BusinessDay 01 Nov 2020

My ordeal in the hands of hoodlums – NdomaEgba Page 31 Sunday 01 November 2020 • www.businessday.ng •

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Only a miracle can save Emerging technologies are Nigeria from predicted fueling digital revolution in the Oil and doom - Onovo

Amotekun: Oyo releases names of successful candidates, two weeks training begins Tuesday

Gas industry - Ayinde Page 28

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National carrier: Another white elephant project amid downtime in aviation sector

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#EndSARS: Nigeria’s investment outlook dims Looting, destruction of properties send danger signals Investors assets’ security not guaranteed See page 2 Unemployment, inflation may worsen Country risks loss of investor-confidence

A nation where people are hostile to one another is no nation – ExEducation minister

11 Kundiri changing the face of Federal University Wukari L-R: Ajoritsedere Awosika, chairman, Access Bank Plc; Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, senior special assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); Tomi Coker, commissioner for health, Ogun State; Stella Okoli, founder/CEO, Emzor Pharmaceutical; Akin Abayomi, commissioner for health, Lagos State/guest speaker, and Siju Iluyomade, founder/CEO, Arise Women, during the 2020 Arise Women Conference, with the theme ‘Deeply Rooted #StayingAlive’ in Lagos, yesterday. Pic by Olawale Amoo.

15 Zikora: A journey to motherhood

How faulty Constitution underdevelops Nigeria Wechie, Odumakin, Fasua, others point the way forward Innocent Odoh, Abuja and InIOBONG IWOK, Lagos

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he current 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has continued to generate controversy among different sections of the country in recent times.

There is however, growing calls for restructuring of the federal system with a new constitution that reflects Federal Character that would compel the constituent units (states) to enjoy greater level of autonomy, so that they would become more productive instead of the centralised and unitary constitution imposed by the military, which has helped in small

way to stunt the development of the country.

It is believed that the unitary constitution was deliberately imposed by the military dominated by elements from one part of the country to give their region economic hold on the country’s resources mostly domiciled in the south. The political expediency of such heavily lopsided arrange-

ments unfortunately has not helped development as the Federal Government has taken up 68 items in the exclusive list and practically confiscated all the powers often without as much responsibility.

The grudge against the constitution has been steady but the cry for Continues on page 4

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Sunday 01 November 2020

#EndSARS: Nigeria’s investment outlook dims OBINNA EMELIKE, ODINAKA ANUDU and AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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he events of the last two weeks could push Africa’s most populous nation further down investors’ pecking order at a time it is battling flagging economic growth, low foreign direct investments and high unemployment rate.

It first started with peaceful #EndSARS protests across the country targeted at ending reckless brutality in the hands of a rogue and brutal police unit widely known as the State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

The protest turned bloody mid-way on October 20 as soldiers shot peaceful protesters, fuelling crisis across the nation. Hoodlums seized the opportunity to vent their spleen on police officers and their stations, private residences of politicians, media houses and businesses owned by local and foreign investors.

The whole hullabaloo has changed Nigeria’s investment outlook, according to economists and investment experts, at a period when the country is in dire need of DFIs. In the second quarter (Q2) of 2020, total investments into Nigeria, including portfolio, equity and foreign direct investments, stood at $1.29 billion as against $5.85 billion recorded in the preceding quarter, representing a 77.88 percent decline over the period.

The $1.29 billion also indicates a 78.1 percent crash from $6.05 billion reported in the corresponding period of 2019.

The FDI figure in Q2 of 2020 is the lowest inflows since the first quarter of 2017 when the country slipped into recession owing to a global collapse in oil prices.

With that outlook, analysts say this is not the right time to do anything that could be antithetical to investments.

With the shooting and consequent massive looting and wanton destruction of private and public properties, analysts see worsening unemployment rate that could throw millions more into the labour market. In the Q2 of 2020, unemployment rate stood at 27.1 percent and reached 56 percent when underemployment is factored in. About 14 million youths are jobless in Nigeria as of the Q2 of 2020, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Muda Yusuf, director general, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said the regrettable actions of the hoodlums would have very negative impact on investor confidence, saying that the economy is worse-off when investor confidence begins to wane.

“No investor, who witnessed the massive lootings and destruction, will want to invest now, particularly on projects that are customer-focused, like the retail outlets because you can see how vulnerable such investments are to any social unrest,” Yusuf said.

Speaking further, the LCCI director-general noted that those who are thinking of investing in Nigeria would begin to think twice now because of the high level of insecurity, lawlessness and crime during the protests.

“It does not give a sense of security even to the investors because if the looting can happen so freely, then the society is not secured, as well as, your investments,” he further said.

Ademola Okikiola, a stockbroker, noted that the impact of the looting and wanton destruction of lives and properties is already felt in the economy as investor confidence has dampened further from its low point occasioned by the lockdown.

“On Wednesday, October 21, 2020, the stock market lost N113 billion because investors’ appetite dampened due to the tensed security situation in the country,” Okikiola said.

The stockbroker was sad that the market, which had remained stable for some time now with marginal gains, is losing again because investors have reduced their demand for equities as they reacted to the prevailing security situation occasioned by #EndSARS protests.

In his review of ACCA Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) for Q4’19, Thomas Isibor, head, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Nigeria, noted that with double digit inflation, which results in low economic growth and decline of Gross Domestic product (GDP) per capita, investor confidence is bound to drop in any economy and Nigeria is not different.

Considering the huge loss of revenue and closure of businesses torched during the protests, economic analysts think that the situation would impact negatively on Nigeria’s economic growth and gross domestic product (GDP). “Investors are the employers and when they are not convinced that their investments are secure, they will shut down, leaving many unemployed and denying the economy the much needed revenue to boost the GDP,” Emele Onugha, an economist, said.

Nigerian economic growth crashed by 6 percent in the Q2 of 2020 due to COVID-19 lockdowns which disrupted the value chains across the world. But the shooting and looting have both raised a new risk for a weak economy.

For the LCCI director general, the lootings and destruction of properties would worsen unemployment in the country because a lot of companies torched by the hoodlums during the protests have shutdown, while their employees have lost their jobs. “It is when you have business that you employ people,” he said.

Speaking further on the impact, Yusuf noted that some of those who suffered losses during the protests may not be able to recover because they borrowed money, stressing that some might have paid two years’ rent in advance, which are looking wasted.

“It will affect unemployment, investment, government revenue, and also the general

Investors are the employers and when they are not convinced that their investments are secure, they will shut down, leaving many unemployed and denying the economy the much needed revenue to boost the GDP psyche of the average Nigerian,” he noted.

Analysts say the unresolved shooting of protesters in Lekki by soldiers could present Nigerian government as authoritarian and unable to make lives better for the people in the comity of nations.

Jonathan Nicol, president of Shippers Association of Lagos State, said the after-effect of the massive looting and destruction in Nigeria last week has forced some businesses to close down, revealing that shippers are cancelling orders due to the uncertainty in the polity. He observed that Nigerian environment is no longer safe to conduct business.

According to him, the burning and looting of private businesses is a reflection of bottled-up anger, which sends dire signal to both foreign and domestic investors. He said the fact that many embassies including the American Embassy in Nigeria had to shut down their visa application centres is an indication of what could come.

“We believe the peaceful protest was in line with the reality of the present time. It was all over the country. It was writing the history of our present situation of retrogression in all fronts apart from the institution of corruption. It was a signal that the older generation has failed. The governments should have been more diplomatic with the peaceful protesters.

It was an expression of dis-satisfaction in a failed system which could have been managed with wisdom. It was a time bomb that was detonated by irrational decision of force,” Nicol explained in a phone interview with BusinessDay Sunday.

Citing example, Nicol further said that his principals recently refused to invest in fishery business in Nigeria due to constant harassment of fishing vessels within the Gulf of Guinea region by pirates which portrays the height of insecurity on the nation’s waterway.

“The pockets of protest are still continuing in several parts of the country and there seems to be no end in sight. People are hungry because the outbreak of Covid-19 shut down a lot of industries and while such people are trying to bounce back gradually, the nationwide protest started. How can an investor invest in a situation of lack of security to investment? Investors are already leaving the country in their numbers,” he further said.

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) disclosed that Nigeria lost about N700 billion in just two weeks of protest. Nicol said that the loss has reached over N1.6 trillion across the country going by the massive burning of property across the country.

“Nigerians are tired of paying unnecessary bills for services that do not commensurate to the sums being levied. The government is doing nothing for her citizens. No good roads, no good hospitals, businesses are dwindling and closing shops while the global oil price remains epileptic,” he said.

These, he noted, has contributed to the frustration faced by Nigerians across the country as many households and families have continued to face difficulties in the provision of basic needs as well as payment of children school fees.

On the way forward, Nicol suggested that government should in addition to putting an Continues on Page 4

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Cover #EndSARS: Nigeria’s investment ...

Continued from Page 2 end to using force to quell legitimate demands, also accept the 5-point demand of the youth and engage them in meaningful dialogue.

“After spending seven to eight years in school, there is no work for the graduating students. Therefore, government should be able to console the youths and offer them meaningful jobs in all the states. Jobs are not meant for one tribe. So, there should be true federal character in recruitment of people into government institutions,” he added.

On his part, Tony Anakebe, managing director of Gold-Link Investment Ltd, a Lagos-based clearing and forwarding company, confirmed that the massive looting and destruction of private businesses would definitely scare away investors from investing their money in Nigeria even as he disclosed that some of his principals (importers) were already cancelling their order due to the uncertainty in the country.

According to him, a lot of businesses such as Shoprite and Samsung that lost heavy investments during the protest are suspending plans to expand their investment in Nigeria.

He however, called on government to consider financial empowerment, which could come in form of tax rebate or holiday for private companies that lost their investment during the nationwide protest in order to cushion the effect of the loss on their bottom-line.

In January 2020, a survey by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) revealed that investor confidence in the Nigerian economy dropped below its nine years average in the last quarter of 2019.

From -7.6 index points in 2019, investors’ confidence dropped to a staggering -17 points in September 2020, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

While the huge loss of confidence was attributed mainly to the uncertainties of the 2019 elections, investor confidence dampened further due to the travail of the Nigerian economy in recent times; from border closure, insecurity, lockdown and most recently, the mass lootings and destruction of public and private properties during the #ENDSARS protests across the country.

For many investors, the massive lootings and destruction of properties was unprecedented and a pointer to the high level of insecurity of both lives and properties in the country.

They feared that investors’ confidence in the Nigerian economy, which has dropped very low since the lockdown might be witnessing the worse decline in history due to the impact of the unprecedented lootings and destruction of businesses by hoodlums during the protests.

“But there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” said Ike Ibeabuchi, an analyst and manufacturer.

“I believe the country is still the best place to do business. This is a short-term risk, but it presents an opportunity for the government at different levels to make the environment better for investors. Government does not create jobs, but the private sector. Remove multiple taxation, solve the infrastructure problem, Apapa and port challenges, and the economy will begin to create jobs for the youth again,” he noted.

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Sunday 01 November 2020

How faulty constitution...

Continued from Page 1

restructuring and a new constitution have become lauder in recent times especially coming from the Niger Delta region that produces the oil wealth on which the country depends for her foreign exchange for nearly six decades.

Voices from the region and more agitation are rife over the perceived injustice of the current constitution, which gives advantage to certain regions alleged to be ‘parasites’.

Even the 36 state system and the FCT is not working as most of them are considered to be unproductive. They are not even allowed to police their states because of the centralised system of security, which negates the principle of development.

Speaking to BusinessDay SUNDAY on the injustice imposed by the constitution, the Executive Director of Integrity Friends for Truth and Peace Initiative, an NGO based in Abuja, Livingston Wechie, lamented what he called the “configuration of the Nigerian contraption.”

He said: “It is potent to state that the configuration of the Nigerian contraption is so lopsided in a manner that continues to poach Nigeria to favour a feudal lord system that thrives on the fault lines of the fractured union against the native land owners who are subjected to a master-slave relationship against their choice.

“This is why some have been secretly and boldly exploiting resources in a part of the country with impunity amassing wealth with such arrogance yet the Delta the highest contributor to the National treasury and other parts that make their little resource contributions are treated like they do not matter and their stake mean nothing in every sense of the word.”

According to him, “This has been the issue because the branded unitary document now christened the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the indisputable foundation of all the troubles bedeviling the Nigerian state. All the questions ranging from resource ownership rights, regional autonomy, law enforcement structures, devolution of powers, security structures, justice system, political rights and inclusiveness, human rights, police system, ports, all natural resources etc, are traceable to the disputed 1999 Constitution which should understandably be set aside for a true people’s Constitution based on a properly and voluntarily negotiated Nigeria. This will pave the way to address, land ownership rights, minority questions and rights, religion and other fundamental concerns.”

Wechie deplored a “situation where a country is designed to favour some against the

others”, saying, “It must be viewed as repugnant to natural justice equity and good conscience.”

“We are in a modern and advanced world.

Everybody must be given the opportunity to excel and prosper. Today, the Nigerian state stands the risk to become the big casualty if we fail or pretend about the underlining national health challenges that make it impossible for the nation to make progress or recover from continuous injustice like a Covid-19 patient as long as we continue to believe that Zamfara can sell gold directly to the Central Bank of Nigeria as in the case of other documented injustices whereas Niger Delta cannot sell its own oil by itself but can remain the cash cow that must be muzzled to fund Nigeria’s budgets for over sixty years endlessly while its people are branded militants when they demand justice. It is too late in the day and we cannot continue to progress in error.”

In the same vein, Spokesman of the Pan Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin said that the current constitution had been flawed because of the violation of the federal arrangements and advocated for a return to the true Federal constitution.

He told BusinessDaySUNDAY recently that “unless Nigeria returns to true federal arrangements backed by people’s constitution, development will remain a dream in the country.”

Contributing, an economist and former Presidential candidate of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP) in last election, Tope Fasua, also thinks that it is time for Nigeria to review the constitution and consider restructuring.

He said, “I think it has called for the restructuring which the government has kept under the table for too long. I have always said that restructuring should be written into the Nigerian constitution as something to be done every three years because no entity, organisation or country should be run perpetually on some set strategy without a relook from time to time. So, no matter how good the constitution is, it should be looked at every three or four years with impute as to how it will make life better for people.

“So, now more than ever is the time to look at the issues restructuring. I don’t know about creating a brand new constitution, no constitution is perfect and we also have to look at history as to how we got to where we are now.

We should sit together and get what suits us.”

But vehement opposition to restructuring and a new constitution especially coming from the north has made the situation very sensitive and this issue would likely remain very dicey for now.

Sylvester Odion Akhaine, a professor of political science, said the absence of a popular

constitution was at the root of Nigeria’s foundational problem. “Until it is resolved through a process-led constitution making, development will remain elusive. The overweighted exclusive list has to be unbundled among others in the process,” he said.

Adelaja Adeoye, national publicity secretary, Action Democratic Party (ADP), is of the belief that the 1999 constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria has some fault lines, which must be carefully handled and corrected if the country must make the desired progress.

“For instance, the resistance by majority of Nigeria is the fact that the document was put together by the military boys, and the claim at the preface that ‘We the people of Nigeria’ accept to use the constitution was a lie. Nigerians are yet to accept this clause because they didn’t have input in it,” Adeoye said.

Adeoye further said: “Carefully looking at the document, it permitted imbalance between the people of the North and the South.

Looking at the Sharia clause in the constitution, it does not put into consideration that Nigerians should be governed by a single law, which means what is applicable to the North, should be applicable to the south. This alone has infringement on the rights and honor of others. Nigeria as a secular state should never permit religiosity in its constitutional provisions.”

He suggested that “Resource control and restructuring should be the next step, and how to deliberately reduce the cost of governance by deliberately inserting provisions that will make this realisable in the constitution, anytime there will be amendment. The era where a section of the country will stage a resistance to law that is capable of moving the country forward should be over; you can see the effort of the youths through #EndSARS; they are tired of the current system of government, and they are in the majority, the leaders should wake up before it is too late.”

He also suggested that “The country must reform; the Federal Government must look at the 2014 National confab report, the constitution must be restructured to reflect the wishes of all Nigerians irrespective of their religious or ethnic leaning; the truth is, we are better together as a nation; this is why those who profit from dividing Nigerians along religious and ethnic sentiments must have a rethink before it is too late.”

Wunmi Bewaji, a former minority leader of the House of Representatives, lawyer and activist, said that the main issue with the 1999 Constitution is that it is “predicated upon the senseless, illegal and illogical centripetal doctrine of the military Unification Decree No. 34 of 1966.”

According to Bewaji, “By unilaterally removing the negotiated federal structure of the Republic, the very pillar of the federation was ignorantly destroyed. Thenceforth, it has been a comedy of errors. The balkanisation of semiautonomous regions into mushroom states, the transmogrification of federating units into glorified local governments, the emergence of unwieldy bureaucracy at all levels, mediocrity inspired by quota system, nepotism, disunity, internal colonialism etc are all byproducts of a ceased and failed federation.

“Consequently, Nigeria annually spends over 85percent of its revenue on administration and overheads leaving little or nothing for development. Any talk about development without restructuring will be a huge waste of time. Without restructuring, Nigeria is doomed, and will automatically sooner or later die a slow and painful death. If we restructure now before it is too late, we can immediately free up the much-needed resources for growth and development. The choice is clear. The time is now.”

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Expert calls for use of technology to transform teaching, learning in schools KELECHI EWUZIE

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ducation Lead, Middle E ast and Af rica Emerging Marke t s , Angel a Nganga has called on governments and educators to rethink ways of bringing sustained education to learners through access to technology.

Ng ang a ob s e r ve s t h at Coronavirus pandemic left 1.6 billion students out of school and without access to connectivity and resources as it vastly separated students in the classroom in their home lives.

According to Nganga, “The global response we have seen within the spheres of education at all levels has demonstrated how technology can help transform how we teach and learn. This powerful shift to a learnercentred system will be amplified by technology and driven by

Nganga

education that is steeped in purpose and meaning”.

She further noted that the reality of it is that educators were and have also been placed into unfamiliar territory where more societal and technological factors to easing learners into the new

normal needed to be explored - a first for many.”

“As the pandemic spread throughout the continent and globe, governments, institutions and individuals began to band together, navigating the “unsettled zone” where issues and questions involve getting access to the right technology, communication management and equity providing support to students who lack independent skills, and providing support to parents of students. Nganga said The Education Lead for Microsoft stated that moving to a hybrid learning model -one that combines the best of inschool and remote learning with digital engagement is more than a quick fix, adding that it is a way to enhance and accelerate learning by providing studentcentered approaches to meet diverse learners’ needs,” She stated that the company has continued to invest in helping students at all level gain the skills

to be successful in the future and is committed to ensuring that educators are equipped with the tools and curricular resources to teach digital skills and prepare students for indemand jobs across cloud, data, artificial intelligence, coding and even quantum computing.

“One of these investments include creating a new e x p e r i e nc e on Mi c ro s of t Education and Micros oft Learn for students and educators, providing curated experiences including learning paths focused on technology for social impact, popular university courses, and foundational developer paths. In the same way, eligible educators and faculty members at universities, community colleges and secondary schools can access Microsoft readyto - te a ch c u r r i c u lu m and teaching materials aligned to industry-recognised Microsoft Fundamentals certifications.

EFCC, FCCPC, sign MoU U.S Trade Commission to combat cross border fraud EMMANUEL UDOM

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he Economic and F i nanc i a l C r i me s Commission, (EFCC), the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), and the United States Federal Trade Commission, FTC, have signed an upgraded Memorandum of Un d e r s t a n d i n g , Mo U o f cooperation in combating cross border fraud.

The MoU, which was jointly signed on October 27, 2020

by Mohammed Umar Abba, ac t ing C hair man, EFC C; Babatunde Irukera, Executive Vice Chairman, FCCPC, and Joseph Simmons, Chairman FTC provides a framework for continuous partnership in the existing areas of cooperation - exchange of information and assistance in consumer protection investigations.

Wilson Uwujaren, head, media and publicity, disclosed that the new MoU, which is an improved version of an earlier one signed in 2013, establishes a joint implementation committee

to develop joint training programmes and workshops as well as provide assistance in respect of specific investigations.

It als o acknow ledges the participants’ support for econsumer.gov, a joint project of agencies from 40 countries

for reporting international scam online. The EFCC is the coordinating agency for the enforcement of all economic and financial crimes laws in Nigeria. It has global network of partnerships in transnational organised crime investigation.

The FCCPC’s mandate is dealing with consumer protection issues in Nigeria, while its U.S counterpart, the FTC, promotes antitrust, consumer protection and data privacy enforcement among others.

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chechukwu Sampson Ogah,the Minister of State, Mines and Steel Development, has drummed support for Nigeria’’s former Minister of

Kaiglo introduces popular Chinese ‘Singles Day’ into West African e-commerce space Jumoke AkiyodeLawanson

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aiglo, an online marketplace that aids trading and helps entrepreneurs build brand recognition, has introduced ‘Singles Day’, a 24-hour shopping event for the West African market.

The company revealed that the statistics for the anticipated day, November 11 (11/11) are staggering, both for the sheer volume of sales transacted in just one day and for year-over-year increase.

In 2019, e-commerce giant Alibaba reported sales activity totaling USD38.4 billion.

The 11/11 is a singles day campaign held in Asia on the 11th of November, each year, the event was first started in China and is now the norm in most Asian countries.

Speaking on the development, Victor Chukwuebuka Eze, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Kaiglo, said that the key feature of the event is celebrating singlehood and so it features activities and products that help reinforce the beauty and joy of being single.

According to him Kaiglo

Finance and coordinating Minister of the Economy Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the position of Director-General, World Trade Organisation (WTO), describing her as eminently qualified for the top job.

Ogah in a statement said that as a renowned Development

Economist, who has been with the World Bank for a long time, “Okonjo-Iweala understands the challenges of global development and possesses the expertise to handle them.”

He noted that her expertise in Development Economics has stood her out in the world

of finance.

Ogah observed that OkonjoIweala’s training and competence in Economics had seen her serve twice as Finance Minister and once as Foreign Minister of Nigeria, as well as rise to the position of Managing Director of the World Bank.

users should expect up to 70 percent discount on items within the 24-hour sales period. “Kaiglo’s celebration of 11/11 is the first attempt by any company in Nigeria and if done properly can make a very big statement on the brand.

“The concept is new and unknown in this terrain. The 11/11 celebration is a relatively unknown celebration in Africa especially in Nigeria and evidence of this is the fact none of the big brands in Nigeria has ever celebrated or acknowledged the day,” Eze said.

He said that Double 11 is another means Kaiglo is adding value to the region’s economy as some rising brands and small businesses stand to benefit from the sales opportunity it proved.

“We expect that 11/11 will bring an unspoken excitement that will thrum every office; employees and executives alike who will be on high alert on that day”, he said. ”Kaiglo’s hyper-attentive, briskly efficient attitude towards merchants and users is what the platform has going for it as it conveys no room for error or excuses hence Double 11 2020 will be an exciting experience,” the company said in a statement.

Tunisia organises e-business meeting for Sub-Sahara Africa

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Ogah drums support for Okonjo-Iweala on WTO top job HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

News

Obinna Emelike

Bukola Adeoye, Treasurer, Christian Press Association of Nigeria (CPAN); Edet Udoh, Gen. Secretary, CPAN; Rev. (Mrs.) Peace Phyllis Goodey, Treasurer, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN); Rev. Ennyinnaya Okwuonu (V/Chairman, PFN), Gracious Akintayo, President elect, CPAN; Wole Olarinde, member, CPAN and Rev. Toyin Kehinde, Gen. Secretary, PFN) at the condolence visit of the incoming executive of CPAN to PFN, Lagos on the demise of Lagos State PFN chairman, Bishop Sola Ore who passed on recently.

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s part of the efforts at developing exchanges with African countries in the area of tourism, agriculture and other businesses, the Tunisian Export Promotion Center is organising Tunisia Africa E-business Meetings.

The three-day e-meeting, which takes place from November 18 to 20th, is done in collaboration with German cooperation office, GIZ. While shedding more light on the e-meeting, Mohamed S ellami, head of Tunisia Trade Office in Nigeria, said: “Tunisia Africa E-business Meetings is a virtual B2B event aimed at linking Tunisian exporters with their partners from sub-Saharan Africa in various sectors like Agrifood, construction, building, public works and heavy equipment, mechanical and electrical industries, textiles and clothing, health services, vocational training, education and higher education, ICT, among others.

“It will be organised via an electronic business matching platform. The platform will allow to each registered company to have an individual list of contacts according to the sectors and areas of its interest. The subscription in the event is free and must be done through the link: https:// tunisia-africa-meetings-2020, not later than November 16, 2020.”

On how it works, Sellami said: “The first step of the registration of the participant consists in creating a B2Match user account on the platform by putting the email address and a password or it can be done through the LinkedIn account.

“The participant has to complete the required information on the event registration form: Name, first name, position, telephone, company name, type of the organism, description of the activity, postal address, company logo, fields of activity, and profile picture.

Once the participant is registered, he or she will be able to plan his or her presence and define her/his agenda.”

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News

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#EndSARS: Abia convenes nonpartisan stakeholders’ meeting UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia

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overnor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has appealed to all stakeholders in the state to deploy all within their powers to prevail on youths to desist from wonton destruction of public and private property as government has taken note of their grievances.

He said that steps had been taken by his administration to address the issues raised by the youths.

Ikpeazu made this known in Umuahia in his speech during a special non-partisan Stakeholders Town Hall meeting convened to foster peace in the state in the face of peaceful protests by Nigerian youths which was later hijacked by criminal elements to destroy private and public property.

He regretted that the looting and destruction of banks, the onion market at Aba, police stations and burning of 18 brand new trucks belonging to an individual among others was not in the spirit of #ENDSARS protest.

In a 9-paragraph communiqué issued at the end of the meeting and signed by stakeholders, the stakeholders agreed on a non-negotiable need for peace and unity in the state and Nigeria as a whole.

They also acknowledged the legitimate rights of the youths

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‘Violence is a threat to functional society’ …Sues for peace MIKE ABANG, Calabar

Ikpeazu

to protest but condemned the eventual deterioration to anarchy and lawlessness.

The communiqué further advocated for a greater synergy between stakeholders and youths in all communities of Abia State and mandated stakeholders to go back to their various communities and speak to their youths on the imperative for peace.

It also advocated for a greater synergy between all tiers of government- Federal, State and LGA. It also upheld the need to strengthen the current drive for sustainable empowerment of the youths of the state.

The communiqué was signed

by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, his Deputy, Ude Oko-Chukwu; Sampson Uche Ogah, Benjamin Kalu, Abia State House speaker, Chinedum Orji; his deputy, Ifeanyi Uchendu, Eze J. N. Nwabeke, Chairman of Abia Council of Traditional Rulers and Clergymen of the various Church denominations, among others.

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e n at o r G e r s h o m Bassey, representing Southern Senatorial District and Caucus leader of Cross River State National Assembly, at the weekend, appealed for calm, calling on stakeholders to join hands with Governor Ben Ayade in rebuilding the state.

In a press statement made available to journalists in Calabar and signed on behalf of other members, the lawmakers said they are bound by the collective obligation to protect and defend Calabar and every part of Cross River against criminal elements and other enemies of the state.

The NASS members said the youths’ complaints and voices have been heard loud and clear, appealing further to the youth to give peace a chance and be patient with government.

The statement read in part: “We, the members of NASS, appeal to your good conscience to stand by government as it restores law and order and puts an end to the ugly incidents perpetrated against government, private businesses and individuals by criminal

Bassey

elements last weekend.

“It is clear to us that these criminal elements took advantage of the meaningful and p eaceful #EndSARS protests, to unleash their nefarious acts against our state.

“No doubt, the protest and its objectives were warranted, justified and we reach out a hand of solidarity to the #EndSARS cause. However, the recent degeneration and commandeering of the protest by hoodlums and criminal elements, are regrettable and purported to taint an otherwise

well-intended purpose.

“The characteristic trademark of Cross River is as an oasis of peace and the people’s paradise which is indigenous to us known for tolerance and love for one another.

“This is our heritage and the priceless gains that have earned us a unique identity, admired by other parts of the country. We cannot give it up to the sheer exhilaration of the enemies of our state. We cannot allow those who do not wish us well, to destroy our

coveted patrimony.”

Decrying the sad incidents of looting, vandalism and wanton destruction of several public and private properties in Calabar, the legislators said the protest has made all to become more conscionable representatives in delivering the dividends of democracy and in our sensitivity to the welfare of the people, ensuring a change of attitude in service.

“The truth is that it will never be business as usual, as all of us are behind this legitimate movement by our people. Your demands will be given prompt consideration, please be patient with us.

“Therefore, with broken hearts, we identify and sympathise with the government of the state over the needless destruction of federal and state-owned properties, as well as private properties,” he said.

The NASS also sympathised with Senators Victor NdomaEgba, Bassey Ewa Henshaw, Bassey 1Edet Otu, Hilliard Etta, Calabar market women’s association and its members and other members of the public, business owners and individuals who suffered losses in this unfortunate turn of events.

JCI Nigeria honours 10 ‘outstanding young persons’

RCEA charts new course for human service, installs Kaurani as president

ational C onvention (NATCON) of Junior Chamber International (JCI) Nigeria, held on 10th October 2020, the organisation honoured 10 Outstanding young personalities who emerged as honorees in the 2020 edition of the annual JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons (JCI TOYP) in Nigeria after a rigorous and thorough screening and voting process from the different categories of the awards programme.

The honorees are Elizabeth Nwarueze, Olabanke Subair, Mar’yam Thaoban, Arewa Adesanya, Olugbenga Ogunbowale, Gbenga Adene, Tope Akinyode,

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Tolulope Olukokun, Olusola Amusan and Adedeji Kowobari.

According to the chairperson in charge of the award programme, Oluwatosin OlaBalogun, who also doubles as the chairperson for the JCI IYD Programme, the ten honorees that were awarded have demonstrated rare leadership qualities in their specific fields of endeavour. She added that the recognition will further inspire them to do more in society.

The 2020 President of JCI Nigeria, Oyinyechukwu Mbeledogu in her remarks commended the honorees and charged them to continue making impacts in the society. She

also thanked the TOYP team, the judges as well as corporate partners for making the event a remarkable one.

It would be recalled that the award process began with nominations by members of the general public, followed by various stages of screening, selection and voting during which the long list of nominees were narrowed down and then this final 10 selected.

The JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons (JCI TOYP) Programme is a Junior Chamber International initiative to formally recognise young people who excel in their chosen fields and create positive change.

L-R: TOYP Awardee Tope Akinyode (Political, Legal and/or Government Affairs Category), Olabanke Subair (Business, Economic and/or Entrepreneurs Category) Oluwatosin Ola-Balogun JCI Nigeria 2020 Chairperson TOYP/IYD, JCI Amb. Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu 2020 JCI Nigeria President, Tolulope Olukokun (Scientific and/ or Technological Development) and Olugbenga Ogunbowale (Humanitarian and/or Voluntary Leadership) during the 2020 TOYP Ceremony at the 48th National Convention of JCI Nigeria.

n the spirit of oneness and also to deepen its service to humanity both home abroad, the Rotary Club of Eko Atlantic had installed its new president.

Following that, the entire team of the club recently participated in the celebration of the investiture of Vinod Kaurani, president Rotary Club of Eko Atlantic, for 2020-21 service year.

The event was the first of its kind in Rotary District 9110 with few members in attendance and more participated online live.

In order to foster its objectives, Rotary Club of Eko Atlantic, which was born in March 14, 2019, with well articulated vision, runs on the shoulders of its professional members since the club was chartered, amid the

ter president, said, “We made the Rotary Club of Eko Atlantic the first International Club of District 9110, with an increasing membership from six nationalities. We had also a 55 percent membership growth, 45 percent women membership and we have completed 37 club activities including; service projects, community projects and celebrations.”

In a consorted effort to remain focused to the vision of the club, Kaurani confidently took the baton of the club to continue the service of humanity. He stated that the race of 2020-21 would be successfully completed with the support of Mamta Deb Roy, the President Elect 2021-22, and Rocheet Abbi, the opportunity secretary, along with the competencies of Suresh Nayak, the opportunity treasurer.

While speaking on the club’s projects for the year 2020/21,

vironment promotes ventilation.

He said further that the club has interest in supporting healthy living in Nigeria and outside the country, and Rotary Club of Eko Atlantic had screened 100 men for prostate cancer, via sponsorship given to the club’s district.

On the area of public relations, Kaurani said that the club has developed social media platforms to make its operations technology driven. He narrated the role the club played in eradicating polio in Nigeria and beyond.

In his appreciation to club members who have contributed to the achievements of the club and also in making his installation a reality, Kaurani said, “Though the club is 18 months, it has achieved feats such as empowerment, segregation of plastic waste, cerebral palsy project, hygiene and sanitation project, mental health project, vocational

vision of encouraging, promoting and fostering the ideal of service to humanity.

Speaking on the formation of the club, Sunit Deb Roy, the char-

Kaurani said that project such as tree plantation exercise was a successful virtual project, keeping in mind social distancing; believing that tree planting around the en-

training, feeding the needy/we care project, economic and community service, maternity and childcare, education and school project, among others”.

Obinna Emelike

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NDDC’s $5.9m for foreign scholars still in CBN …Officials say it’s caused by protests Ignatius Chukwu

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ould the $5.9m set aside for of f s e tt i ng t he allowances of the foreign scholars of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) still cooling off in the vaults of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The NDDC has however reassured the beneficiaries of its Foreign Post Graduate Scholarship programme in the United Kingdom that the

remaining scholars would be paid within one week.

The Commission said before the protests, which they said slowed down activities, the NDDC Interim Management Committee (IMC) had released $5.910m through the CBN to offset all the verified outstanding foreign s chol arship obligat ions, despite the non-passage of NDDC 2020 budget by the National Assembly.

The NDD C Ac t ing Executive Director Projects, Cairo Ojougboh, was

said to be in London on Thursday, September 17, 2020, with relevant officers of the Commission, to carry out physical verification, monitoring and evaluation of legitimate students on the scholarship programme.

Having concluded the verification exercise, which involved the registration of all scholars and the confirmation of their claims with the various universities, payment of the outstanding fees were to commence immediately.

Unfor tunately, s ome unforeseen circumstances, including the upheavals that followed the EndSARS protests by youths, constituted stumbling blocks for the speedy implementation of the payment plan.

Obviously, the CBN was not immune to the sad realities bedeviling the nation in the past few weeks. However, the bank has promised to treat the case

L-R: Agnes Duke, vice president MJF, NCLF of the Lion Club; Mabel Toyebor, member; Scholastica Onyeyiri, president MJF, NLCF, SR; Eucharia Uwakwe, supervisor of the School, Beatrice Vincent, NLCF, the Club’s Tamer, and students of the school.

of the scholarship beneficiaries with utmost dispatch.

We a p p e a l f o r understanding and patience from the students. We urge them not to allow themselves

Aba fire service claims loss of N400m worth of equipment to hoodlums …as NURTW decries destruction of property in Enyimba City GODFREY OFURUM, Aba

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he fire department in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, has decried the destruction of its equipment wor th N400-million, by hoodlums, who hijacked the peaceful #EndSARS protest in the area.

According to Okezie Uche, Aba zonal commander, Abia State Fire Service, hoodlums on October 21, 2020, burnt its remaining fire truck and destroyed other firefighting equipment in the station.

Recall that the Aba fire command lost one of its 2-fire engines in August 2020, following an attack by an angry mob in Ariaraia area of Aba, for allegedly responding late to a distress call.

Consequently, with the destruction of the remaining fire truck in Aba, touted as the commercial hub of the South-East and South-South regions of Nigeria, the city’s fire department has been rendered incapable of fighting any category of fire in the area.

“We are now in a precarious situation, as hoodlums that masqueraded as #EndSARS

protesters have vandalised our station and destroyed our remaining fire truck.

“The fire truck destroyed by the hoodlums is estimated at N350 million and in all, we lost about N400 million to the attack. “I am now telling Aba residents that the only fire truck that they have has been destroyed by hoodlums and so, Aba has no fire equipment to fight fire, when it occurs, especially as we enter the dry season,” Uche stated.

Eugene Eze Job, Abia State chapter chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW),

has also expressed shock over the awful level of damage at the Aba South Local Government headquarters, describing the act as unreasonable.

Eze Job advised youths in the state to resist being used by politicians to participate in activities that could bring the state backwards.

He thanked Governor Okezie Ikpeazu for approving a cleanup exercise in Aba and Umuahia to clear the streets of debris and encouraged transporters in the state to obey the curfew period, which according to him, are made for the safety of all.

to be used as tools by those sponsoring devious campaigns to discredit the IMC through protests at the Nigerian Embassy in London.

We r e - a f f i r m o u r

commitment to the Post Graduate scholarship Scheme, which is part of our efforts to develop professional manpower to help in the transformation of the Niger Delta region.

Ikeja Viva L’amour Lions Club empowers visually impaired students …Donates to Pacelli School for the Blind Ifeoma Okeke

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s part of its activities to support and give to less privileged in society, Ikeja Viva L’amour Lions Club has empowered visually impaired students through its recent donations to the Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted Children.

Speaking during the donation to the school, Scholastica Onyeyiri, president, Ikeja Viva L’amour Lions Club in District 404B2 said the Club was making the donations to touch the lives of the blind and partially sighted children.

According to Onyeyiri, the month of October is the month when Lions Club reaches out to the blind all over the world.

“We are supposed to conduct screening and carry out some surgeries but because of the situation of the country right now, we couldn’t get the crowd we wanted, so we have deferred that one and it will take place next month.

“Since it is the month of October, we insisted we must still do something. As a result, we are here to reach out to the students of the school. We are giving them braille; their writing instrument and the cane

that guide them when they walk, food items and provisions because it is a boarding school,” she explained.

She stressed that this is something Lions Club loves to do and it will continue to do it.

Eucharia Uwakwe, supervisor of the Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted Children expressed her gratitude to the Club for the donations.

“We are very grateful to Lions Club for these gifts. Lions Club is a part of this school and they come from time to time. They have made great contributions to this school.

We are grateful for their contributions to the welfare of the school,” Uwakwe said.

She however expressed her disappointments to the government for not supporting what the school is doing to help blind children.

She disclosed that more than 75 percent of the children in this school are Muslims, as the school admits children from different tribes and religions, yet the government has failed to support them.

Also speaking at the event, Terese Ihenachor, activity chairperson said the donation to the school is part of the activities of the Ikeja Viva L’amour Lions Club to give back to the society.

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Security: A good starting point for Lagos

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fter the massive destruction that f o l l ow e d t h e killing of EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Tollgate and the shockwaves it sent into the spines of Lagos State government in particular and Nigeria at large, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos governor, says time has come to start healing the wounds.

That disposition of mind is quite commendable even when the vexed question of who ordered soldiers to fire live bullets at peaceful and defenseless protesters and why it had to happen remain largely unanswered and unexplained.

The governor has been going about assessing the degree of destruction. He has also been busy hosting solidarity and sympathy visits by his governor-colleagues and also South West politicians, especially those of the ruling All Progressives Alliance (APC).

This too is commendable.

But we deem it urgent and compelling for the state government to start the healing process with security. Safety of residents needs urgent attention and should be treated as such.

The governor’s meeting with officers and men of the police force in Lagos last Wednesday where he promised to give scholarship to the children of all police officers

who died in the course of quelling the protest was instructive and well advised.

The police, in fear or protest for the killing of their colleagues in the line of duty and the burning of their stations, about 21 of them in Lagos alone, have stayed off Lagos roads, and the impact has been huge.

What we see on Lagos roads now is a reign of terror that has affected not only the safety and socio-economic lives of the citizens, but also the productivity of the numerous industries in the state whose workers have stayed away from office for fear of the unknown.

One way or another, this affects everybody including the state government. While household income is reduced at individual level, the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) and revenue are suffering.

Either in solidarity or fear or both, the predatory and overzealous officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) have joined the police to stay away from the roads.

What this has done is to turn Lagos roads into jungles where everybody is right and wrong at the same time.

The ensuing chaos and gridlock present scenes that can only be likened to those in weird movies where life and death are in mortal combat only separated by witches, devils and the deep blue sea.

The reality on ground is that the finest of moments have been created for miscreants and armed

robbers to attack motorists in traffic, brandishing lethal weapons with which they maim and, sometimes, kill. We are alarmed by this situation and, therefore, call on the state government to do something urgently to arrest it.

We advise that the state should pursue the healing process through multi-dimensional ways. One sure way is building confidence in the people by securing the state so that people can go about their normal business without fear. The state had, before now, been adjudged one of the safest in spite of its complexity and diversity. Now is time to return to the status quo ante.

We also advise that the governor should make the whole state a huge construction site by commencing immediately the rebuilding of the destroyed public assets and encouraging, through financial assistance, affected private sector operators to start rebuilding their destroyed assets too.

We hope that this will engender economic activities that will create jobs for many residents including the restive youths. It is our hope too that, if these youths start earning income today, tomorrow they will not heed any call to join a destructive mission.

We agree with those who say that Lagos is a land of opportunities. But it is pertinent to point out too that the state is one of the most difficult environments for living and business in the world. The state has the worst roads network in Africa and this contributes to the insecurity in the state. We believe

that investing in the state’s roads infrastructure is an extension of investment in security.

Globally, security of lives and property is a fundamental duty of government. Indeed, it is the whole essence and meaning of governance. Nigeria has garnered notoriety for its disquieting insecurity situation reflected largely in insurgent activities in the Northern part of the country, and kidnapping plus militancy in the South.

Armed robbery is given.

Ben Bruce, a Senator of the Federal Republic, says insecurity and rising youth restiveness in the country is a testimony of failure of leadership which cuts across all levels of governance. We cannot agree more.

It is painful that Nigeria is one of the few countries of the world where virtually everything is insecure. In the country, if one is not talking about insecurity of lives and property, one will be talking about job insecurity, food insecurity and, these days, marriage insecurity for spouses who fail to guard against rampaging intruders and snatchers.

In our view, all these have their roots in the country’s weak economy. If jobs are insecure, it is because the economy is too weak to support investment that will lead to expansion of opportunities. The leadership of the country seems too inept to do the needful, but time has come for them to roll up the sleeves and get to work. For Lagos, here too lies the starting point for healing the wounds.

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Perspective

Covid-19 global economic distributions: How the energy sector fared?

James Ayoo Ayoo, a versatile drilling engineer with 18 years of professional experience, has played leading and critical roles in major oil and gas projects, locally and internationally.

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ince the Great Depression of the 1930s, no other event in recent history – not even the fairly recent global economic meltdown – has caused such a monumental economic cataclysm in the world within a very short period like the coronavirus pandemic. The downward spiral was unprecedented in speed and magnitude.The pandemic caused such political and economic disruptions that it has become an important history marker, bringing the world to accept certain behavioral or social changes and to adjust to a new lifestyle popularly referred to as the new normal.

Countries all over the world put in place confinement measures with the hope of curbing or stemming the spread of the virus.

But the confinement measures brought immeasurable downturn effects on the world economy as the lockdown resulted in a crash in oil demand. It is obvious that oil occupies a central place in the economy of the world, and economic growth has a strong correlation with oil demand. As such, when the lockdown began to take its toll on the Oil and Gas sector, it naturally reverberated on the economy.

The Great Lockdown kept millions of people away from work and business, except for services that were considered essential.

Consequently, some of the oil corporations had to partially shut down operations or reduce the concentration of their workforce in keeping with the containment measures. But the lockdown also resulted in falling demand for oil as all forms of travel were restricted and other high-volume users of oil and gas went into confinement.

That simple principle of economics consequently came to play: the lower the demand, the lower the supply. And that means, the lower the production too. But the disagreement between leading oil producing countries (particularly Saudi Arabia and Russia) led to a steady supply in the midst of crumbling demand, thereby over flooding the market with supply.

This was the initial cause of the

downward turn of prices. With the full implementation of lockdown measures in many countries of the world, oil prices further plummeted toa historic low. Froman average of about $64/bbl in 2019, Brent crude prices nosedived to about $30/bbl in March and $25 in April 2020. This meant that producers literally wanted buyers to just take the product off their hands. In December 2019, OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) had projected that the world oil demand for 2020 would increase by1.08mb/d. But instead of an increase, there was a whopping decrease of 9.5mb/d in their October 2020 report. The monumental reduction in demand, inevitably led OPEC and its allies, in the Declaration of Cooperation convened in April, to propose production cuts. Those present at the meeting agreed to reduce their overall crude production by 9.7mb/d, this was to be further adjusted over the months in order to achieve a stable oil market.

Africa appeared to have been less hit by the ravages of the disease on humans, yet in terms of economic impact, it was hard hit.

Africa being generally a developing continent, such a great destabilisation in the oil sector meant huge economic losses.For African oil exporting countries like Algeria, Angola, DR Congo, Equatorial

Guinea, Gabon and Nigeria, the estimated 10percent fall in global demand meant their crude export would equally drop by an average of 10percent, which is the biggest fall in history, significantly impacting the economy.

The Oil and Gas industry in Africa, like anywhere else in the world, had a distressing time while the confinement measures lasted as they made great losses. Therefore, spending cuts and austerity measures had to be applied to balance the effect. Global upstream development expenditure went down by 30percent. Thus, Rystad Energy, a consultancy firm, reported that there could be $100billion cut in the budget of Exploration and Production companies, and the reduction may even go further in 2021.Africa’s Upstream spend in 2020, according to research and consultancy group, Wood Mackenzie, is down by $14 billion. This has greatly impacted the livelihood of millions of people who earn a living from the industry’s extensive value chain.

The compulsory spend cuts also mean a reduction or delay in funding of both social and investment projects. The economic disruptions did not only delay future investments in Africa; it equally made several oil companies to delay their Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) in the continent over the

next few years.Wood Mackenzie reports that 22 FIDs targeted for a period of 18 months have gone down to 3, and “upstream value in Africa is down one-third.” Oil companies, likewise, have had to cut down their capital expenses.

Thus, in the heat of the pandemic and oil crash, Chevron told Reuters that the company was “reviewing alternatives to reduce capital expenditures that are expected to lower short-term production and preserve long-term value.” BP and ExxonMobil in the same vein said they would reduce capital and operational spending. Similarly, Total S.A. announced a reduction in theirorganic capital expenditure by more than $3billion.

With the easing of movement restrictions, the Oil and Gas industry is gradually rebounding.

Although there are fears that a second wave of the pandemic might cause the little gains being made to decline again, there are great prospects that the Oil and Gas industry will still make many gains as world economies reopen fully, since no alternative is yet found to upstage its central position in the world economy. Evidently, it is going to take a long time before that stability is gained but with the cooperation taking place among all the stakeholders in the industry, there is hope that the nightmare would be overcome.

The pivotal role of an Executive Assistant during global pandemic

Precious Emechebe Emechebe, executive assistant to the Chief Executive Officer of MultiChoice Nigeria, John Ugbe, writes from Lagos.

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here is this saying that “Behind every great CEO is an exceptional and committed Executive Assistant”. The Executive Assistant job has recently become a lot more complicated because asides the novel experience of working from home fully and potentially alongside family demands, you are also working your hardest to go above and beyond to provide some sense of certainty and regularity for

the Executive, which of course is one of the core functions.

But truly, this is the time for EAs to shine. Why? The Executives will need all the support they can get in this time of uncertainty. And there is, perhaps, no one more qualified to give this support than the EA. Proactivity and empathy are very crucial both to provide the best support possible and to show how valuable you are to the team regardless of non-physical availability.

Adapting to the new order implies retaining the star that you are.

You are pliable enough to fit in into the new ways of doing things; Putting in conscious effort to wow the Boss and other executives through courageous help and ambitious progress; Focusing on what matters and what works. You must respond to that task speedily and timely with zero or very minimal excuses. You must be a fixer.

You must set up your workstation and ensure little or no network interruptions. This implies that you must work with the best internet provider as being irresponsive may be tagged as inefficiency. EAs must present a professional and credible image on behalf of the bosses. They are the filters that allow the executives to remain focused on priorities even in these peculiar times where physi-

cal meeting requests are minimally advised. You must work side-by-side with the executive to absorb his or her knowledge and learn how the business functions, as the pandemic elongates.

Exceptional EAs are high-performing, excellent professionals who must have basic knowledge of the business such that they can operate as a seamless extension of the executive. The EAs understand that for their executive to be effective, they must take over the functions that are not a good use of the executive’s core or basic focal point. EAs never doubt what their executives want or do not want because the executive communicates to them their objectives and vision. Consequently, EAs speak on the executives behalf with confidence and authority. They also keep them protected from non-essentials or calam­ities.

During this pandemic, EA’s must take charge and accept responsibilities even more than they used to.

They must get clarifications to ensure they are working within scope.

All gaps must be closed without prompts. You must forestall, anticipate, look ahead, avert crisis, resolve issues and be a problem solver. Be resourceful, using good instincts and constantly looking for ways to improve and ease the Boss.

Self-Development in relevant professional areas is also one of the very keyways to adapt in this critical time. Online courses that would widen your horizon are good way to go.

Exercise helps hugely. You do not want to look totally out of shape when you eventually resume physically at work. If you’re not into anything high intensity then yoga is awesome, dance exercise is fantastic, same as taking walks. Loads of videos are online to guide you. Remember you are now doing this in the comfort of your home.

Have you considered exploring that project you’ve been set to work on, go beyond just completing your responsibilities - research possibilities, explore beyond the job on hand? You have more time, so use it to fall in love with what you do and other things you are passionate about because when you do, staying inspired is easy.

Remain proactive, not reactive.

Find other ways to bring value – be the eye of the boss even at the tiniest feedback that would make a meaning to the business. Become more than an EA. Keep your ears wide open for advice that would matter.

Indeed, walking over to the boss’ office or the fact that you do not see yourselves daily as the case may

be, may seem like your relationship with your boss is slipping away, so you need a new way to maintain that. Keep at it daily. Set up catch up online meetings where you can run through your plans and progress. It keeps you on track while making sure your interactions are still valid.

When the day hits you hard, it is so easy to just move to the sofa, switch on the TV and stare blankly at your screen waiting for the hours to tick by. Knowing how to overcome these days can be tough: There aren’t colleagues celebrating birthdays, or clients and customers interface that could take your mind away or motivate you, so you’ve got to do it for yourself. Take a break, play some music, play with the kids, get your brain moving again and then when you come back to your workstation, throw yourself into the most intense piece of that task and deliver.

In all seriousness, the flexibility of working from home is incredible, however, it can be hard to turn off your laptop or phone sometimes when you are working from home because you really do not want slipaways. Ensure work is not still heavy during this time otherwise it would become difficult to separate life and work when they are unified.

Keep staying safe, think big and self-motivate.

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Who bloodied our beautiful banner?

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rutal’’! ‘’Barbaric’’! “Cruel”! ‘’This is unacceptable!’’ These were just a few adjectives that escaped the livid lips of peace-loving Nigerians, outraged by thescary spectacle that took placein Lagos, Nigeria on that Black Tuesday of 20-10-2020. That crude force was deployed bya new set of ‘’unknown soldiers’’to rain live bullets on unarmed,young, peaceful protesters at the infamous Lekki Toll Gate, asking for the end of police brutalityright in the country came as a bloody irony! But the denials continue.

Worse still, the clearly avoidable tragedy under our so called democratic dispensation, is compounded by the ping-pong, blame-game between the military and the governor of Lagos state, Sanwo-Olu. At first we were told that there were no shootings and in fact, no life was lost!

Later, the story was that thugs garbed in military uniform dealt the deadly blow to halt the audacity of the protesters. Soon after, it was another tall tale that the shootings were blank, whatever that means! Even if Governor Sanwo-Olu has admitted to take full responsibility for the mishap, the burning questions remain.

He may be the number one security officer of the state but does he have the constitutional right to invite the army, a federal security outfit to attack the protesters? Definitely not! So, who gave the directive for the removal of the CCTV cameras and put off the bright lights for darkness to take over before the mayhem was unleashed?Who deployed fully armed soldiers to the scene for the shoot at sight those still carrying out the protests at dusk?How come they never knew that their actions were being recorded live by some concerned and alert Nigerians, right there on the spot?

Furthermore, who are those offended by the live coverage given by the top-notch television stations such as Channels, ARISE and AIT now being fined by the NBC for ‘’unprofessional conduct’’? Who are those bent on muzzling free speech and the press? In fact, we must tackle the vainglorious mindset of a leadership that hates to square up to the Truth; a leadership that must

“True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is thepresence of justice’’ -Martin Luther King Jnr. never be criticized, even under a democratic dispensation. If these pertinent questions are not frontally tackled and credible answers provided, we may only be papering over longwinding cracks for a while; deceiving ourselves as a people that all is well with us. But all is not.

At the heart of the #ENDSARS protests remains the crying need to bring the violations of human rights by operatives of the Anti-Robbery Squad to an end. Harassing, maiming and killing young Nigerians for having iPhones, hightech laptops, wearing dreadlocks and profiling them as yahoo-yahoo boys all for self-gain has brought out the beast in otherwise law-abiding citizens.

Whoever sent out the morally bankrupt, armed hoodlums to cause chaos, run roughshod over innocent citizens, burn down police stations, all manner of well-stocked shops, mansions of politicians, trucks, cars and BRT buses, all in the bid to give the peaceful protests a bad name would have their maker to contend with. They would have to answer for the lives of the innocent citizens wantonly wasted during the crisis. But then, something else happened; something curious and inexcusable.

For instance, the discovery of several warehouses, across the states of the country, where the Covid- 19 palliatives meant for the longsuffering Nigerians during the Lockdown were kept raises more questions than answers. Why were they not distributed to the hungry Nigerians, who make up those caught in the ignoble bracket of extreme poverty, when it mattered most? Why was it that only the governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulumdid the needful?

Why did the other governors allow the citizens

to doubt the authenticity of the claim made then by the Minister of Humanitarian Affair, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouk that those palliatives were long delivered to the 36 states and the FCT? The bland excuse by some of the governors that the palliatives were kept for Nigerians in anticipation of a second round of the pandemic stands logic on its head. It smirks of nothing but cruelty doesn’t it? Of course, it does.

In fact, it means that were it not for the mass revolt, we would not have known that the federal government made efforts to reach out to the people during the lockdown. But now the so-called looters of the palliatives are being stigmatised by the greedy and self-righteous looters in high places. That is the dark dilemma the people are confronted with in Nigeria.

That of course, has brought to the fore the growing gap between our so called political leaders and the pauperized populace. Now we have the reasons to justify the feuding fisticuff between the corruptionriddled “off the mic’’ generation and the long-silenced ‘’SoroSoke’’ generation. Now we understand the lacuna between the breed of avaricious locusts and the butterflies denied access to pollinate the flowers of the field and eventually suck the sugary nectars.

Beyond the #ENDSARS protests therefore, the youths are demanding for a holistic review of the leadership paradigm within the Nigerian political spectrum. They are currently asking that the humongous salaries of the senators be drastically scaled down to N1.5million and that of the House of Representatives to N1.3million per month, respectively. Some even want a unicameral legislature, predicated on part-time format. Suggestions are coming in that our army of unemployed youth be paid N50,000 each monthly until they get some job to do.

There should be no more pensions paid to former political office holders, some of who

Ayo Oyoze Baje Baje is Nigerian first food technologist in the media and author of ‘Drumbeats of Democracy’

were state governors and still find their way to the senate to keep dipping their hands into the national till. Also, any politician who has before now spent five years in government should be automatically disqualified from contesting in future elections.

On the critical issue of security, the youths are demanding that special arms of the police force be created, equipped with drones and modern technology for sustained surveillance of roads and farmlands. They want the police to be retrained, to be more effective within the people-friendly matrix. To facilitate this laudable initiative, they are asking for better remunerations of not less than N400,000 minimum wage; to include life insurance, vehicle allowance and payment for the education of three children of each police officer.Good enough, they have demanded for adequate compensation for the families of the victims of police brutality and that of the Lekki massacre.

Fanciful as some of these suggestions may sound, the bitter truth is that Nigeria cannot be run the way it has been. Restructuring is the best way forward. Governments, at the state and federal levels must do all within their powers to ensure that all the perpetrators of the recent heinous crimes against humanity, who bloodied our beautiful banner, are brought to justice. This should be done with a similar zeal, energy and speed that the hoodlums are being caught by the police. There can be no peace, without justice.

The world is watching us.

EndSARS violence and imperatives of state police

Tayo Ogunbiyi Ogunbiyi is Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja

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he spate of insecurity across the country occasioned by the activities of hoodlums, who hijacked the hitherto peaceful #EndSARS protest, no doubt calls attention once again to the recurring subject of the need for the establishment of State police.

Before now, the most vociferous advocates of State Police have been notable civil society and good governance advocates. It is, however, interesting to note that increasing agitation for the creation of State police can no longer be viewed as a partisan crusade. Neither can it be said to be the handiwork of mischief-makers or ruby-rousers. Today, serving governors and other prominent political leaders, that transcend political borders, are in the forefront of a renewed call for State police.

Though, for some time, there have been several opposing arguments concerning the subject, it has become reasonably necessary for appropriate authorities to take a deeper look at the need for State police, especially with regards to the fallouts of the #EndSARS protest. Without a doubt, the central policing system has not really been effective and it is only logical that we consider other probable alternatives.

State police is an important component of true federalism and emblem of authority of governance, since sovereignty is divided between the federal authority and the federating components.

It is not a new concept in Nigeria, but is rather a clamour for modification to the colonial legacy of Native Authority Police which successfully worked alongside the Nigeria Police Force till the 1970s before it was abolished and integrated into a single Police Force by the military junta to achieve a unitary command system.

Though the 1999 Constitution provides for a single federal police, this precludes States from taking charge of the protection of lives and properties of their people as chief security officer and denying them the emblem of authority. If Nigeria is really a federation, this is a constitutional lacuna that must be addressed through constitution amendment to pave way for State police.

Aside from the well accepted philosophy that policing is essentially a local matter, every crime is local in nature. Hence, it is only rational to localize the police force. No matter its form, crime detection needs a local knowledge that state police can better provide.

Similarly, police officers who serve in their indigenous communities are stakeholders with vested interests in such places. Considering the reality that they will always be part of their respective communities, even after retirement, it is doubtful if they will perpetuate anti-social activities in such communities. A recent Human Right Watch survey reveals that most of the accidental and other extra judicial killings that have taken place in the country were perpetrated by officers posted outside their states of origin.

Also, knowledge of the local environment is needed for effective policing. It is only logical that to fight crime in the same locality; you need law enforcement personnel familiar with the terrain. Using police officers from Jalingo, for instance, to burst a crime in Onitsha could at best

be counter- productive. The local criminals with good knowledge of the area will always outwit such ‘foreign’ police officers.

Intelligence gathering is an indispensable necessity in crime fighting. But this seems to be currently lacking in the system. It is difficult to access high-quality intelligence, unless you know the people very well, and they in turn trust you. The present arrangement certainly negates credible intelligence gathering. We live in a society where people treat perceived strangers with lots of reservation.

This, no doubt, is quite understandable. It is difficult to trust somebody whose language, culture and tradition you are unfamiliar with. The truth is that people will always be afraid of passing on information to those they don’t trust, and this is for obvious reasons.

Perhaps more importantly, it is important that a State governor, who ought to be the chief security officer of his State, has the control of the police command in the same State. The current trend where the Commissioner of Police in a State takes orders from the central authority is not too tidy for attainment of internal security.

It has been argued severally that State police is nothing but a recipe for anarchy as it could be abused. Those who hold this view believe that it could lead to abuse of power and political vendetta by the various State governors. Others are of the opinion that it could lead to political turmoil.

But then, this argument is neither here nor there because the present policing structure can equally be subjected to abuse either covertly or overtly. In-spite of all the arguments against State police, the incontrovertible truth is that Nigeria is too huge and complex to be policed centrally.

If state governors could effectively man-

age other institutions of governance, there is no reason why they should manage state police.

For instance, in Lagos, the combined team of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, officials along with the police are all collaborating and complementing one another on Lagos roads to maintain traffic and instill discipline in motorists. Just imagine Lagos roads with just only traffic police in control!

It has also been argued that many states cannot afford the cost of establishing and maintaining state police. Ironically, almost all the governors in the country are investing heavily in the respective Police Commands in their States.

In Lagos State, for example, the government, in the last twenty years, has invested billions of naira on the State Police Command as well as other security organs in the State.

In fact, the first Security Trust Fund to be established, by any government in the country was initiated by the Lagos State Government, and other states have since pursued the same model.

A feasible and vibrant security structure is essential to maintain noteworthy development and guarantee the protection of life and property. The police as we currently have in the country might not be able to ensure effective security across the nation. Currently, the police does not have up to 400, 000 personnel in a nation whose estimated population stands above 180 million. This is the clear picture of an institution that is in dire need of restructuring.

Given the necessary political resolve, we can effectively operate State Police in the country. All we need to do is to give the subject the desired attention. If we are actually concerned about overcoming present security challenges in the country, we need to reconsider the issue of state police more sincerely and dispassionately. It is a burning issue that must be tackled without further delay.

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11

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A nation where people are hostile to each other is no nation – Ex-Education minister Dauda Birma, a former minister of Education, and onetime presidential aspirant under the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), in this interview with ZEBULON AGOMUO, laments the level of division in Nigeria and expresses pessimism over the continued existence of the country. Excerpts: How do you describe Nigeria at the moment with all the things that have happened in recent times? he times are very precarious. Anything can happen. Several things have been revealed. We have been complacent as a people and the leadership, particularly. We have not taken the necessary and right steps, perhaps, some of the things we are witnessing now would not have happened. I can say that we are sitting on a tinderbox or gunpowder. It is no doubt, a very difficult time indeed for our country. I am worried.

ally not the problem, it was an excuse to what people intended to do or achieve. They just hid under the #EndSARS to perpetrate their evil agenda. When they came out, it was what was on their mind that they did.

For me, SARS is nothing. Is it not part of the Nigeria Police? It is just a small unit, a branch of the Police? It is not worth the importance that is being attached to it. You can see that when the #EndSARS campaign thing started in the South, Northern governors said SARS was good for them.

The North did not see the essence of the #EndSARS campaign because the way SARS was viewed in the south is different. This is because there are peculiar crimes that happen in the south that SARS is dealing with that are unknown in the north. The North however, has its own types of criminality- banditry, cattle rustling, kidnapping. By and large, there are many people in the North that did not know there’s anything like SARS. I think, the #EndSARS protest was a designed movement by some people recruited

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From what you see now, how can we move forward as a nation?

It depends on what you mean by moving forward. In the first place, we are not a nation. We are just a people forced to live together and we are hostile to each other. Each person treats the other based on his perception of the other. That has been demonstrated during the #EndSARS campaign. The #EndSARS was actu-

Dauda Birma

and paid to cause havoc in society or to achieve some goals.

But it appears things are calming down. From your own reading of the situation, do you envisage more crises along the same line?

Well, it is the cooling down of a volcano, when next it erupts, it could be very devastating; very dangerous.

If that is the case, how may we achieve a lasting peace?

I think that can be possible when we split Nigeria into territorial lines. I have become very pessimistic about the peace of this country. I am not very optimistic about any lasting peace in Nigeria in the form we are now. I have become very pessimistic about the possibility of us forging a common front, seeing how farther apart we have drifted in our ethnoreligious and political biases. I think the best thing that we should have is when we split Nigeria along territorial lines. What I see now does not give hope for a continued unity.

APC heading to implosion as Buni Committee’s show no plan for December convention James Kwen, Abuja

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he All Progressives Congress (APC) is heading to an implosion due to another impending leadership crisis that may soon rock the ruling party.

This is as the Governor Mai-Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extra-ordinary National Convention Planning Committee has not shown any plan to organize national convention to elect new National Working Committee (NWC) two months to its expiry date.

The Caretaker Committee was constituted in June, following the dissolution of the then Adams Oshiomhole led-NWC on the recommendations of President Muhammadu Buhari at the APC virtual National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting with the mandate to amongst others, organise a convention within six months to elect new National Officers of the party.

The NEC’s decision was predicated on the leadership crisis that befall the party after the Supreme Court upheld the suspension of Oshiomhole, thereby creating a vacuum that led to emergence of apparel National Chairmen.

Recall that after Oshiomhole’s suspension, some NWC members loyal to him pronounced the late

Deputy National Chairman (South), Abiola Ajimobi as Acting National Chairman and Hilliard Eta, former National Vice Chairman South/ South held brief for him while the then Deputy National Secretary, Victor Giadom also assumed the position of Acting National Chairman.

It was in the wake of this that NEC constituted the Caretaker Committee with Governor Buni as Chairman and Akpan Udoedehe as Secretary, amongst other members against the APC Constitution which does not provide for Caretaker leadership.

The Committee had boasted of reconciling life threatening challenges for the party in 11 states across the country and ensuring the return of political heavy weights such as the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, former Peoples Democratic (PDP) National Chairman, Barnabas Gemade, several members of the National Assembly which part of its mandate.

However, its other cardinal mandate of organizing national convention to elect new leadership for the party has remained uncertain as there seems to be no plan in place for that despite the recent 14 days ultimatum

by Concerned APC Members.

Concerned APC Members had on October 12 given the Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee 14

days ultimatum to roll out plan of action/timetable for the party’s December elective convention, or face mass demonstration of party members nationwide.

The group at a press conference addressed by its Spokesperson, Abdullahi Dauda alleged that the Caretaker Committee was already scheming to extend its tenure for another one year and asked President Buhari to call the Buni team to order before it buries the party.

“We are Concerned APC members, who have watched with amazement and disillusionment for several months the inability of the APC Caretaker Committee to provide direction for the party and set up timetable for December elective convention.

“We are not out to discredit the conscientious efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari and his team that have taken commendable steps to fight for the progress of the party by setting up the present Caretaker Committee to save the party from internal crisis but to bring to his notice that there are certain areas that the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker Committee has failed outright, especially as it concerns the noncompliance to the scheduled December National Convention. We are less than two months away from the December deadline and no meaningful plan is in place for the much awaited

convention.

“Recall that the Committee led by Mai Mala Buni was inaugurated to carry out two critical challenges faced by our great party. One was for it to reconcile aggrieved members and second, was to conduct a National Convention by December 2020.

“The Buni-led Committee has shown in its actions that tenure elongation is its priority and being stakeholders in the party, we see the urgent need to speak out loudly on time to save our party from another round of self inflicted crisis. It is as our responsibility to speak up for posterity sake.

“We are aware that the composition of the Committee is illegal and alien to our party’s constitution ab initio and we are aware some members are in court already as regards that anomaly but due to our respect for Mr. President, we allowed the process as a child of necessity and supported it but the present action and body language of the Committee necessitated our press conference today”, the Concerned APC members maintained.

The group however, suspended its planned nationwide protests at the expiration of the ultimatum because of the prevailing mood of the nation occasioned by the #EndSARS protests and calls by various party leaders.

Efforts to find out whether the

Caretaker Committee would organize national convention or not and what the party may do after the expiration of the six months tenure proved abortive as the Deputy National Publicity, Yekini Nabena could not be reached and did not respond to text messages sent to him at the time of this report.

Also, Akinyemi Olaide, member representing the House of Representatives in the Committee simply told our Correspondent that: “After our next Caretaker meeting I should be able to give you a position on your questions”.

Reacting to this, a chieftain of the party who begged for anonymity said if the Caretaker could not organize convention in December for substantive NWC members to emerge, crisis would erupt in the party as many party members are already aggrieved with the constitution of the caretaker in the first place.

“The way things are going, the Buni Committee may likely not be able to hold convention and this will cause crisis to erupt in the party as we can’t continue with the unconstitutional arrangement of Caretaker.

“Even the present Committee was allowed to exist for the tremendous respect party leaders and members have for President Buhari or else it was against the party’s constitution” the APC Chieftain stated.

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Politics

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Only a miracle can save Nigeria from predicted doom - Onovo Martin Onovo, a petroleum engineer and former presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP), in this interview with ZEBULON AGOMUO, deplores the handling of the recent #EndSARS protest; the state of the nation and expresses fears that Nigeria may be heading to a precipice. Excerpts:

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resident Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday cautioned Nigerians against divisive tendencies. He said that government would not fold its hands while some divisive elements destroy the country. What is your take?

Universally, leadership is by example. To me, that statement sounds hypocritical. The other day, he told the International community that condemned the killing of protesters to mind their business. Here is a President known for making hateful statements at every turn against other sections of the country. In fact, he laid the foundation of his administration on hate when he said that he would not treat the section that gave him 97 percent vote the same way he would treat those who gave him 5percent vote. Let me quote him, ‘I hope you have a copy of the election results. The constituents, for example, gave me 97percent [of the vote] cannot in all honesty be treated on some issues with constituencies that gave me 5percent.’ And this is a President talking. He has been true to that. We see his divisive disposition in his manner of appointment.

Almost all his appointments are from one section of the country and one religion. His development projects are tilted to one section of the country. He can continue to humour himself with such statements, but nobody is fooled. Everybody who has been in the country since 2015 knows what has happened to Nigeria in the last five years; so, nobody is deceived.

But some observers say he may not be the person saying all those things but his aides who write his speeches?

Well, if that is the case, it has agreed with the views of many people that he is incompetent. Before a President goes out to read his speech written by any aide or his media minders, he should have gone through it severally and is satisfied with the content

Martin Onovo

of the speech. If he does not read through what is written for him, then he is incompetent to be a President. He takes responsibility for his actions and inactions, not his speech writers or media minders.

Where do you see Nigeria heading to, the way things are going now?

Only a miracle can save Nigeria from predicted doom. The Nigerian unity has been destroyed by General Buhari. The military has been destroyed. The economy has been totally destroyed, which he admitted in his speech that the economy is too fragile. The signs are there.

You can see now that Nigeria has been totally destroyed by the current

administration. We are now worse off than where we were before the #EndSARS protest. It was in 2016 that I said that the General Buhari administration is the greatest danger and threat to confront Nigeria since independence in 1960. If a leader is manifesting tendencies that point to ethnic bigotry and religious fanaticism, what is the point of warning against divisive tendencies?

What can you make of the #EndSARS protest and the attendant large scale destruction?

It was not an act of God. No. It is not a national catastrophe; it is simply the seeds we have sown that have germinated. I saw how hoodlums,

arned with superior firearms/weapons were engaging the Nigeria Police. I saluted the security operatives who were still standing defending their fatherland. I congratulate the bravery of those policemen. Within a twinkle of an eye, we lost property worth trillions of naira, because of bad governance. I want Nigeria to come out of it. But you have to take appropriate and decisive steps. Unfortunately, instead of doing so now, government is doing other things, behaving like the ostrich as ever. The #EndSARS has ignited the Nigerian spiral that had been building up for many years and you need some very serious and deliberate actions to arrest it. The options are either restructuring now or Buhari steps down. So that people start developing their regions. You require significant shock treatment to arrest the downward spiral. People are still busy saying that we are not on downward spiral.

How can anyone say that with all that has happened? Do they know how many filling stations that were burnt; how many police stations that were burnt; how many public, private and corporate property that were destroyed or looted? It all boils down to the attitude of government.

If they like, let them continue to see it as nothing. It is more serious than they imagine.

The Federal Government says it is not setting up any panel to look into what transpired since some states have already done that; do you think that is a good decision?

I think that is an abdication of duty, a dereliction of duty I must say. Police is a national agency; it is a federal establishment. The Federal Government must take responsibility for what happened. It is very clear, and this does not need an explanation.

Even the military that is being accused of moving in soldiers on the invitation of the Lagos State government is also a federal establishment.

I will blame the military. Why did you go and kill defenseless youths

who were singing the National Anthem and holding the National Flag?

I keep saying it that this government does not mean well for the people.

Last Wednesday, the social media was abuzz with stories of the emergence of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but it later emerged that the United States of America has not given its consent. What do you make out of the race and the seeming hurdle being imposed by the US? Frankly speaking, I do not know the rules. If America has the veto power, we should try and convince them.

I do not think that is a problem.

Look at the SARS, there was nothing wrong with the unit, only that some of the personnel were becoming lawless. It is not the entire SARS as a unit that has become lawless, but the refusal of the relevant authorities to act when they should have done so, allowed the bad eggs to operate as if they were above the law. So, I blame the Inspector-General of Police; I blame the Commander-inChief of the Armed Forces because they failed on their responsibilities of providing leadership. It is a failure of the President that watches the IG to tolerate an officer that kills innocent people and get away with it. If the SARS personnel involved in the alleged extra-judicial killings and other inhuman treatment of fellow citizens knew that there would be consequences for any unlawful act with their firearms, they would not have engaged in such heinous acts.

If they know that the IG frowns at lawlessness; or that the President respects the law and presides over the country under the strict laws of the land, they would be afraid to go against the laws. But when they see IG, the commissioners of police disobey the law of the land flagrantly, they too become lawless and they believe the law is there to break. That is how it works, and that is how we got to this sorry state.

South East governors to set up trust fund to assist #EndSARS victims Regis Anukwuoji, Enugu

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outh East leaders, including the five state governors, all members of the National Assembly from the zone, Religious leaders and traditional rulers have directed all Igbos both within and outside the country to go about their businesses and avoid participating in any form of unlawful protest, and criminality.

The Chairman of South East Governors’ Forum, David Umahi

of Ebonyi State who made the call after a meeting held at Government House, Enugu, said they have also resolved to set up a trust fund that would take care of the victims of the #EndSARS protests.

The fund, he said, would be used to take care of the police, army and individuals that fell victim of the violent protests.

“We sympathise with all the victims’ families including the police and other security agencies as well as all those who lost their loved ones

David Umahi

and properties in the recent disturbances that followed the #EndSARS agitations.

“The South East leaders will engage our youths to ensure a sustainable peace in the South East and a glorious future for our children,” he said.

“That the state governors are committed to addressing the concerns of our young people that are peculiar to various states and will engage the Federal Government and their colleagues in other states

to address the other issues that are national.

“We advise all our youths that while our governors are working hard to meet their demands, the destruction of public and private property and killing of security agents and civilians will never be allowed to continue.

“We offer to protect all ethnic groups living in the South East and we thank other parts of Nigeria for protecting our people too,” he further said.

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13

Politics

Desire to make a different in governance motivated me to go into politics - Oyegbola-Sodipo Lanre Oyegbola-Sodipo is an All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmanship aspirant of the Abeokuta North Local Government in Ogun State, popularly known as LOS. In this exclusive interview with INIOBONG IWOK, he talks about governance and why Local Government Areas are failing to fufil their constitutional roles. Excerpts: As a well-known Public Relations expert and entrepreneur venturing into politics, have you thought about the challenges? ermit me to say that it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles the body. It is not the idea of going into politics that matters; but what we do as a politician. As a public relations and media practitioner, I am aware that it is the act perpetrated in politics that determine whether your reputation ends up as being good or bad. With the right values, such as honesty, commitment to public good and discipline, it will be easy to excel in any profession, even in politics. This is because over time, you would have demonstrated these good traits and would be known to your family, friends and contemporaries. This makes it easier for those you encounter even in a new terrain to trust and accept you.

I dare say that there is room for improvement at our local government level. I recall that the current Minister of Works and Housing, while delivering his Independence Day speech, said that often times, we call the President’s attention to issues that do not have direct impact on the common man. These issues are those that ought to be addressed at the local level. We need to focus more on our local government chairmen, because they are the closest to the people. Also, their activity or inactivity has great effect on every man in the community; his quality of life, aspirations and achievements. Therefore, for us to have the sort of livelihood we desire, we need to demand for a better quality of local government administrators.

Having accomplished so much in my personal and professional life, I believe there is a lot that I can contribute to the society, for the betterment of our people especially at local government level. My desire is to come in and do well. It is not about the salary or amount in the coffers. After all, how much is the salary of a local government chairman? I believe that my pay check is higher than what is presently available in that office.

So, I am motivated by the desire to serve the people and ensure that communal development is driven from the grassroots.

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Politics here is different. Without a godfather, it is difficult to get a ticket on the platform of any ma-

Lanre Oyegbola-Sodipo

jor political party. Do you have a godfather?

An average person has a godfather.

This is because a godfather is an influential figure, who has a measure of confidence in you; enough to stand as a surety or referee. For example, multinationals often require prospective contractors/vendors to provide recommendations from previous clients. This serves as a form of surety. The same applies in the political space. This is because the group of people (party leaders and members) that wants to give you a platform to serve needs to be sure that its candidate has character, competence and the right skill set.

What are the needs of your people?

The needs of the people in Abeokuta North are not different from the needs of the people in Makoko, Lagos State. Every rural dweller desires the basic necessities of life which are often lacking. For this reason, there is always a high rate of rural-urban migration.

From my visits to my LGA, I observed that the health centres are in a deplorable state, with almost non-existent equipment for testing or medication for treatment such that the people have to travel to the state facilities in town for the most rudimentary medical attention like malaria and typhoid. Ideally, the latter ought to be reference centres for major health issues.

At this time, it is important to give our health sector the attention it deserves; not just paying lip service to administration or empowerment. We need to make major investments in the sector which will give the grassroots better livelihood, after all, health is wealth.

In addition, we need to place a premium on education. When the late Obafemi Awolowo envisioned education for all in the old Western Region, it was not just about looking for money alone. It stemmed from genuine passion and sincerity of purpose.

It is also noteworthy that there is paucity of funds in the LGs. For all intents and purposes, this needs to be addressed and fast. Once this is done, it will provide adequate funding for new and existing projects.

Let’s look back at the days we were growing up. How did we go to school? It was because there was sincerity of purpose on the part our parents. Our parents wanted us to go to school and they did everything to make sure we did. They did not have to steal.

Everybody who comes to politics makes promises during campaigns but nothing gets done once they are voted into office.

At the beginning of this year, no one saw Covid-19 coming but it did. As concerned citizens, one of our priorities thereafter, was to produce 50 million facemasks for vulnerable Nigerians while em-

powering tailors across the different states of the federation.

How did we do that? We designed a project that solved a problem and created jobs at the same time. Knowing full well that we didn’t have all the money, we assembled volunteer tailors whose businesses had also been impacted by the pandemic, fixed a price which was lower than the market prices and they agreed to sew the face masks which they did from the comfort of their homes.

In the process, we empowered the tailors who had lost their source of income to the pandemic – no one was making asoebi or office outfits.

We took the same model to Abeokuta North, got tailors from the 16 wards to sew 20,000 facemasks and upon completion, were distributed through the community leaders to the poor who could not afford the face masks in the first place. This process ensured that they were also protected from the scourge of the virus.

All I did was to come up a good cause and people supported me.

At the end of the day, we did not just hand over money to people, we solved a problem by getting them employed.

As a local government chairman and with the limited funds at my disposal, I will creatively solve problems while creating empowerment opportunities and prioritising the welfare of the vulnerable in the society.

What is your take on local government autonomy?

Local government autonomy is a great idea but the only way it can be effective is when those at the helm of affairs directly saddled with the welfare of the grassroots dwellers, are able to deliver on the basic needs of humanity.

Unfortunately, the majority of local government administrators do not have strategies or skills when they assume office and as such end up achieving nothing.

Let me ask, why would you commit the funds to a man who lacks basic financial management skills? How many local government chairmen are able to articulate their programmes or have an agenda?

You can only imagine what happens when you commit huge funds to a man whose best effort is to give out N5, 000 to a handful of people and declare in the dailies that he has carried out widespread em-

powerment Even though Mr. President has assented to a bill which gives autonomy to the LGs, the biggest problem is that many politicians only aspire for this position without a manifesto. This is what Nigerians are lamenting about – decades of rot without hope for a change.

I have demonstrated what I can do. For example, I have an academic support programme that will positively impact the lives and eventually the families of 5, 000 students. This is just one out of the many plans to improve the standard of life currently obtainable in Abeokuta North.

However, I will not castigate the man who is the governor for the prevalent lapses because he cannot function simultaneously as the councillor. This is why he needs someone like me as a local government chairman. Then he will be sure that his agenda will be deepened at the grassroots, considering my track record and manifesto.

Are you aware of other aspirants in the APC? There is a popular saying that ‘when the required is not available, the available becomes the required.’ This simply means that, it is those who are available that will be picked to occupy public offices.

People like us have seen it all professionally; therefore, we are not afraid to come out and serve the populace. As it stands, we need to have more quality people aspiring for elective positions.

In the chairmanship race for the Abeokuta North Local Government, we have Master’s degree holders and even an engineer. This is an excellent array of aspirants and simply means that there is no opportunity for touts to hijack the seat. This also goes to show that it is level playing ground for all and at the end, the best candidate will emerge.

What if you fail to get the ticket for your party?

Such is life; you win some, you lose some. However, as a progressive democrat I will still be happy if another aspirant emerges as a winner.

This is because party supremacy is the most important factor to me.

The reality is that politics is never a ‘do-or-die-affair’ and there will always be a next time. I will continue to execute my plans of creating a great communal wealth and better livelihood for my people.

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Sunday 01 November 2020

Distress pleas from Oyigbo as crackdown continues …Over 500 arrested in one day Ignatus Chukwu

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oise from hell may be the only scenario to describe the wailing and cry for help oozing from Oyigbo near Port Harcourt, Rivers State, which has since come under military clampdown since last week when hoodlums attacked three police stations and killed/burnt three police officers and a soldier.

This was part of #EndSARS protest which was believed to have been hijacked by groups suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).

Now, residents keep sending ‘save our soul’ (SOS) messages, at first saying they were being killed by those they believed were herdsmen backed by soldiers. There has been no iota of evidence to this as it all took place at night. Residents said military helicopters were flying overhead.

The authorities later clarified that the Army was in Oyigbo to maintain peace. Some pockets of killings by some strange persons suspected to be from faraway of the country were however, reported from Oyigbo to Iriebe, Eleme Round About up to Oil Mill and MTM Zone.

These were areas that were previously attacked by the suspected IPOB members who are easily identified by clean shaven heads and red bands with boasts of bullets not penetrating. The governor said these killings attracted counter actions. Many felt some persons from the north were aggrieved and burnt down some markets especially the MTM ICT market on Aba Road near the Oil Mill.

The latest distress messaging dwells on acute hunger and starvation due to endless curfew imposed in Oyigbo in the midst of stringent order by the governor for IPOB to be fished out in every inch of soil of Rivers State. A N50-million bounty was placed on the head of a youth leader in Eleme

Nyesom Wike

believed to have led the rioting there that led to burning down of a king’s palace. Many from Eleme have hinted that the youth leader did so not as IPOB leader of aggrieved youths over action taken by their king at the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) in relation with negotiation for jobs against N40m booty.

Most of the residents trapped in their rooms for days spoke to newsmen on mobile telephones and cried out over lack of access to any food for days. All the markets have been shut, no shops are open, and arrests are daily going on at the roads.

One Henry Ukah said his family had starved since the curfew was imposed.

“As I speak with you there is no single food in my house my children are crying of hunger because there nothing to eat. I am appealing to the governor to relax the curfew so that we can restock,” he said.

Also lamenting, Okechukwu Uche,

another resident, said that he was not able to buy his daily Blood Pressure drugs before the curfew was declared.

“The curfew came without prior notice. Many residents are dying of hunger and starvation. Many of the residents who are sick cannot access drugs or medical facilities. I am on BP drugs and my stock is exhausted.

I cannot restock because of the curfew. All the markets are shutdown, the pharmacies are not open. This is really a bad situation. As it stands now, we are at the mercy of God,” he said.

Chiamaka Dioke and others are rather pleading with Governor Nyesom Wike to show mercy. She said: “The curfew is not doing us any good.

I know that government has good intentions in the declaration of the curfew to protect lives and property but such good intentions can as well be carried out with human face.

“The residents were taken unawares by the curfew; many of us have exhausted our food supplies and

there is no way to restock because of the curfew.”

According to her, “Those who are sick cannot get medication. Children are crying of hunger because there is no food to give them. We are suffering we want our dear governor to have mercy on us and relax the curfew.”

Point of Sale (POS) operators there are said to charge 20 percent of any amount to give out cash to distressed residents.

Many said the young men who attacked the police stations knew the repercussion and fled in advance. Just like in Kastina-Ala of Benue State and Odi in Bayelsa State where the military invaded years ago, innocent residents and villagers usually fall victim. Some 21 bald-headed men were first apprehended and swiftly taken to court for terrorism and acts of violence. The security operatives seem to be hunting for confessions to the killings, burning of police station and carting away of rifles.

Now, the soldiers are said to have blocked all the roads in and out of Oyigbo Urban and march from house to house. On a daily basis, according to Musa Danda, a media worker in Port Harcourt who fell victim on Thursday, October 29, 2020, over 500 persons including women are arrested and made to lie down in low bushes.

Danda said he left the house by 7am to try to go to Port Harcourt to take his press van to proceed to the airport to receive newspapers when he say a large number of soldiers at the at a place called Staff Junction.

“They stopped me, refused to listen to anybody or even look at any ID card. They threatened to kill anybody who dared to move his hand or lips. That way, they first separated the women who were mostly going for food stuff buying.”

He said they were tortured to the point of bottles cutting their flesh as they rolled on the wet ground.

According to him, the soldiers were not ready to listen to explanations or appeals. He said they often beat up

policemen who came to plead for workers from nearby corporations especially Intels. This action made civilians not to dare ask for anything.

He said it was after several hours that he was able to communicate to a soldier and mentioned his tribe that the man saw his identity card and took him to an officer who asked him to go. This way, according to observers, everybody in Oyigbo is guilty until proven otherwise.

These actions seemed to trigger wild rumours about Oyigbo. Some called their relatives to say there is an order to fish out any male above 10 years. Others say there is plot to exterminate people from a particular tribe. Others say they were being told that non-indigenes (from a particular tribe) must leave Oyigbo.

Many residents actually flee at night and trek till day break to board vehicles to other side of the state.

Back home, they tell horrible tales and make sweeping claims about the order given in Port Harcourt. Many of them claim they were being attacked by herdsmen.

The official statement by Governor Wike is that Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) members must be fished out but that law abiding Igbos must not be touched. It is not clear how those implementing this order are doing it.

The governor made it clear that Rivers State has been accommodative over the decades but that this should not be taken as weakness. He said it was unacceptable for anybody under any name to kill security personnel, burn them, burn police stations, take guns, and cause general havoc. Over 50 vehicles parked at the stations were burnt. The governor has offered N20million to each security officer that was killed and promised to rebuild the stations.

Army Public Relations Officer (APPRO) for 6 Division in Bori Camp in Port Harcourt, Charles Ekeocha, responded to texts by newsmen, saying the soldiers were in Oyigbo to maintain peace.

Beware of political jobbers pushing you to 2023 – South East group Ignatius Chukwu

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political pressure group mainly from the south east has advised the ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan, not to allow those described as political jobbers to push him into 2023 debacle. Their grouse seems to be that Jonathan’s entry into the 2023 presidential race would cause problems in the south.

The leader of the Integrity Group which is known to be a group in the All Progressives Congress (APC) pressing for a president from the East warned against subtle moves to destroy any chances of getting a president from the south-east this time around.

In an open letter to Jonathan signed Chinedu Jideofo-Ogbuagu (PhD), leader of Integrity Group, the ex-president was advised to read between the lines because people are reading his moves, too.

Ogbuagu holds a doctorate in Maritime Policy and was a consultant to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) where

he advised 77 3rd world countries and developed the Cardifff Free Port, and developed the NMA that is now NIMASA. The expert who is also the president, Marine Club of Nigeria, told Jonathan thus: “I see that “Ebele” and “Azikiwe” are surreptitiously making their way back to the mainstream of your name.

My instinctive reaction to this observed development is: ‘Here he goes again!

And I would not now be surprised if you too started dressing up in “ishiagu” and “red cap” attire for another stunt.

“You indeed remind me of your “father” you acquired only after the Nigerian masses had defied their 2009-2011 machinations and voted you in as president, the man who stepped aside in 1993 hoping to step back in some day.

“Unknown to many, even as you were handing over to General Muhammadu Buhari on 29th May 2015, you were already scheming to step back in.

Several times from 2015, you flew the kite of returning to “complete” a second term, but some of us shot it down while others simply ignored your pranks.

“In 2019, you actually wanted to be-

Chinedu Ogbuagu

come presidential candidate of PDP, but, contrary to your expectation, no one was ready to beg you, and you did not want to push for it regardless.

“Perhaps angered by how PDP had disregarded you ahead of 2019, you started looking at APC in respect of 2023. Your first real chance of taking a leap into APC came after Governor Seriake Dickson-led PDP in your state had largely ignored you and David Lyon surprisingly became governor-elect on APC platform.

“It was clear to any close observer when you received Lyon in your Otuoke country home that you were gearing up to reconcile with Timipre Sylva and use David Lyon and APC to get back at Dickson and the PDP. But, David Lyon, too, became an uncompleted project and a reminder of your uncompleted projects in Bayelsa (when you were governor) and in Nigeria (when you were acting president and president). Since Lyon did not become sworn in as governor, you became increasingly desperate, but you exhibited characteristic coyness about your “stepping back in” scheming.”

Ogbuagu said he did not have much time to do a lengthy letter advised Jonathan ‘as a brother’ not to give in to the poisoned chalice rumoured to be dangled before him by desperate, selfish, conceited and unpatriotic “friends”.

He went on: “Friends” is in inverted commas because they are not your friends at all; in the same manner that Sambo Dasuki, Aliyu Gusau, Hassan Tukur, etc were not your friends, but two things pressed you to ignore the obvious fact when you were presi-

dent. Those today deceiving you are schemers, greedy fellows, users and dumpers; they are treacherous individuals who don’t mean well for Nigeria and would do anything to grab yet misuse and abuse political power for their selfish purposes.

“I don’t want to talk about how you collaborated with Alams’ political enemies while pretending otherwise; I don’t want to talk about how you used billions of naira belonging to Bayelsa State to scheme for running mate to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua while you feigned non-interest in becoming Vice President; I don’t want to talk about the role of my SouthEast4Jonathan group in your becoming Acting President and President; I don’t want to talk about the hundreds of thousands of mainly young Nigerians that you and Stella Odua used in Neighbour2Neighbour in 2010/2011 and dumped immediately you won the 2011 election; I don’t want to talk about the deal you entered into not to contest for presidency in 2015 but which you characteristically reneged on; etc.

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15

Focus

Kundiri changing the face of Federal University Wukari Nathaniel Gbaoron, Jalingo

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he Federal University Wukari in Taraba State is one of the fastest growing new universities established by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011.

In this piece, Nathaniel Gbaoron who visited the university recently takes a look at the gains of the institution under the leadership of Professor Abubakar Kundiri.

When the name of Professor Abubakar M. Kundiri was flashed as the new Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Wukari in March, 2016, little did the university and the host communities know that a serial achiever had been unleashed on them. The little they heard about him gave them a ray of hope that he was going to build on what his successor was able to achieve.

They learnt that he started his academic career at the University of Maiduguri as a graduate assistant where he rose through the ranks to become a professor at a relatively young age.

He held several administrative positions and became the longest serving Dean of Students’ Affairs in the University. He moved to the Federal University Gombe when it was established and became the pioneer Dean of Student Affairs in the new University. As he was completing his tenure, he was selected as the next Vice Chancellor for the university by the Governing Council after passing the rigorous interview. He was waiting for his letter when President Muhammadu Buhari announced him as the new Vice Chancellor for the Federal University Wukari against all expectations.

As soon as he took over the mantle of leadership, he gave marching orders to Graduate Assistants to go for further studies and other ranks that were yet to bag their doctorate degree.

The type of staff development put in place in Federal University Wukari is an unprecedented one.

The only thing you need to enjoy training is your admission letter. As a result of the staff development approach, the university can boast of many Masters Degree holders as well as holders of Doctoral degree.

This is also extended to nonteaching staff in the university. It is as a result of this that many of the non-teaching staff that came back with good results and are interested in academics have been converted to academic staff.

According to Ajayi Badmus, a staff of the institution, “At the time Professor Kundiri came, we had barely up to eight professors as no one had been promoted appro-

Abubakar Kundiri

priately. At the moment, there are many professors and other ranks as a result of the harvests of promotions engendered by Professor A.M. Kundiri when he came.”

“You don’t enjoy promotion if you are not qualified. He believes that there is no reason to deny any hardworking qualified staff his or her promotion on some flimsy grounds. Many staff of the university can attest to these facts. Very few members of staff, if any, can say they have not enjoyed any of Professor A.M. Kundiri’s goodies,” Badmus further said.

Professor Kundiri met three faculties when he came. He is leaving about seven behind. He inherited Faculties of Agriculture and Life Science; Humanities, Management and Social Sciences, and Pure and Applied Sciences. He is now bequeathing Faculties of Education, Engineering, Law and Medicine.

Aeriel view of the university

This is a wonderful feat within four years! The staff primary and secondary schools have been transformed with some state-of-the-art facilities.

The Federal University Wukari in Taraba State located about 200 kilometres from Jalingo, the state capital, was established in 2011 by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Sitting on a land mass area of 199.25 hectares, the University at take-off acquired the facilities of the Wukari Campus of the Taraba State Polytechnic.

Isa Abubakar, a 300-level student in the Department of Chemistry, told our correspondent that the smooth running of academic programmes in the University has attracted students’ population into the university.

“In terms of infrastructure, the Vice Chancellor has turned the University into a construction site

as massive infrastructural projects are currently ongoing in the school.

We are lucky to have someone like him as the Vice Chancellor. If we had him from the beginning to lay the foundation, the University would have been far from where it is currently,” She said.

Kundiri on assumption of office came out with a Medium-Term Strategic Plan to Guide the Growth of the University, and this led to the full accreditation of all 27 undergraduate programmes of the University He has since completed all abandoned projects including Faculty buildings, lecture theatres, classrooms, halls, cafeterias, medical centre, students’ hostels, perimeter fencing, entrepreneurial centre, among others.

Other projects include, construction of senior academic staff housing to attract quality academic

staff; construction of principal officers’ housing units, construction of world-class Central Laboratory; development of security infrastructure to ensure safety of people and property in the university and its immediate environment.

The university has also provided industrial boreholes and reticulation, solar street lighting, waste management system and construction of over 10 kilometres of roads within the campus.

Recently, the projects were commissioned by the leadership of the National universities Commission (NUC).

Some of the commissioned projects include buildings for all faculties; academic staff offices; academic staff quarters; students hostels; university library, information and communication centre; laboratories; convocation square; sports facilities; municipal facilities such as water, roads, electrical and other installations, among many others.

A resident, Ismail Agyu while speaking to BDSUNDAY in Wukari said from 2016 till date, the University under Prof. Kundiri witnessed tremendous progress.

Agyu expressed satisfaction that Kundiri has made a good turnaround in the history of the University that makes it a first class institution.

He maintained that his achievements have not only taken the University to the international map but also earned the it national and international acclaim.

“In the past, nobody knew or heared about Federal University Wukari, but with the coming of Kundiri, the Federal University Wukari today is a household name.

Our women and children buy and sell within the university environment and this has reduced criminality,” the resident further said.

Another resident of Wukari, Paul Bawuno said that Kundiri from 2016 till date has completed 30 projects worth billions of naira.

“Within the period of his first tenure that ends in February 2021, Prof Kundiri has so transformed this University that today we are proud of him.

“When he took over the running of the institution in 2016, the University was lagging behind in infrastructure as well as accreditation of courses. Today, my son who is a student of the university told me that over 27 courses have been accredited in the institution,” Bawuno said.

According him, Kundiri deserves to be given an award of best performing Vice Chancellor in Nigeria.

The Aku Uka of Wukari and the Wukari Local Government chairman had at different fora eulogised Professor Kundiri for his pragmatic achievements.

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My MYpoints...Exactly!

POINTS...EXACTLY!

ELECTED, HEAR THE ELECTORATE OOelected, hear the electorate

KEMI AJUMOBI

H

mmmmm! I am trying to find the right words to say… somewhere along this article, it will

show up.

I am trying to put it all together, I am trying to see how it adds up, but it is hard.

Let me explain what I mean.

When you are in dire need to be in a position, in the euphoria of extremely wanting to be voted in, you make promises of heaven and earth, that is when you will find politicians buying corn by the road side and taking pictures so that the electorate can feel “Oh, she is so humane” “Oh! he is so humble, he is down to earth, he is one of us” and immediately they get into office, they flip the script and we begin to truly see the real you.

It has really gotten bad that the hope

the electorate had for a positive change has over the years been betrayed, so much that no matter what is said, the promises and all…it still doesn’t build trust or guarantee optimism, and when your actions do not match your words, you become a joke!

Sadly, every one, young and old, male and female, are all seeing this, and the youths of today are gradually losing their faith in the possibility of ‘change’.

When people go out in the sun and rain to vote for you, when you promise them heaven and earth and they sincerely took your words for it, and you get there and do otherwise, believe me, you are setting the wrong precedence. The way life is, somehow, some way, sometime, real soon, it is guaranteed that we will all pay for our actions, good or bad.

When I put on the TV and find people we all saw begging for our votes, now change their ways right in the face of the people who believed they will impact the citizenry, I begin to see how cunningly dramatic some people can be.

For instance, I am seeing palliatives meant for the citizenry being hoarded. When the committee made the decision to help people at least survive the hardship the presence of COVID-19 had caused, they decided to share food, they believed the representatives who they presented the items to will share to the people who truly need it but NO, in many instances, as currently being seen on TV and

social media, reverse was the case.

How do you hoard food? Perishable food? Food meant to be eaten over a period of time, food meant for the people, food you have more than enough of in your house already??…

Garri?? Indomine?? Spaghetti??

Rice?? I actually saw decomposed garri (Garri is cassava granules).

How did the giant of Africa get to this point? Does a giant hoard garri?

Has the greed gotten really bad that you have soooo much and you are not even sensitive enough to know that you are in the midst of people suffering?...and you are okay with that?

How do you breathe knowing your neighbour is suffering? Many were actually not financially buoyant but once they got sworn into office, it becomes like a personal vendetta “I must acquire all I have not been able to get over the years”. There are also those who have, but want to acquire more, so when they get into office, it becomes an avenue to embezzle.

Where is your conscience? Where is your empathy? Where is your promise?

Then the one that gets me peeved, after displaying disregard for the populace is when you begin to hear ‘My heart goes out to you...” or “I am sorry I said that, my emotions got the best of me” my question is, “Where was that emotion before you got into office?” “Does power puff you up so much that when you get into office, you forget the verse in the national anthem ‘...to serve with heart and might’ and substitute it for “…to grab

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with greed and insensitivity’” I often try to put their display of inconsiderateness pari passu what they displayed before they got into office and I am always shocked!

However, please note that as Nigeria is ranked the second largest movie industry in the world in terms of film output, it was because, with a sense of great pride, those who genuinely put us there are truly heralding our enormous potentials with their craft, unlike some jokers sworn into power whose scripts are poorly edited. So, believe me when I say ‘acting’ comes natural to some elected representatives.

Talking about acting, the latest is to come on national TV to cry that the people you were elected to protect, care for, are ‘suffering’ and I ask myself, “Did the tears have to be televised?” how about doing what is expected of you and leaving the script of acting to the professionals who are already projecting the country in a positive light with their authentic gifts?

Seriously, do we understand that nothing in this world is permanent?

Two of PAU’s research institutes now led by women

DESMOND OKON

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an African University (PAU), a continental institution with a postgraduate network across five regions, working under the auspices of the

Kemi Ajumobi Associate Editor, BusinessDay kemi@businessdayonline.com TEAM: Desmond Okon Osaromena Ogbeide Designed by Aderemi Ayeni

African Union (AU), has appointed two women, both of Kenyan and Nigerian origins, into key positions of the university.

The women now lead two of the university’s four operational research institutes in Nigeria and Cameroon.

Elizabeth Sarange Bosire Abenga was appointed as the director of the Cameroon-based Pan African University Institute for Governance, Humanities, and Social Sciences (PAUGHSS).

While the university also appointed Esther Titilayo Akinlabi as director of the Nigeria-based Pan African University Institute for Life and Earth Sciences (PAULESI) earlier in

July, reports University World News.

Abenga, the latest appointee of the two women, was installed in office on 7 October at a ceremony presided over by Sarah Anyang Agbor, AU commissioner for Human Resources, Science, and Technology.

She succeeded founding director Ebode Ntuda, who has been at the institution for the last nine years.

The AU commissioner said the designation of Abenga as the new director of the Institute for Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences was not by chance, as she was selected following a rigorous process carried out by an international high-level panel.

“She brilliantly turned out to be the best candidate and we are glad to welcome her on board,” the commissioner said, noting that the university commits to hiring the best human resource at the head of its various institutes.

In her remarks, Abenga thanked

the university for the confidence in her and for appointing her into the position. She pledged to uphold the principles of PAU, while also committing to do her part towards the realization of the institution’s objectives.

“Being a continental programme, I commit to ensuring that the spirit of Pan-Africanism through intercultural and multicultural appreciation and integration is a key tenet of the Institute for Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences in line with the vision of the African Union,” she said in her inaugural speech.

T h e s t u d e nt s s h ou l d b e t h e epicentre of the institute, and ours is to offer quality services through various responsibilities, roles, and competencies, she added.

Abenga, the newly-appointed director, is a Kenyan citizen, and previously the acting deputy vicechancellor for academic affairs

Sunday 01 November 2020 Sunday 01 November 2020

Do we realize that you will always be remembered for either something you did bad or something you did good? When you hear Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, we remember sacrifice and empathy. When we remember Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, we remember human rights activism.

When we remember Margaret Ekpo, we remember a social mobilizer. When we remember Obafemi Awolowo, we remember a nationalist and statesman. When we remember Herbert Macaulay, we remember him as the founder of Nigerian nationalism. When we remember Sir Ahmadu Bello, we remember someone who was active in the fight for our independence.

When we remember those whose lives were unduly cut short at the Lekki toll gate on the 20th of October 2020, we remember patriotism, resilience and blood! I can go on and on. The question is, while you are here (when you should make your essence count) and when you are gone (out of office or when you are no more), what will you be remembered for? Think!

at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, where she had served in various capacities for 17 years.

The other appointee, Akinlabi, is a Nigerian citizen and has previously worked in the faculty of mechanical engineering at the South Africa’s University of Johannesburg.

According to reports, the two other PAU institutes, the Pan African University Institute for Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation (PAUSTI) in Kenya, and the Pan African University Institute for Water and Energy Science (PAUWES) in Algeria, are headed by men.

While Professor Gabriel Magoma is the director of PAUSTI, hosted

by Jomo Kenyatta University of Agr iculture and Technology, Professor Abdellatif Zerga heads PAUWES hosted by the University of Tlemcen.

These appointments highlight gender representation among senior managers within the institution, as it makes the first female heads appointments at the var ious institutes in the university’s nearly 10 years of establishment and operationalisation.

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Something about Kudcollections that makes you go hmmmmmmmm!

Need I say more?

A millennial’s cry for change in her country LONGJOHN DEBORAH

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ain is a feeling, a feeling that could be long-term or short-term. It's a feeling that's meant to pass no matter how long it takes.

It's a feeling that's caused mostly by an external influence and it could be either deliberate or accidental.

Pain is supposed to leave when handled properly; when the injury has been treated. There are degrees of pain; some are mild while others are excruciating. The difference in the levels of pain shouldn't make anyone belittle the pain of another person.

Some people are tougher than others, and as such could be really stoic. Some people on the other hand have little tolerance for pain, but that doesn't mean they're weak people, that's just how they've been fashioned. Pain is a natural part of life, but that doesn't mean that it should be inflicted on anyone. Also, no one should be made to live with it.

I know pain is meant to be a feeling, a feeling that's supposed to pass with time. But right now, pain happens to be the lifestyle I've come to know; one that I'm afraid I might have come to accept.

The pain I feel right now is one that has been there for a very long time. I know you'll want to know if I have done anything about it; well truth is I have.

Severally, I've tried to do something about this pain, but it just wouldn't budge. It's unfortunate that the more I try to deal with it, the more reasons there are to sink even deeper. The pain is so excruciating that it sometimes makes me want to scream. I just want to hit something, shout, cry and just let it all out because I'm beginning to lose my mind. It's easy to attend to the pain from an injury when you've been severed from the cause of that injury.

But how do you handle the pain from a place that you're still in? How do you heal an injury that you're still trapped in? How do you clean the wounds when the knives keep cutting again and again? I've tried to make use of painkillers, but I think I've taken one too many. So much so that my body has gotten used to it and it's no longer as potent as it ought to.

If only the source of this pain knew how excruciating it is. If only the source cared enough to want to know how I'm feeling. If only the source was sensitive enough to notice. But do I continue to fold my arms and allow this pain

to continue? Do I sit and do nothing while thousands like me go through this same pain? I'm tough, probably because of experiences I've been through but there are a lot of people who aren't; how do I help them as we find a solution to this pain? How do I influence the source, so fresh wounds won't be inflicted? To heal, I'll need time to work on the injuries so this pain will cease. But where do I start from?

Please, to whom it may concern, I'm a desperate millennial crying for help.

I want this pain to end. I don't want any more fresh wounds. I need the source of this pain to realise what their insensitivity to me is causing.

Sometimes, I've had to act like I don't feel anything, but that's only a disguise to regain my sanity.

I'm losing it. I'm gradually slipping into my dark abyss. I'm losing every iota of humanity I have in me because of the increasing level of this pain. I don't understand why anyone would be so inhumane as to inflict such pain and yet stand by and act like nothing is happening.

I don't want to do something wrong.

I've been really patient hoping someday sanity will return. When I tried to fight back, the response I got was almost numbing, but that didn't deter me. The state I am right now, makes me feel like I'm handicapped, if not totally then very close to being so. I need help.

Please, help me, help us, help the next generation. You can't kill your seeds and expect any harvest. You can't be admiring your neighbour's well organised household, while you snuff the little life out of your own home. The thing with going through pain is this; as much as you're uncomfortable, you'll have the tendency to make everyone around you uncomfortable. You say you care but your attitude is saying something contrary. How do I trust or even believe you when all you've done is act like I don't exist? In as much as the source is acting indifferent, I know that you can hear.

We need pills for the pain and the pill is love. Genuine love for lives, genuine love for our well-being, genuine love for our peace and tranquility, genuine love and care for the future and for us as a people. Right now, I know the source of this pain would feel like it's not exactly their problem but looking at the big picture it is; because, you cannot have a crying baby at home and expect to have a sound sleep.

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Sunday 01 November 2020

Those who looted other people’s businesses may have committed murder unwittingly - Udofia Several states and governors have been under attack from Nigerians over the discovery of ‘palliative warehouses’ in their states. In this interview with SEYI JOHN SALAU, Emmanuel Udofia, Primate of the African Church, speaks on the implication of the hoarded palliatives on Nigerians, and why the military should not be deployed for protests as witnessed across the country last week. Excerpts:

I

Should we regard peaceful protest as a crime in today’s Nigeria? want to say that I do not condemn any peaceful protest because in any civilised society, that is always welcome instead of them to sit down and die in silence. When they demonstrate, they express areas of their lives they want the government or particular individuals to look into. But then, I condemn in strong terms using arms against armless protesters because it was as a result of the firing that made the whole situation to be escalated especially in Lagos. So, the youth now almost took the laws of the land into their hands; they started doing whatever they like after seeing the dead bodies of their friends, colleagues lying on the ground. So, although that has happened, I still call for calm.

Should internal security be under the purview of the Nigerian Army in a democracy?

Well, I don’t subscribe to that but I want to believe maybe when the situation seems to be out of hands; when the situation is beyond the control of the police, maybe that is when the Army now comes in. But, I subscribe to internal policing being handled by the police because they are there to maintain peace and order. I am not saying in every situation that the Army should be brought in to help expect it is beyond the capacity of the police; that is when the Army should be brought in to assist.

In the wake of the crises, ‘palliative warehouses’ were discovered across the country. Nigerians are

Inspiration With Rev. Yomi Kasali

info@yomikasali.com

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t was the Black Tuesday that triggered most of the carnage we witnessed in Lagos and other parts of the Nation last week. We must pause and take a close look at the events to learn Lessons for the future. I have been lost in thoughts way before the mayhem and also about how things degenerated into the chaos we witnessed, the looting, robbing, raping and killings of innocent people, I actually saw it coming and told a few of my closest associates because of the way things were going. I was convinced that the Protests would be hijacked...and sadly I was correct.

Let me quickly Inspire you on how

Emmanuel Udofia

now searching for palliatives; what is your take?

I want to say this: I don’t know why the state governors decided to keep the palliatives when the masses were in dire need of food…

In sincerity to the governors, they said it was kept in anticipation of a second wave of COVID-19. Well they have to say something to defend themselves. But, what I am trying to say is

this; when the masses are suffering: they know that their citizens are suffering - such materials ought not to have been kept lying waste. And again some of those materials kept away from the people, only God knows why because those materials should have been given out to Nigerians in their different domain suffering cause of COVID-19. Again, in some of those warehouses you will see the materials

in large numbers, if those materials were shared with their citizens it would have reduced a whole lot of suffering, even death from starvation during the lockdown; because when people are hungry there is a large tendency for the person to begin to think and in the cause develop some ailments that could result to death or one form of sickness or the other. So, from my own personal assessment those states should not have kept the items in the first place when their citizens were suffering.

One take away from the nationwide looting is that there is anger in the land and people are hungry: so, how do we balance the situation?

I want to differ a little from there; a disciplined person, no matter how angry or hungry that person is; it will become too difficult for the person to steal. For somebody to have an idea of looting another person’s property; apart from government property which also belongs to us - for people to go and loot private and company’s property and businesses, rendering the owners helpless; that is not good at all.

So, that should be condemned by everybody. If they were doing protest, it should not have escalated into looting private businesses to the point of rendering those businessmen and women helpless. One person was seen crying in Abuja after hoodlums burnt the cars in his business and everybody saw it.

Such a person, where do you want him to start; so you can see that they have rendered so many people helpless. I pray that what they have done to such

people will not be detrimental to them.

So, it is condemnable.

The president has directed all cabinet ministers to return to their states to help calm the people. Do you think this is coming at the right time?

That was a good decision because when somebody is from a particular area, and the person stays in Abuja or outside the country; he or she may not know exactly how his people feel under a particular situation. So, asking the ministers to go back to wherever they come from is a good move, because if they are in their different domain they will be able to speak to their subjects and will also know how to advise the youth and others like that and by the grace of God peace will return to the country: that was a good move.

Finally, how can the church and religious organisations help in calming these angry youth across the country?

Apart from praying for Nigeria and for our youths, the church at different fora is organising youth programmes talking to them, advising and dialoguing with them; telling them the need not only to depend on government but to also depend on what God can use them to do in their own country and generation. Everybody will not work with the government. This is what the church has been doing to help our youth; we have been organising series of programmes at different fora advising our youth that they should rise up to the challenges of the time and come up with visions that will make our country to be greater than what it is today.

Lessons from #Endsars protest Good Deeds can become evil without application of wisdom and wit. Paul told the Roman Church and Believers about the same in Rom 14 v 16, ‘Let Not Then Your Good Be Evil Spoken Of ’, even though social media journalists haven’t been doing that but generally some reasonable people have started to think that way. My thoughts on the entire weeks event are thus enumerated...

I am in full and total support of the Protests against Police Brutality embodied in the End SARS Movement across some section in the nation. It’s Evil and barbaric for Policemen (especially the now disbanded SARS) to brutalize and rob people that they are expected to protect. I was a victim and almost lost my son to SARS evil operations.

I condemn in strongest possible terms, the Army Shootings in Lekki, it cannot be justified under any circumstance especially considering the reasons for their protests. They should have used Tear Gas, Water Canisters or pepper spray and if things Had degenerated, perhaps rubber bullets but certainly not Live Ammunitions, even if they shot into the air, I condemn those acts as provocative and unnecessary.

I am also against the rebellious acts of some of the protesters that defied the State Government’s call for Curfew earlier in the day. I believe we must all be law abiding citizens and encourage those

close to us to do the same. After all we all stayed at home during the early days of the pandemic when the Government told us to do so.

I also Condemn the Killings of policemen across the state of Lagos by hoodlums. The police are an institution of government that must not be attacked under any circumstance. The burning of police stations and killing of policemen are attacks carried out by lawless people in the society that may have targeted such people in the past.

I totally condemn the looting, robberies, rapes and carnage carried out by thugs, hoodlums, thieves and other miscreants in the society, including the several prison breaks across the nations and the attempts in Lagos. They made what started as a social movement for police reforms and end of police brutality to end with bitterness and pain. This is pure evil.

I condemn in strongest term possible the abuse of our freedoms through spreading of falsehood through Social Media by people who want to cause wars and deaths between brothers who

may be fighting or disagreeing on their mutual interests. So many people do not carry out the Berean Test before sharing information on social media. Most of the news out there are false and fake news, they can cause irreparable loss of lives and livelihood if we don’t desist in encouraging such. Verify information before sharing.

I condemn the ethnic colouration to the outcomes of the protests, there are many good Igbos in Lagos, great Hausas in Lagos and fantastic Yorubas in Lagos, just as there are very many bad Igbos, terrible Hausas and evil Yorubas as well.

We must never judge an entire tribe because of our isolated experiences with a few people from the tribe. Let’s fight the bigotry and embrace ourselves in love.

I am appalled and angered by the boldness of some miscreants to attack our heritage by sacking the Oba of Lagos from his Palace and looting the hallowed habitat. This is totally heinous and sacrilegious. I am a Nigerian with a cultural heritage and the Bible respects our cultures if they don’t violate God’s Word. It is very bad and should be condemned by all and sundry.

I believe in democracy and presidential form of government as practiced in America. Therefore, the protection of lives and property is solely the responsibility of the Governor of Lagos State and secondarily that of the President, there-

fore both of them should have worked together to protect lives and property of Lagosians and Nigerians in general. I believe they didn’t show enough ‘leadership’ during the entire saga, however, I will always support Democracy any day over Military Rule, maybe we should sit down and discuss what form of democracy.

I am a Christian and would love all Believers to remember their duty and higher calling during these trying times in the life of our nation and desist from playing to the gallery but take a Christian Position on every issue, be it political, tribal, justice, corruption, social, economical or otherwise. Let’s not forget who we are in the heat of the moment and make regrettable statements like unbelievers.

The Lord will help us all and keep our Nation safe. We should speak louder during the elections by voting the people we desire in and voting those we don’t out of power.

Drop me a note of acknowledgment and encouragement and also follow me on my Social media handles below: Instagram: @yomi_kasali; Twitter: @yomi_kasali; Facebook: www.facebook. com/revyomikasali; Youtube: www. youtube.com/revyomikasali Be Inspired!

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

Sunday 01 November 2020

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19

Arts

Zikora: A journey to motherhood

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Obinna Emelike

nce again, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian multiple award-winning writer, is out with another bestseller book. Yet again, the bestseller author is trailing the epic journey and emotional storms weathered by women with her new book.

Aptly entitled Zikora, which literally means ‘gather the crowd’ in Igbo language, the short story takes readers and lovers of modern literature into a woman’s tumultuous journey to motherhood, amid relatable life scenes.

Released on October 27, 2020 with Amazon Publishing’s imprint called Amazon Original Stories, Zikora is the debut of Adichie’s first work of fiction since the 2013 release of Americanah. The short story explores the challenges Black mothers face in the United States of America, which includes a disproportionately high mortality rate, as well as, the quandary of being a working mother.

The storyline queries what happens when the life one imagined for oneself is quickly, and urgently, eclipsed by the life she has and the

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

life that is on its way.

It takes readers to the world of Zikora, a Nigerian lawyer living in Washington D.C, who is grappling not only with pregnancy, but also with the loss of her relationship; while her demanding mother shows up to “help” prepare her for motherhood.

However, when the 37-year old lawyer tells her equally high-powered lover that she is pregnant, he

abandons her. But Zikora’s demanding and self-possessed mother, visits for the birth and makes Zikora feel like a lonely little girl all over again.

Stunned by the speed with which her ideal life fell apart, she turns to reflecting on her mother’s painful past and struggle for dignity. Preparing for motherhood, Zikora begins to see more clearly what her own mother wants for her, for her new baby, and for herself.

Budding artists x-ray life issues with 9ja Life exhibition at Alexis Galleries Obinna Emelike

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ince Alexis Galleries opened its doors to the public, there has always been a reason to visit the gallery located at Akin Olugbade Street in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Notable for hosting the most exhibitions among galleries in Nigeria, the gallery has over time, become an attraction for artists, collectors and fun seekers looking for unique places to exhibit works, buy art or unwind.

For the artists, it has provided succor and platform to further hone their skills, create awareness of their creative ingenuity to a global audience and also for empowerment.

Presently, the gallery is creating awareness for Adedotun Fashina and Seye Morakinyo, two aspiring artists, through an exhibition titled ‘9ja Life’.

9ja Life, an exhibition of painting and mixed media, opened to the public (though with adequate crowd control) on Saturday, October 31, 2020, and will last until November 7, 2020 at Alexis Galleries at #282, Akin Olugbade Street, off Idowu Martins, Victoria Island, Lagos. However, there will also be a virtual tour em-

bedded on the gallery’s social media handles for virtual view, making the exhibition intriguing for both virtual and live views.

As well, the artists are extending the intrigues with their enthralling works. The duo, who have benefited from the support of the gallery in the past, are continuing with the gesture through the showcase of their recent works in the exhibition, which is expected to draw the public, especially art lovers and collectors to the gallery to see and appreciate the creative ingenuity of the duo.

As the title suggests, the two artists are using their works to delve into issues of life, creating awareness, educating, as well as, helping the viewers to see life in different perspectives, all captured in their works.

The two are creatively expressing their thoughts and views on issues that the society reacts partly positive and negative to in the exhibition.

Taking a look at Seye Morakinyo and his works, Morakinyo is a prolific contemporary artist who works with colors and fabric. As well, he is an impressionist painter who draws his inspiration from his environment, and the everyday activities of an average citizen.

He delights in colors, fabric amid other media for his works.

One reason to see his works at the exhibition is because some of the works are done with linear impression, a technique he discovered in 2010.

Explaining the technique, Morakinyo said that it takes two to three weeks to finish a work using that technique; hence the work comes with premium quality.

“The technique is my signature and makes my works to standout. I love it though I am going in other techniques”, Morakinyo explained.

On the other hand, Adedotun Fashina is a self-taught artist who draws inspiration from his environment, people, and everyday life in urban cities. He promises to delight viewers at the exhibition with works, which shed light on chaotic and unavoidable processes of urbanization in the globalized and over populated world.

Speaking on the exhibition, Patty Chidiac-Mastrogiannis, curator, Alexis Galleries, noted that 9ja Life is not an exhibition of two different styles, it is correcting the ills and ideas reacts partly positive and negatively to through art.

In the tradition of the gallery, across every other exhibition, Alexis Galleries will be donating part of the exhibition proceeds to charity. This time, the proceeds will be going to Little Sisters of the Poor, a charity organisation that offers the neediest elderly of every race and religion, a home where they will be welcomed.

The exhibition is sponsored by; Pepsi, Tiger, Indomie, Lost in Lagos Magazine, Mikano, The Guardian, Wazobia FM, Cool FM, UPS, Cool World, Cobranet, Delta Airlines, Aina Blankson, The Homestores, and Art Café.

The uniqueness of the new work is that while reading it, you easily get into the life and feelings of the main character. Moreover, the new book is just 41-page long, but you will finish it with a sense of having read something far longer and much bigger because of the creative ingenuity, unique power of description, use of appropriate diction, as well as, relatable life stories that abound in it.

“It nearly made me cry when relating to it as a woman and seeing some vague, underlying similarities in my own life, and how different life can be in other countries, especially as a woman”, a reader confessed.

The short story is also unique because Adichie desired to publish it ahead of the US election on November 3, 2020, hence it was published

by Amazon instead of Penguin Random House, which published Americanah, Half of a Yellow Sun, and many other writings that have made her one of the most commanding and celebrated voices in literature today.

According to Kjersti Egerdahl, senior editor, Amazon Original Stories, Adichie was eager to make sure the short story joined the cultural conversation ahead of the US election, a few days from today. “So, our

ability to stay nimble and publish with high speed and high quality played a role”, Egerdahl explained.

Adichie, whose first novel, Purple Hibiscus was published when she was only 26, has won a string of awards for her bestselling novels about the complexities of African and African-American culture, and continues to write widely on feminism and sexism, which she has previously said makes her even angrier than racism. In Zikora, she has produced a terrific, brave story, beautifully written in taut, clear prose, that lays bare the many injustices women, especially black women still face, often at the hands of a black patriarchy.

She is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Purple Hibiscus; Half of a Yellow Sun, which won the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction; Americanah, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was a New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year; The Thing Around Your Neck; We Should All Be Feminists and Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions.

A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, she divides her time between the United States and Nigeria.

Generations: The Future Masters exhibition returns with Series 4 at Mydrim Gallery

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enerations: The Future Masters, one of the annual juried exhibitions organised by Mydrim Gallery, is returning with the Series 4.

Tagged ‘Generations: The Future Masters Series 4 ’, the exhibition holds from November 8-21, 2020 at Mydrim Gallery Ikoyi, Lagos.

The Series 4 edition features beautiful works by eight talented young artists, who express themselves in various “traditional” media such as oil, acrylic, pastel, charcoal, metal and wood, hence making the exhibition very interesting to view.

The participating artists include; Tosin Toromade, Folashade Fagorusi and Ayooluwa Samuel Akinrinola, who all schooled at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Others are; Akintomide Aluko and Opeyemi Matteu Olukotun, who were trained at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Ayobami Olakekan Adebiyi, who studied art at the Ibadan Polytechnic and Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, and Ademuyiwa Ladega, a self-trained painter, who resides in Lagos.

The eight artists selected for the exhibition are a few more audacious among the uncountable young and upcoming artists in Nigeria. Their works are worth seeing at the exhibition because they have furthered their training by being apprenticed to some notable art masters in the country, and the honed skills is evident in the similar tendencies in their drawing and painting techniques attributable to the professional influence of the out-of-school apprenticeship.

Speaking on the exhibition, Sinmidele Adesanya, director, Mydrim Gallery, noted that for four years on,

the gallery has seen the continuation of the exhibition series as a major responsibility, as it represents its commitment to excellence.

“Four years on, we remain committed to this exhibition series as it provides a very important global platform for projecting the artists we represent. We congratulate the participating artists for making this exciting exhibition possible in these challenging times and we encourage them to continue to imbibe the character traits of master artists; hard work, passion and perseverance”, Adesanya said.

Speaking further, the gallery director expressed her joy that after each edition of the exhibition, the artists benefit from additional exhibition opportunities.

It would be recalled that in 2017, Abiodun Olaku, one of Nigeria’s master artists, in collaboration with Mydrim Gallery created the “Generations: The Future Masters” exhibition platform to address a notable decline in basic skills that should enhance the natural talent and abilities of young artists.

However, going by the worthy selections of artists for the Generations: The Future Masters’ Series 4 exhibition, the objectives of the founders of the platform are being fulfilled.

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LifestyleHomes&Suites Design Union takes stock after 20 years in business …Wins two international property awards

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esign Union Limited, a reputed name in the real estate industry, is 20 years!!

The company is known for her out-of-the box innovative designs and Luxury real estate developments and has earned a good reputation for quality of build. In a statement released by the Victoria Island-based company and signed by the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Architect Anthony Aihie, the CEO remarked, “The last 20 years have gone by so quickly. Considering our achievements amidst for local recessions and two major global economic crises, one must be grateful to God for our survival as a business.

“It is true we have huge talents as reflected in the designs that we produce from our stable, we also work very hard but it is the grace of God that has sustained us through periods of thin and thick this year in particular.”

“On an occasion like this, we appreciate the patronage of our clients who have reposed implicit trust and confidence in us. We acknowledge and commend the contributions of our past and present staff, consultants, contractors and other stake holders who helped to make our

Eden Heights

brand the exceptional one that it is,” he further said.

Design Union, in keeping to its Mission Statement of solving living conditions in Africa, has consistently churned out design solutions in the built environment, some of which have been internationally acknowledged through several awards. The company has not only been able to deliver and operate projects in its stable at acceptable international standards but also been able to abide with high ethical standards at all times.

The company was established as Design Union Consulting Ltd, a firm of architects and engineers; it has grown organically since then. Some of the clients served by the company include several blue- chip and multinational companies for whom projects worth over $500 million have been successfully delivered with the company working as consultants or contractors.

In the company’s diverse portfolio of top of the range architectural designs, is the ultra- luxury 17- storey Eden Heights tower in Victoria Island, Lagos Nigeria which the

firm launched as its 5-star brand called “Royal Residences” Hotel and Apartments. Other prominent developments in its exquisite stable currently include Ilupeju Gardens & Canalily Place, where it is currently developing apartments, maisonettes and penthouses for the Ilupeju and Lekki markets. Design Union Limited has announced that these locations will have 5 floors, each floor will have 1,2,3& 4 bedrooms well-designed spaces with green parks featuring 50 Neem (Dongoyaro) trees.

The company has also completed many other construction projects for 3rd party developers in Nigeria and across Africa over the past 20 years.

Design Union has not been into marketing in the past, the company had sold her developments through word-of-mouth. The real estate firm says this is because of the location of the developments and the company’s credibility built over the years.

Bookings can be made at the company’s office in Victoria Island Lagos or on the company’s website www.designunion.biz

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Sunday 01 November 2020

Paul Ojenagbon

pauloje2000@yahoo.com

Firm wins two international property awards

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he company could not have wished for a better gift to commemorate its 20th Anniversary as it wins two prestigious international awards for the design of its Royal Residences (Eden Heights)Tower and Aihie Villa, VGC, at the 2020/21 Africa-Asia Property Awards. The Award is given

by International Property Media Ltd, publishers of the prestigious International Property & Travel Magazine.

The firm’s entry, Aihie Villa won the Single Residence category in Africa while Royal Residences (Eden Heights) won the Multiple Residence Category in Africa.

In a mail dated September 8th 2020, the Chairman of International Property Awards conveyed the award message to Design Union and congratulated the firm for achieving the enviable feat. Design Union has won several awards in the past including one for Sahara Energy’s Capital Centrum Building located in Abuja that won the same Award in 2011 For Commercial Office Architecture in Africa.

The award-winning building, Royal Residences (Eden Heights) is

The first floor accommodates additional parking, staff support areas as well as additional service areas. A posh pool side restaurant, an overflow swimming pool, well equipped gym, and contemporary health and beauty spa themed with African traditional elements as well as Capital Club (a members-only International business club)are lifestyle amenities located on the second floor.

An interesting space worth experiencing, Ehima Cave Spa is laid out to mimic cave-like settings carved settings carved out of real rocks. The use of stamped concrete stone patterned for the floor and vanity top compliment the rustic look.

The building is oriented with its lounge and lying east-west which was greatly influenced by the shape of the site and position of the road.

The open plan living/dining area features floor-to-floor ceiling windows that offer spectacular views of the city. The use of a modern palette of calm tones for finely selected wall and floor finish gives a timeless contemporary look to the bedroom.

Aihie Villa

a multi-residential edifice capable of meeting the needs of the city’s top executives and expatriates while offering luxury in an urban apartment setting. The residences comprise 1,2,3, 2, 3&4- Bedroom apartments as well as 5 & 6 Bedroom Penthouses with facilities for leisure, wellness and health in support of the residents’ lifestyle.

The tower is an elegant 17-floor high rise that sits at the heart of Lagos’ highbrow cosmopolitan busi-

ness district of Victoria Island Lagos.

It is a new modernist addition to the Victoria Island skyline. The building is situated on a land area of approximately 3,000 square metres along Elsie Femi Pearse Street, off Adeola Odeku Road. The ground floor occupies approximately 80 percent of the site area and integrates the parking and service areas and main reception which welcomes residents and guests.

NEWS

Private sector urged to assist girl-child access health information services Ngozi Okpalakunne

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rivate sector in the country has been called upon to support the establishment of youth-friendly hubs in the primary health care centres so girls can access health services including sexual and reproductive health information.

Speaking at an online summit organised by the Girls Voices Initiative, an Abuja-based non- profit organisation to mark this year’s International Day for the Girl Child, the founder of the organisation, Carolyn Seaman also stressed the need for the private sector to assist in the creation of digital hubs that increases girls’

access to digital skills which in turn will improve their education and employability.

Seaman regretted that the rights of the girl child is still highly violated and abused in Nigeria adding, “We still have alarming indices of girls’ rights violations in this country with almost half the population of our adolescent girls being married off as children. Statistics reveal that 44 percent of Nigeria’s girls are married before their 18th birthday and 18 percent before they even turn 15.”

“Currently, Nigeria rates high among countries with the highest number of child marriages in the world. In the same vein, Nigeria is among countries with the highest

indices of out-of-school girls in the world. Over 10,000 rape acts happen daily today in Nigeria. The statistics are alarming and this means that there is a gross violation of girl’s rights in Nigeria today,” she said.

According to Seaman, the government of Nigeria often does well to sign various international laws and treaties but often fails at domesticating those laws and ensuring effective implementation of the laws to protect the rights and interests of the people.

She further observed that the Child Rights Act has been passed since 2003 and almost two decades later, the law is yet to be fully domesticated across the country with little or no implementation of the

Act in place.

However, she maintained that the government has not done enough for the girl child and has to do more to protect the rights and interests of girls and indeed all of Nigeria’s children who continue to be vulnerable to various forms of abuse and violations.

Describing an average Nigerian girl as a bright young individual full of dreams that may never be explored let alone experienced, she said: “She is quickly thrown into a reality where she has to fight to be heard, fight to access opportunities she can explore or experience including access to quality education, building good skills, fight to be valued in society and struggles to fit in.

“The average Nigerian girl lives most of her childhood struggling to discover herself, her voices, and her true purpose. She is told very early that she is only meant to be seen and not heard. She is told she is a follower and not a leader. She is often treated as an object whose ultimate future is to end up in a home serving as a good wife and mother and taking care of her household”.

Participants at the summit which was designed as a platform for adolescent girls to convene and discuss critical issues affecting them shared experiences and insights to help policy makers and other stakeholders design interventions to address the expressed needs of girls.

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Bliss with

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Nonye Ben-Nwankwo

Phone number (sms only) 08057511893

I tried my best to be loyal to my boyfriend – Nengi

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ormer reality show star, Nengi, has said she tried her best to be loyal to her boyfriend while she was in the Big Brother Naija Lockdown edition.

In a recent chat with Bliss, the second runner-up of the 2020 edition of the show said, even though she had issues with her boyfriend before she got into the house, she tried her best to be faithful to the relationship.

As she got out of the house, Nengi had reportedly said her boyfriend had refused to pick her calls.

Reacting to the question about if her boyfriend has eventually picked her calls, Nengi said: “I haven’t even bothered calling afterwards because I know I did my best.

I respected the relationship. I respected him all through the time I was in the house. That is why I tried to stay so loyal while I was in the house.

“There were issues in the relationship even before I went into the house. If he feels I did not respect him enough, then that is fine. The issue is quite irrelevant right now,” she said.

Even though she did not become the eventual winner of the reality show, Nengi said she knew she was not going to win the show.

“Way before the end of the show, I had already accepted my fate. I had sensed it. It

didn’t come as a surprise; it didn’t shock me that I wasn’t called the winner. I already knew. I have got strong instincts. I just knew.”

But that she did not become the eventual winner will not stop her breakthrough in

life, she said. According to her, it is not the end of the road for her.

“Big Brother gives you a platform. Once you are in that house, you have a platform.

It is not necessarily about winning the money. For me, I have the platform and it is now the time for me to make the most out of it. I don’t think not winning the grand prize is going to stop me.

“I went into the house and I advertised my brand. I had the opportunity of exploring other aspects of my life whilst I was in the house. I realised that I have a lot of potential and I could act. That is why I have decided that I have to train; I have to go to film school before I get into the movie industry,” she said.

Now that she has hit stardom, Nengi said she has all it takes to shoulder the responsibilities that come with fame.

She said: “Remember I have gone for beauty pageant.

I am used to the whole criticism thing, the love, the hate.

Big Brother is a way bigger platform anyway. I know what I signed up for and I am ready for anything.”

Imo agog as film makers, artistes gather for VILLAFFEST

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rganisers of Village Arts & Film Festival better known as VILLAFFEST have concluded plans to hold the maiden edition of the annual festival in the quiet city of Owerri, the Imo State capital.

According to Kelechi Eke, the founder and director, VILLAFFEST will hold a week before Christmas later this year, showcasing arts and screening films from eight countries including Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and the United States.

In a statement, Eke revealed that the festival which will have film makers, artists, dancers and culture workers in attendance will open with a tour of the city and closes with an awards ceremony billed to in the state.

Eke, who’s also the founder of the annual The African Film Festival, TAFF, Dallas, said VILLAFFEST seeks to celebrate Africa’s cultural vibrancy through indigenous Arts and Films for the preser-

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vation of the people’s culture.

According to him, the festival will rekindle passion for local content as the only way in showcasing and exporting our unique cultural traits that has long been misrepresented across big screens around the globe.

“African artistic artifacts

are the most original; our stories are only best told by us, for us, consumed by us and the rest of world. Arts and Film have unique expression that goes beyond linguistic expressions. It harbors a natural emotional vehicle of communication that often needs no speech. The actions are worth

a million words.”

From filmmaking, to visual arts and performances, according to him, VILLAFFEST seeks to encourage African Youths with interest in arts and film providing them a unique platform to harness and push the boundaries of their creativity; challenging them not to only dream, but find like-minded mentorship opportunities which is much needed for their career growth while maximising the avenues for networking opportunities,” Eke said.

On why he’s hosting the festival in his home town, Owerri, Eke said he wants to include the south east part of the country in the world map of film festival hosting cities.

Eke also revealed that so many popular actors including Pete Edochie, Patience O z okwo, R i ch ard Mofe Damijo; President of Directors Guild of Nigeria, Fred Amata, Okey Bakassi, Anne Njemanze, Angela Phillips have confirmed attending the festival.

Megan Thee Stallion shines at BET Hip Hop awards

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t was an incredible moment for artiste, Megan Thee Stallion as she shines at this year’s BET Hip Hop awards.

T h e a w a r d c e r e m o ny brought together some of the hottest names in music to celebrate Hip Hop’s biggest night.

Comedians, actors, hosts of the “85 South Show” podcast and stars of “Wild N’ Out” comedy supergroup 85 South (Karlous Miller, DC Young Fly and Chico Bean) co-hosted the annual show.

Megan Thee Stallion ruled the night with three wins for ‘Hustler of the Year,’ ’Hip Hop Artist of the Year’ and a shared ‘Best Collaboration’ with Beyoncé for the “Savage (remix).”

Beyoncé also took home an additional win for ‘Sweet 16: Best Featured Verse’ for the track. Roddy Ricch was a double winner for ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘Album of the Year’ for “Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial.” Pop Smoke was posthumously crowned ‘Best New Hip Hop Artist.’

Talking about the ceremony, Monde Twala, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Editorial VCN Africa/Peer Lead, BET International said, “The success of the BET Hip Hop awards 2020 is testament to the amazing, strong, black talent we enjoy worldwide. BET continues to lend its voice by using the power of the brand to promote excellence and culture.

The 2020 Hip Hop Awards was a great mix of entertainment and humour while also conveying a strong message for unity, equality and social justice. We will continue to showcase and celebrate black culture globally.

Congratulations to Stormzy for winning Best International Flow and congratulations to all winners and nominees for a job well done.”

Cordae opened the show with a powerful freestyle about the importance of voting followed by ‘Impact Track’ winner Lil Baby performing his hit single “We Paid” with 42 Dugg.

The City Girls blazed the stage with anthems ‘Kitty Talk’ and ‘Jobs’ in their first televised performance since JT’s release last year.

Quavo performed a special tribute to Pop Smoke that included “Shake the Room” and “Aim For the Moon.”

Snoop Dogg honoured the ‘I Am Hip Hop’ Award recipient Master P. 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne closed out the show in a major way with their hit single “Money Maker.”

Other performances included Burna Boy, Jhene Aiko and Chris Martin.

Presenters for the evening included Hip Hop heavyweights Snoop Dogg and T.I. along with R&B superstar Monica.

Multichoice launches Riona, Enakhe

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ntrainment content providers, Multichoice, has launched two new telenovelas – Riona and Enakhe, which air on Africa Magic Channel.

Riona tells the story of a wicked king and a village under siege. Rebellion looms as the king, Otokun, does all he can to stop a dark prophecy from being fulfilled. Destiny is against him as Tsema and Aghan, two children born under the dark moon, walk a complicated path on their way to fulfill the prophecy foretold.

Riona features Elvina Ibru, Najite Dede, Frank Konwea, Thelma Nwosu and more.

On the other hand, Enakhe set in modern day Benin City, tells the story of a rebellious daughter who, after the sudden death of her father, is forced by circumstances to grow in every way possible to become the leader of her extended family and the family’s criminal empire while contending with antagonists both physical and otherwise. The series was shot in Edo State

with a cast and crew made up of mostly of indigenes of the state. Enakhe features a stellar cast which includes notable names like Alex Usifo, Ivie Okujaye, Lancelot Oduwa Imaseun and Lota Chukwu among others.

The new telenovelas is a demonstration of Multichoice Nigeria and Africa Magic’s commitment to investing in the Nigerian creative industry and local talents while telling stories that will resonate with customers.

Speaking at the recently held MultiChoice Media Showcase, Channel Director, Africa Magic, Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, said, “Right on the back of Big Brother Naija, we’re very excited to be introducing Riona and Enakhe, two series we’re very confident our viewers would love, so confident that we are dedicating one whole hour on primetime TV to them. Magic is very committed to telling the African story and we can’t wait to show you what we have been cooking.”

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SCOAN Prayer Mountain Resort: Nigeria’s hub for pilgrims, tourists OBINNA EMELIKE

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ver the years, Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) has attracted thousands of people, across all races and countries, who visit the hitherto neglected Ikotunaxis of Lagos for spiritual help.

Today, SCOAN is unarguably, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Nigeria, and host of the biggest religion pilgrimage in Nigeria.

But the religious body is not relenting in its efforts at wooing more visitors to Nigeria and ultimately drawing more souls to God, amid meeting their spiritual needs.

To ensure the comfort of visitors, memorable experience and optimization of their visits, SCOAN is in the process of completing a stateof-the-art resort, which it called the SCOAN Prayer Mountain.

When completed, the resort, which is located at the old site of SCOAN, would be one of the biggest resorts in the country as it could accommodate close to a thousand guests at a time.

Currently, it is the only resort of its size in Nigeria, which is located in the heart of a city. The new addition will be a boost to religious tourism and add to the profile of the country as a destination. It will further offer pilgrims a five-star hospitality facility in a fully secured environment.

As well, the SCOAN Prayer Mountain resort would not only complement current accommodation facilities within the church’s vicinity, it will further cement the reputation of the Ikotun, Lagos, as Africa’s leading religious tourist destination.

Although designed to accommodate pilgrims in search of divine intervention, the resort boasts of

SCOAN Prayer Mountain Resort facilities to cater for all categories of visitors from low-budget to premium luxury guests and VIPs. Top among the facilities in the resort, which is set within a large expanse of land with natural ambience of trees and water, include; a kilometer of prayer and meditation walkway, a meditation garden that has rare and exotic species of peacocks and springboks, a helipad, and a speed boat to quickly convey pilgrims from one end of the resort to the other. Reclaimed from swamp, the resort premises are built on elevated structure surrounded by water filled with catfish. It is an urban oasis that cuts off toxic air and noise pollution, and also less than 10 kilometers from Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA).

However, credit goes to Prophet TB Joshua, the overseer of SCOAN. Speaking on the soon-to-be-completed Prayer Mountain resort, the Prophet said, “This is where I started. I must have a library and a place where I can enjoy nature, not the air condition or fan, just

natural as God created it. So, having nature around you is very good.

God is nature Himself and without nature, you cannot understand the Bible because the Bible is not history; when you are reading the Bible, you are reading the Holy Spirit.

So, if you do not allow nature when you are reading, you will be reading history. You need some places like this – where you leave everything outside and come and hear the cocks’ crow. But outside of here, whatever they are doing, you cannot hear because of the noise. So, this place is very important to me – this is where I live, this is where I sleep and do everything.

“If I want to meet people outside of here, I go outside. There is a time for that because the Bible says that there is time to rest and a time to work. Time to rest is time to receive from God and time to work is time to give what you receive from God. When you talk of time to rest, this is the best place to rest, not in the midst of technology or going to New York or travelling about but you rest in the midst of nature.”

Explaining how the swamp was transformed into a five-star resort, Prophet T.B. Joshua said, “This swamp is the rejected stone. God spoke to me and brought me here.

I have been following God’s vision, and God’s mission. When I am out of God’s mission, I am finished.

That is why you cannot see me outside of here; you cannot hear me.

God’s time is the best and I always follow God’s time. So, I have been following God’s time; that is why you will not see me preach every Sunday or go on television to preach every day. I must hear from God before saying anything. Every time can be good for you and every time can be the best time for you but for me, I must have a corresponding grace or power because the Holy Spirit must suggest what to do before I do them. If not, I will not be able to have God’s result.

“This is why you are not seeing me out there – at weddings, social occasions, coming to your offices to grant interviews. This is the only church – The SCOAN here in

International tourism down 70% as travel restrictions impact all regions

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estrictions on travel introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to hit global tourism hard, with the latest data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) showing a 70 percent fall in international arrivals for the first eight months of 2020.

According to the newest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international arrivals plunged 81 percent in July and 79 percent in August, traditionally the two busiest months of the year and the peak of the Northern Hemisphere summer season. The drop until August represents 700 million fewer arrivals compared to the same period in 2019 and translates into a loss of US$ 730 billion in export revenues from international tourism. This is more than eight times the loss experienced on the back of the 2009 global economic and financial crisis.

Kimberly Big Hole “This unprecedented decline is having dramatic social and economic consequences, and puts millions of

jobs and businesses at risk,” warned Zurab Pololikashvili, secretary general, UNWTO. “This underlines the urgent need to safely restart tourism,

in a timely and coordinated manner”.

The unprecedented decline is having dramatic social and economic consequences, and puts millions of jobs and businesses at risk, while recovery short-lived.

All world regions recorded large declines in arrivals in the first eight months of the year. Asia and the Pacific, the first region to suffer from the impact of COVID-19, saw a 79 percent decrease in arrivals, followed

by Africa and the Middle East (both – 69 percent), Europe (-68 percent) and the Americas (-65 percent).

Following its gradual reopening of international borders, Europe recorded comparatively smaller declines in July and August (-72 percent and -69 percent, respectively).

The recovery was short-lived however, as travel restrictions and advisories were reintroduced amid an increase in contagions. On the other side of the spectrum, Asia and the

Ikotun. There is no other branch anywhere else in the world but it touches everywhere in the world. I am waiting for God to let me know if there will be branches or not; the important thing is that we should focus on building the people and not the church.”

The SCOAN Prayer Mountain would be opened soon, but according Prophet Joshua, it will be when God directs. “The people will soon get to know about it. We are just waiting for God’s time. There are many things to be done in this place.

We are at about a 70 percent completion rate. So, if people should know about this place now, we would not be able to complete this job because it will cause distraction. When we are at about 95 percent completion level, we will let people know. It is going to be by grace. It is not something you pay money for; you can come and see people moving and praying.

So, people will get to know; we are waiting for God’s time”, Prophet Joshua concluded.

Pacific recorded the largest declines with -96% in both months, reflecting the closure of borders in China and other major destinations in the region.

Demand for travel remains largely subdued due to the ongoing uncertainty about the pandemic and low confidence. Based on the latest trends, UNWTO expects an overall drop close to 70 percent for the whole of 2020.

However, rebound in international demand is expected by Q3 2021. UNWTO’s Panel of Experts foresees a rebound in international tourism in 2021, mostly in the third quarter of 2021. However, around 20 percent of experts suggest the rebound could occur only in 2022.

Travel restrictions are seen as the main barrier standing in the way of the recovery of international tourism, along with slow virus containment and low consumer confidence.

The lack of coordinated response among countries to ensure harmonized protocols and coordinated restrictions, as well as the deteriorating economic environment were also identified by experts as important obstacles for recovery.

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Benefits of formulating your own poultry feed Food & Beverages With Ayo Oyoze Baje

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ccording to experts on animal feed formulation such as Akinbobola A. and Jeffery Alahira, the immense benefits of having the know-how on formulation of feeds is because it has been discovered that only a few feed manufacturers keep to the standards in poultry feed formulations in Nigeria. Many make very poor quality feeds.

This sad situation has resulted in huge losses for poultry farmers leading to slow growth in chickens, low egg production, diseases as well as death of the chicken. Formulating your poultry feeds on the farm is therefore, one of the best ways to maintain quality. It also cuts the cost of production. Depending on the costs of the raw materials, farmers who make their feeds at home save between 30% to 50% for every 70 kg bag of chicken feed, depending on the

source of their raw materials.

The piece of good news is that livestock feed materials are available cheaply, especially after the harvesting season. In the words of Akinbobola, “the common feed ingredients are whole maize, cottonseed cake, soya beans, sunflower, or fish meal. Besides, farmers need to add several other feed additives (micronutrients, minerals, and vitamins) to ensure that their chickens have a balanced feed that meets their daily nutrient requirements”.

Animal feed such as Dicalcium Phosphate (DCP) is mixed with other ingredients in animal feeds. DCP is mainly designed for breeding purposes (cattle and poultry). It strengthens the skeleton and accelerates the animal’s growth.The following are the DCP values for each of the common ingredients used in feed making: Whole maize—8.23%, Soya—45%, Fishmeal—55%, Maize bran—7%and Sunflower—35% Each class of chicken has its nutritional requirement. For example, if we want to make feed for layers, the feed should have at least 18% crude protein. Feed ingredients for poultry diets are selected based on a couple of factors such as nutrient content, antinutritional factors or toxins, palatability and cost.

The dominant grain used is corn although different grains such as wheat and sorghum can be used. The main function is to satisfy the energy requirement of poultry.

On their part, protein meals are gotten from both vegetable and animal sources. Vegetable protein sources usually come as meals or cake which are the by-products of oil seeds crops.

These include soybean, sunflower and sesame seed. After extraction of the oil,

the residue is used as feed ingredients.

Animal sources on the other hand include meat meal, bone meal, fish meal, blood meal and feather meal. All these are by-products of animals.

Also important are fats and oil,collectively known as lipids. They can be used to satisfy the energy need of the animals and are good carriers of fat-soluble vitamins which include vitamin (A, D, E and K). Fats and oil can be gotten from vegetable sources such as palm oil, sunflower oil,canola oil while animal sources include fats and lard.

Not left out are the minerals and vitamins. These are essential for normal growth and development, especially in poultry such as bone formation, enzyme activation. Calcium is of particular importance as it is used to produce the egg shells. This is required in large quantities. Most feed ingredients provide the vital minerals and vitamins for adequate nutrition. They are however, not often enough and have to be supplemented with premix.

In feed formulation, a method known as Pearson Square is often used.

In this method, the digestible crude protein is the basis for measuring nutrient requirement during feed formulation. The following are the DCP values for each of the common ingredients used in feed making.

It should be noted however, that each category of poultry bird i.e. layers, broilers all have specific nutrient requirements and feed formulation should be based on their requirements.

Making a 70 Kg of Layers Chick Mash (1-4 Weeks) Growing chicks require feed with Digestible Crude Protein (DCP) of between 18 to 20 percent. The following formulation can be used to make a 70kg bag of layers chick mash. The

ingredients include 31.5kg of whole maize, 9.1kg of wheat bran, 7.0kg of wheat pollard and 16.8 kg of sunflower (or 16.8 kg of linseed). Other are 1.5kg of fishmeal, 1.75kg of lime, 30g of salt 20g of premix Amino acids 70g of tryptophan, 3.0g of lysine, 10g of methionine, 70 g of Threonine, 50g of enzymes, 60g of coccidiostat, 50g of toxin binder.

Making a 70 Kg Bag of Growers Mash (4 To 8 Weeks) Growers (pullets or young layers) should be provided with a feed with a protein content of between 16 and 18 percent. Such feed makes the young layers to grow fast in preparation for egg-laying: The ingredients are 10kg of whole maize, 17kg of maize germ, 13kg of wheat pollard and 10kg of wheat bran. To be added to these are 6kg of cottonseed cake, 5kg of sunflower cake, 3.4kg of soya meal, and 2.07kg of lime.

Still to strengthen the nutritional essence one has to add 700g of bone meal, 3kg of fishmeal, 14g of salt, 1g of coccidiostat, 18g of Pre-mix, 1g of zinc bacitracitrach and 7g of mycotoxin binder.

Making a 70 Kg Bag of Layers’ Mash (18 Weeks and Above) Layer feed should be introduced at 18 weeks. It should contain a Digestible Crude Protein (DCP) content of between 16-18 percent. The feed should contain calcium (lime) for the formation of eggshells (laying hens that do not get enough calcium will use the calcium stored in their own born tissue to produce eggshells).

In this instance the ingredients include 34kg of whole maize, 12kg of Soya, 8kg of fishmeal and 10kg of maize bran. Other are rice germ or wheat bran, 6kg of lime, amino acids, 175g premix, 70g lysine, 35g methionine, 70kg threonine, 35g tryptophan and

50g toxin binder.

Formulating a 70 Kg bag of Broiler Feed Broilers have different feed requirements in terms of energy, proteins, and minerals during the stages of their growth. It is important that farmers adapt feed rations to these requirements for maximum production.

Broiler Starter Feed (1-4 Weeks) Young broilers have a high protein requirement for the development of muscles, feathers and their organs.

As the broilers grow, their energy requirements for the deposit of fat increase and their protein requirements decrease. They, therefore, require high protein content in their starter rations than in the grower and finisher rations.

Broilers should have a feed that has between 22 -24 percent DCP. The following guidelines can help the farmer to make the right feed at each stage of growth: Ingredients include 40kg of whole maize, 12kg of fishmeal (or omena), 14kg of soya bean meal, 4kg of lime, 70g of premix, Amino acids, 35g of lysine and 35g of Threonine Preparing Broiler Finisher Feed (70kg) What is needed include 10kg of whole maize, 16.7kg of maize germ, 13.3kg of wheat pollard and 10 kg wheat bran. To be added to these are 6 kg of cottonseed cake, 4.7kg of sunflower cake, 3kg of fishmeal 2kg of lime, 3.4kg of soya meal and 40g of bone meal. For the nutritional values to be enhanced 10g of grower PMX, 5g of salt, 5g of coccidiostat and 5g of Zincbacitrach should be added.

Baje is Nigerian first Food Technologist in the media ayobaje@yahoo.co.uk; 07068638066

Cloudflex computing services set to Kwara revenue agency generates N13.3bn in 9 months offer quality cloud computing in Africa SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin Emission, Environmental Health and Razaq Ayinla, Abeokuta

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emi Adejumo, managing director of Cloudflex Computing Services Limited, has suggested the need for Cloud Computing by companies as a recipe for information and Communications Technology (ICT) challenges in the country.

Adejumo, former Head of Infrastructure at Ecobank PLC and responsible for the amalgamation of Oceanic and Ecobank Infrastructure, noted that with the ever-changing business landscape worldwide, there is an urgent need for telecoms and companies to change focus, identity, and branding.

He expressed further that the Nigerian market is ready to adopt the migration to cloud computing.

Nigeria has attracted some of the highest VC funding and is aggressive in many markets. Cloud computing is the perfect platform for these advancements and bedrock of many cutting-edge initiatives. Cloud computing also saves up to 70% of TCO and achieves the required workloads and lower costs.

According to him, the opportunity for Cloud computing is vast; however, we have a low adoption rate in the harsh economic environment that many organisations are having to

operate in.

Cloud Computing is a significant business advantage in cost-saving and business optimisations also managed colocation: Flexible host equipment for your physical device – servers, routers, switches, etc.

Cloudflex has had a successful and stellar beginning, winning the Cloud Partner of the year with Huawei in 2018, and obtaining VMware cloud verified badge in 2019.

“We aim to be the leading Cloud Platform in the next five years both in West and Central Africa. We believe our offerings are built for Nigerians

by Nigerians. We are conversant with the requirements and the challenges of this market, and we are more than adequately equipped to address the issues,” he said.

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he Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KW-IRS) says it has generated a total revenue of N13,396,892,060.21 between January and September, 2020, It however, informed it raked the sum of N4,015,178,972.55 out of a quarterly budget of N6,499,393,323.99 for the third Quarter of the year 2020.

A statement signed by Shade Omoniyi, Executive Chairman KWIRS, gave the breakdown of revenue generated within the three (3) months of Q3 (July, August, and September 2020) “The Revenue Generated in July is N961,003,235.92; August is N1,954,501,513.87 and September N1,099,674,222.76, totaling 4,015,178,972.55.

“Recall the Service raked in N7.2billion and N2.1billion in Q1 and Q2 of 2020 respectively.

“The Q3 revenue achievement is an increase of about 87%, compared with figures recorded in Q2 of the year and this is as a result of the ease of lockdown and resumption of business activities across the spheres of the economy of the state.

“The state Internal Revenue Service, therefore, has generated a total revenue of N13,396,892,060.21 from a budget of N19,498,179,971.97 year to date, which translates to a fulfilment of a (69%) collection achievement as

at September 2020.

“The Service has introduced harmonized bills for Taxpayers as relevant to respective taxpayers, where various revenue items accruable to the MDAs across the state are consolidated and served.

“The harmonised bills avail taxpayers their total revenue and tax obligations to the state, streamline interaction of revenue authorities with taxpayers in the state, give room for adequate data capturing, payment narration and receipting of all payments made.

“The collectibles on the harmonized bill include Registration and Renewal Fees on Business Premises, Signage and Advertisement fee, Fire Prevention/ Inspection of Establishment Fee, Earning from Gaseous

Safety Permit fees, Street Set back.

“Also consolidated on the harmonised bills are Registration and Renewal of License such as Hospital, Clinics and Laboratories, Drug stores, Cold rooms, Agro dealers, slaughter slab, Veterinary drug store, Feed Mills centers, Livestock farm, Schools, Car dealers and Private Garages, Hotel, Event centres, Eateries and Restaurants.

“Furthermore, in its bid to ease Tax Payment and ensure continued blockage of all forms of revenue leakages, the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KW-IRS) provided seamless Online Payment Platforms as opposed to direct cash lodgements into the IGR accounts of the state.

The links to the online payment platforms are available on the KW-IRS official website and on all its social media platforms.

“The Service remains focused in the drive of its sole responsibility of Mobilizing Revenue for the Strategic Development of Kwara State, with all efforts geared towards consolidating its performance in the last quarter of the year, as schools and other major economic activities in the state resume fully.

“This is as the government continues to do its best to stopping all forms of criminalities and unrest in the state capital caused by hoodlums who hid under the #EndSARS protests to perpetrate crimes all across the nation.”

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Why many Nigerian workers can’t afford mortgage-backed homes

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hough a major demand for mortgage access is being gainfully employed or having a regular income flow, the reality in the mortgage market is that it is not enough to be just gainfully employed.

What mortgage lenders are looking at is not just the job the borrower is engaged in. They are, instead, looking at how fat and sustainable the borrower’s income is. More often than not, income is just too low to ‘carry’ a mortgage loan.

In Nigeria, people whose income is below N1.2 million per annum are classified as low income earners. National minimum wage in the country today stands at N30,000 per month. That wage cannot, technically speaking, be called national because many states of the federation are unable to pay.

This means that all civil servants who earn minimum wage are automatically excluded from mortgage loan even if the interest rate is as low as 6 percent which is the lowest interest rate only offered in the country by the National Housing Fund (NHF).

Based on the terms of mortgage structuring which requires repayment of not less than one third or 33.3 percent of a monthly income, a borrower on N30,000 per month has to deduct approximately N10,000 for loan repayment, and a monthly

payment of this sum for 30 years, as required by law, will mean that the prospective home owner will contribute only N3 million for the 30-year period.

However, apart from the fact that there is no decent accommodation for N3 million in a good location, there is also no 30-year mortgage available for loan applicants. Besides, given that minimum wage remains N18,000 for some workers, 33.3 percent of N18, 000 will be N5, 994 and a monthly payment of this sum over 30 years period will amount to only N2.15 million.

“Many households cannot own homes through mortgage because, given their low per capita income, they won’t qualify for mortgage,” confirms Adeniyi Akinlusi, former CEO, Trustbond Mortgages.

Mortgage deficit, he notes, stands at N49.05 trillion and out of a population of 180 million people, with 30 percent, representing the 44.4 million working class, the mortgageable adults are only 19.9 million, representing 45 percent of the total population.

This is why mortgage experts insist that job creation is critical to ease homeownership. They maintain that government and private sector developers could build all the affordable or social housing they want to build, but people have to have jobs to be able to buy either cash or through

mortgage.

Nigeria is one the world’s most expensive housing markets where the cost of renting a three-bedroom apartment ranges from N15 million to N20 million per annum in highbrow areas like Victoria Island and Ikoyi in Lagos; Asokoro, Maitama in Abuja; GRA Phase 2 in Port Harcourt or Trans Amadi also in Port Harcourt, among other areas in Nigeria.

A report on The Lagos Housing Market by Pison Housing Company notes that a mortgage period of 30 years and a housing unit of N2.15 million are hardly available, and this amount excludes interest rate on the mortgage facility. Consequently, even the middle income earners struggle to have access to affordable housing.

The report notes further that Nigeria is faced with a multi-dimensional housing problems stemming from poor planning. It recalls that many initiatives have been launched in the past which did not translate to visible results.

“The country is fraught with abandoned low cost housing projects, inadequate funding, regulatory bottlenecks, lack of focus on residential housing development and unsupportive finance mechanisms,” the report says, pointing out that in most developed countries, affordable housing at different income levels is

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Sunday 01 November 2020

Talking Mortgage with CHUKA UROKO (08037156969, chukuroko@yahoo.com)

achieved through assistance from government through planning incentives, tax credit, land provision, infrastructural support and required building approval concessions.

The bane of mortgage access in Nigeria is high interest rate which ranges from 18 percent to 22 percent and this is one of the major reasons for the low homeownership level in the country whose housing deficit is estimated at 20 million units.

Roland Igbinoba, Vice Chairman, Roland Igbinoba Real Foundation for Housing and Urban Development (RIRFHUD), laments that, though Lagos currently has the most vibrant property market in Nigeria, home ownership level is still at less than 20 percent.

“With a daily intake of 3,000 immigrants, the housing supply has failed to keep up with rapid urbanization and population expansion, especially in the low income market.

The housing demand estimate in La-

gos is roughly 4.4 million units while the estimated current supply in the state is 1,417,588 units”, he reveals.

“This leaves a gap between demand and supply at roughly 3 million units; output is relatively low although there has been increased participation in housing projects from both the government and private sector,” he noted The extent of housing shortage in Lagos is enormous and the deficit is both quantitative and qualitative, such that 72 percent of Lagos residents are tenants paying rent as high as 50 percent of their monthly income while most of the existing accommodations are provided by private landlords.

On the qualitative housing deficit side, most low income earners live in congested settlements usually characterised by buildings with structural defects, bad roads, poor drainages and pollution, posing health hazards for the inhabitants.

Making business future-fit, the new marketing realities after Covid-19

Andisa Ntsubane

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he year 2020 will be remembered as the ‘Year of the Great Pause’. It has been a period in which perceptions changed, boundaries moved, and businesses shifted on their traditional, comfortable foundations.

Brands have been left battling with the reality that the unexpected had indeed happened and leading companies in Africa have lost an estimated US $60 billion off the value of their brand equity according to the recent Top 150 Most Valuable Brands in Africa report by Brand Finance.

As normality slowly returns,

marketers are left with the certainty that although a new dawn is breaking, they have a scant three months to begin recovering lost ground. They have to compensate for the time when business was paused, and marketing investments were pulled back.

While getting to grips with these hard-short-term facts, those at the heart of marketing will also be acknowledging that significant, permanent shifts have occurred in the ground below their feet.

There can be no denying that the COVID-19 has brought into sharp focus the dire economic and social challenges that the continent faces. There has never been a more opportune moment than this to accelerate the Shared Value Agenda and engage on how there can be an increase in the introduction of business models that address social issues.

The path ahead will be challenging to navigate because it means that brands will have to move decisively to regain customers’ trust in the roles that they play within communities, countries, and the continent at large.

After all, our brands are our promises to the markets. To move forward, we will have to emphasise the positive influence that brands can have on people and societies. Those that lead and prosper will deliver tangible value and help to resolve cultural and social tensions in society.

This means that brands need to be connected and responsive to the lived experiences of people.

Brands must understand and be connected to the anxieties that people face. Above all, they need to be the agents helping to reenergise people and contribute towards creating a sense of optimism about the future.

These actions will become necessary because there has been a profound shift amongst our customers, our communities, and the continent at large as a consequence of this watershed moment.

Traditional, disconnected, overt sales messages have been relegated to the past. People now expect their brands to have a purpose. More significantly, as we move towards a brighter future, people will support brands that were perceived to have done something positive when times

were tough.

Pushed aside will be those brands that have not realised that relating to their customers is not about making promises; it is now about tangible actions that deliver on the business strategy and brand promise.

Ultimately, brand leaders have to learn the lesson that although times change, the things that matter, seldom do. This means connecting to the things that people care about, to what they value and hold dear.

Families, relationships and wanting the best for your children as well as a brighter future will always remain fundamental concerns.

The brands that understand these needs and cater to them will be brands that succeed. Brands have to be able to demonstrate that businesses do not just look at making profits or for economic opportunities.

This new approach will also involve understanding societal issues and then building business models that help address these issues. The key is to simultaneously achieve economic and societal value and help move the business and

customers forward.

Creativity will play a central role in the transition from frivolous or hard-sell messaging to a more concerned, empathetic and understanding brand persona.

There has never been a better time for brands to deliver on their purpose. Now is the time to deliver on what we say. Covid-19 has been the perfect opportunity for brands to practice what they preach. Disruption is becoming increasingly important. In these times if you are not disrupting your industry and yourself, you will be left behind. Strategies must not be built on the principle of being developed to last, but rather to accommodate transformation.

The world is changing around us, and we have to construct models that help our brands respond to the ever-changing demands of the external environment.

Medium-term, five-year business plans and strategies will inevitably become a feature of the past as timelines shorten. We will increasingly find ourselves living in a world where agility and responsiveness will become the watchwords.

Brands and businesses being responsive will require moving beyond just hearing consumers.

There is a plethora of databases and social media listening tools available, but we must ask whether we are really listening, engaging and responding to our customers.

Consumers today recognise authenticity and true purpose, and both are going to be critical ingredients for building brands in the post pandemic world.

Meaning brands will now have to act more like people. A few ways we can activate the change are: Play our part: Show up and use all resources and creativity to build a better world.

Act together: As the wise African saying goes, “If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together”. Recognise the strength in collaboration, to truly help people requires working in solidarity with likeminded entities.

Solve instead of selling: Be more comforting and less promotional.

Ntsubane is the interim chief marketing officer, Old Mutual Limited

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Delta makes concrete moves for job creation programme to outlive Okowa’s tenure Mercy Enoch, Asaba

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he major fear of stakeholders in the Delta State Job and Wealth Creation sector has been the sustainability of the programmes beyond the tenure of the initiator and visioner, Ifeanyi Okowa who is the incumbent governor of the state.

The fear seems to be addressed as the Job and Wealth Creation Office has changed to Delta State Job and Wealth Creation Bureau, fully backed by law.

T h e Jo b a n d We a l t h Creation Programme is seen as the cornerstone of Okowa’s administration’s policies and programmes.

The strategic thrust has been entrepreneurship development programmes anchored on skills training, engaging youths in productive enterprises, nurturing entrepreneurs, leaders and promoting communal peace and security.

Prior to the 2019/2020 cycle, what used to be called Delta Job and Wealth Creation Office, became the Delta State Job and Wealth Creation Bureau following the passage of law in favour of the bureau on August 22, 2019, by the state’s House of Assembly.

“In the last five years, the Special Purpose Vehicle for driving this policy initiative had been the office of the Chief Job Creation. A significant development of the 2020 fiscal year was the passing of the bill by the state House of Assembly transforming the office from

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Professor Eric Eboh, standing before legislators, during his screening at the Delta State House of Assembly, recently.

an administrative creation to a body corporate as enshrined in the enabling law, for continuity and sustainability. The bureau is to be headed by the Chief Job and Wealth Creation Officer”, Okowa said as he presented the 2021 budget on Tuesday, October 27.

JCI Nigeria honours 10 ‘outstanding young persons’

from the different categories of the awards programme.

Nat i o n a l C o nv e nt i o n ( N AT C O N ) o f J u n i o r Chamber International (JCI) Nigeria, held on 10th October 2020, the organisation honoured 10 Outstanding young personalities who emerged as honorees in the 2020 edition of the annual JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons (JCI TOYP) in Nigeria after a rigorous and thorough screening and voting process

According to the chairperson in charge of the award programme, Oluwatosin Ola-Balogun, who also doubles as the chairperson for the JCI IYD Programme, the ten honorees t hat were award e d have demonstrated rare leadership qualities in their specific fields of endeavour. She added that the recognition will further inspire them to do more in

The honorees are Elizabeth Nwarueze, Olabanke Subair, Mar’yam Thaoban, Arewa Adesanya, Olugbenga Ogunbowale, Gbenga Adene, Tope Akinyode, Tolulope Olukokun, Olusola Amusan and Adedeji Kowobari.

society.

The 2020 President of JCI Nigeria, Oyinyechukwu Mbeledogu in her remarks commended the honorees and charged them to continue making impacts in the society.

She also thanked the TOYP team, the judges as well as corporate partners for making the event a remarkable one.

It would be recalled that the award process began with nominations by members of the general public, followed by various stages of screening, selection and voting during which the long list of nominees were narrowed down and then this final 10 selected.

The JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons (JCI TOYP) P r o g r a m m e i s a Ju n i o r

Chivita marks World Juice Day, emphasises healthy diets, lifestyle

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eading fruit juice brand, Chivita held its 2nd Annual Chivita World Juice Day Event recently.

The Annual Chivita World Juice Day is a public-interest initiative undertaken by CHI Limited, makers of the Chivita brand of fruit juices, to deepen conversations on consumption of 100percent fruit juice thus enabling healthy living and happier lives for all Nigerians.

The theme for this year’s edition of the event, “Fruit Juice: The Smart Secret of Boosting Immunity”, was informed by the need to highlight the beneficial properties of consumption of 100percent fruit juice to support the body’s immune system in order to promote everyday wellness.

Speaking about the event, the Managing Director of CHI Limited, Deepanjan Roy, emphasised the need for 100percent fruit juice consumption as a smart way of supporting immune function during the COVID-19 era and beyond. He said while the global pandemic has challenged systems everywhere, it has also raised social consciousness on healthy diets and lifestyle.

In partnership with health and nutrition experts who were carefully selected to share their perspectives on how Nigerians can defend themselves from within through fruit juice consumption, CHI Limited hopes to empower consumers to consider daily consumption of a glass of 100percent fruit juice as a smart choice in their daily health routine.

One of the Guest Speakers and Principal Dietician with the National Orthopedic Hospital Igbobi, Adejoke Adeniji, listed

the benefits of consumption of 100percent fruit juice to include strengthening of the immune system, aiding of digestion, weight loss and prevention of allergies and ailments from entering the system.

“Consumption of 100percent fruit juice is a valuable source of nutrients that are bioactive and can support the immune system by fighting free radicals and also reducing fatigue.

While not postulating that fruit juice can prevent or protect against COVID-19, available facts show that drinking a glass of 100percent fruit juice daily can boost Vitamin-C and folate intake and, by so doing, support the optimal functioning of the body’s immune system,” she said.

In celebration of this year’s event, there has been a sustained drive to create consumer awareness and drum up anticipation across several touch points including Guest Appearances on National TV Stations, Radio Hypes and Call-in Sessions, Out-of-Home Displays, Engagements on Social Media platforms, Article publication on Print Publications, and Instore CHI-Shoppe promotions aimed at rewarding the brand’s consumers.

CHI Limited was incorporated in 1980. It is a market leader in the food & beverage sector in Nigeria. Each of its product offerings within the juice & dairy beverage and snacks categories in which it operates are category leaders which are loved for their great taste and high quality nutrition. With its ISO 22000 certified state of the art manufacturing facility, CHI deploys advanced processing and packaging technology in making all its products.

LG Electronics introduces Artificial Intelligence Direct Drive (AI DD) washer

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ith the unveiling of LG’s most advanced innovation in laundrythe Artificial Intelligent Direct Drive (AI DD), the new washers are capable of delivering a thorough, yet gentle cleaning by determining the weight and fabric characteristics of each load to deliver faster and better laundry results.

The AI DD washer builds on 20 years of advancements in LG’s ground-breaking Direct Drive motor, which delivers both effectiveness and efficiency. LG’s new washing machine not only detects the volume and weight of each unique laundry load but also uses AI and advanced sensors to identify fabric types in each load. Using deep learning technology, the washer then compares this information against 20 thousand data points related to washer usage to set the optimal setting for the best results, improving cleaning and extending the life of garments by 18 percent.

LG’s most intelligent washer is able to detect a mixed load

of t-shirts and pants (different from bedding and delicate) and program the wash cycle to use customised motions, temperatures and times for the best wash. And LG’s new userfriendly dispense feature takes the guesswork out of detergent dosage by automatically adding the exact amount of liquid detergent and fabric softener customised for each load size at optimal times during the wash cycle for improved results. And when it comes to drying, the new LG Smart Pairing feature automatically sends the optimal dryer setting for each load directly to the compatible LG dryer for the best results every time.

To further enhance the laundry experience, the AI DD washing machine supports LG Proactive Customer Care – a smart customer solution that leverages advanced AI to deliver peace of mind and enhanced customer satisfaction, along with improved product performance and longevity. The service can immediately alert users to potential problems be-

fore they occur, expedite repairs when they are needed and offer useful maintenance tips to keep LG appliances performing their best.

LG’s TurboWash™ 360 feature delivers the convenience

of a shorter laundry day without compromising cleanliness, requiring just 39 minutes to complete a full wash cycle with less energy and less damage to fabric. And 3D Multi Spray also helps get clothes clean in less

time by shooting jets of water in four different directions simultaneously for more stainfighting coverage.

Boasting the durability and efficiency that European consumers demand, LG AI DD washing machines deliver an efficient energy rating of A+++-50 percent in no small part due to LG’s inverter technology, guaranteed by a 10-year warranty. For additional user convenience, LG AI DD washers can be managed using voice commands from a connected AI speaker as well as controlled and monitored with the ThinQ mobile app.

“The combination of ThinQ AI with LG’s proven Direct Drive technology delivers customer benefits that are more significant than anything in the evolution of washing machines in the past century,” said Jiung Park, general-manager of Home Appliances Division, LG Electronics West Africa Operation. “It is this kind of innovation that is required to win the hearts and minds of European con-

sumers who expect nothing but the best in their home appliances,” Park further said.

In addition to the AI-powered features, the new LG washer offer complete hygiene benefits with the LG Steam+TM technology which helps to eliminate 99.9percent of allergens such as house dust mites from clothes using Allergen care option and also reduces the wrinkle by 30percent for easy ironing using the Wrinkle care option.

Park also said with the innovative washing technologies and AI-based customer service platform, “we are certain that our washing machine with AI DD will exceed all consumer expectations. This washing machine sets a new benchmark for convenience with its larger capacity and customised laundry experience.”

The new washer packed with ThinQ™ technology allows remote operation of laundry to downloading additional cycle.

Users can easily interact with it and access the latest innovations with Wi-Fi Connectivity.

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Sunday 01 November 2020

World Pasta Day: How Crown Flour Mill lifts consumers’ pasta palate Daniel Obi

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ince October 25, 1995, when the international community officially celebrated the inaugural World Pasta Day, pasta has consistently maintained its ranking as one of the world’s most versatile food staples.

Based on data supplied by Nielsen Co, a global marketing research firm, pasta is regarded as one of the most consumed food products in the world and the industry continues to record outstanding sales growth year on year.

According to the International Pasta Organisation (IPO), the positive consumer sentiment towards the consumption of pasta is strengthened by the increasing market demand for healthy meals, of which the food variety is one because it is plantbased, energy-dense, easy to store and distribute.

As such, pasta consumption has been on the upward trajectory across markets such as Asia at 8.6%, and Africa at 2.6%. The dynamic growth trend in these two markets foreshadows the future of food consumption among citizens of densely populated countries comprising India, Nigeria, and Saharan Africa.

This penchant for consuming pasta serves up a template by which agro-processing firms should approach their markets in support of their host governments and the efforts of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to improve food security.

The positive consumption trend aligns with what Paolo Barrilla, the

President of the International Pasta Organisation (IPO) said regarding the popularity of pasta based recipes among global consumers: “Pasta is increasingly appreciated and valued around the world as the centre of a delicious meal with lots of nutritional benefits. It is also accessible, respectful of the planet, and brings people together joyfully.”

In Nigeria, pasta is rated as one of the choice food staples. Spaghetti and macaroni, two popular variants of pasta occupy retail shelves across the local markets, and supermar-

kets. On a visit to popular local marketplaces, from the thickly and highly trafficked consumer marketplace such as Oke-Arin, situated on Lagos Island, to the fresh produce market of Mile 12, alongside notable retail stores such as Shoprite, Spar, Ebeano, Justrite, and Supersaver; the Nigerian consumers would be seen adding one form of pasta food variety or the other to their shopping baskets or carts.

Pasta is a rich source of carbohydrates and contains other valuable nutrients like micro-vitamins and

Why Airtel Touching Lives won Marketing Edge Innovative CSR Leadership Award

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t was glitz, glamour and elegance at the Marketing Edge Awards Night recently as distinguished Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) and media practitioners converged on Lagos for the event.

As expected, the Marketing Edge night of excellence saw brands, corporates and personalities in the IMC industry cart away awards for performing creditably in various categories. Airtel Nigeria couldn’t have been left out because the main competitive advantage of being a purpose-driven brand is the gradual transformation of a firm into a catalyst for system-level change.

Airtel Touching Lives is an inspiring corporate social responsibility initiative designed to offer practical relief, succour, hope, opportunities and credible platforms to liberate and empower the underprivileged, disadvantaged and hard to reach persons in Nigeria.

A statement by the Publisher/Chief Executive Officer of Marketing Edge Publication Ltd, John Ajayi stated

that, “the nomination and subsequent emergence of Airtel Touching Lives As Marketing Edge Innovative CRS Leadership Awardee was a product of painstaking review and assessment of Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives in Nigeria. He further stated that, it is on record that Airtel Touching Lives, now in its fifth season has, right from its debut, been highly innovative in its package and delivery. Needless to add, here, that it has also been so impactful and, as such, has gained so much traction with the Nigerian people and communities; as it keeps promoting the spirit of giving, self-sacrifice and love among Nigerians in a unique way”.

So far, Airtel has touched the lives of over 2 million Nigerians who were directly or indirectly plagued with varying forms of afflictions ranging from health challenges to financial woes. The beneficiaries of the Airtel Touching Lives initiative are carefully selected from a pool of nominations by members of the public. Airtel, thereafter, offers support/empowerment to identified beneficiaries after relevant due diligence and verification exercises.

What’s more, with a vision to become Nigeria’s most loved brand, Airtel’s concept of social responsibility is not limited to a concern with welfare schemes, charity work, or the occasional support for Health, Education, Security/Emergency, Sports, and the Arts. The company is positioned as an integral part of the country, which must be socially responsible at all times in all its dealings, maintaining high ethical standards and compliance with the rules and regulations in its methods and practices of doing business.

fibre. The nutritional value and affordability of Pasta has helped the category to see a surge in its consumption in Nigeria.

A manager at Spar, one of the popular hypermarket stores in Nigeria, was quoted in one of the national dailies recently saying, “People are purchasing more and more of spaghetti now. The demand for spaghetti and macaroni is increasing. For us, demand has approximately increased in excess of 10 per cent over the same period last year.”

Pasta is produced from wheat and its economic contributions as part of the wheat family is invaluable. Yearly, the wheat value chain has been reported to add around 13 million jobs to the Nigerian economy.

The expansive milling industry; the growing demand for wheat-based foods such as pasta; and the vast retail and transportation networks set up to source and deliver the products to the consumers’ tables lay credence to that claim.

Essentially, the gastronomic and economic contributions of pasta to the wellness of the citizens, the livelihood of the national labour force, in addition to the Federal Government’s drive to feed a national population cannot be underestimated. It should rather be applauded.

One of the leading manufacturers of pasta products in Nigeria is Crown Flour Mill Limited.

A part of the Olam Grains business in Nigeria; Crown Flour Mill Limited acquired Dangote Flour Mill and Bua Flour Mill between 2016 and 2019. The expansive scale of production, innovative technology, and skill-

set at the disposal of the coalesced firm is a formidable asset that is allowing the production of nourishing food at prices that consumers across all the socio-economic cadres can afford. Precisely, this has proven key to nourishing the stomachs of the sprawling Nigerian populations most of who earn less than $1 a day.

As the Federal Government continues to reinforce strategies to boost food security, the capacity of Crown Flour Mill Limited to make vital foods such as Pasta available at the right quality and at the most affordable price for consumers will continue to ensure food security.

Ashish Pande, Managing Director, Crown Flour Mill Limited, said, “Our wide range of quality pasta brands are household brands. They are very popular with Nigerian consumers. The consumer preferences on pasta vary across the different regions of Nigeria. These preferences include variations in shape, thickness and texture. Crown Flour Mills provides a variety of pasta products to cater to each consumer’s preference. Our technological and supply chain capabilities ensure that we provide high quality pasta at an affordable price.”

The company produces brands such as Crown Premium Pasta, Crown Pasta, Bua Pasta and Dangote pasta.

As the international community celebrated World Pasta Day , October 25, 2020; the Nigerian consumers can rest assured that Crown Flour Mill will continue to make high quality, non-sticky and great tasting pasta available at affordable pricing.

KWADEF condemns politicisation of arson and looting, sues for peace Daniel Obi

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he Kwara Development Foundation, KWADEF has condemned the arson and looting of public and private assets which swept through Ilorin, the Kwara State capital recently. The Foundation also takes exception to the subsequent politicization of the dastardly acts of lawlessness by a section of the elites and sues for peace to allow for the much needed development in the State.

The group in a statement signed by its President, Kolawole Afolabi and Publicity Secretary, Oluwasegun Abifarin recalled that youths in their hundreds stormed a warehouse where the Covid-19 palliatives were kept by the State government, after which they also proceeded to invade and loot private businesses.

“We condemn the actions of the hoodlums and those already arrested should face the full weight of the law.

We also commend the security agencies for acting with restraint in the face of provocation by the hoodlums. We will

not support anyone or group hiding under any guise to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere in the state.” It said.

The group maintained that the assertion by some political elites in the state justifying the arson and looting on the basis of hunger in the land is regrettable and remains a dangerous politics of playing to the gallery in the face of current national challenges facing the nation. “There is no amount of hunger that can justify any act of criminality which the looting of private and public assets represents,” the group insisted.

KWADEF also commended the gesture by the governor to set aside N500 million fund to be accessed by victims of the arson and looting. “We commend the governor and stand in solidarity with the people of Kwara State in this challenging moment. This is not the time to play politics. It is a time for all hands to be on deck,” it said. The group also noted that the event of the recent days also present an opportunity for the political leadership in the country to address the socio-political dislocations that are fuelling the various agitations across the country.

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Diplomatic Interview

Why Nigeria should improve trade relations with Pakistan - Envoy

Outgoing Pakistani High Commissioner to Nigeria, Waqar Kingravi, requests that Nigeria, as an important country in Africa, should strive to improve trade and investment ties with Pakistan to improve the quality of lives of both countries’ citizens especially in this period of Covid-19. In this Interview with INNOCENT ODOH, the envoy also admonishes Nigeria to, on humanitarian grounds, support the freedom of the people of Kashmir, who are allegedly visited with high-handedness under Indian occupation. Excerpts:

Y Kingravi

ou have spent some time as the High Commissioner of Pakistan to Nigeria; can you share your experience about Nigeria and Nigerians?

First of all I would say that once I came to Nigeria, I knew a little bit about Nigeria because one of my uncles was a doctor and he has stayed in Nigeria for quite a few years in the 70s. And ever since Nigeria became independent, Pakistan and Nigeria have been like brothers. There are so many similarities and we have supported Nigeria right from the beginning from October 1 960 and even before that. So, I came here with lot of hopes to further improve our mutual relations.

And I am glad to say that I have found that Nigerians are very friendly, vigorous, and happy people. And I have enjoyed my two years stay over here and I will be sad to leave this country and go back to Pakistan, at the same time I am leaving with very happy memories and the best thing which I found is that the people are happy-go-lucky, cheerful and have a lot of sense of humour and they are very polite and courteous.

What is the current level of trade and investment between Nigeria and Pakistan within this period of two years that you have spent in Nigeria?

One of my duties over here was to make sure that we have better relations; better interactions as far as trade and commerce are concerned. This has been our effort in Pakistan –to improve our trade relations, which intensified in the last one year. Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 situation, the goals could not be achieved but the efforts are ongoing. The trade is not really large; it is about $300 million which we wanted to increase to about $billion but so far we have not succeeded but efforts are on to encourage our businessmen and investors to come to Nigeria.

However, due to the distance between both countries and due to the problems of transportation and some other related issues such as tariffs, businessmen are not really forthcoming to that extent to which we desire.

But our efforts are there to get business and trade delegations to Nigeria and similarly get Nigerian delegations to Pakistan. At the moment, small businessmen are coming and going, so that is something that we want to improve upon so that the big corporations should invest in Nigeria and similarly the Nigerians should invest in Pakistan.

How has the pandemic affected the trade relations between Nigeria and Pakistan and in specific terms, do you have MoUs to re-strategize, and re-prioritize trade relations between both countries?

Actually, the impact of the Covid-19 hit Nigeria and Pakistan at the same time in February. Prior to February we saw things going on smoothly to about 17 percent but after the lockdown in March, both countries faced the same situation, which the restriction

Pakistani High Commissioner of movement caused. The Covid-19 adversely affected trade between the two countries, but at about six months now, since August, we are seeing a recovery in trade which is picking up to about 13percent increase. Of course, Covid-19 was unexpected and nobody in the world knew how to react to this situation worldwide.

However, now we have to look for innovative methods to work in this new environment and technology is helping us. Now, we are having trade seminars virtually. We are now trying to have agreements between the two governments to hold the seminars mostly on the web and the different departments like the chambers of commerce and other are contacting each other.

Pakistan has made great strides in trying to quell terrorism but in Nigeria we seem to have a challenge tackling the menace of Boko Haram and allied terrorist groups. What can you attribute the kind of difficulties Nigeria is having in relations to successes of Pakistan?

Pakistan has learnt the hard way how to deal with the terrorists. We have suffered the most casualties anywhere in the world from these terrorists such as the Talibans and other different militant groups who were operating across the border in very difficult and mountainous terrains. So, the first thing Pakistan did was to try and seal the border with Afghanistan because that was a very big factor that after hitting targets in Pakistan, the terrorists will flee to Afghanistan.

We have nearly completed the fencing

of the borders and making a few regulated entry points because there were no regulatory entry points before. So, the first thing is to control the movement of these militants and make sure that they don’t hit you and run away. If they hit they should not be able to run away, they should be controlled within Pakistan.

The other thing is you either capture them or you eliminate them, there is no third way, and there is no compromise because if you let them go away, they will come back and hit you again. So, Pakistan has been advising the Nigerian armed forces and has been training the armed forces and trying to transfer our experience to Nigeria and also helping in the shape of weapons and equipment.

There has to be a national effort in fighting terrorism, the whole nation has to be convinced that they have to take action against these terrorists. Then it should be backed up by a strong military force and within that military force, you have to have a very robust intelligence system. For example the nation needs to have information about the terrorists, material support, like food, water and other things. These should be cut off by the local population. If you have a good intelligence system, it should be swift and with full force. For that you need modern equipment such as drones and surveillance equipment and the means of movement, we found out that helicopters are the most effective.

We are advising Nigeria and we are in the process of providing as much as support to Nigerian armed forces as possible, so that you don’t face those

difficulties which we faced. Something has to be done like you already have the Joint Multinational Task Force with Niger, Cameroun and Chad. So, this is a very difficult operation and national efforts are required. I think with the passage of time, things will improve in Nigeria.

The uneasy relationship that exists between Pakistan and India over the question of Kashsmir has increased tension between both countries. Why is it so difficult for this problem to be resolved even at the level of United Nations?

The problem of Kashmir is a question that is very close to our hearts. The problem started in 1947 when Pakistan and India became independent and this is an unresolved problem at the partition of these countries. Our hearts bleed for our Kashmiri brothers and sister because they are Muslims and they have their relatives in Pakistan.

They are being treated so harshly by the Indians. Pakistan has fought four wars in this situation and this problem is not being resolved even though the United Nations has passed many resolutions that the Kashmiri problem should be resolved. But now that both India and Pakistan are nuclear armed countries, the situation becomes even more dangerous because things can go out of control any time.

Last year, there was an explosion by one of the Kashmiris youngsters who are basically fighting for their freedom from Indian rule and India straight away blamed Pakistan for that without any proof. And then they sent aircrafts across the border but Pakistan reacted by shooting down those planes.

So, this situation can escalate any time out of control and as both countries have nuclear weapons this cannot be allowed to happen because it will have consequences for the whole world not only Pakistan and India. The main problem is that the UN resolution that the Kashmiris should be given a free and fair chance to express their view whether they want to live with India or with Pakistan. There are so many resolutions on this by the UN but India is not allowing this to happen.

India is saying that it is a bilateral issue and at the same time is not trying to resolve the issue bilaterally. So, the international community has to come in and help resolve this issue. Unless and until they force India to come to the negotiating table, sit down and allow the UN resolutions to prevail, this problem will keep on festering. And now with Prime Minister Neranda Modi coming into power in India the situation is worsened because he and his party are extremists. Modi is the one championing the cause that India should be for Hindus. They have unleashed terror in India and not just in Kashmir. Mr. Modi has in the last one year put the Kashmiris under lockdown for more than one year now. He and his party have taken over the status of Kashmir as a state and merged it with India.

So, the main aim of India is to change the demography of Kashmir

from a Muslim majority area to Hindu majority area, so that even if there is a plebiscite, then it will be in their favour and this cannot be tolerated by Pakistan.

Pakistan will do all to support our Kashmiri brothers and sisters diplomatically, and by all means. This problem cannot be solved bilaterally; it has to be implemented by international agencies. There are so many studies and reports about the inhuman atrocities which have been inflicted on the Kashmiris by the Indians. This has been documented by independent observers.

Indian seems to have hardened their position over the issue of Kashmir and you have just stated that Pakistan will sustain its support for Kashmir by all means possible in their quest for self-determination.

What options are really left for Pakistan in this struggle to free Kashmir especially now that the international community appears not too forceful to compel India to conduct plebiscite?

Pakistan does not want to go for a military solution but if it is forced by India, it will go for a military solution because we are ready for that, but we will never initiate any hostilities. All this propaganda by India that Pakistan is supporting cross -border terrorism is nonsense. Pakistan is supporting the Kashmiris morally, diplomatically, internationally and it was the Indian repression of these Kashmiris, which is causing blow back on the Indian forces.

India has more than 900,000 troops in Kashmir but as soon as the Kashmiris get some freedom from this lockdown, they are going to hit at the Indians back very strongly because we have seen that if you push someone into a corner, he will hit back.

So, our options are to support our Kashmir brothers and sisters in whatever way we can and we will keep on internationalizing this problem, we will keep on highlighting the atrocities of India and we will keep on bringing these problems in international forums at all levels to pressure India to carry out the plebiscite an decide this issue once and for all before it goes out of control.

We want Mr. Modi to revoke the cancelling of Article 370, which took over the status of the Kashmir state.

Do you have support from Nigeria in your struggle to free Kashmir since Pakistan enjoys very cordial relations with Nigeria, which has also has a reputation to support liberation of oppressed people all over the world?

Every country has its own interest and the commercial interest overrides all other interests. We have realized that Nigeria has a very big volume of trade with India, so we understand that Nigeria cannot be very hostile to India with which it has so much of trade relations. But we request our Nigerian brothers to pressure India on Human rights basis because Nigeria cannot tolerate human right abuses anywhere in the world. So, we request our Nigerian brothers to support us in pressuring India to stop the atrocities in Kashmir on humanitarian basis.

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Sunday 01 November 2020

Emerging technologies are fueling digital revolution in the Oil and Gas industry - Ayinde Ayokunle Bidemi Ayinde, a versatile drilling engineer with 15 years of professional experience who has played leading and critical roles in major oil and gas projects both locally and internationally, in this interview with INIOBONG IWOK says, the oil and gas industry is in some form of a digital revolution with solutions being developed using emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), machine learning, the internet of things (IoT) and many more. Excerpts:

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he coronavirus pandemic has left in its wake a lot of disruptions in all areas of human endeavour, including the oil and gas sector; what major disruptions has your industry witnessed as a result of the pandemic?

The coronavirus pandemic has caused many disruptions in our lives as humans, and the industries are not exempted. The oil and gas industry has mainly been very hard hit, and with the global spread of the virus, activities have either stopped entirely or slowed down in response to the changing realities. The most significant impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the oil and gas industry has been the price crash of crude oil within a short period, which usually triggers a chain reaction. Covid-19 caused a historic drop in demand, given the global shutdown of economic activity in many sectors in different parts of the world and the resultant decline in travel, changes in consumer behaviour, and a spike in unemployment.

The combination of a price war and the economic shutdown due to Covid-19 contributed to the sudden decline in oil prices between March and May 2020. It has not recovered since then because we are not out of the woods of uncertainties surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. The industry has since focused on business stability and strategies fora sustainable business model that can lead to long-term flexibility as the world comes out of the coronavirus crisis.

There has being a sharp drop in major capital projects, with most projects either rolled back or suspended. A quick measure of this is the rig counts, which have continued to trend downwards globally. The latest Dallas Fed Energy Survey indicates that the oil and gas sector’s business activity index sank to a historical low in Q2,2020.

The industry has seen rounds of employees’ layoffs across various sectors.

Like most other areas during this pandemic, the industry has embraced a more remote work structure for officebased personnel and compliance with the Covid-19 protocol for physical work by maintaining social distance and wearing a face covering. A face mask is now established as a new Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the oil and gas industry.

Can we still witness any major digital innovation in the oil and gas industry in this century that could lead to improved operations efficiency in the oil and gas industry more than the industry has witnessed?

Absolutely. Let me put it simply; any activity or operation currently being performed manually can and will be transformed using digital technologies and tools to improve the industry’s safety and efficiency. Digital tech-

Ayokunle Bidemi Ayinde

nologies help almost every industry rewrite its operating landscape, and the oil and gas industry can no longer remain behind. The potential benefits of digitalising are clear—increased productivity, safer operations, and cost savings. With weak oil prices and marginal operational gains, one of the most significant advantages of adopting digital technology could be the flexibility these technologies offer to withstand the plunges that the oil industry suffers.

The industry is in some form of a digital revolution with solutions being developed using emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), machine learning, and the internet of things (IoT). We are witnessing an explosion of ideas and innovations in many areas of oil and gas operations.

The revolution, I believe, will continue

as many new transformational ideas are springing up in areas including technologies in downhole and surface equipment gauges for data acquisitions, digital well planning platforms that allow collaboration among crossfunctional teams, big data analytics, robotics, and process automation to reduce human interventions in routine processes, drone technology for remote monitoring and data acquisition in challenging environment, wearables, cloud computing, and blockchain technology. We all need to brace up for the oil and gas industry’s future with digital innovations and advancement. A new day is coming to the oil and gas industry, I will say.

As a Drilling Engineer, with specialisation in deep water, what does your work entail?

Let me answer this in a broader perspective and will narrow down my re-

sponse to deepwater operation specifically. A drilling engineer manages the process of design and construction of oil and gas wells. Well design involves processes from initial conceptualisation to evaluating design alternatives and developing viable alternative and field execution of the approved plan.

The deepwater aspect is the operating environment, such as land, swamp, shallow water offshore, and deepwater. The offshore fields are categorised based on the water depth, where the drilling rig operates.

I have worked on projects in most environments, but I spent more time in the business’s deepwater area as a Field Drilling Engineer, managing oil and gas wells’ execution. I oversee the execution of well plans and provide engineering support to the rig operation while coordinating equipment and material logistics. To put in

plain language, we make a hole in the ground to reach the hydrocarbon tank underground and install conduits to the surface to enable oil production into surface tanks.

What is the most challenging project you have delivered? How did you feel after delivering such a project?

I will rather say every project I have been involved with presented different and unique challenges. The business of getting oil and gas out of the ground is very challenging. No two wells are the same, no matter the similarities in design, location, and complexity index.

There is something peculiar about every well. To answer your question, all well projects are uniquely challenging. A good one to talk about will be a drillship reactivation from cold stack to start operation with an Intelligent Well Completion (IWC). Being the first time this was done by any operator globally, there was no data to benchmark, and there were lots of deliverables in a short period, and so many loose ends with moving targets.

It was complicated coordinating those activities, ensuring the project timeline was not exceeded. The timely and successful rig reactivation and subsequent excellent performance archived by the rig once operational make me and every team member feel remarkable about such a feat.

What would you remember as the biggest challenges you have ever faced in your career? How did you resolve them? Have you ever thought of quitting? Any incident that made you want to quit?

Overcoming challenges is the aura of the drilling engineering profession.

I will say we face challenges every day on the job, and we strive to overcome them. I see all challenges as the same; no one is greater. The bottom line is to drill and complete wells safely and efficiently. We manage many uncertainties in this business, and every unplanned eventis an integral part of it. Though we carry out detailed risk assessments and mitigate risks based on proven technologies and processes, some inherent risks, especially those related to mother nature, cannot be identified and often lead to operational challenges.

The significant risk that keeps a drilling engineer up at night is the loss of well control. We design and execute wells to maintain the well’s primary control by keeping the bore full of the right fluid at all times and with hydrostatic pressure high enough to balance the bottom hole pressure of the reservoir. In addition to the hydrostatic pressure, we make sure the Blow Out Preventer (BOP) and other well control equipment installed on the well are tested and functional to prevent loss of containment if the primary well control barrier fails. As a drilling engineer, I will conclude by saying that

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NewsXtral

Creation of new wards is to correct imbalance in Delta - Okowa Mercy Enoch

examples to others?

“The act of leading requires deep thought, sincerity and leadership quality because there is a difference between an orator and the person who is able to lead.”

On agitation by the youths that Delta’s contribution to the daily oil production quantum of the country should be declared, the governor said that the state government had made representation to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) for the information.

According to him, the state government has written to DPR but we are yet to receive a response from

them.

He deplored the delay by DPR in providing the information, saying that such delay was part of the demands by #ENDSARS protesters in the state, because it is known that new discoveries of oil wells were made in the state recently.

“We have written to DPR to correct the abnormality; we have not heard from them, but we will intensify efforts towards ensuring that they review it because it is not right to continue to rely on the same oil production quantum.

“We have had lots of new discoveries and oil production in large quantities in several communities and these have not been factored in the state’s production quantum,” the governor said. Earlier, Commissioner for Youths Development, Ifeanyi Egwunyenga, had in his welcome remarks, said “the more we increase the active participation and partnership with young people, the better they are served”.

He added that the town hall meeting was designed to establish a sense of communication between the government and the youths in realisation of the critical role they played in nation-building.

Participants at the meeting agreed that the ENDSARS protests were as a result of impunity of security operatives, particularly the extortion and brutality by the disbanded SARS and corruption at all tiers of government, resulting in hardship in the country.

crease in subsea development solutions and digital innovations to drive productivity and safety. The deepwater oil and gas projects are expected to witness a significant growth rate in the next 5-10 years due to upcoming deepwater exploration and production projects in the countries like Brazil, Guyana, Nigeria, and others. Factors, such as technological improvements and improved economics of deepwater and ultradeepwater projects, several emerging markets are actively supporting the development of deepwater and ultra-deepwater reserves.

Are you involved in any form of mentorship of young people, whether in Africa or abroad, as a way of giving back to society? What is the focus of this mentoring programme, if there is such, and how is it structured?

Yes, I do. I am informally involved in mentoring young Middle/ High schoolers in the US. I work with the kids as a personality coach, and guide them using a personality diversity indicator tool and E-colors process to help them identify different personality styles, understand themselves and those around them better. The informal programme allows kids to improve their communication skills, build better relationships, and work more efficiently.

What’s your family life like? We know it could be quite a bit of a challenge for people in your pro-

fession, especially when you must be on a project for a long time?

I have a beautiful family of four, two great kids, my wife, and myself. I cannot discount the sacrifice they have been making through my career journey so far. You know how it is for oilfield families. I have worked rotational assignments for most of my career, and this means I missed so many important events in the life of family members – birthdays, graduations, anniversary, and more. So, the challenges are very evident, but I tend to maintain the work-life balance and still be there for the family as much as I can. Being on the job that takes you away from the house for several months in a year, communication is crucial to maintain a family balance and make myself available for that daily even with time zone difference sometimes through phone and video calls.

How rewarding is your job, given the risks involved?

Rewarding enough to pay my bills.

Helping my teams achieve excellent results in safety, reliability, and efficiency in delivering business objectives throughout my career has been fulfilling. We work in a high-risk environment, but we have processes and procedures in place to identify risks, thoroughly assess them and eliminate if possible or mitigate them to an acceptable level to prevent injury to personnel or damage to equipment.

D

elta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa has said that the ongoing process for the creation of new wards in the state was to correct the imbalance in ward delineation in some local government areas.

The governor made this known in Asaba, at a Town Hall meeting with representatives of #ENDSARS protesters, civil society groups, students, social groups, community youth leaders and other stakeholders in Delta North Senatorial District.

He explained that by existing law, every local government area in the state should have a maximum of 20 wards, adding that the ongoing process by Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DESIEC) was to correct some wrongs.

Okowa expressed the optimism that the Electoral Bill would be signed by President Muhammadu Buhari this time, and said that the refusal to sign it before the 2019 general elections was political.

For any election, he appealed to leaders to build consensus or conduct free and fair primary elections for aspirants to avoid imposition of candidates and to ensure that youths didn’t spend much to contest in the processes. “I agree that there is need to re-work our electoral processes but we need to re-engineer our minds because we have lost it and it’s time we began to talk to ourselves.

Okowa addressing youths of Delta North Senatorial District during a Town-Hall meeting held at Government House,

“The electoral amendment law wasn’t signed because of politics but I am sure it will be signed this time and so as youths, you must get yourselves engaged so that we can get them closer into politics,” he stated.

Okowa told the youths that politics was about learning along the line and picking the good things seen in good politicians and throwing away the bad.

“You must truly begin to organise yourselves in truth with a common goal and focus and whoever you select must stand for the common good of others. “We are building a new Nigeria with the youths and we

must shun acts capable of reducing us when we leave office.

“We will continue to allow youths, including females, to be part of the governance process because in learning you are building yourself for the future. “If you are a youth and you want to be active in politics you must respect your leaders and you must learn to pray a lot,” he said.

The governor further said: “I am encouraged to see many more youths go into politics and I hope it is for the right reasons. I know we have some youths representing their people but are they showing

Interview

Emerging technologies are fueling...

I am quite aware of the challenging environment that we operate in and wake up every day to face and overcome them as they show up. The biggest concern will always be a well-control situation, which I have handled on a couple of occasions in my career.

Quitting this career has never crossed my mind, not even once. I take every challenge in the job with grace, learn from, and unto the next.

You have worked in the oil and gas industry both in Nigeria and abroad for about 15 years now.

What has your experience been and what would you term your greatest achievement so far?

Working in the oil and gas industry has been very intriguing. I have been most thrilled by the composition and diversity of the teams across the industry globally. I had the opportunity to work with different groups, and the level of expertise you get in the industry from people all over the globe has been mind-blowing. It feels like home everywhere you go; technology, processes, and personnel competence are almost identical, making intercontinental transfers a lot easier. Language and cultural differences can be a significant barrier in working abroad, usually in non-English speaking nations. The language barrier in communication was on full display when

I was in South East Asia for a Thailand experience. However, diversity and inclusion highly beneficial for the oil and gas industry; we have more in common than what separates us.

You have worked on different projects with different teams in the US and Nigeria. How has your experience working overseas helped in your new role?

The collaboration opportunity in this industry is ample for me. Working with different cross-function teams in the US and Nigeria has been a thing I desired most about my role. I have borrowed a lot of experience from factory-drilling model in some US operations where wells are grouped by type and batched to enhance efficiency and performance. Though my operation in Nigeria is not factory-based, many principles were borrowed from the factory model to improve efficiency and drive performance.

What would you term the biggest drawback of Deepwater Drilling Engineers in Africa, if any?

Sincerely, I cannot see any drawbacks for deepwater drilling engineers or even any drilling engineer in Africa.

Speaking about technical competence, we have incredibly competent people worldwide, and Africa is not an exception. A deepwater drilling engineer in Africa, if given equal opportunity,

will perform excellently well compared to peers in other regions; just like a famous saying, drilling is the same everywhere you go if the bit is turning to the left. But dialing it back a bit, there are fewer deepwater operations in Africa than some other parts of the world, limiting the development opportunities for deepwater drilling engineers to acquire a specific skill set peculiar to deepwater drilling.

What would you say is the future of Deepwater Projects? How prepared are you for this future?

The near-term forecast for deepwater projects will broadly tie to the industry’s current trends and uncertainties surrounding oil prices amid COVID-19 pandemic, among other factors. Generally, deepwater projects, being high risk, high cost, and long cycle projects, are primarily affected by political and economic instabilities, growing demand and utilisation of renewable energy, shale oil demand, fluctuating crude oil prices. New deepwater projects are being rolled back by companies because they are costly, and economics for such projects will not be viable in the short term and instead, invest in low risk, low cost, high yield, and short-cycle projects. The longerterm trend shows more deepwater developments and a continued in-

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Sunday 01 November 2020

National carrier: Another white elephant project amid downtime in aviation sector

O

IFEOMA OKEKE

ver two years after the Federal Government launched ‘Nigeria Air,’ the country’s supposed National Carrier which never saw the light of day, stakeholders have again counted the project among the failed projects in the aviation industry.

Investigations show that Nigeria Air was suspended by the Federal Government because members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) were divided on the modalities for its establishment.

While some believed that the Federal Government should invest and sell the equity later, others were of the opinion that investors should buy into it and they will be given the franchise.

While Nigeria Air was not the only failed attempt by the Federal Government to set up or run a successful national carrier, other attempts have failed over power play, government intervention, lack of management and unhealthy competition, amongst others.

Proposed national carriers and the ones that have gone into extinction include Nigeria Airways, Air Nigeria, NewCo, Nigerian Global, Nigerian Eagle, Virgin Nigeria, Air Nigeria, Nigerian Eagle, Nigeria One and Nigeria Air. Richard Branson, the chairman of Virgin Atlantic said: “We have virgin’s ill-fated footsteps by setting up a new airline in Africa in conjunction with the Nigerian government.

The details of the doomed attempts to crack the Nigerian market are better imagined. We put together a very good airline- the first airline in West Africa that was ever IOSA/IATA operational safety audit accredited but unfortunately it got tied down to the politics of the country. We led the airlines for 11 years.”

According to Branson, “We fought a daily battle against government agents who wanted to daily make fortune from us; politicians who saw the government 49 percent as a meal to seek for all kinds of favour, watchdogs (regulatory body) that didn’t know what to do and persistently asking for bribes at any point.”

He disclosed that N3billion was realised for the Federal Government of Nigeria during the joint venture and the government didn’t bring anything to the table except dubious debts by the previous carrier, Nigeria Airways He regretted that the joint venture should have been the biggest African carrier by now if the partnership was allowed to grow, but the politicians killed it.

FG again plans to set up national carrier 2021 It was therefore, with surprise that stakeholders and experts in the aviation sector received news that Hadi Sirika, the minister of avia-

tion, gave indication to float a new national carrier next year as part of its roadmap for the aviation sector in the 2021 budget. The Federal Government had disclosed plans to float Nigeria Air, among other aviation critical projects by 2021. The projects got N78b in 2021 budget.

The national carrier was intended to replace the defunct Nigeria Airways that ceased operations in 2003.

The replacement was designed as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with the FG likely to own as much as 10 percent stake.

The national carrier is also featured in the N27 billion bailout fund earlier proposed for the aviation sector in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic.

FG cautioned against setting up national carrier Experts have argued that considering the challenges the sector is facing as airlines struggle to recover from the impact of Covid-19 and passenger traffic dropping to as much as 50 percent, another project as huge as a national carrier may amount to a white elephant project.

They wonder if there is any sense in implementing the national carrier plan at this time of lean resources, downtime of global aviation and scarcity of credible investors.

They say resources that will be channelled to this project should rather be used to build airport infrastructures and help support local carriers like Air Peace that is already making giant strides by representing Nigeria in other parts of the world.

John Ojikutu, a member of an aviation industry think-tank group, Aviation Round Table (ART) and chief executive of Centurion Securities, told BusinessDay SUNDAY this is not a time to be talking of national carrier when air passengers have dropped by more than 50 percent and most airlines are shedding weights of fleet and manpower.

Ojikutu also explained that the finance for such ventures is not available in developing countries that would need such money for pressing social services needs of the

majority of their people.

He therefore, advised that rather than spend such money on a national carrier, the government should look at how to improve the aeronautical landing facilities of many of the country’s airports that do not offer night landing facilities for the domestic airline operators, adding that there are over 12 of such airports.

“With our population compared to South Africa and Mexico, we need to encourage domestic air travelling now more than international; the Nigeria 26 airports do not carry up to 20 million passengers, whereas Johannesburg Airport of SA alone carries more than 22million passengers.

“We can begin to develop our domestic airlines as flag carriers through regulations. A good economic audit for three to four years should qualify a domestic airline for regional; a further success of another three years economic audit should further qualify the airline for continental and further same to qualify it for intercontinental routes. It should no longer be automatic for any airline to be designated as a flag carrier,” Ojikutu said.

For Seyi Adewale, chief executive officer of Mainstream Cargo Limited, implementing a national carrier would create jobs both direct and indirect and may lead to potential good aircraft purchase deals at this period but getting credible investors will require Nigeria setting up its own criteria for its choice of investors and set terms the country will be unwilling to accept.

Adewale however, suggested that domestic carriers can be empowered by the government by asserting or incentivising foreign airlines to code-share with them.

Measures to put in place to ensure private-owned airlines survive Rather than setting up a national carrier, aviation operators have called on the government to create an enabling environment for domestic airlines to survive.

Nogie Meggison, former chair-

man Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), said some of the major issues that need to be addressed to grow the industry include: removal of Value Added Tax as domestic airlines were the only mode of transport still paying it; and review of the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge to a flat rate in line with the global best practices as well as harmonisation of over 35 multiple charges which add huge burdens on airlines, among others.

Nogie said, “A clear economic policy for the survival of domestic airlines is very critical at this time which has resulted over the years in the death of over 25 airlines in 30 years. Investors are in the business of aviation for the profit and can’t make a profit without safety or have a safe airline without profit.

“These are some of the main reasons for the short life span of Nigerian airlines averaging about eight years. With the growth in demand for domestic air travel, Nigeria can become the hub for Africa and easily make aviation the fourth contributor to the economy and a major contributor to the Gross Domestic Product as well as create 200,000 new jobs for our ailing youths through its direct and indirect link.”

Seyi Adewale, another aviation expert, said airlines at this period can be supported by the government through deliberate sourcing, loans, grants, tax waivers, special forex windows and rates, airport infrastructure deliberate upgrades or construction, and reduction of airport taxes or surcharges.

Adewale stated that locally and in Nigeria, the government can consider expanding the definition of aircraft spare parts to include other important aircraft items such as brake ASSY, safety appliances, rafts, aircraft tires in order to enjoy 0 percent duty waivers.

“In consultation with relevant bodies, companies and associations, increase the seven - day grace to clear cargoes to 14 days and reduce the Airport Authority concession fee from five percent to 2.5 percent with at least three months

concession payment - free period.

This frees cash for aviation service providers that are tenants to these airport authorities,” he explained.

Why Air Peace giant strides must be encouraged As stakeholders advise the government to give a second thought to the idea of setting up a national carrier, they have also acknowledged the strides made by domestic airlines, especially AirPeace that have continued to represent the country internationally, they say airlines like Air Peace should be given the treatment accorded to a national carrier.

Air Peace is the most stable of the airlines and it is not by accident that the airlines account for about 40 per cent of 2018 total passengers on the local front.

Indeed, the airlines led the way with an unprecedented investment in aircraft in its bid to make a strong case for Nigerian flag carriers on regional and international skies, even as no city is left behind on the home front.

To this effect, the airline recently placed a firm order for 10 brand new Embraer 195-E2 aircraft. The order comprises purchase rights for another 20 E195-E2 jets. Also, 124-seater jet in dual class and 146-seater jet in single class configurations respectively. With all purchase rights exercised, the contract is valued at N640.5 billion ($2.12 billion) based on current list prices.

The carrier also set a regional record in September 2018 when it ordered 10 brand new aircraft from Boeing, increasing its fleet size then to about 37 aircraft. With the new order, Air Peace’s fleet size has increased to 67 aircraft.

Air Peace had earlier set a domestic record as the first Nigerian airline to acquire and register the Boeing 777 aircraft in the country.

Three of the four wide-body aircraft it acquired for its long-haul operations to Dubai, Sharjah, Johannesburg, London, Houston, Guangzhou, and Mumbai have so far been delivered.

Industry stakeholders though, marveled at the unparalleled investment in capacity, they are optimistic that the 14 million passenger record may as well double in a year when at least half of Air Peace new orders join the current operating fleet.

The country which currently flies into the United Arab Emirates, (UAE) announced that it will be commencing regular commercial flight operations from its Lagos hub into the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, soon, in keeping with its vision to provide seamless connectivity across cities.

It is therefore, instructive to query the existence of a national carrier where there are capable airlines already not only representing the country but also creating job opportunities.

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businessdayng

NewsXtra My ordeal in the hands of hoodlums – Ndoma-Egba MIKE ABANG , Calabar

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he immediate past chairman of the Niger D e l t a D e v e l o p m e nt Commission (NDDC), Vic tor Ndoma-Egb a has lamented the destruction of his personal residence in Calabar, Cross River State, by hoodlums, saying the intruders broke into his house “and looted it to the ground, leaving only the bare floor.”

In a statement he personally signed and made available to our reporter at the weekend, the former Senate Leader expressed shock at the alleged level of “aloofness glaringly displayed by security agencies” during the looting.

“All the toilets, baths, pumps and indeed every imaginable fitting were removed as were items of furniture, clothing, a huge collection of mainly rare, out-of-print books, documents and historic photographs. They also removed all the windows, railings, family pictures and burglary proofs.

Ndoma-Egba

Even my private chapel was not spared,” he mournfully stated.

According to him, “They set the cars ablaze and parts of the building after more than four hours of uninterrupted operations in my house. It was methodical. The destruction of my house was clearly

premeditated, wanton and unjustifiable but I understand the anger in the land especially amongst our youths.

However, if looting and burning my home will better their lives and bring positive change to our land then it is a sacrifice my family and I gladly make.”

He said the destruction happened despite the fact that he had earlier informed security agencies in Calabar on the planned attacks.

“At about 2 am (local time, as I was abroad) on Saturday, October 24, 2020, I received a text informing me that there were plans by arranged hoodlums to attack my residence in Calabar, that of Senator Gershom Bassey and a hotel owned by Senator John Owan Enor.

“I promptly forwarded the texts to Senators Bassey and Owan Enoh.

I also called the security agencies in Calabar to apprise them of the information. Calabar, from my information, was already tense from the previous day’s break-in into warehouses storing Covid-19 palliatives and the subsequent breaching of shops and other businesses,” he further said.

LASAA remains the regulatory Agency for billboards, signages in Lagos State - Docemo

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he Management of Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA) has said it has become necessary to reassure stakeholders in the outdoor advertising industry in Lagos State that they are still in charge of regulating outdoor advertising and signages in the state contrary to the spurious claim of a notable Lagos politician that Loatsad Media regulates and controls the erection of billboards and signages in Lagos.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of LASAA, Adedamola Docemo, in a statement issued by the Agency yesterday, said there was no iota of truth in an interview granted to Arise TV recently by a former Military Governor of Ondo State and chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George which claimed that Loatsad Media now regulates and controls the erection of billboards and signages in Lagos.

Docemo explained that Loatsad Media Limited, owned by Seyi Tinubu is merely one of the companies that has subjected itself to the rigorous process of registration with LASAA alongside over 200 other practitioners too numerous to mention in the

outdoor advertising space in the state.

This is available in our registry and on our website, www.lasaa.com He stated that the current relationship with the Outdoor Advertising Agency of Nigeria (OAAN) is a testament to the fairness the agency has demonstrated in its regulatory functions. “Our relationship today with OAAN is a manifestation of our commitment to collaboration and professionalism in the last 14 years of our operations. We have indeed achieved so much in this regard “.

He said that since the company is duly qualified to practise in the state, it would be unfair to deny it registration based on the personality of its owner.

He added that LASAA regulation provides a level playing field for all players, saying that “it is therefore, nothing more than wishful thinking, for any individual to insinuate that the Agency has yielded its fiduciary responsibility to an advertising company that it regulates. We believe in a liberal market economy where all players will compete for the benefit of the market.” The Managing Director stressed that the LASAA model of operation has become a model template for many states to adopt in their effort to achieve sanity in their states.

CJN says judiciary’s role vital in banking transactions, movable assets

Amotekun: Oyo releases names of successful candidates, two weeks training begins Tuesday

...Seeks timely dispensation of justice in commercial transaction

REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan.

Felix Omoh-Asun

J

ustice Muhammad said the financial sector and the entire economy stand to benefit from quick dispensation of justice in commercial or business transactions.

He spoke at the opening ceremony of the World Bank/CBN 2-Day Specialised Virtual Workshop for Judicial Officers on Secured Transactions in Movable Asset (STMA) and Credit Reporting Reforms in Nigeria.

The virtual workshop was themed, ‘The Role of the Judiciary in Ensuring the Effectiveness of the Secured Transaction in Movable Assets and Credit Reporting Act’.

The CJN said credit reporting reforms in Nigeria require special attention from the judiciary.

According to him, credit reporting reform is a critical position in the economy given that movable assets are involved.

He said small businesses in the country require access to credit to thrive and the rights of the relevant parties to a transaction must be protected.

The CJN said the importance of the judiciary to the financial sector cannot be over-emphasised.

“Against this background, I wish to state that potential investors often hinge their decisions to come to Nigeria on enforceability of their rights in any commercial venture.

“Therefore, courts must be versed with credit transactions principles, especially with the passage of the STMA Act and Credit Reporting Act, 2017.

“This means that there is need for

the judiciary to be strengthened to help the financial sector protect credit transactions. The financial sector and indeed the entire economy stand to benefit from quick dispensation of justice in commercial or business transactions,” the CJN said.

According to him, “As access to credit is necessary for the economic development of Nigeria, it behoves the judiciary to protect parties to a transaction and ensure fair and ethical standards. The purpose of both Laws is to facilitate and promote access to credit and enhance risk management in credit transactions. The protection of the rights of parties in a credit transaction would promote responsibility in the market and encourage responsible borrowing.”

The Administrator of the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Justice Roseline Bozimo commended the management and staff of the Juris Law Office for sustaining the mutual cooperation and collaboration in organising workshops for Judicial Officers, thereby contributing in no small measure to deepening the jurisprudence of our Judicial Officers.

O

yo State government has released the names of successful applicants for the local security outfit codenamed, ‘Amotekun’ Corps.

The process of documentation for the candidates would commence on Tuesday.

The Commandant of the Amotekun Corps in Oyo State, Colonel Olayinka Olayanju in a statement in Ibadan said that all candidates are to check their names at their various local government headquarters or through the Oyo State job portal.

According to the statement, successful candidates are to report at the Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo on Tuesday, November 3, from 9:00 a.m. for documentation, while the duration of training will be two weeks.

“Candidates are to come with two pairs of blue shorts (knickers), white vest and canvass, as well as plastic buckets, cup, plate, spoon and broom.

“Those who can read and write should come with their writing materials,” Olayanju said.

The statement added that those whose names are not on the list should

Members of the Oyo State House of Assembly dressed in full leopard skin regalia, recently.

not bother to come for the exercise Governor Seyi Makinde had last Tuesday disclosed the recruitment of 1,500 persons into Oyo State Security Network also known as Amotekun.

The governor said: “Oyo State has passed a law for the operation of Amotekun. Only yesterday (last Monday), I signed off for them to immediately recruit 1,500 personnel.

They have conducted an interview and I am sure that personnel will start their training by the 1st of November and we

will have the passing out for them about the 15th of November.”

According to him, “We have 351 wards in Oyo State and I give you the assurance that you will see an Amotekun operative in all the wards in the state. They will work hand-inhand with the Police authority, but they will also report to me directly. And I will take the responsibility for their actions. If any Amotekun operative in any corner of Oyo State behaves unruly, hold me accountable.”

Alleged cross border looting triggers war of words between Akwa Ibom, Cross River ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo

Muhammad

A

llegations of cross border looting by the Cross River government against protesting youths said to be from Akwa Ibom State have triggered a war of words between the two sister states, according

to statements issued in Calabar and Uyo, respectively.

Akwa Ibom and Cross River states recorded massive looting by protesters who in addition set many buildings on fire in the capital of the two states but that of Calabar is said to have been unprecedented with the entire office of The Nigerian Chronicle, published by the Cross

River government burnt down during the protest. According to findings, the protesters broke into The Nigerian Chronicle office along Barracks road in Calabar after finding out that it was serving as the storage centre for the state emergency management agency’s office housing relief materials as well as palliatives donated to the state government by the federal government.

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Sunday 01 November 2020

2020 US election: Why it concerns you, a Nigerian Asogwa Felix

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he question may be asked, why should I a Nigerian be concerned about the American Elections? The answer is very simple and arose from the concern I have for the widespread unawareness and ignorance of the weighty issues involved and the global impact of whoever becomes the American President and how we can influence it, with our prayers and sacrifices. It is precisely the lack of adequate information even among the elites that led a good friend of mine, who is so generous and so Catholic that he is single handedly building a church worth millions of naira for his local community, to be supportive of Biden until he read my expose on the adverse global implications of a Biden Presidency. In the face of undeniable evidence of the harm, which Biden Presidency portends, he replied, “Ok let the will of God be done too. Trump can win. Biden can win.

Whoever wins let’s take it that way. No further comments on that. I don’t have voting right in the said election. Dr. Felix enjoy your evening”.

However, the issue is not as simple as my friend makes it appear, more so when we consider that he is still speaking from the position of a partial knowledge beclouded by the misinformation and ethnic/racial prejudices being leveled against President Trump by the media. There are far more serious and life-threatening moral issues involved that have far reaching global consequences. It is an issue that borders on the life and death of innocent children created in the image and likeness of God and as such has an inalienable right to existence conferred by God who created us from nothing. It also borders on obedience to the injunction of Our Father God to love our neighbours as ourselves, and since the first right without which no other right can exist, is the right to life, it follows that the greatest act of charity would consist in defending the life of the defenseless from conception to death.

Why should the winner of the election in America matter to me to such a degree that I had to pray that much and spend so much time writing about it? Well, it is because it borders on the termination of the life of an innocent child in the womb in America with the certainty of its spread as a matter of American foreign policy if a certain candidate wins the election. It also borders on the global spread of gay marriage as a matter of American foreign policy if a certain candidate wins. As well, it borders on the coercion of Christians all over the world, especially in the developing countries to embrace gay marriage and legalisation of abortion as a component of American foreign policy. It borders on the world wide inducement of religious bodies through the enactment of draconian laws to force them to pay for abortions and abortificients for workers in their employment.

As a Catholic Christian, I have always believed in the inviolability of the human life from conception to death since man is not the creator of life but God. Like all Catholics too, I have always believed that all faithful members of the Church are by virtue of the fact of their being baptised into the Church automatically called upon to defend the sanctity of life from conception to death. For me therefore, being a pro-life activist for a Catholic is not a matter of choice but a duty of justice imposed by charity and for which we are accountable to God. The degree of involvement may however, vary from one individual to another, being determined largely by the degree of doctrinal formation to which one is exposed and by personal circumstances.

It was therefore, easy for me in my 4th year in the medical school to see through the antics and diabolical manoeuvres of anti-life organisations that were trying to get the medical students to distribute abortificients and contraceptive materials to rural women and girls during our rural community health outreach programmes. I was then the president of the University of Nigeria Medical Students Association and they tried to induce me with money and other enticement in

Trump

order to do their bidding of distributing these materials to the women in our target communities. They also tried to get us to distribute not only abortificients but also public health education materials campaigning against large families. Of course, I rejected such offers and went even further to educate those involved in such anti-life activities, usually promoted and sponsored by foreign governments and organisations. If there were Catholics involved in such anti-life activities, I usually advise them to stay away from receiving Our Lord in Communion as long as they insist on promoting such anti-life activities as it goes against the teaching of the Church. In the end, my efforts did bear fruit as some of them, especially nurses who were being used as agents to distribute these abortificients withdrew from such practices. It was the sinister motives of these anti-life organisations that were being funded by USAID, UNFPA and some foreign governments and organisations then, before President Trump came into office to clean up the mess, which led me to form an Association of Students for Life on campus dedicated to pro-life issues, while I was still a student in the university. I have remained committed to the propagation of the gospel of life since I left the university because as I said earlier, protection of life from conception to death must be of concern to anyone who calls himself a Christian since abortion, microabortion through the use of arbotificients, euthanasia, artificial contraception, gay marriage among others are all grave sins against God, which renders the sufferings for us by Jesus Christ on the cross nullity and of no consequence. Our indifference and lack of concern for offences against God anywhere in the world is simply a manifestation of little love of God in us and this is particularly painful to Our Lord because it is we who are fortunate enough to know him that should make the effort to get others to know and love him. We should also manifest our love for him by making atonement and reparations for the offences committed against him, instead of remaining aloof on the grounds that we are not Americans and therefore should not concern ourselves with their affairs even when Christ is being openly persecuted by unapologetic support for abortion by a candidate in the Presidential election.

In order to appreciate the dangers posed by the victory of a candidate that supports abortion and its global spread to less developed countries, it will be good to outline the views of Nigerian abortion lobbyists who were very active during the Obama-Biden era, as follows: Campaign Against Unwanted Pregnancy (CAUP) is a pro-abortion group inspired and funded by the MacArthur Foundation - a global pro-abortion Non Governmental Organisation based in the US. It was awarded $920,000 between 1994 and 2006 by foreign organisations for the promotion of abortion activities and legislation in favour of abortion in Nigeria. Under the umbrella of Coalition Against Unwanted Pregnancy, (organised

by CAUP and funded by pro-abortion foreign organisations and governments) an alliance of pro-abortion health professionals, journalists, lawyers and women rights activists, presented a draft law that would legalise abortion in Nigeria

Biden

to the National Assembly in 2009 during the Obama-Biden presidency. This regime also saw to the proliferation of anti-life and pro-abortion NGO’s in Nigeria, but most have since died out since the exit of the duo of Obama-Biden, which dried up the source of funds and in its place is the thriving of pro-life, pro-family and population friendly groups promoting healthy activities for the good and development of Nigeria. It is interesting to note that USAID, which used to be an instrument for the promotion of anti-life and pro-abortion activities during the ObamaBiden era has since become an instrument for the advancement of the good since the regime of Trump. For instance, in its website in 2019 it says, “USAID offers programmes in protecting life and global Health Assistance and Statutory Abortion Restrictions”. It further said, “there are several legislative and policy restrictions relating to abortions - USAID takes these restrictions very seriously and works with missions and partners to ensure compliance in their programmes”. In May 14, 2017, in honour of National Women’s Health week, Trump recognised the importance of providing women access to the best evidence-based health information and care. The following day he announced the expansion of the global gag rule, previously called the Mexico City Policy. This policy (established in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, rescinded

by President Bill Clinton in 1993, re-established

by President George W. Bush in 2001, rescinded

by President Barack Obama in 2009, and now reinstated and expanded by Trump) requires that any overseas organisation that receives US aid cannot even discuss abortion, even if they use foreign funds to do so. In 2019, the US rejected part of a UN resolution designed to help women, because it included a statement that women should be given the option of a safe abortion. Jason Mack, the US representative, told the UN Human Rights Council that President Donald Trump’s administration “does not recognise abortion as a method of family planning nor do we support abortion in our reproductive health assistance “. Bishop Alfred Rotich, head of the Kenyan Conference of Catholic Bishops, at that time, commenting on the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development taking place in Kenya said, “We find such a conference not good for us and it has a destroying agenda for life. There will be about 10,000 people here and we know what they are for, they are not pro-life but they are 10,000 abortionists. They are practitioners of what is against life. Their coming here is to endorse wrong policies” Below are some of Biden’s anti-life and proabortion activities: 1. Shortly after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Little Sisters of the poor in Little Sisters V. Pennsylvania on July 8, Biden (a Catholic) said he was “disappointed by the decision and promised to reinstate Obama-era policies requiring the Sisters to provide birth control, sterilisation, and abortificients drugs to employees in violation of their religious beliefs and consciences.

2. Shortly after his election as vice president, the then Bishop of his home town of

Scranton, PA, rebuked Biden for his views on abortion thus, “I will not tolerate any politician who claims to be faithful Catholic who is not genuinely pro-life. No Catholic politician who supports the culture of death should approach Holy Communion. I will be truly vigilant on this point”.

3. In October 2019, Biden was refused communion at a Catholic Church in South Carolina in accord with a 2004 diocesan policy that prohibits politicians who have been supportive of legal protection for abortion from receiving the Eucharist.

4. At the time Biden was denied communion, his website stated that one of his priorities as president would be to “work to codify Roe V. Wade into federal law” and that “his Justice Department will do everything in its power to stop the rash of state laws that so blatantly violate the constitutional right to an abortion”, including law requiring waiting periods, ultrasound and parental notifications of a minor before abortion.

5. His website also states “Vice President Biden supports repealing of the Hyde Amendment”, as explained below.

6. He also pledged to restore federal funding for Planned Parenthood that had this to say about him, “He has spoken out for LGBTQ+ rights. Biden has committed to champion access to sexual and reproductive rights- including access to abortion. When he left Senate, Vice President Joe Biden had a 100 percent voting record from Planned Parenthood Action Fund”.

7. Obergefell (a woman involved in a gay marriage to another) who was the plaintiff in the historic 2015 case that made gay marriage legal and Judith Kassen-Windsor, the gay marriage “widow” of the plaintiff whose case in 2013 rendered the Defense Against Marriage Act illegal had this to say about Biden. “We won that fight for the freedom to marry because of an ally in the White House, Joe Biden”, calling Biden, the LGBTQ Community’s “greatest ally”.

8. In an NBC town hall, Biden addressed the possibility of Judge Amy Coney Barrett overturning Roe V. Wade if she is confirmed as a supreme court Justice. “Number one, we do not know what she will do, although, the expectation is that she may very well move to overrule Roe. And the only thing, the only responsible response to that would be to pass legislation making Roe the law of the land. That’s what I will do”.

9. Since 1977, Biden has always supported Hyde Amendments which forbids the use of federal funds to fund abortion. However, in June 2019, during his campaign for nomination as the democratic presidential candidate, he announced his change of mind and dropped his support for the Hyde Amendment. In order words, he changed his mind from a long held opinion consistent with his faith as a Catholic to another diametrically opposed to it, which guarantees the use of federal money to fund abortion.

In the light of the above abominable actions of candidate Biden, I do not have any doubt in my mind that anyone who knowing these facts about this man, chooses to ignore them and still goes ahead to vote for him or put his support behind him in any way whatsoever, will definitely have much to answer before God on the last day.

We are all witnesses to the just concluded confirmation hearing for Amy C. Barrett appointed to the Supreme Court by Trump. He also appointed Bret Cavanaugh a knight of the Catholic Church to the Supreme Court, bringing to a total number of three, pro life judges appointed by President Trump to the American Supreme Court. He also appointed over 250 pro-life judges to the American Courts, yet, some people claim that he is narcissistic. He is pioneering global religious freedom with a department set up in the office of the Secretary of State dedicated to this.

Dr. Asogwa Felix, a medical practitioner, lives in Victoria Island Lagos.

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