a selection of emerging LA galleries including Various Small Fires and as-is.la.

A number of new hotels have opened to house the art crowd, including the 1 Hotel and Ian Schrager’s latest Edition.

Brussels, Belgium: take a ride through outdoor art “Belgium is full of great design talents, yet it doesn’t show off about it,” says Liv Vaisberg.

Vaisberg is co-founder of Brussels’ Collectible design fair, heading into its third year this March. Alongside international galleries, Collectible has a showcase for new names. “The fair acts as a platform for designers, mostly emerging or with no gallery representation, who have the chance to take centre stage and present their own work to potential clients,” says Clélie Debehault, fellow co-founder.

As major Belgain institutions the Design Museum Ghent, CID Grand-Horn and Z33 also exhibit, Collectible is a snapshot of Belgium’s design scene from the grassroots up.

Don’t neglect Belgium’s art scene while you’re there. 2020 is the year of Van Eyck and Ghent’s Museum of Fine Art is holding a major exhibition to celebrate, reuniting more than half the world’s remaining Van Eyck works.

While in Antwerp, visit inte-

rior designer Axel Vervoordt’s Kanaal cultural complex just outside the city. The converted distillery is a remarkable space, including flats by Vervoordt, as well as galleries and installation spaces that anyone can view by appointment. Featured works include Anish Kapoor’s At the Edge of the World (1998) and James Turrell’s Red Shift (1995), as well as pieces by Marina Abramovic and Takis.

Tbilisi, Georgia: Welcome to the new Berlin When Lisa Offermann moved from Berlin to Tbilisi to open an art gallery in 2018, some of her friends and colleagues thought she was mad. “They were like: ‘Why? What? Where is Tbilisi?’”

But Offermann, who had been working with Georgian artists for several years, had fallen in love with the city’s energy and sense of untapped potential.

The Georgian capital’s burgeoning art, fashion and underground clubbing scene has earned it the nickname “the new Berlin”. But that only tells half the story, says Offermann.

At the crux of Europe and Asia, and emerging from decades of Soviet occupation, the capital of Georgia has a style all of its own. “The scene here is really interesting,” says Offermann.

“There’s a real sense of creativity and something exciting happening. Just to get basic art supplies is a challenge, so the artists work with whatever materials and colours they can find and that brings surprises with it.”

This same resourcefulness also applies to venues. The lack of purpose-built cultural spaces has resulted in a certain ingenuity, with art cafes opening in crumbling art nouveau houses, pop-up galleries in Soviet-era factories and nightclubs taking over abandoned spaces – the city’s most famous techno club, Bassiani, can be found beneath the Dinamo football stadium.

Similarly, Project ArtBeat, which has been instrumental in promoting Georgian contemporary artists, began life as a mobile gallery travelling the country in a shipping container before finding a permanent home in the old town.

Offermann’s gallery, LC Queisser, is next door to Fabrika, a former textile factory that is now home to a hip hostel, artist studios, shops, bars and a courtyard that hosts regular cultural events.

Another Soviet-era factory – a former printing press – has been drafted into service as Tbilisi’s newest design hotel, The Stamba, where the exposed concrete of the brutalist structure is offset by abundant foliage, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and exquisite pieces of contemporary Georgian design. The hotel is also home to the Tbilisi Photo and Multimedia Museum and gives space to artist studios.

Glasgow, Scotland: DIY and the spirit of innovation Scotland’s biggest art draw this spring is the Glasgow International Festival. Not only can visitors view exciting new work at top museums and galleries – including sculpture by Eva Rothschild at The Modern Institute and a large-scale commission by Turner prize-winner Duncan Campbell at Kelvin Hall that incorporates electromagnetics and animation – but across the city, artists are also putting on events at the unlikeliest of venues.

A repurposed waiting room at the Queen’s Park Railway Club will house artist Graham Fagen’s solo show inspired by an archive of notes, letters, name tags and invitations that all spell his name wrong; and Glasgow Women’s Library will host a programme of talks about lesbian history and culture in the UK. “There’s a real do-it-yourself attitude among artists in

Glasgow which is typified during the festival at The Old Hairdresser’s bar,” says Andrew Hamilton, co-director of The Modern Institute.

“It always hosts amazing performances and gigs and ends up becoming an unofficial hub. It’s these kinds of spaces that really make things interesting here.”

He cites the artist-led Celine, the contemporary David Dale and the commercial Koppe Astner galleries as other venues worth visiting – at any time of year. “At all of these places, artists don’t have to be 10 years into a career to have a show.”

For architecture fans, Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s connection to the city can be seen through places such as Mackintosh House, set within the Hunterian Art Gallery, where the original fixtures, furniture and key interiors from his home have been re-assembled.

Tokyo, Japan: An immersive exchange of culture From Michelin-star restaurants tucked down alleyways to basement karaoke bars, so much of life in Japan happens behind closed doors – which is where airKitchen comes in. The idea is to connect home cooks with travelling foodies who can book cooking classes run by locals across Japan. Once you have whipped up ramen noodles or a trio of traditional desserts, say, you tuck into your efforts with the host.

This notion of encouraging visitors to feel part of the country is also evident at Trunk(Hotel), which opened in Tokyo’s Shibuya neighbourhood in 2017. “We wanted guests to immerse themselves in our culture,” says Hiroe Tanaka, creative director of the Trunk Atelier. “The social spaces encourage a sense of community; we use them as a platform for local talent through programming DJs and other events.”

Last year, the company opened a second, very different venture: Trunk(House), a onebedroom micro-hotel (sleeps four) in a former geisha house in the Kagurazaka district known as Little Kyoto. “Just as creatives in the past would use the salons in this neighbourhood as places of cultural exchange, we hope that Trunk(House) will leave guests inspired,” says Tanaka , who worked alongside studio Tripster on the interiors that combine pared-back style with contemporary design: tea sets by Tom Sachs, furniture by Stephen Kenn and lighting by Jean Prouve. “Our commissions followed the rough brief of Tokyo-ness; the result is a collection of art that embodies the essence of the city.”

The two-year-old Yayoi Kusama Museum is only a 20-minute stroll away and you can visit the Kume Sekkei-designed building dedicated to the avant-garde Japanese artist.

32 BDSUNDAY

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Sunday 19 January 2020

TheWorshippers

Christians need God’s empowerment to fulfil their resolutions – Rev. Kristilere Reverend Israel Kristilere of SheppardHill Baptist Church, Obanikoro, Lagos spoke with SEYI JOHN SALAU on the issues of permissive will and why believers should continually seek God’s perfect will; states his position on the continued border closure and what the country could benefit from it. Excerpt: What is the implication of not keeping to New Year’s resolutions? eoplemakeresolutionbecause they see the start of a new year as an opportunity to turn a new leave, which is indeed a good thing. It is a sign that we all believe no matter how good we think we are; we need to make improvement and we see the opportunity of a new year to commence such a process that will bring such transformation.

But, why people have not been finding it easy to fulfill their resolution is that life itself is not all about resolution. There is more to life than resolution: resolution is good; all of us make it, but we must realise that especially as Christians we need God himself to empower us to fulfill that resolution. Some people have made resolutions not at the beginning of the year, but because it was backed up by the power of God, they were able to fulfill it, and there are many people who made theirs at the beginning of the year and still went back to doing what they said they will not do again.

So, I would rather say that while we appreciate people who make resolution at the beginning of the year, we should also continuously seek the empowerment of the Holy Spirit with whom we will be able to execute our resolution. Resolution is our own extension of desire or demonstration of desire to change such behavior but we still need dependence of God as we make effort. So, I will say that while we encourage people to make resolution, they should also stick to God, ask for his spirit to empower them to fulfill that and they will find the changes in their lives.

In seeking God for empowerment as you said; how come some believers still find it difficult to keep to their resolutions?

It’s not everybody who come to church that are really seeking God. People come to seek many things.

But, the point is that there must be a time when a man will surrender – the part of which is missing is the surrender. Surrendering to God and letting him know I don’t have the power to get this done and I would yield myself to you. So, surrender; submission; are the things that are missing in asking God to help us.

The moment we are able to do that, there will be a great change.

Is it necessary for believers to change ancestral names after their personal encounter with Christ?

Let me start by saying names have meanings and names have ways of affecting peoples’ life. Am a living example: I bear Kristilere today but my father’s name was Awolere. The name you bear gives a message to the world around you, and peradventure that name connotes something negative, there

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Rev. Israel Kristilere of Shepardhill Baptist Church, Lagos

is nothing wrong in addressing it.

There are people in the scriptures whom God change their names so that he can change their lives; but I always tell people that if you are going to change your name don’t just change because you want to change it: change because God instruct you to change it. I bore my father’s name for years until 20 years ago and it was at the point of seating down to ask; what is the meaning of Awolere – it means to be in court is rewarding, and as a preacher of the gospel who preaches that serving God is the best and my name is saying something different and it was that that instructed the revelation with which the name was changed from Awolere to Kristilere, which goes well with the message I preach.

It’s not everybody who come to church that are really seeking God. People come to seek many things. But, the point is that there must be a time when a man will surrender – the part of which is missing is the surrender

But that does not mean everybody has to change their name. The point is that if you are changing your name and God is not behind the change of name; it will not change your life. But, when God ask you to change your name, change your life, it makes a lot of difference. So, it should not be like a fashion – it should be something that is spirit led to achieve a divine purpose and there are scriptural backgrounds to people changing their names because of the kind of meaning it connote and the new dawn God was bringing their way. Change of name must result to a change of life and if there is no change of life it results to a waste.

Coming to the issue of marital relationship in Christendom as it relates to divorce; should believers settle for the permissive will of God? There is no doubt that every genuine believer will seek for the perfect will of God. But the point is that it does not rule out the expectation of a permissive will.

And God in his own wisdom gave that permissive will to us as well.

Permissive will is not the real will of God but he allows it – it is like a four year of child want to touch a lit candle. My perfect will as a parent is don’t touch it; why, it will burn you. But this child keeps crying and crying that they don’t want me to see the light – ok, touch it. You may touch it and there is a possibility that it didn’t burn you; although that possibility is very rear: at least the wax will fall on his hand. As touching divorce: the perfect will of God concerning divorce is found in Malachi, even in the Old Testament (Malachi 2:14) “for the lord God says I hate divorce” and if God says he hate something; it means

he doesn’t want to see it happen.

Whether it is justifiable for any reason whatsoever: he said I hate it for whatever reason. But like when Jesus Christ came, he compares the Old Testament (Moses law) with what obtains in the New Testament and said only for marital unfaithfulness. But that also can be pardon and be forgiven if we are seeking God’s will. In God’s own plan the only thing that can separate husband and wife who are duly married before him is death that is why he said until death do us part. Nevertheless, there have been instances in marriage whereby the life of one of the parties is threatened – in that circumstance I don’t support divorce but I recommend separation; and when you do that, it means you are not going to marry someone else: you stay alone. When a man becomes abusive: in the night he brings out cane, knife, bottle to knock the head of the woman; first, second time and we say she must remain: one day when he kills her we will all be sad. So, God’s perfect will concerning marriage remains no divorce; but there could be temporary separation, and when that happens it is a price you have to pay.

If God resolves it and you are able to come together beautiful, if he doesn’t you are not allow to marry another person; if you do, you are committing adultery.

But in situation where leaders cannot resolve their personal conflict; how do they handle that of the flock?

There should be no issue they shouldn’t be able to resolve if both of them are truly God’s children. If they table their matter before the lord, there is no way the two of them can be right before the lord.

One of them must be wrong – in other words, it is not about the standard the man or woman has set; let’s set biblical standard and let each man’s thoughts and action be weigh by the scripture. Now, if the foreseeable differences are no grounds for divorce but most of the times our ego and flesh are the causes of this aberration that we found in our society. So, if the pastor and his wife cannot resolve their differences and they have to part; I think they have lost the morality and integrity to continue to lead the flock of Christ. The scripture made it very clear that if a man cannot take care of his house he is like an infidel. One of the qualities of church leadership is about a man who is able to rule his own house and ruling is not only about enforcing laws; sometimes you rule by your life, commitment, dedication; showing the good and right examples. If we are living in a society where integrity actually obtains such person should step down for another person to lead.

Away from the church to a critical issue that relates to national

economy; what is your position on the continued border closure?

I believe it is one of the approaches that could; and I am being careful in choosing my words here – because turning the economy of any nation around entails so many things. If not for the works of the smugglers we do not have to close our borders since there are good things we could also bring in to better our economy. But, there are also bad things that our people are bringing in to destroy our economy.

So, this border closure is a two edged sword – bad things that would destroy our economy are being prohibited; good things that could also help are being disallowed.

Now, the government would have weighted which one is higher with this closure; I believe they must have because they have better knowledge on the issue than I do: so I believe the closure of the border to a large extent is in the interest of the country that is forcing us to focus more on what we have in the country, and must countries that have developed their economy did so by producing things they could use and export. I have not seen any nation’s economy that grew or blossom by depending on large importation from other countries.

One of the marks of a developed country is the ability to produce what you need and send excess out to others, and make money from there. An economy that depends largely on importation can never – I am not ruling out the fact that we are suffering because prices of things went up; but if we are able to sustain it, the price will come down. A typical example: most of us who never believe we can eat Nigerian rice are now managing it; because our own farmers who are now busy running around cultivating would normally have not done that.

The services they are struggling around to render now, they would have had nobody to render it to.

So, to a large extent the price of rice may have become costly or double; but if it is sustained the market forces will bring the price down and we will all enjoy it. Countries like China and some other countries that have grown their economy tried something like this. China produces cars today, but many years back they took a decision that no car must be imported – so if we cannot produce cars in our country lets be trekking around; and their engineers started thinking we have to do something: today they are also exporters of cars. So, I believe it is a step in the right direction which is hurting us a little bit; overtime if it is well sustained and the saboteurs are not successful in their efforts, in a short while things will normalise and we are going to be ok.

Sunday 19 January 2020

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SundayBusiness How LG is refining families’ culinary experience with NeoChef

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t’s no longer news that junk foods are clogging our collective arteries and making us spend more money. Soft drinks are giving us diabetes and even that innocent restaurant salad can have three times as much fat as flaxseed oil.

Ho w e v e r, t o m a n y people who prefer homecooked meal, they want to do so in no time without any stress. They want to have it all – watch the television, play with the kids, surf the internet on their smartphones and at the same time have their dinner at home before going to bed.

Of course, this can only be possible through tech innovation. With a vision to provide innovative, clean and efficient energy solutions for a better tomorrow, LG Electronics introduced NeoChef microwave ovens with Smart Inverter technology that allows for flexibility to select the power level at the start of the cooking process and varies the power delivered during the cooking process depending on the cooking option selected. The NeoChef microwave ovens use an uninterrupted linear supply of power to more evenly cook, reheat

or defrost food.

According to Jiung Park, general manager, Home Appliances Division, LG Electronics, West Africa Operations, the ergonomic LG NeoChef Microwave Ovens were produced to take culinary and microwave ovens to a new level.

“Families are on-the-go more than ever and the LG NeoChef can help consumers prepare food in a simple, fast and efficient way”, he said.

“LG NeoChef Microwave oven is an all-inone unit with revolutionary cooking capabilities.

From delicately fermenting yoghurt, to melting chocolate, to popping corn and baking cakes, the LG Inverter microwave is a versatile cooking solution. It comes with the latest Smart Inverter technology, hygiene-enhancing features like Anti-Bacterial EasyClean, Hexagonal Ring and LED Lighting.

“It saves you time, electricity and energy, taking the guesswork out of microwaving with precise power distribution – providing varied power levels and cooking options, for everything from fresh vegetables, to heating your pizza perfectly and

defrosting meat.”, Park explained.

LG NeoChef uses precise, variable power control between 300 to 1,200 watts to evenly cook or defrost food – helping to eliminate dreaded cold centres and overcooked edges. Its humidity-sensing technology determines when food is cooked and automatically turns off the microwave to help prevent the over- or under-cooking of meals.

The elegant LG NeoChef eliminates trim and parting lines with its sleek, unified tempered glass front. This minimalist, glossy front combines with a refined matte exterior to allow the NeoChef to seamlessly blend in with the decor of any kitchen.

The exquisite contrast between the microwave’s unified tempered glass and metal give it a distinguished, refined look. The ergonomically designed rounded pocket-style handle and diamond cut dial weds form to function to deliver the ultimate in precision and user-convenience. The NeoChef extends its usability enhancing features into input with its simple intuitive sliding touch control which simplifies operation.

Henry Koko, founder/CEO, The Hive Leagues, presenting the raffle draw grand prize to the winner, Lara Martins, a banker, at the new league launch party in Lagos, recently

Boost for sports, wellness as The HIVE Leagues launches post-soccer World Cup

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major boost is underway for sporting activities, health and wellness as The HIVE Leagues Limited begins preparations for a second year by launching its corporate small-sided soccer leagues in Lagos.

The event, which was held at the Access VIP lounge of the snazzy Ebonylife Place Victoria Island, was well attended with representation from the corporate, business and media world, including Sports Café for Silverbird TV and Arise TV. Henry Koko, The Hive Leagues’ Founder /CEO, offered insights into his reason for the launch and the health benefits, explaining how his years of engaging in recreational sports, which included football and tennis, had brought enjoyment, wellness and fitness to him.

He disclosed that the vision for The HIVE Leagues was driven by this passion as it was setup to provide a platform for everyday people to participate in organised recreational sports for enjoyment and wellbeing.

Koko recalled that last year was a good one with the successful beginning of

small-sided leagues. “For us, the high point of 2019 was taking a team of Nigerians to participate in the 6-aside Socca World Cup in Greece in October 2019,” he said.

He further said: “In 2020, more leagues would be set up with provision for the working class and corporates. We will provide opportunity for people including women to engage in other enjoyable recreational sports such as volley ball and handball with the purpose of attaining wellbeing”.

The highlight of the event included engaging games such as sports bingo and others where people won vouchers from sponsors like Loshes Chocolate, Adono foods and Jojo Homemade, with lots of food and drinks for those in attendance.

Tara Koko, The HIVE co-founder and director of operations, told the gathering that “this year and going forward, The HIVE Leagues will provide solutions to corporate organisations and businesses to aid them with their employee team building & productivity planning and execution”.

She explained that employees work long and hard hours in these

times and also faced long commutes and gridlocks, saying it was no surprise that many people break down physically or mentally.

She added that even when companies decided to organise team building events to provide relief to their workforce, it was infrequent and the same employees who were already overloaded get saddled with the task of putting together the outing or event.

The co-founder noted that recreation and team building activity had been scientifically proven to increase productivity of employees and this was very important particularly in today’s world.

Another major highlight of the event was a raffle draw for a dinner for two at a prestigious restaurant in Lagos, which Lara Martins, a banker won.

The CEO commended sponsors of the event, including OPay, Guaranty Trust Bank and Gazmudu studios etc for their support.

He called on people to avail themselves of The HIVE Leagues platforms where they could play recreational sport, socialise, get fit, healthy and attain wellbeing.

StarTimes offers one month free subscription, slashes decoder prices SEYI JOHN SALAU

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tarTimes, a digital Pay TV Company has announced a price reduction of its decoder and dish with one-month free subscription for new subscribers effective 15 January, 2020.

StarTimes announced the price reduction from N8, 900 to N6, 900 for its DTH (Combo Decoder Only) while a combination of Combo Decoder and Dish sells for N8, 900, thereby offering a more than 30 percent reduction to subscribers.

“As a listening organisation, fulfilling its promise

to customers has over the time provided the best access to great educative, informative and entertainment content on our platform.

“The yearnings of our customers have led to the price reduction of our Direct to Home (DTH) Decoders which is proof of our effort in meeting the

demand of our subscribers seeking for more offerings.

We believe that the price reduction of our DTH reinforces our commitment to ensuring that our customers enjoy the best for less,” said Kunmi Balogun, the public relations manager, StarTimes.

According to Balogun, StarTimes will continue to

deepen its dominance in the Nigerian market with innovative moves while constantly adding engaging content in entertainment and sports, towards expanding its market share which has seen it grow its subscriber base exponentially.

Balogun opined that StarTimes is currently the

leading digital-TV operator in Africa, covering 80 percent of the continent’s population with a massive distribution network of over 200 brand halls, 3,000 convenience stores, and 5,000 distributors. “StarTimes owns a featured content platform, with 440 authorised channels,” Balogun said.

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Sunday 19 January 2020

SundayBusiness How Ayo Bassey broke barriers to become successful in business Modestus Anesoronye

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n her final year in the University, an ambitious lady decided she wanted to own a cosmetic brand. By this time, she had already learned Fashion Designing and wanted it to flourish along with the cosmetic brand.

Sadly, all avail to find where to learn cosmetic production in Nigeria yielded no positive results and she was almost tempted to give up.

Fortunately, she took the bull by the horns and travelled out of the country making her first stop at the United States where she met her first instructor; Perry Romanowski who is a cosmetic chemist. She learnt a great deal from him and did not stop there. So, she enrolled in Institute of Natural & Modern Cosmetech in India. Her determined spirit propelled her further to Sandir Perfume School in Spain and even Formula Botanica in the United Kingdom. She kept on taking short courses; learning and bagging diplomas whenever she could. Not only has she succeeded in launching a beauty line but also founded a Beauty School in Nigeria to help actualise the dreams of Nigerians passionate about the cosmetics industry.

This lady is Ayo Bassey; a serial entrepreneur, cosmetic business coach, certified cosmetic product formulator, perfumer, herbologist and the founder of COC Beauty School. As an expert in her field with an experience of over a decade, here’s what every entrepreneur needs to learn from Ayo Bassey: As an entrepreneur, client satisfaction must be non-negotiable.

“My values are non-negotiable for me. Quality over quantity. I’ll rather work with one solid thing than a bunch of mediocre things.

I can never negotiate on client satisfaction. I do everything humanly possible within my principles to ensure a client is satisfied and gets whatever value promised”.

This culture is passed on as COC Beauty School alumni are well grounded formulator Failure is not an option. “Either

Ayo Bassey

we win or we figure out a way to win, then win. Failure is not in my dictionary”. “If I had the chance to start my career again, the only thing I would do differently is be more intentional from the start.

Apart from that, I won’t change anything because every single detail (whether good or bad) framed me and made me who I am today”.

Every entrepreneur must endeavour to acquire the top skills crucial in his field. Of which two must include; Visionary skill, the ability to visualise the end from the beginning and having a clear

direction of what one wants to achieve and why. Business skill, mastering top business secrets and strategies. In cosmetic production, Formulation skill is a necessity; understanding formulation of the ingredients, how they work, how they are used and what to expect when used. A good thing that at COC Beauty School, the students develop all of these skills.

Learn to handle setbacks, challenges, doubts and criticism.

“When I’m in doubt, I make a conscious effort to shut out the voices then I think back to how I started,

why I started and how many lives have been improved just by coming to my school. I remember their faces and excitement at the end of their course, the confidence they exude and the light in their eyes like they are ready to take on the world! It’s a priceless feeling!

When I remember these things, I buckle up and say to myself, God that brought me this far will help me conquer whatever adversity.

It’s not a walk in the park but it’s worth it. I genuinely believe that I am destined to do what I’m doing and I believe I have all the grace required to pull through. My faith in God is precisely what keeps me going when things look though”.

Risk is inevitable in business.

“Having to shop from some of our local suppliers is a major risk.

A lot of our local suppliers currently adulterate their ingredients and this has an adverse effect on products created. The risk of purchasing raw materials without knowing if it has been tampered with or not. Most of the time, we can only determine an ingredient’s authenticity during production and that’s a challenge because by then, you must have already purchased it”.

Set goals. Ayo Bassey’s major goal for 2020 is to ensure that all her mentees become household names, as far as becoming globally recognised. She is also working towards ensuring her school is the number one Beauty School in West Africa. “In years to come, I see myself speaking more at events, launching more products and having the school expand to other countries whilst housing multiple platforms that would merge beauty with entertainment”.

About COC Beauty School COC Beauty School is a Nigerian based institute that teaches the best of cosmetic product formulation from scratch. “The go-to haven for everything connected to cosmetic product formulation” which follows FDA standards offers 4 major courses; the Skincare Development Technology Programme, Haircare Development Technology Programme, Perfume Development Technology Pro-

gramme and Makeup Development Technology Programme.

Beauty entrepreneurs who stand out from roadside mixologists or pro-mixers are raised there - impacted with the required formulation skills, sales of the products made and business direction on launching beauty businesses.

These “scientifically sound formulators” understand the human skin, the human hair, how they work, what ingredients they can take safely and what they cannot take.

They make the safest and most effective products putting into consideration skin type, race and climate. Their knowledge of each ingredient and essentiality of every single production step enables them detect issues and give ideal solutions that are healthy. Students are taught how to test products branding, sales and marketing, registration procedures and customer retention. This year, an additional course will teach all graduates how to scale up and generate better turnover. “Our students come to us knowing nothing about making cosmetic products the right way and they leave as experts with great Interested past students are also given the chance to become instructors.

Away from the classrooms, the school offers extra-curriculum activity such as beauty trade shows.

This is to enable them exhibit their products, get new clientele and expose their products to the international market. This year, the destinations are Dubai and Istanbul with Dubai slated for February.

“During this tour, students will be learning from 3 of U.A.E’s experts in the field of soap making, perfumery and scented candles exploring Dubai’s raw material market, luxury packaging options and aesthetics learning formulas from the generations before us”.

Also a resource magazine is set to be launched in a few weeks.

“It won’t be just a magazine but a career handbook that will aid in the journey of being a cosmetic entrepreneur. It will also serve as a means for us to celebrate our graduates that are doing very well and making us proud,” she said.

HACEY, Access Bank collaborate to sensitise 500 Lagosians on AIDS/HIV Josephine Okojie

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bout 500 members of Ilaje Community in Bariga, Lagos have undergone sensitisation, test and counselling exercise carried out

by Hacey Health in partnership with Access Bank on HIV/AIDs in commemoration of the World AIDS Day. Beneficiaries, which include adults and children, were sen-

sitised on HIV/AIDS, mode of transmission, prevention and the importance of regular HIV/AIDS screening. ‘’Continued collaboration is needed between government, non-profits and private sector organisation in raising awareness, providing free counselling and testing as well as providing anti-retroviral therapy, including providing support for those affected by the virus,’’ Rhoda Robinson, executive director, Hacey Health said during the sensitisation programme, according to a

statement.

Segun Zebulon, community leader of Ilaje, expressed his concerns for the community.

According to him, there is no hospital and medical facilities close to the community for people living with HIV/AIDS and that most people living in the community have little knowledge of HIV prevalence, with many afraid to go for testing.

Zebulon called for more of this initiative in the community to help enlighten people and also to know

their HIV/AIDS status.

A beneficiary of the seminar, who simply gave his name as Salvador noted that the awareness and sensitisation programme has made two persons living in the community realise that they were HIV positive which would have remained unknown to them if the sensitisation and testing exercise were not carried out in the community.

She appreciated Hacey and Access Bank for the initiative while imploring them to link the

two people who tested positive to the virus to centres they can get affordable treatment.

During the sensitisation programme, there was emphasis on the need for pregnant women to ensure they get tested for HIV to know their status early to prevent mother to child transmission.

The programme was held with support from Access Bank in commemoration of World AIDS Day which is celebrated on the 1st of December yearly.

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BDSUNDAY 35

SundayBusiness Maximizing potentials of cassava with FIIRO Technology Food & Beverages With Ayo Oyoze Baje

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hat Nigeria leads the world in cassava roots production is not in doubt.But our current focus on rice production, as if it is the only staple food we have is taking us away from how to maximize its immense potentials.

With a figure of 47,406,770 tons as recorded in 2013, Nigeria ranked first. In 2014, 268 million tons of cassava was produced globally. With a production of 30,227,542 tons, Thailand came next. Indonesia (23,936,920) and Brazil (21,484,218) ranked third and fourth respectively in the world in cassava production. This was reported back in April,2017.

Going by state production as at 2005,Benue was first with 3,548 1000 metric tons that accounted for 11.08% of Nigeria’s production of cassava. The top 5 states were Taraba, Kogi, Imo, and Cross River that accounted for 44.05% of it. The situation has not changed substantially ever since.

Unfortunately, cassava’s latent potentials as a moneyspinner to producecassava starch, cassava chips and pellets, glucose syrup, alcohol, flour have been left untapped. Production of wheat-cassava composite flour for bread making at ratio 9-to-1 exploited during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure has not been sustained. Too bad!

As has been apparent in

other areas of availability of raw materials, what has been grossly lacking is the application of technology to process them into more economically valuable products.Thus, we have crude oil, many solid minerals and agric products such as cocoa, cashew nuts, coffee, sesame seeds allin quantum supply. Butwe wait for externalcorporate bodies to turn them into finished products which we import and buy at exorbitant prices to the detriment of our natural economy!

The good news however, is that with the conceptualisation of the nation’s indigenous research institute back in 1953as the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi, FIIRO Lagos and its subsequent establishment with supervision by different Ministries starting from 1956, some modest, but notable breakthroughs in technological inventions and innovations have been recorded. In the specific area of cassava processing these include: •Cassava-wheat flour composite bread production • Mechanised production of garri, lafun, fufu and starch from cassava roots.

• Production of glucose syrup from cassava starch • Production of noodles from cassava • Mechanised production of cassava flour • Production of cassava chips and pellets Research and Development (R & D) project Th e i n s t i t u t e ’s r e s e a r c h projects have relevance to the technological and economic problems of the Nation. They are initiated in-house in pursuance of the Institute’s mandate and as ademonstration of its problemsolving posture.

Soy-Gari Production Gari is a cassava product that serves as a staple food for most Nigerians. It is in the form of tiny granules which can be consumed directly, or after soaking in water, with or without any supplement.

In order to make it more

nutritious, its protein level could be raised from about 1% to 10% by enriching it with soy beans. The Institute successfully carried out research into the production of a high protein gari using soy bean.

This will reduce the incidence of protein deficiency diseases among the consumers.

Production of Glucose Syrup From Cassava Starch The production of glucose syrup from cassava starch using glucoamylase which was obtained by solid state fermentation of rice bran with the fungus Aspergillus Niger on laboratory scale has been established. The enzymic hydrolysis of cassava starch gave a glucose syrup which has a pH 6.0; specific gravity 1.0; total reducing sugars 30.4%, total solids 80% and dextrose equivalent 38%.

Glucose syrup is a sweetener used industrially in Nigeria, for example in the food, soft drink and confectionery industries. The establishment of a process for conversion of cassava starch to glucose syrup would enhance the local capability of glucose syrup production.

Detoxified Cassava Starch Production The biggest shortcoming of cassava starch is hydrocyanic acid, which limits its use in industries especially the pharmaceutical industries. Detoxification is the process through which it is removed and the starch becomes safe for use, not only in the textile industry but also inthe food and pharmaceutical industries.

Ca s s a v a - W h e a t Fl o u r Composite Bread Production Bread is a staple food in Nigeria.

It has been hitherto produced from wheat flour. Wheat is not produced in Nigeria, as such huge amount of hardcarned foreign exchange is used every year for its importation. Research evidence at FIIRO has shown that cassavaflour can be incorporated into wheat flour for bread making at different levels of substitution, 10-15% being the most acceptable for bread making, while 15-20% is acceptable for confectioneries and other baked products.

Cassava Flour Production FIIRO has extensively worked on cassava processing, including developing technologies for the utilization of some primary products particularly cassava starch and flour to produce noodles, snacks and confectioneries. Due to the recent policy in Nigeria that 10% cassava flour be incorporated into wheat flour, the institute has brought to commercializable stage, the production of cassava flour.

Ca s s a v a - W h e a t Fl o u r Composite Snacks/Cookies Cookies are usually made form 100% wheat flour or occasionally from a combination of wheat and other cereal flour.

Cassava cookies are made from a combination of cassava flour and wheat flour at the ratio of 80:20 or 70:30 of cassava to wheat. Cassava cookies could be classified as rolled and pressed cookies. Rolled cookies are made from stiff dough while pressed cookies are made from rich soft dough usually of short bread type.

Cassava Chips and Pellets Production Cassava root is a highly perishable commodity with a post harvest life of less than 72 hours. In order to reduce postharvest losses and increase its shelf life, an appropriate method of processing freshly harvested cassava into dried chips has been developed FIIRO. Cassava pellets production is another method of cassava preservation. Pellets are dried cassava products made from chips. These products are used in animal feed industry and in the production of ethanol, doughnut and biscuits.

The Institute has successfully developed and fabricated suitable equipment for the production of chips and pellets.

Mechanised Production of Fufu Flour Fufu is a fermented product from cassava which is cooked into a local food. Traditionally, it is produced in the wet form with moisture content of 40-50%.

This makes the product highly perishable with a short shelf life

compared with gari and lafun, which are in granular form with moisture content below 10%.

This has necessitated the Institute to upgrade and mechanize the traditional method of producingfufu. It is now available in granular flour form, with longer shelf-life.

To maximize the potentials in cassava tubers as countries such as Brazil and Malaysia have done, governments at the federal and state levels, as well as food processing companies should start to look at cassava as a veritable product for youth unemployment. A holistic approach is required.

Series of stakeholders’ meetings at the instance of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources should be embarked upon to have a master plan to provide answers to the following questions. How much cassava tubers do we really grow on annual basis? Where do we grow them in the country? What methods do our farmers apply in its cultivation? How much of this is based on using cassava stems that have the IITA varieties which are high-yielding, diseaseresistant and early-maturing?

How many of the rural farmers have the requisite knowledge in growing such varieties with applied modern technology?

How do we get our unemployed youths actively engaged in this project and what trainings and incentives do they require? How can banks come into this business to provide the needed funds? How would our local farmers and exporters also gain access to the foreign markets waiting out there for our finished cassava starch, pellets, chips, alcohol and flour?

The answers to these questions when provided and applied would position Nigeria as a country ready to galvanise the world in cassava revolution.

Baje is Nigerian first Food Technologist in the media ayobaje@yahoo.co.uk; 08057971776

Odu’a Investment re-appoints Adewale Raji as GMD for another term REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

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he Board of Odu’a Investment Company Limited has re-appointed Adewale Raji as the group managing director for another 5 years.

Raji was appointed the group managing director of Odua for a term of five years from 1st June 2014 with provision for renewal for another term subject to performance. The five-year tenure of Adewale Raji as the group managing director of Odua expired on 31st May 2019.

However, before the expiration of the tenure, the Shareholders (i.e. the 6 Owner State Gov-

ernments of South West Nigeria) engaged the services of KPMG Advisory Services to carry out evaluation of the five years’ per-

Adewale Raji

formance of the Group Managing Director.

The Shareholders resolved and directed the Board of Directors to grant the GMD an extension of tenure for a period of six months pending the outcome of KPMG Performance Evaluation with effect from 1st June 2019.

The Owner States Governors at a meeting held on 28th October 2019 considered the report of KPMG and accepted its recommendation that the GMD should be offered appointment for another term of five years with effect from the date of expiration of the initial term of five years. They directed the Board of Directors to ratify and carry out the decision.

The Board was formally informed

of this decision of the Shareholders by a letter dated 14th November 2019 signed by the Chairman of the Western Nigeria Governors’ Forum – Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

The Board of Odu’a Investment Company Limited, at a subsequent meeting, considered the directive of the shareholders and by a resolution approved and ratified the appointment of Raji as the group managing director for a period of five years with effect from 1st June 2019.

The first five years of Raji witnessed significant growth in the Profit Before Tax from N378million and N495million in 2013 to N849million and N1.061billion

in 2018 for the Holding Company and the Group respectively. In the same 5-year period, a Gross Dividend of N1.208billion has been paid out to Shareholders which is a record of consecutive dividend payout in the history of the Company. New business initiatives particularly in Agric-Business and processing were being explored and the Company was better managed with a very high sense of accountability and transparency while upholding the principles of Corporate Governance and safeguarding the interest of Shareholders.

Raji has since commenced work in earnest with commitment to growth, profitability and sustainability of the Group.

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Sunday 19 January 2020

StateOfTheNation

The Supreme Court judgment that dethroned Ihedioha • What future for elections in Nigeria?

• Who makes a governor: Votes or Supreme Court?

• The contradiction of prophecies on Imo Ignatius Chukwu

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Introduction: n Imo State, South-east Nigeria in the past 96 hours, it has been a mixture of joy and jubilation on one hand and tears and tribulation on the other, since Nigeria’s Supreme Court dethroned Governor Emeka Ihedioha of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and replaced him with Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC). As a result of this judgment, Uzodinma received his ‘Certificate of Return’ from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and was subsequently sworn in as the governor of Imo State on Wednesday, January 15, 2020. The governorelect and his deputy, a professor, Placid Njoku, were sworn in by the Chief Justice of Imo State, the justice, Pascal Nnadi. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Imo State Government House (Douglas House). Some were laughing, others were crying.

Joy and jubilation seem to be the portion of the APC and Uzodinma camp while tears and tribulation seem to dwell among the PDP and Ihedioha estate. In other words, Ihedioha’s haters seem to jubilate, his lovers seem to mourn.

The opposite was the case in the past seven months up to March 9, 2019, when Ihedioha was declared winner of the Imo State governorship election for which he had prepared and planned for over eight years. He had contested in 2015 but lost to the then incumbent, Rochas Okorocha. He made a second bid four years later when Okorocha was no longer the incumbent and was declared winner by the INEC. Three of the co-contestants, all of them former members of the PDP, headed to the tribunal to challenge Ihedioha’s victory.

What each candidate pleaded Hope Uzodinma: He came fourth in the elections with about 96,000 votes, but he did not contest results INEC announced other than saying results disallowed from 388 polling stations which favoured him must be added. Agreed with INEC that the election was free and fair and tendered copies of his agents’ results in court as well as got the Nigeria Police to tender their counter copy.

Ifeanyi Ararume of APGA

Ihedioha

claimed that the election was marred by violence and thus asked for a rerun due to ballot snatching and electoral crimes.

Lawyers said he did not call any material witness to prove his case. They said he did not challenge the votes canvassed from the 388 polling booths.

Uche Nwosu of AA claimed he won APC primaries and went to court. It is not on record that he has vacated such claims but still contested the election as AA candidate. He was to be disqualified for double candidacy.

Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP who was declared winner in that election is said not to have challenged results from the 388 polling booths probably relying on the fact that INEC deemed it fit to reject them. He was said to not have tendered an alternate record of his participation at those booths. In the eyes of the law, he was deemed to have conceded the results.

The verdict: The Supreme Court ruled that the votes from the 388 polling units which were duly signed by the ward officials from INEC should not have been rejected by either local council or state headquarters officials of INEC. In that case, they accepted 213,295 votes and added this to the 96,000, making Uzodinma to overtake the number one, Ihedioha who had over 273,000 votes.

The apex court thus, ordered

Uzodinma

Ihedioha to vacate the seat and that Uzodinma should replace him. By this, the Supreme Court asked the opposition PDP to vacate for APC. This immediately reverberated like the overthrow of Celestine Omehia in Rivers State in 2007 for Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi that did not contest the election to take over; the case in Anambra State where Peter Obi was asked to come back and take over as governor of the state when Andy Uba had already formed government.

The losers usually call this ‘evil verdict’.

Imomatics PDP sympathizers have released figures to help people understand how the judgment was arrived at, for good or for bad. This calculation allegedly rendered by the Supreme Court is now being touted ‘Imomatics’ (Imo Mathematics). This goes like this: A: INEC results Total Accredited voters 823,743 Total votes cast - 739,485 Cancelled votes - 25,130 Valid votes - 714,355 B: INEC results Votes scored by each candidate before the Supreme Court Judgment: 1. Emeka Ihedioha - 273,404 2. Uche Nwosu - 190,364 3. Ifeanyi Arerume - 114,676 4. Hope uzodinma - 96,458.

5. Others had - 39,433 Grand total - 714,335.

C: Supreme Court figures The Supreme Court in its judgment added 213,295 votes to Hope Uzodinma’s original votes of 96,458 thereby bringing his total number of votes to 309, 753 votes.

At last, the votes stood thus: 1. Emeka Ihedioha - 273,404 2. Uche- 190,364 3. Ifeanyi - 114,676 4. Hope Uzodinma - 309,753 5. Others have - 39,433 Total - 927,630.

Conflict: 1. Supreme Court Judgment Votes - 927, 630 2. Voters accredited by INEC was - 823, 743 3. Unexplained difference -103, 887 The concept of Cross Petition: Tragic defensive error?

Painful but legally correct – Kenneth Ikonne, SAN Some legal experts led by Kenneth Ikonne, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), have analysed the judgment and came out with a damning verdict of ‘correct’, though painful. They argue that when a point needed to counter a petition against is weight, you file a cross petition to enable the court treat it as substantive point.

It is called setting up of fact.

In his review, Ikonne said: “Ihedioha indeed did set up facts in his reply to the petition rehashing the serial infractions that led to the exclusion of the results of the said 300 plus polling units. But

that was legally not enough, in the absence of a cross petition.

Besides, such renditions by a Respondent in a mere Reply or Statement of Defence are clearly incompetent. The reason for the incompetence was made clear by the Court of Appeal in National Judicial Council & Ors V Hon Justice Jubril Babajide Aladejide Ejena & Ors. “The law is that it is a plaintiff who by his statement of claim primarily nominates issues to be tried in a suit and which he relies on to have the judgment of the court. For a defendant, it is only necessary to resist the plaintiff’s claim on the facts pleaded. It is not for a defendant to set up facts which would convey that it is not just setting up a defence but setting up a new case of his own. He can only do so by way of a counter claim.”

Beyond the legalistics Lawyers can argue till thy kingdom come, but how does the ordinary Nigerian understand that his votes got him not the person he had in mind?

What is the future of elections in Nigeria?

The jury system of judgment which is used in the US, UK and some other advanced democracies operates on the principle that the judge being a legally trained person may possess all the technical skills but that justice is better served when ordinary minds with enough education listen to the facts of a case and make a decision. They would think and reason like ordinary people and seek what justice is perceived to be in any case in hand.

So, legalistics apart, how would the ordinary Nigerian who voted in an election feel when the courts use very remote technicalities to hand power to someone strange or remote to the one in the mind of the people?

With violence and rigging seemingly guaranteed in almost every given election in Nigeria, what would be the future of elections in Nigeria? A young graduate who just started work in Port Harcourt said she did her best not to go out to vote in the 2019 election because she did not believe her vote would count, and that it was not worth the risk of guns and bottles on Election Day. When she heard of the Ihedioha debacle, she turned round to her co-workers to ask them if she had not been vindi-

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StateOfTheNation cated. She may be wrong.

Many say in elections in Nigeria, it is either the laws are not adequate enough to guarantee fairness or even when the laws are there, officials do not seem to give a hoot. Shooting usually starts in the evenings preceding the day of elections till it’s time to snatch ballot boxes, later, results. Yet, no man is in prison in most states on account of election violence or fraud. The young graduates growing into voting age seem to lose the enthusiasm when they come face to face with violence or rigging. Most NYSC members are warned from home not to participate in election. Many have died trying to conduct elections.

This could be why many have called for digital voting arrangements to enable the middle and upper class people vote. Most of them do not fancy coming out to queue up and expose themselves to gunshots or violent actions.

These threats seem to make votes not to count. There seems to be racy decline of confidence in elections in Nigeria.

Who makes a governor: Votes or Supreme Court?

The recall of Obi to come finish his tenure in Anambra may have excited Nigerians but the dethronment of Omehia to hand over to Amaechi seemed to cause shock and surprise. Many could not understand how a man who did not contest an election would be sworn in as the winner. Experts said it bothered on jurisprudence.

Whatever the case, many now ask, should the court help enthrone the will of the people or to import and impose rulers?

These sticky points seem to reduce confidence in the electoral system. The situation seems to reduce confidence in elections when they see the court impose candidates and election results.

This could be why Calistus Pedro in Port Harcourt called for not only digital voting but for all cases to be ended before swearing in.

I have run a good race – Ihedioha Before handing over, Ihedioha addressed the people of Imo State and Nigeria in which he concluded by saying in native tongue that Imo is for all. He said so after appealing to Imolites to extend hand of cooperation to his successor the way they did to him. Many have commended that posture.

Though he made it clear he disagree with the Supreme Court, he mentioned the fulcrum of his administration as restoration of merit, unity of purpose, honesty, transparency and inclusiveness.

Saying he had put in machinery for handover, he distanced himself from any attempt to loot property of government.

On milestones, he stated: “It is significant to note that Imo State was looking good again. We were declared the least corrupt State in the country, the fastest state growing economy in Nigeria and the most improved, in terms of the deployment of Information Technology in service delivery.

Our infrastructure was significantly coming to life, civil servants

Tanko Muhammad, Chief Justice of Nigeria

Nwosu

Mbaka

Ararume

and pensioners were now being paid as and when due and optimism returned to Imo State. It is on record that we were acclaimed as the most sports and Diaspora friendly state. Most importantly we returned life and activities to our local governments. Yes we had good plans to make Imo the centre piece of commerce, industry, technology, tourism by providing good leadership and first class infrastructure. Under our watch, Imo became safe with our systematic approach to securing lives and property.

“All these were made possible by your prayers, support and sacrifices. I therefore, appeal to all Imolites, especially our teeming supporters to remain calm and to shun any action that is capable of resulting in a breach of the peace.

We can always have different parties, but we would have only one Imo State.

“It is incontrovertible that we ran a good race, fought tough battles, (including, principalities and powers) and governed the state well, with the fear of God, accountability, transparency and entrenched due process. We step aside with implicit faith in the Sovereign Lord who reigns over the affairs of men.”

Lamentations of Ihedioha’s kinsman A 55-year old man from Mbutu in Aboh Mbaise, Collins Joseph Uche, asked to see where justice resided in the judgment of the Supreme Court, apart from either trying to award states to the APC or trying to appease some individuals.

He said: “I speak as an Mbaise person who can be considered to be a kinsman to Ihedioha. First, how would the apex court alone

see the need to recognise results that were rejected by those who saw what happened, people mandated by the Electoral Act to so decide? How would the Supreme Court say they saw what the tribunal did not see, and what the senior judges at the Federal Appeal Court did not see? Did they study their own law in the moon?

“How can the Supreme Court see massive votes for a candidate whose party did not win one single seat in parliament? If it were in the days of parliamentary system, how would the president ask a man who got no single vote in parliament to go form government?

“Did the Supreme Court not know that the former governor (Okorocha) fought his party (APC) by taking away the entire party structure in Imo State to AA in retaliation for not allowing him his way? Did the apex court not know that both AA and APC candidates came from same Orlu zone and thus shared their votes to allow Ihedioha from Owerri zone run away with majority votes?

“Did the Supreme Court not care to know that APC had no pillar and thus Imo people were voting for PDP or AA and APGA? Who were the people voting for APC? How did the court import extra 213,000 votes in an election where Okorocha’s camp could only muster 190,000 votes?

How does the court explain the fact that by adding their 213,000, the number of total votes has surpassed number of accredited votes, a fact that often leads to cancellation of any election?

“Is the Supreme Court saying they want Orlu zone to rule forever, after eight years of legitimate reign and eight stolen years? Are

they saying there is greater urgency of justice in making Uzodinma win than in making Owerri zone take their turn to govern?

“Finally, in a country where winner takes all, where governors and presidents take everything to their zones, is the Supreme Court saying that the projects started in Mbaise should perish again?

Houses have been demolished to allow roads pass, electricity line is on the way, roads are springing up, and the Supreme Court has halted the destiny of a people for decades to come, and they call it justice?”

The contradiction of prophecies on Imo A rural prophet, Rev. Eric Onunji, general overseer of True Believers Church at Nnorie in NgorOkpala Local Council Area of Imo State, came to national limelight when he predicted that Ihedioha was going to win. This ran counter to the statements made by other prophets. At the end, Ihedioha won. Many hailed Onunji.

On New Year Day or Cross Over Night, Rev Fr Mbaka shook the world when he said he saw APC’s Uzodinma taking over from Ihedioha. That too has come to pass. This has prompted many to wonder what went wrong that the same God that spoke through Onunji went to speak to Mbaka to bring in another governor.

Those who reviewed both prophecies have argued that both may have been inspired by same God. To them, Ihedioha won when God said it, and Uzodinma took over when God also caused it to be said.

Reviewing the prophecies deeper, the persons reminded Nigerians that Onunji had also given condition for Ihedioha, that he must place a copy of the Holy

Bible on his desk as a symbol of the presence of God and covenant between him and the common man that he will always work for the suffering commoners of Imo. It will be recalled that Onunji had vehemently rejected any form of donation or even offering from the Ihedioha delegates who came to collect the prophesy.

The GO had said he did not want Ihedioha and his people to misunderstand the will of God or mix it with demand for money.

When Ihedioha won, he did not pay any visit to the rural church but was said to have sent some persons to convey his appreciation. Many wondered if those persons did not send themselves just to pacify the rural church.

Probably to reduce sulking, one of Ihedioha’s close associates came to the rural church on January 5, 2020, to do his personal thanksgiving and to present his three male children and wife to God, something he said he does every year. There, he pleaded with the church to bear with them, that as soon as the Supreme Court disposed off the case, he would try to get the governor and team to come honour True Believers Church.

Speaking to newsmen earlier, Onunji said he did not allow Ihedioha people to give any kind of money to his church because most prophets have made money the higher objective. He said what was more important was for Ihedioha to realise that it was God that gave him victory and so install a Bible on his desk and rule by the tenets.

Some insiders interpreted that to mean that Ihedioha was to invite the True Believers Church leaders to pray and dedicate his desk and the copy of the Bible.

Onunji did not say this was his expectation, when contacted. It is also not clear if Ihedioha understood it that way.

This was the situation of things when Mbaka exploded with his prayer against Ihedioha and this took over attention of the masses. And it came to pass.

It will be recalled that Onunji, then a young pastor directly commissioned by the Holy Spirit, had been sent and he delivered a warning to then Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, in Aso Rock, to vacate office. IBB did and lived. He was said to have been sent to tell Sani Abacha same thing. He did, but Abacha ignored it. He did not live.

Onunji had predicted that Muhammadu Buhari would win in 2015, and he did. He had predicted that Goodluck Jonathan who was been rooted for by easterners, would lose, and he lost. He also predicted that Ihedioha would lose in 2015 and this brought him hostility from most Mbaise politicians and Ihedioha lost. This could be why Ihedioha may not have felt any warmth when he was told that the same prophet had prophesied that he would win this time. But he won. On any of these occasions, Onunji did not collect a kobo as offering or donation. What is true however, is that everyone in True Believers Church at the moment (including Onunji) is sad, very sad.

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BrandsOnSunday SPOTLIGHTING BRAND VALUE

America’s ‘judgment’ on Iran’s Soleimani: Lessons for Nigeria on how best to deal with Boko Haram

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or America, Iranian top military commander, Qasem Soleimani was terminated for planning terrorist attack on Americans. Based on high level intelligence report, Donald Trump defended the killing that Soleimani was “planning a very major attack and we got him” he said in a report.

Iran, in a letter to the United Nations, called the attack state terrorism and an unlawful criminal act, more or less denouncing US claims. But if the American intelligence report is to be believed, Trump ordered the assassination of the ‘head’, the leader and not the ‘tail’ or the led, to stop the attack.

What America did was to employ decapitation method which is the complete separation of the head from the body and when this happens it deprives all other organs ability to function.

With America’s action, the assassination of Soleimani by drone has stopped or put whatever he was planning on hold. It will perhaps, take Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani who replaced Soleimani the same character and thinking to plan such attacks that Soleimani was accused of.

What is noteworthy is the revelation through such intelligence report and it is understandable that the ‘boys’ will hardly execute such attacks without orders from the leaders.

Back home, Nigerian soldiers have fought the ‘boys’ in Boko Haram camp for about 15 years with heavy casualties on both sides. The terrorist group seeks to establish Islamic State in Nigeria.

The boys causing the casualties are being fed, sponsored and taking orders from some higher people somewhere. Unlike US, Nigeria has for many years not been able to identify these high profile people, hence the atrocity of the terrorist group has continued.

Reports say since the current insurgency started in 2009; Boko Haram has killed tens of thousands and displaced 2.3 million from their homes. The group was declared one of the world’s deadliest terror groups according to the Global Terrorism Index.

“Of the 2.3 million people displaced by the conflict since May 2013, at least, 250,000 have left Nigeria and fled to Cameroon, Chad or Niger. Boko Haram killed over 6,600 in 2014. The group

Trump

has carried out mass abductions, including the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in April 2014,” a report said.

Nigeria must borrow a leaf from US in identifying the ‘head’ if the country is serious to curb the atrocities of insurgent groups.

But it appears this has become impossible due to alleged corruption in the security services which has hampered efforts to counter the unrest.

To curtail the likely spread of the atrocities, the governors in the six Southwest states of

Buhari

Nigeria Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti and Lagos came together on January 9, 2020 to establish joint regional security outfit, ‘Amotekun’, which has now become controversial.

Amotekun, understandably, a bold public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement is appreciated; especially at a time the centre is weakened by many challenges and meagre resources to tackle them.

Insecurity remains a major concern in Nigeria which has made major investments scary

But it is only when the sponsors of bombing and kidnapping are identified instead of chasing the ‘boys’ that security efforts at Federal, regional or state levels will be effective

with its implications on production and employment. We hear some foreigners expressing fear to visit Nigeria over insecurity. Unjustified activities of insurgents in various parts of the country, including bombing, shootings, killings, burning of police stations, churches, mosques, kidnapping and gruesome murder, destruction of oil installations and outright robbery have continued to defy solutions because the leaders and sponsors have not been identified.

Amotekun is South West solution to these monstrous crimes.

International Terrorism Index, one of which is Australiabased Institute for Economic and Peace, in 2018 scored Nigeria third on a list of 138 countries of terrorism. Africa’s most populous nation was reportedly ranked only behind Iraq and Afghanistan. Behind Nigeria was Syria and Pakistan while Somalia rounded off the list of countries in the countries that suffered “very high” impact of terrorism.

“India , Yemen, Egypt and Philippines occupied the seventh to tenth spot, respectively.

Nigeria-based terrorist group, Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab in Somalia were also listed among the top four deadliest groups”, the report said.

The thinking and the eventual establishment of the security outfit for South West is not only laudable but to assist the manpower-starved Federal force to deal with rising insecurity which has frustrated businesses, tourists and assisted to brand Nigeria negatively in international circles.

“It is when the country is safe and secure that we can think of other necessities. That is why as a group, we have made concerted effort to form this alliance in order to make the region safe for us. The security situation in the Southwest is worrisome. People are afraid to travel through roads because of the fear of kidnappers and marauders that kill and maim at will,” the convener of the Southwest Stakeholders Security Group (SSSG), Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams said.

‘Amotekun’ is a good move by the South West. Other regions can emulate this model. But it is only when the sponsors of bombing and kidnapping are identified instead of chasing the ‘boys’ that security efforts at Federal, regional or state levels will be effective. America understands this strategy that is why, in its thinking, it plugged off Soleimani, the head.

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CapitalMarket Flour Mills to refinance existing short-term debt with N20bn bonds TELIAT SULE

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lour Mills of Nigeria (FMN), the nation’s leading integrated food business and agro-allied group, has announced it will issue up to N20 billion medium term bonds to refinance existing short-term debt and increase further the efficiency of its balance sheet, having in focus maximisation of wealth for its shareholders.

The notice, which was released by the company secretary to the authorities of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), indicated that the process of obtaining the requisite approvals from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the issuance of the bond had begun.

“The bonds, which are expected to be senior unsecured fixed rate bonds with tenors of 3 and 5 years respectively, are part of its previously-approved N70 billion bond issue programme.

“The management of FMN has disclosed that the proceeds from the bonds will be used to refinance existing short-term debt and increase further the efficiency of its balance sheet, with the ultimate objective of maximising the wealth of its shareholders”, Umolu Joseph, company secretary and director of legal services said.

As at the end of the 2019 financial year ended March 31, 2019, Flour Mills of Nigeria recorded N265.85 billion as total liabilities, representing 3.15 percent increase over N257.73 billion worth of total liabilities as at March 31, 2018.

Equity within the same period re-

Source: Company’s financials 2018 & 2019; BRIU

mained flat at N150.97 billion compared to N150.62 billion in March 2018. It thus implies that within the period gearing ratio declines from 37 percent for equity to 63 percent for debt in March 2018 to 36 percent for equity to 64 percent for debt in March 2019.

The gearing ratio might further increase in favour of debt when the current year ends by March 2020.

This is because, in addition to the

current bonds of N20 billion, the agro-allied giant had raised commercial papers worth N1.7 billion (series 6) in April 2019.

“Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Nigeria’s leading food and agro-allied group, announces the issuance of the sum of N1.7 billion (series 6), under its N100 billion Commercial Paper Programme which is registered with the FMDQ OTC Plc. (FMDQ) and completed on

February 14, 2019.

“All issuances totalling N20.34 billion under the programme are quoted on the FMDQ Exchange.

The management of FMN disclosed that the commercial paper programme will help the company to focus on its strategic objective of sustaining its market leadership position within the foods and agroallied space”, Flour Mills announced in April 2019.

In spite of the rising gearing ratio, its finance costs have remained moderate. In March 2019, Flour Mills paid N22.89 billion as finance costs compared with N32.69 billion the company paid in March 2018.

Last week Friday, investors traded 913,650 units of flour mills worth N21.40 million to close at N23.50, representing a year to date gain of 19.3 percent.

UBA, Access enhance market credibility with N390m transactions by directors

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wo Pan African banks, the United Bank of Africa (UBA) and Access Bank, last week enhanced market credibility with the notification of transactions worth N390.05 million trades executed by directors of the two firms.

In the notification sent by UBA to the authorities of the nation’s bourse, the bank stated that Bili Odum, representing Workfield Foundation Limited by Guarantee, sold 1,775, 309 shares at N8.40 each and another 2,019 shares at N8.45 per share, which added up to 1,777,328 shares worth N14.929 million on January 10, 2020.

Similarly, Access Bank, Nigeria’s largest lender by assets, informed stakeholders through the authorities of the Nigerian Stock

Exchange that Herbert Wigwe, its group managing director and chief executive officer, sold 55, 611, 001 shares, worth N375.12 million between January 10 and 15, 2020.

The breakdown shows that on January 10, 2020, Wigwe sold 3,607,819 shares at N10.80 per share worth N38.96 million.

On January 13, 2020, he sold 20,140,000 shares at N10.70 per share worth N215.49 million. On January 14, 2020, Access Bank’s GMD sold 9,236,026 shares at N10.56 per share worth N97.53 million while on January 15, 2020, he sold 2,262,715 shares at N10.22 per share worth N23.12 million.

The post listing requirements require listed forms to notify the general public when a directors sell shares representing 5 percent and above of their share holdings

in a firm.

“The implication of directors selling own shares depends on why they are selling. If the people perceive the directors do so because of a brewing problem, that will bring down the stock price. If otherwise, there is no problem. That is why insider trading is forbidden and SEC says you should always report directors’ transactions at 5 percent and above”, Saheed Bashir, managing director, Meristem Stockbrokers, said.

Last week Friday, investors traded 47.47 million shares of Access Bank to close at N10.80 per share representing 8 percent year to date gain.

Similarly, investors traded 65.74 million shares of UBA worth N584.80 million to close at N8.80 per share, and its share has gained

23.1 percent year to date.

Further, Access Bank, in continuation of its expansion across Africa, announced it has acquired a commercial banking license in the Republic of Kenya, while pursuing another commercial banking license in Cameroon.

“It will be recalled that the Board of Access Bank on October 28, 209 informed the Nigerian Stock Exchange that the Central Bank of Nigeria had granted its ‘no objection’ to the bank’s proposed acquisition of majority stake in Kenyan-based Transnational Bank Plc(TNB).

“We are pleased to announce that Access Bank has now secured the final approvals of all relevant regulatory authorities in Kenya in respect of the acquisition. The acquisition is in line with the bank’s

strategic objective of becoming Africa’s gateway to the world and ties into its strategy to establish footprints in key African markets. The acquisition will further complement the bank’s franchise in Rwanda, Congo DRC and Zambia”, Sunday Ekwochi, Access Bank’s company secretary, said.

Before the latest acquisitions, Access Bank had seven foreign subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Ghana , Rwanda , Congo DRC, Zambia, the Gambia and Sierra Leone. At half year 2019, the cumulative profit after tax (PAT) of the foreign subsidiaries amounted to N21.04 billion as against N13.64 billion at half year 2018. It recorded the highest PAT growth in Sierra Leone, 4,741 percent; Ghana, 83 percent and UK, 40 percent.

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Feature Bribery, extortion thrive as LAGESC, taskforce officers frustrate small businesses …I pay some amount of money every Friday; we just call it ‘KAI money’ - Trader DESMOND OKON

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wners of roadside/small businesses in Lagos St a t e h a v e l a mented the negative impact of the activities of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) and Task Force on their businesses.

They say both LAGESC and Task Force make doing business difficult and cause huge losses, as they called on the government to provide affordable shops for them.

From one government administration to another, the sanitation corps, formerly known as Kick Against Indiscipline, (KAI) and Task Force officers have caused pain to Lagosians trying make a living by selling their goods by some parts of Lagos’ roads.

According to multiple sources who spoke to BDSUNDAY, LAGESC operatives move round the state brutally chasing traders and confiscating their wares. The hot zones are Ketu, Ojota, and sometimes Oshodi.

“During Ambode’s administration, they arrested me and took all my market. Since then, I’ve not recovered from the loss. I lost almost N150, 000. I was sent to Kirikiri for six months because they said I was selling at an illegal place,” Olamilekan Omoyajowo said.

Omoyajowo, who hails from Ekiti State, sells small snacks at Tipper Bus Stop, in Ketu. He told this reporter that since the incident occurred, and after his exit from the infamous Kirikiri prison – a home for notorious criminals- his children have not been going to school because business has not been the same.

“My children have been at home and not going to school since then due to the loss. This is my country. I’m trying to hustle and they’re arresting people,” he said.

As he called on the govern-

ment to intervene and find a solution to the problem, he wondered the logic behind arresting and jailing people for wanting to survive.

“Does it make sense to send people to kirikiri because we’re looking for what to eat?” he asks rhetorically.

Al s o s e l l i n g i n s e c t i c i d e around the same location is Tunde, Omoyajowo’s brother, who unsurprisingly has similar experience.

Before sticking to selling insecticides, Tunde said he also produced air fresheners, disinfectants like “Dettol” and “Izal”, but he quitted due to the incessant raiding activities of LAGESC and Task Force.

“I stopped because of these people (KAI, Task Force) that are disturbing us. Sometimes, they come and pack our wares and they won’t release them.

Once that happens, it becomes wasted products.

“We don’t have money to get shops, so we have to manage where we see. If they (government) can give us shops, we’re ready to go there. Selling by the road is even risky,” he said.

That of the Omoyajowo’s is not a tale of genetics; the plight exists elsewhere and shared among petty traders in Ojota.

Traders work in fear at Ojota Bus Stop. Mondays are most

frightening as LAGESC and Task Force operatives come “like a thief in the night”.

“If they come to pursue us, those that don’t see them quickly enough, they will carry their market and go. I’ve not been caught, but many people had their market taken during Fashola’s time. They had to do an undertaking that we would not sell our market again,” a jeweler, known as Bose, said.

B D S U N DAY l e a r n t t h a t sometimes, the raiding continues for a week, leaving no room for people to make sales.

“They said they are government workers; that their oga (boss) wouldn’t want people to sell along the road. But I’ve

checked it, where we are is not close to the main road, but they will always come, and when they do, they wouldn’t want to see people that don’t have shops. All these little space we’re occupying, they don’t like seeing people doing business here,” a source said.

Alleged criminal behaviour: bribery, extortion –‘KAI money’, auction of confiscated goods Speaking to BDSUNDAY, Tunde confirmed that money was usually being given to these officers for them to be allowed to sell. According to him, when he does not have money, he buys them drinks.

“We pay them for us to have

rest of mind to do business. If we don’t have money, we buy drinks for them,” he said.

He also said that sometimes when products are confiscated and taken to their office in Alausa, they are not released even after payment.

“They arrested me three times (last year) because they said I’m selling at an illegal place. When I was arrested those three times, I was taken to Alausa where I paid N10, 000 (per arrest). But my goods were not released. I had to go back to my village in Ekiti State to borrow money from my brother to start the same business again,” Tunde said.

But in Ojota, the extortion is worst and happens in an organised form. BDSUNDAY found that traders within the zone pay N200 every Friday. This money is known as “KAI money”.

“I pay weekly money. Every Friday, we pay N200 (two hundred naira) per person. We just call it KAI money. Everybody is aware that KAI collects money.

“On Thursdays, I normally pay N500, especially during the environmental sanitation period, and they will allow me to sell. Not only me. There is a woman there, (pointing to the direction) some of them who sell food, do also pay money, that’s Thursday’s money N500,” a source said.

According to the source, if you want to sell during the environmental sanitation period, “you will pay N500 then they will allow you…just that you won’t put an umbrella.”

“After you settle them (LAGESC), Taskforce will come, and they come with full pressure.

There was a day they scattered my box, the one I use in selling.

They scattered it, and they carried my umbrella rim, hit it and it broke into pieces. When I came the next day, I had to call a carpenter to amend it. Once they come, they carry people’s markets to Alausa; then you can go and bail it,” he said.

But despite the monetary benefits allegedly enjoyed by LAGESC and Task Force officers, they still disrupt their business activities. Also, once caught, bailing does not come cheaply as you will either be short of goods or not have them released at all.

“The thing is affecting me because sometimes, they bring their truck, and anyone (goods) they carry, that one won’t come back again. It happened to me last year when they carried my market (wares), I used N15, 000 to bail it, and when I was bailing it out, it was no longer complete. I paid the N15, 000

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Feature

at their office in Oshodi, Opposite Arena, they have an office there,” said another trader who gave his name as Joshua.

Bose, who was mentioned earlier, said: “If you’re caught, your goods won’t be returned.

They will sell it at auction prices. Those ones are the ‘Task Force’. KAI returns goods after warnings.” She explained that when you’re caught and taken to their office, you would be asked to do an undertaking not to sell anymore. According to her, the undertaking involves capturing your details, and a photograph. “So, to avoid that, sometimes a bribe is given,” she told BDSUNDAY. Given the high cost of living in Lagos State, many residents are making efforts to pay bills.

So, it is not strange to find people hawking in traffic. Those who cannot face the risk of running after vehicles to make sales, engage in street trading.

More so, many street traders told our reporter that they lack funds to rent shops, this means that poverty is also stimulating hawking and street trading.

“If one has money, one would rent a shop. But there is no money, and renting shop is expensive. Even by the roadside, we still pay money to the owner of the store where we keep our products. We pay to council for tickets. But KAI and Taskforce won’t let us do business. I was asked to pay N250, 000 at Oshodi, but how do I do it?” a source said on the basis of anonymity.

Pro-street trading commentators have argued along this line, using the Oyingbo Ultra-

LAGESC van packed at Maryland

Modern Market which currently lies empty as evidence.

Since it was commissioned in 2015, the market is reported to be empty till date due to high cost of rent.

Similarly, out of the 3,800 shops at Tejuosho market, only 1700 are open for business (as at last year). 2, 000 are locked up. The smallest shop at the complex goes for more than N180, 000 ($500).

The prohibition of street trading While pursuing a dream of a mega city, the state government did not consider this be-

He said that the clause in the existing law says the buyer and the seller are both liable and that they would be fined either N90, 000 or a six-month jail term.

Both Ambode and those at the seat of power in the state had consistently maintained that the decision was to ensure free traffic flow, and eliminate potential security threats.

“What we are doing on traffic is that we are introducing new strategies to eliminate traffic, but Lagos, being a cosmopolitan city, you cannot totally eliminate it but now this

fore kicking off its anti-street trading campaign when it announced the full implementation of the law prohibiting street trading and hawking in 2016.

I n a l i ve tel e visio n programme, former governor of Lagos, Akinwunmi Ambode, had said that the enforcement was in line with Section One of the Lagos State Street Trading and Illegal Market Prohibition Law 2003.

is the case, in the next few days, you will see on the street of Lagos signs that will be warning you that buyers and hawkers should be aware that there are consequences,” he said.

He said his administration had also concluded plans to roll out a campaign which would warn motorists and hawkers of the restrictions and the penalty for defaulters.

The contribution of the informal sector to state’s IGR The contribution of the sector to the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state is immense. The state government estimated the value of the informal economy at N7.615tn ($48.2 billion) in 2013, with approximates 5.58 million people employed in the sector according to the Labour Statistic Collaborative Survey, quoted in a report by BudgIt. The informal sector is projected to have contributed approximately 40 percent or N111billion to the internally generated revenue pool of the state and local governments,

according to the reports. In 2015, at the state level, an estimated 40 percent of the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) came from the informal economy; while the value of the sector’s economic activities was estimated to reach N9.87trillion in 2016.

In addition, the sector has positively impacted the state’s economy in terms of job creation, which some analysts put at 68 percent of the total jobs in the state. The National Bureau of Statistics estimates that there are approximately 2.38million men and 3.2million women that make a living in the sector in Lagos. This represents 65 percent of the working population, and accounts for approximately 42 percent of economic activities.

Economists explain informal sector as that part of an economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government, meaning there is little or no regulation of economic activities in this sector. According to statistics, the sector accounts for about 15percent of employment in developed countries such as the United States. But sub-Saharan Africa, it is 72percent, and if agricultural employment is included it is beyond 90 percent.

Undeniably, the significance of the informal sector to Lagos state’s economy cannot be trivialised. Still, it is shocking and myopic to see persistent efforts from the state government to ban informal economic activities.

A research analyst at Growth and Development Asset Management Ltd, Omobola Adu believes that banning street trading without creating alternative jobs will not be effective

for Lagos State because they will be back.

“They talked about them going into the market, but a research showed that it is actually cost effective for them to be on the streets than to be in an organised place because you have to pay for that space.

“In terms of how it will affect the economy, let’s think about it in terms of direct effect. Direct effect will be on the traders, you are reducing people’s disposable income, so if you are not going to create alternative job, you might get free flow of traffic, but you are also going to reduce the income people will make, you are going to push more into poverty,” he said.

But looking at it from an aggregate level, Adu said it affects the revenue of the state as the amount of money that would be spent by “these people which will also get into the state’s revenue will also be reduced.

“If you are not creating an alternative job [or affordable location, it’s not a win-win situation. The government will lose in the long run and more people will go into poverty,” he said.

Efforts to speak with LAGESC officers, Corps Marshal Countless efforts to reach some officers of the agency deployed to Ojota to get their views were unsuccessful. Also, efforts to speak with the Corps Marshal were futile. The reporter contacted the public relations officer of LAGESC, Kehinde Adebayo, who requested questions to be sent to him and promised to get them across to his boss. The questions were sent via Whatsapp and follow up calls were also made to get a feedback, but there was no reply till the time of filing this report.

42 BDSUNDAY

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Health&Science Risk of leaving goiter disorder untreated

G

ANTHONIA OBOKOH

oiter disorder is more common among women compared to men.

It is also more likely to occur in people after the age of 40, who are more likely to have thyroid disorders. But in Nigeria today, women in their mid-30s are already suffering from the disease, say experts.

The most common cause of goiter worldwide is iodine deficiency in the diet.

Goiter is an abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland, a butterfly-shaped gland located at the base of the neck just below Adam’s apple. Although goiters are usually painless, a large goitre can cause a cough and make it difficult for you to swallow or breathe.

Goitre is a noncancerous enlargement of the thyroid gland.

It is one out of the four common disorders of the thyroid, which are Hashimoto’s disease, Graves’

disease, goiter, and thyroid nodules.

UzomaOnuoha, a gynecologist at the Federal Medical Centre Keffi, said goiter could sometimes

occur when thyroid gland produced too much thyroid hormone (hyperthyroidism), adding that it could also result from an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism).

“Leaving the disease untreated, the hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism can cause irregular periods in women and lower sperm counts in men, which can eventually cause problems getting pregnant.

However, it could also result to other medical problems such as fatigue, weight loss, irritability, sweating, eye defect, loss of hair and trouble sleeping,” said Onuoha.

Similarly, Bayo sekumade medical practitioner at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), said the under-functioning and over-functioning thyroid could lead to infertility, weakness, and death if more complicated with under-func-

tioning hormones.

“It is important people should be evaluated to know their thyroid functions. Blood tests will reveal the levels of thyroid hormone, many people are coming up with the disease,” added sekumade.

According to researchers’ estimate, goiter affects 200 million of the 800 million people who are iodine-deficient worldwide.

It can affect anyone at any age, especially in areas of the world where foods rich in iodine are in short supply.

Not all goiters cause signs and symptoms. When signs and symptoms do occur, they may include visible swelling at the base of the neck that may be particularly obvious when you shave or put on makeup, tight feeling in your throat, coughing, hoarseness, difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing.

How to identify type of eye doctor that you need

W

hen a person makes an appointment to see an eye doctor, they may consult with an ophthalmologist, an optometrist, or an optician. Each type of eye care practitioner will have different levels of training and expertise and be able to provide different services.

There are three different types of eye care practitioner: optometrists, opticians, and ophthalmologists.

Each has a different level of training and expertise, and each will provide different levels of care.

This article reviews the differences between the types of eye care professional. It also discusses the roles of other eye care practitioners, including nurses, medical assistants, and technicians.

Optometrist Optometrists provide primary vision care. Their services range from eyesight testing and correction to diagnosing, treating, and managing changes in vision.

A person who is training to become an optometrist will attend optometry school, not medical school. It takes 4 years of postgraduate studies to obtain a doctorate in optometry.

The practice of optometry involves: conducting eye exams, conducting vision tests, prescribing and dispensing corrective lenses, detecting certain eye irregularities, prescribing medication for certain eye conditions, performing specialized surgical procedures and providing visual rehabilitation.

Optometrists in some states can prescribe schedule II drugs, which include the opioids: hydrocodone, hydromorphone

and oxycodone.

Sometimes, an optometrist is more easily accessible than an ophthalmologist. It is worth finding out if an optometrist can perform a test or procedure before calling an ophthalmologist.

Optician An optician is a technician trained to design and fit the following visual aids: eyeglass lenses and frames, contact lenses, other devices to correct a person’s eyesight.

Opticians use prescriptions from an optometrist or ophthalmologist to verify and fit the required visual aids. They do not have the necessary training to diagnose eyesight problems, and they cannot treat eye conditions.

Ophthalmologist To become an ophthalmologist, a person needs to go to medical school. Ophthalmologists will have at least 8 years of medical school training. Once they become an eye doctor, they are licensed to practice medicine and surgery.

An ophthalmologist can offer the same medical services as an optometrist, including prescribing and fitting eyeglasses and contact lenses to correct vision problems. However, ophthalmologists can also: diagnose and treat all eye conditions, perform eye surgeries, conduct scientific research into the causes and cures for eye conditions and vision problems.

Sometimes, ophthalmologists can also detect health problems that are not directly related to the eye but become apparent in a routine eye exam.

If this occurs, the ophthalmologist will recommend that the person consult their family doctor.

Ophthalmologists are specialized medical doctors, but some ophthalmologists may choose a subspecialty. This involves continuing their education and training in a specific area of medical or surgical eye care.

Some subspecialties of ophthalmology include: Cornea specialist The cornea is the clear, protective outer layer of the eye.

It acts as a lens to focus light entering the eyeball.

A cornea specialist can diagnose and treat corneal eye conditions such as Fuchs’ dystrophy and keratoconus. They may also perform surgeries such as refractive surgery and corneal transplantation.

People who have trauma to the cornea or complicated contact lens fittings may also consult with a cornea specialist.

Retina specialist The retina is the thin layer of tissue that lines the inner part of the back of the eyeball. Its role is to receive light and send visual signals to the brain.

A retina specialist can diagnose and treat retinal eye conditions. This may involve surgically repairing torn or detached retinas.

Retina specialists can also treat conditions of the vitreous, which is the gel-like substance in the eyeball.

Glaucoma specialist Glaucoma specialists treat the eye condition glaucoma.

This causes fluid to build up within the eye. The excess fluid puts pressure on the eye, causing damage to the optic nerve.

Neurology specialist

Ophthalmologists who specialize in neurology are called neuro-ophthalmologists. This subspecialty deals with vision problems related to how the eye communicates with the brain, nerves, and muscles.

Some conditions that neuroophthalmologists can diagnose and treat include: vision loss, double vision, optic nerve problems, abnormal eye movements, eyelid irregularities, unequal pupil size Pediatric specialist A pediatric ophthalmologist treats infants and children with childhood eye conditions and other eye issues.

Some eye issues a pediatric specialist may treat include: misalignment of the eyes, uncorrected refractive errors, vision differences between the two eyes.

Plastic surgery Plastic surgeons who specialize in ophthalmology can repair damage to the eyelids, bones, or other structures around the eye and tear drainage system. They may also administer injections to improve the look and function of facial structures around the eye.

Other eye care professionals Ophthalmologists sometimes require additional help from nurses, medical assistants, and technicians. The following sections provide more detail on these professionals.

Nurses Ophthalmic registered nurses have undergone extra training in eye care. These nurses can inject medications and assist with office or hospital surgeries.

Some nurses with special-

ized training in ophthalmology are clinic or hospital administrators.

Medical assistants Ophthalmic medical assistants can perform a variety of tests to help an eye care practitioner during an examination or procedure.

Technicians Ophthalmic technicians or technologists are highly trained assistants who can help an eye care practitioner with more complex tests and operations.

An ophthalmic photographer, for example, uses cameras and photographic techniques to document a person’s eye condition.

Summary Opticians, optometrists, and ophthalmologists are the three most common eye care professionals. Nurses, medical assistants, and technicians can also specialize in eye care.

Ophthalmologists diagnose and treat all eye conditions.

Some ophthalmologists continue their training to specialize in a particular eye condition or part of the eye.

Optometrists can offer different services depending on the country or state they work in. Some optometrists can perform certain laser eye procedures, whereas others can only perform foreign body removal.

Opticians can design and fit visual aids prescribed by an ophthalmologist or optometrist.

A person must consult an appropriate eye care professional to get the care they need for their specific eye or vision problem.

Culled from MedicalNewsToday

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Sports

BDSUNDAY 43

Conor McGregor returns to the Octagon Anthony Nlebem

C

onor McGregor will make his much-anticipated return to the octagon when he fights Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone at UFC 246 in Las Vegas this weekend.

The headline bout sees the return of Conor McGregor (214-0) to the Octagon, with the Irishman taking on ‘The Cowboy’

record £80m.

Yet McGregor says he is focused and determined for 2020, hoping to re-establish himself as one of the best MMA fighters in the world. “I’m looking at this as a season,” he explained. “This is the beginning of the season.

Donald was the first one that I agreed to have a bout with, and here we are.”

Cerrone, meanwhile, is very

Can Man United end Liverpool’s winning streaks?

M ANTHONY NLEBEM

anchester United still remain the only team to take points off Liverpool in their last 30 games.

But with Marcus Rashford ruled out of Sunday’s encounter, the big question here is, will Manchester United take home three points away from Anfield without lethal striker.

Fans have criticised of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for bringing Rashford on in their FA Cup replay against Wolves, only for him to suffer a back injury.

But United were going for a victory in the only tournament they are likely to win

this season, so it makes perfect sense to be aggressive. But without Rashford, United look less potent, and when you’re playing Liverpool at Anfield, you need all the potency you can get.

Liverpool have gone 51 home games without defeat in the Premier League, a run stretching back to April 2017.

Although clashes against United are traditionally unpredictable, Liverpool’s attacking qualities should expose the visitors’ shaky defence. United have pace and quality up front, however, so if they score first, it could lead to a shock result. But we’re not betting on it.

Another big cracker is the battle between Leicester City and Burnley

Leicester will be aiming for victory after suffering a shocking defeat to Southampton last weekend.

The absence of Nigerian international, Wilfred Ndidi, in their last couple of games struggle.

But Leicester are still in a remarkable position, third in the table with 11-point gap to fifth place.

Qualifying for the Champions League looks like a modest achievement compared to what they did a few years ago, but it would be pretty extraordinary if they did make it. They do still need to get winning again and if they can beat a struggling Burnley side this weekend, they will be right back on course.

Donald Cerrone (36-13-0, 1NC) in a Welterweight match.

McGregor, known as ‘Notorious’, was last in action in October 2018 when he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov (via submission) in a UFC Lightweight Championship bout at UFC 229 in Las Vegas. A brawl erupted inside and outside the Octagon in the wake of the fight – yet more controversy following the 31-year-old Irishman.

Despite the welterweight bout being a non-title fight, it is set to break pay-per-view figures, with 31-year-old McGregor saying he will earn a

much the underdog after losing his last two fights to Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje in June and September last year respectively but remains an experienced and dangerous competitor.

‘Cowboy’ is also completely uninterested in talking trash about McGregor’s various misdemeanours outside of the Octagon: “I don’t say nothing about him. I don’t care,” the American stated. “He lives his life out of fighting, that’s his thing. I got nothing to say about it. He’s his own man. I’m going to try to get in there and mix it up with him.

I’m happy to welcome him back.”

“It is another tournament, there are too many of them.

Anther thing is it doesn’t help African players. We won’t sell Naby Keita, Mo or Sadio because of it, but if we bring someone in, it affects the decision.”

Liverpool take on rivals Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday. United, who are fifth in the league, trail Liverpool by 27 points.

“When we play Man United, it is the most important game of the year, same with Everton,” Klopp said.

“We all know how important it is to our supporters. But we play all games for our fans, not just these games. They are a natural enemy with the history and success, but we said long ago, we have to write our own history.”

Klopp says AFCON new date a ‘disaster’ for Liverpool ANTHONY NLEBEM

L

iverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, has called the decision to move the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) back to January a “catastrophe,” with the switch meaning he will likely have to go without key players Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane for a month next season.

Salah plays for Egypt at international level, while Mane represents Senegal, who were runners-up at the 2019 edition of the tournament. In 2021, the continental competition is moving back to a JanuaryFebruary slot in the congested global football calendar, a development unpopular with Klopp.

“Do I want to open this

book now?” Klopp said at a news conference. “I couldn’t respect [the competition] more than I do ... but it is an obvious problem to play a tournament midway in a season.

“For us it’s a catastrophe. If we say [a player] can’t go, he’s suspended. How can the club who pay his salary not decide? If he’s injured and we say he cannot play for us, we have to send him to Africa, so they can have a look.

“These are all things that should not be like this. I speak about it now and no one will listen. They will say, ‘the moaner from Liverpool again.’ It’s a complete waste of time, [but] as long as nothing changes, I will keep saying it. It’s about the players, not me.”

Klopp’s Liverpool side were forced to field an inexperienced side against Aston Villa in the

Carabao Cup in December, while the rest of the squad traveled to Qatar for the Club World Cup. The Premier League leaders lifted the Club World Cup trophy, but Villa defeated Liverpool 5-0.

Klopp said he believes the increasing number of games each season shows disregard for player welfare.

“FIFA, who should [step in] doesn’t look like being involved,” he said. “It’s a strange situation.

If we want less games they will say take less money. I will say, I am ready to do so, yes.

“These tournaments are played by players, they don’t have a break. I feel massively for Harry Kane -- he might miss the Euros because of too many games. It is not easy. No one thinks of players’ welfare. All authorities need to come together to sort these things. No one talks.

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Makinde, redefining the leadership paradigm in Nigeria

H

is defining moment, as a new breed Nigerian politician came fully to the fore when on May 29, 2019 he was sworn in as the 28th elected governor of Oyo State.

Some nine eventful months later, Governor Seyi Makinde has come to redefine the leadership paradigm in Nigeria’s effervescent and slippery political landscape.Talk about being visionary, creative, committed, purposeful and people-oriented, he has been piloting the ship of Oyo state to give life toit as being a Pace Setter, in more ways than one.How apt!

Facts do not lie, do they? Ample empirical evidences on ground point to the truism that: “The true mark of a leader is the willingness to stick with a bold course of action” as Bill Taylor rightly noted. And as yours truly has insisted over the decades of writing, it has become imperative for conscientious Nigerians to continue to highlight the achievements of those making the difference in governance.

Doing so would serve as an inspiration to others. And of course, as a wakeup call to their peers; some of who have blatantly refused to sacrifice their greed for political gains for the good of their people.

Such uncommon features of the Makindeled administration have kept not a few people asking some pertinent questions. Is he a Nigerian politician? How can he declare his assets, barely two months in office, with the hallmark of transparency? This is an act some other acclaimed men of high moralshave found difficult to do! How can he donate his four years salaries to the Oyo State Teachers’ Pension Fund? How can he appoint the first-ever female Secretary to the State Government, a woman of class and distinction, Mrs. Olubamiwo Adeosun? Why should his Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Seun Fakorede, be only 27 years of age!

Is Makinde made a sterner stuff? If not, how can he frontally battle the hitherto much-dreaded state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and go to sleep with his two eyes closed? Is this not the same set of transporters whose organisations’ top echelons are feared with a passion and worshipped as demi-gods in some other states?

Like some Americans reacted to Ronald Reagan, the former United States President, the naysayers insisted that it could never be done. But as president, he instituted sweeping political and economic initiatives that resulted in a decade of prosperity. His supply-side economic policies, dubbed “Reaganomics,”

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

-John Quincy Adams reduced tax rates to spur economic growth, controlled the money supply to reduce inflation, deregulated key sectors of the economy and dramatically reduced government spending.

So, what are the political principles and philosophies that drive Governor Makinde?

This is what he had to say back in September, 2019. “About 100 days ago, when I took the oath of office as the Governor of Oyo State, I set a goal. I shared that goal in my inaugural speech. The major thrust of that goal is to restore Oyo State to a place of pride”.

He added that, “the bedrock of all my engagements has been transparency, accountability and inclusivity. I have come forward with clean hands. This is why within two months of my becoming governor I published my declaration of assets. I have also looked beyond party lines, age, gender and other considerations to find the best crop of individuals to implement my vision for Oyo State.Also, his administration has set up a Due Process Office within two weeks in office and appointed a Director-General, Ms Tara Adefope. He transmitted an Executive Bill, the second in less than 60 days named, the Oyo State Financial Crimes Commission Bill, to the Oyo State House of Assembly.

These appointments are not to score political points; they are a clear demonstration of my commitment to excellence”.

How one wishes that some other top politicians, driven by nepotistic tendencies,whogleefully offer plum political positions, mainly to people of their own ethnic group and religious persuasion, would glean a lesson or two from Makinde.

A sectorial look at the achievements so far in the fields of education, health, security, infrastructural development would prove instructive.For instance, in thecritical area of education, his administration has ensured an upward review of the education budgetary allocation from about three per cent by his predecessor to 10% in the 2019 budget cycle.

Similarly, there was the payment of N1.4bn as gratuity to about 1,000 teachers

who retired between 2010 and 2012.

Furthermore, is the cancellation of the N3,000 school fees for senior secondary school students. This is meant to encourage the enrolment of some of the 400,000 out-of-school children in Oyo State.The abolition of entrance examination fees from Primary School to Junior Secondary School 1, has led to an unprecedented large turnout of pupils to write the entrance examinations.

Add these to the procurement of over two million exercise books for over 450,000 pupils in Oyo State public primary and secondary schools. What about looking into the issues affecting the smooth running of Ibarapa Polytechnic, Eruwa, and OkeOgun Polytechnic, Saki? And of course, the provision of the law school students’ bursary to the unprecedented amount of N500,000. The bursary payment had been suspended since 2012!

What more, to boost the teachers’ performance the government public school teachers would henceforth be promoted and honoured according to the overall performance of their students in external examinations.

Highly impressed by these laudable initiatives, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has made donations of facilities to the development of education across the state.

On the health sector, the governor pays on-the-spot assessment visits that inform his targeted actions based on his findings. For example, one of his assessment visits has resulted in the ongoing renovation of Adeoyo Hospital, Yemetu, including an upgrade of the radiography/ radiology facilities.

In an effort at reducing drug abuse and trafficking, Oyo State Government has pledged to support the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) towards curbing the menace of illicit drug use and peddling in the State.

In the area of security, Oyo state hosted both the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria Commission Security Summitandthe South-West Geopolitical Zone Security Summit, convened by the Inspector-General of Police. The aim is to discuss measures the Nigeria Police Force, in partnership with other security agencies. There has been the procurement of 100 vehicles for use by

AYO OYOZEBAJE 07068638066 Baje is Nigerian first food technologist in the media and author of ‘DRUMBEATS OF DEMOCRACY’

the security agencies in the state. Apart from resolving the tussle in the NURTW he has provided a resolution of the butchers’ crisis at Ibadan Abattoir.

He granted amnesty to 35 prisoners on June 12, 2019 to mark the Democracy Day; set up a committee to look into cases of wrongful dismissal of civil servants in fulfillment of a campaign promise.

In terms of investment and development he transmitted the first Executive Bill, Oyo State Investment Promotion Agency Bill to the Oyo State House of Assembly. He hasheld strategic meetings with the World Bank representatives to assist the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeriato improve the infrastructure and security at the airport.He has inaugurated an economic and investment report from Oyo Ile Investors’ Forum, and held strategic engagement with agri-sector stakeholders during the Oyo State Agribusiness Strategic Planning Retreat. This held at the renowned Songhai farms. The aim is to replicate the model in Oyo State.

On staff welfare, he ensured that salary payment is done on 25th day of every month and has made a payment of N280m for pensions and gratuity to 100 civil servants on Grade Level 1 to 17 who retired since 2012!

The basic element in every relationship, from the homefront to the places of work and worship is Trust. As Makinde noted, the documentation of his achievements is for the good people of Oyo state to make reference to them vis-à-vis his campaign promises and ask the question of whether they have made the right choice in him as their state governor, or not.

Methinks they have. So far, so good! He should not rest on his oars but continue to deliver the dividends of democracy to his people and put to shame those who erroneously think that good governance is impossibility, here in Nigeria.

Quick Takes

Off the Cuff

Hoping for good fallout from the UK-Africa Investment Summit

O

nce again, President Muhammadu Buhari is away from the country.

He arrived in London yesterday to participate in the inaugural UKAfrica Investment Summit holding on January 20, 2020.

The good thing is that the travel is not for medical check or holiday this time around, as Mr. President always frowns at government officials travelling abroad for such issues, though he enjoys the tranquility in the UK whenever he visits.

But one may query the rationale for the summit and further ask if UK is waking up. Considering the fact that the Asian countries have almost taken over Africa, what is the essence of the summit beyond fostering bilateral relations.

Even the membership of Commonwealth has not brought the ‘wealth’ to Nigeria.

At present, China and India are top among trading partners of Nigeria, while Nigeria imports the most from China, it exports the most to India.

So, if investment is to be considered, the volume of trade between two countries, the UK will not be in the picture. In 2018, China-Nigeria bilateral trade volume soared to $USD15.3 billion. The bilateral trade with China reached $8.6

billion from January to June 2019 with 20.7 percent year-on-year growth.

Also, the trade volume between India and Nigeria hit USD12 billion between April 2017 to March 2018, and is on steady increase ever since, amid bout 135 Indian companies in Nigeria.

The UK’s importance in trade in Nigeria has been sliding. Since 2000, the UK has fallen from the first largest non-oil goods exporter to Nigeria far behind the likes of China, US, India and Germany.

Similarly, the UK’s share of the foreign direct investment (FDI) stock in Nigeria has declined too.

The UK’s decline can be attributed to the growing importance of China and India in global trade, and an apparent decline in the UK’s competitiveness relative to its developed economic rivals, most notably Germany.

To stimulate non-oil export and diversify the economy, the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce and the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce have been leading campaigns to further open up United Kingdom’s and United States’ markets to Nigerian non-oil exports.

But nobody is leading any campaign for the Asians. While the UK keep looking at the barriers to bilateral trade and investment such as poor business environment and low competitiveness, and that the costs of exporting to and importing from

Nigeria are higher, the Asians keep taking the risks and are compensated with the flow of investments across many sectors.

So, what magic will Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, perform to grow trade and investment between the UK and Africa because the barriers they fears, which Asians did not fear, are even more today?

According to the organisers, the event is expected to bring together African leaders, international business chief executives and heads of international organisations “to create new partnerships that will deliver more investments and jobs” to the benefit of people and businesses in African countries and the United Kingdom.

According to them, “Apart from highlighting new perspectives on UK-Africa Partnership for Prosperity, issues of Sustainable Finance and Infrastructure; Trade and Investment; Future African Growth Sectors and Clean Energy and Climate, are expected to dominate presentations and discussions during the Summit.”

We look to Nigeria’s good outing in the UK-Africa Investment Summit and hope that the import of it will reflect on our economy, soonest.

11.98% The consumer price index, which measures inflation, stood at 11.98% in December 2019. This is 0.13 percentage points higher than the 11.85% recorded in November.

This is the highest point the index has reached in 19 months.

Frankly speaking!

“Amotekun is just one of them which show a general feeling of enough is not being done in certain areas and this has been a growing syndrome in the last 20 years”.

-John Odigie-Oyegun, a former national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), speaking on the state of governance in the country and the establishment of the Southwest security outfit ‘Amokekun’.

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