Nigerian Watch - Issue 047

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THE HSBC FILES

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Bank’s role in Nigeria bribery scandal revealed – p6&7

Your next NIGERIAN WATCH available from March 6

NIGERIAN WATCH THE UK’S LEADING AFRICAN NEWSPAPER WITH THE LARGEST CIRCULATION

BEFFTA COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR 20 Feb - 5 Mar 2015

Issue No 047

‘INEPT’

FORTNIGHTLY To Inspire, Inform and Entertain

‘Ineffective’

‘INEFFICIENT’ ‘CLUELESS’

‘Callous’ ‘Selfish’

nigerianwatch.com

CHURCH FIRST Evangelical Alliance appoints modernising champion Page 15

‘Insensitive’ ‘CARELESS’

‘HE IS DRUNK’ OBJ’s shocking charges against PRESIDENT JONATHAN page 3

THE WAY WE LIVED The museum out to celebrate black Britons Page 9 NIGERIA’S PROBLEMS ARE NOT THE MAKING OF ONE PRESIDENT Emeka Asinugo – p13

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NEWSWATCH UK DIASPORA KEEP CALM OVER ELECTION DELAY WHILE THE US ISSUES STERN REBUKE

NIGERIAN WATCH Publisher Tevin Jemide Publisher/Managing Director Maryanne Jemide Managing Editor Jon Hughes Art Editor Cathy Constable Contributors Obah Iyamu; Harriet Ogbeide; AJ James; Ayo Akinfe; Funmi Odegbami; Samuel Kasumu; Ngozi Mbana; Ekanem Robertson, Jessica Onah, Laura Adenuga; Edel Meremikwu Chief Cartoonist Harold Ogbeide Office address Nigerian Watch Chartwell House 292 Hale Lane Edgware Middlesex HA8 8NP Email editor@nigerianwatch.com marketing@nigerianwatch.com sales@nigerianwatch.com Website www.nigerianwatch.com Tel: 020 8588 9640 Fax: 020 7160 5232 Nigerian Watch is a monthly newspaper owned by Green World Media Ltd. Views expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher.

All rights reserved. No part of the newspaper may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the publisher.

ISSN 2051-4670

While there was disappointment within the UK diaspora over the postponement of Nigeria’s general elections from February 14 to March 28 no one, regardless of political allegiance, believed they had witnessed a peaceful coup.

The US and UK governments, however, issued stern warnings against any further delay.

News of the postponement emerged on February 7 as members of the UK chapters of both the PDP and APC gathered in London for final rallies.

Instead of mobilising their supporters to “phone home” to rally voters to their respective sides, discussion was instead about the postponement.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said the postponement was necessary because security could not be guaranteed on election day, as a result of the level of manpower being deployed in the fight against Boko Haram.

The government responded by saying INEC was not ready, with millions yet to receive their voter cards.

On what should have been election day in Nigeria, February 14, over 50 supporters of the APC gathered outside the Nigeria High Commission in London. They said it would be the first of many rallies to send a message to President Jonathan that Nigerians would not tolerate any further postponements.

“We say any further delay from the scheduled date will definitely be a coup on the Nigerian electorate and should therefore be resisted. We are going to hold more rallies like this one to send a message to this government, led by President Goodluck Jonathan, that we will not tolerate this attitude.We are also calling on leaders like David Cameron and our local MPs to please raise this issue in parliament. They should act now and help us protect our democracy.”

Chief Bimbo Folayan Roberts, Chairman of the Central Association of Nigerians in the UK, told Nigerian Watch, “The postponement will definitely affect a lot of things in Nigeria negatively. For instance, the Naira is in free fall, the economy is at a standstill as so many things are now affected.”

He added, “CANUK is calling on all stake holders to be careful and ensure that this election is not only transparently conducted but seen as completely free and fair.”

Rex Chosen, chairman of the PDP UK chapter said the delay was necessary “so we can be confident of a free and fair election and so INEC can perform its role effectively.”

Philip Idaewar, chairman of the APC UK chapter, while lamenting the delay, called on the party’s supporters to remain law-abiding.

He said the UK chapter would remain vigilant and put pressure on the UK government to help protect Nigeria’s democracy (see above).

The US expressed it’s disappointment in a statement signed by the secretary of state, John Kerry, which said, “Political interference with INEC is unacceptable, and it is critical that the government not use security concerns as a pretext for impeding the democratic process.

“The international community will be watching closely as the Nigerian government prepares for elections on the newly scheduled dates. The United States underscores the importance of ensuring that there are

no further delays.”

Meanwhile, Philip Hammond, Britain’s foreign secretary, said the postponement was cause for concern.

“The security situation should not be used as a reason to deny the Nigerian people from exercising their democratic rights. It is vital that the elections are kept on track and held as soon as possible.”

See Ayo Akinfe’s analysis on page 13

NIGERIA BALLOT PAPERS FOUND IN ESSEX Ballot papers for Nigeria’s impending presidential elections have been found left unsecured and unprotected at the premises of a printer in Essex, England.

Election ballot papers generally fall under the category of “security printing” alongside money, passports, chequebooks, birth certificates and other official documents.

Such contracts are traditionally awarded to bonded printers who can provide a high degree of security both during production and through to delivery.

However, journalists from Sahara Reporters found boxes of ballot papers in Essex.

The website reported, “Although the ballot papers for the presidential elections for several southwest states were seen lying around the premises of the printing company in Essex, a staff at the company, speaking to a correspondent of SaharaReporters, said the firm only had the contract to print some of the ballot papers for Jigawa State.”

Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) awarded the main contract for the printing of the ballot papers to Nigerian firm Cemoz International.

It seems Cemoz decided to sub-contract the project to Panther Printing Services in Rainham, which is not a security printer.

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OBJ SHOOTS FROM THE LIP IN LONDON TO LAUNCH HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY MY WATCH THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA LAUNCHES A DEVASTATING ATTACK ON HIS PROTEGE GOODLUCK JONATHAN “He is drunk.” Three words that have led to the downfall of many a politician. In this instance they could consign two to the dustbin of history, both the subject and author of the charge.

The damning accusation was made by the former President of Nigeria Olusegun ‘OBJ’ Obasanjo about his one-time protege and current President Goodluck Jonathan.

He made the damning allegation on the London leg of the world tour to promote his fantastically priced autobiography My Watch; £75 for the paperback edition of the three volume box set, £95 for the hardback edition.

And like all authors with a book to sell OBJ has been shooting from the lip, causing maximum controversy and maximum damage for Jonathan wherever he goes.

A hint of what to expect in London had emerged only days before when, while launching My Watch in Nairobi, the PDP chieftain was reported as declaring his support for the opposition APC candidate General Muhammad Buhari.

OBJ denied it, as he denied much else by blaming the “messenger” – either the papers and even ambassadors – during the 90-minute audience hosted by the Royal African Society (RAS) at the West End HQ of the Royal Society of Medicine in Wimpole Street.

But he couldn’t disguise his contempt for his one time protege – not least because his interviewer, former FT journalist and RAS Executive President Richard Dowden wouldn’t let him.

“You’re very critical in My Watch of two previous Presidents, Yar’Adua and Jonathan,” said Mr Dowden. “Yar’Adua you describe as ‘tardy, shoddy, selfish, unpatriotic and reckless’ and you describe his presidency as ‘the looting of Nigeria’. These are harsh words.”

He continued, “On President Jonathan you refer to his inability to deal with Boko Haram and you speak of his ‘ineptitude, ineffectiveness, inefficiency, carelessness, callousness, insensitivity, cluelessness and selfishness’. These are very tough words, your words not mine.” Shaking is head OBJ delivered a devastating critique of the man he groomed for power.

“It’s a very bad situation,” he said. “He is drunk. You normally

MY WATCH LAUNCH Q&A CORRUPTION

L-R: RAS chairperson Zeinab Badawi, OBJ and Richard Dowden

talk of a disease. When I was growing up when you had a disease you were given a strong concoction to deal with it. Then you hope it will work.”

He then justified his right to be a harsh critic. “When you have spilt blood for your country and have been imprisoned for that country and then you see people frittering away all the good will. I know, I am not an armchair critic. I have gone through it. I know what can be done and I know what is not being done.”

He continued, “I go round the world and I say, well, Nigeria is not at the table. If Nigeria is not at the table what does Africa do?

Then you expect me to come home and say well done, Jon; I go round the world and they say during your watch Nigeria is not at the table. And I am to say your are doing well.”

Addressing the audience OBJ said, “Of course, that is not what you expect me to do.”

Despite denying he had come out for General Buhari he clearly implied he had when he said, “When the time comes for me to vote I will consider the track record of all the candidates that are contesting and I will assess and based on my assessment of their track record to perform the job of Nigerian President, they will have my vote. And if anyone should know what the job of President requires I should know.”

He then asked, “Why should you die on behalf of one who is probably performing mediocre.”

Challenged that his explosive comments were dangerously overheating the political situation in Nigeria, OBJ defended himself.

“I don’t understand what you mean by overheating the politics, because I’ve never made fire. When things are going bad On February 17, six days after his appearance in London, President Obasanjo announced he was and you cannot speak out you quitting the PDP, the party he helped to create in 1998 ahead of Nigeria’s return to democracy in are an accomplice. What am I 1999. It has won every election since. afraid of that I cannot speak my “Henceforth I will only be a Nigerian. I am ready to work with anybody regardless of his or her mind. If you can prove that I’m political affiliation,” he said in a statement printed in the local media on Tuesday, having reportwrong I’ll be the first to edly torn up his party membership card at his home in Abeokuta, southwest Nigeria, late on Monapologise. Where we are today day. “Without Nigeria there will be no PDP anymore ... What some of us should be concerned shouldn’t people be talking?” about is how to make Nigeria stronger,” said Obasanjo, 77.

In contrast he spoke of PDP spokesman Olisa Metuh said the party was “deeply saddened that Chief Obasanjo, whom General Buhari with respect, the PDP offered the platform to rule our nation for eight years, could decide to abandon this party leaving little doubt as to which at this critical point in time”. The worrying thing is that it could lead to an escalation of his assaults man he would prefer to take against Goodluck Jonathan. He seems ready to pay any price to stop him securing a second term.

Nigeria forward. But irresHis vilification of Jonathan has reached such heights that even the military has rebuked him. pective of the eventual winner A statement issued by Nigeria Defence HQ said, “Much as the military desires to respect the old of the election he was positive General and his views, it has become necessary to point out that his conduct and unguarded utterabout Nigeria’s prospects. ances of late has fallen short of the standard of discipline expected of an individual who has had “Nigeria’s future is rosy, rosy, the privilege of service in the military and risen to the status of a General. The behaviour of retired rosy,” he declared. Having been General (Chief) Obasanjo has been so unbecoming and continues to constitute a serious embarrassthrough a civil war, military ment to the military. We feel constrained to remind the old General that the world has moved becoups and much more beside he yond that parochial and self-adulating reasoning and mindset which he seems stuck to [and] will said the country would emerge like to encourage Chief Obasanjo to be genuinely interested in the growth and sustenance of Nigefrom its current situation ria’s democratic credentials.” stronger and more unified.

OBJ UPDATE

Richard Dowden asked the toughest question of the day when he addressed the issue of corruption and quoted from a Wikileak that alleged OBJ was far worse than Abacha.

Mr Dowden introduced the topic by asking about the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which the former President created and installed Nuhu Ribadu as boss.

Mr Dowden said, “In your book, you call Ribadu ‘the anti-corruption guy, courageous and intrepid’ and say you fully backed him. But a wikileak dated 31/12/07 reveals a conversation between Ribadu and US ambassador to Nigeria Robyn Saunders. In it she says Ribadu told her: ‘Obasanjo really knew how to play the game.

Although he created the EFCC and understood its importance internationally for him. But by far, even more than in the Abacha days, where he was the sole thief, corruption during Obasanjo’s eight years was far worse, because everyone stole and no doubt he did as well. Obasanjo was a political machine. He knew how to play the game for the international community, cover his tracks , and, good or bad, he got it as regards as to what the role of EFCC role was and should be.’ What do you say to that?”

In response the former president questioned who had said that before adding he did not care to believe it from Ribadu.

“You will see the report published in my book of his investigation of me. I will not want to believe this. If it is said by Ribadu I would be surprised..”

He said the Wikileak “is completely contradictory to Ribadu’s report. He said the Metropolitan police came to me and “I allowed them to investigate freely, to their surprise.”

He then added, “If the ambassador said it, well, I know that ambassador’s lie for their own good.”

ABUBAKAR Why had he not groomed his one time VP Abubakar for President, OBJ was asked? His reply, “With what I know about Abubakar, if I had put him forward God would not have forgiven me.”

OIL PRICE Could Nigeria’s economy sustain given the plummeting price of oil? “If we can stop the leakage, even at $50 a barrel we can manage our economy.”

NIDO In answer to the question what role can the diaspora play in Nigeria’s development and affairs, OBJ referenced the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation.

“In 1999, after my election, I went to the UN and I met Nigerians in the diaspora and the question was, how do we make use of your talent, experience and knowledge and then we formed NIDO and they have been doing wonderfully well.”

CHIBOK Asked about the abducted schoolgirls, OBJ gave a fulsome report of events that led to their being taken. He said Boko Haram had come to steal food but when the opportunity to take the girls presented itself they acted. “From midnight until 5am they were looking for vehicles to take the girls away. The government and President must have heard that morning but nothing was done.”

He concluded by saying, “We will never have them together again. Their story will filter out, one or two will come out.

What is important is that we must not forget and also make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

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Dubai clampdown SECOND GRAMMY FOR KIDJO on partying Naijas Nigerian’s unhindered travel to Dubai for regular holidays and parties may be under threat after the emirate introduced new rules of entry – including a ban on single women under the age of 40 entering the country alone.

suffer from jetlag.

Given the nice warm weather that is similar to that of Nigeria and the fact that trips can be hastily arranged without any delays, Nigerians not only go there to holiday but also to hold parties.

However, given the

Dubai is one of the favourite holiday destinations for Nigerians, mainly because they were not required to obtain a visa to enter the country and travellers did not

popularity of the emirate among Nigerians, the authorities have decided to clampdown by introducing new measures to limit the number of visitors.

Under the new regime, all single and unmarried Nigerians who are under 40 years old will be barred from visiting the country unless they are accompanied by someone who is over 40 and bears the same surname with them.

Single ladies and men travelling alone must be 40 years old and above, as must married women travelling with children.

Also, from now visa applications must be subject to approval and once a form is submitted, charges are full applicable.

For Moroccans, Algerians, Libyans, Mauritanians and Tunisians, the minimum age requirement to apply for a visa is also 40.

However, for other nationalities, the minimum age requirement to apply for a visa is 21 for men and 23 for women.

Campaigning world music superstar Angelique Kidjo won her second Grammy at the prestigious music awards in Los Angeles on February 8.

The Beninese singer picked up the World Music Album award for her latest release Eve – a tribute to the continent’s women.

“This album is dedicated to the women of Africa -- to their beauty and resilience.... Women of Africa – you rock!” Kidjo said as she accepted the award at the ceremony in Los Angeles. “For me, music is a weapon of peace, and today more than ever, as artists we have a role to play in the stability of this world.”

It is typical of the lifelong activist who’s musical talent has opened many doors, taking her to the world leaders’ summit in Davos and to meet Michelle Obama at the White House. For over a decade she has been a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, and is also an African Union Peace Ambassador. In 2009 she launched a campaign for African Women’s Rights.

Kidjo last won a Grammy in 2007 for the album Djin Djin, featuring Alica Keys and guitar legend Carlos Santana.

Boost for campaign to end FGM in a generation UK GOVERNMENT FUND LAUNCHED TO BACK DIASPORA CAMPAIGNS AGAINST THIS ‘CRUEL CHILD ABUSE’ Diaspora communities in the UK will receive support to strengthen campaigns to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) through a new scheme backed by the Department for International Development (DfID) in collaboration with The Girl Generation, Development Minister Baroness Northover has announced.

Voluntary and community African groups in the UK are being invited to bid for new grants to support their campaigns to end FGM in their countries of origin.

Backed by The Girl Generation grants of up to £9,000 will be awarded to up to five groups working in Kenya, Nigeria and the Gambia to: l Increase engagement between UK and African communities and organisations to strengthen support for the end FGM movement and grow participation. l Build and strengthen relationships between organisations working on ending FGM on the African continent and the diaspora in the UK. l Support and deliver campaigns in Africa by sharing experience of how to build support to end the practice.

The new grants were announced as part of a wider initiative to end the practice of FGM in a generation, which includes a new five-year research programme that will inform policy-makers and practitioners on how to design new ways to encourage communities in Africa to end FGM. This will be led by the Population Council, and it is hoped the results of the research will help African communities to design efficient and cost effective ways to eliminate the practice.

At the launch of the initiatives, Baroness

FGM – THE SCALE OF THE PRACTICE In the UK more than 500 cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) were newly identified in December.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) – which began recording data last September – said 558 new patients at acute NHS hospital trusts in England were found to have undergone the illegal procedure.

The figure has increased from 466 cases identified in November, but seven more trusts – 131 out of 160 – provided statistics than the previous month.

In total there have been 1,946 newly identified cases since September, of whom 47 were under the age of 18.

The data also showed that 2,146 patients previously identified as having been subjected to FGM were being treated at the end of last month.

The figures relate to any woman or girl who has entered hospital and is then found to have FGM. This includes those who are being treated for FGM-related conditions, and those that are not.

The World Health Organi-

Northover said, “Britain’s African communities are experienced and vocal campaigners against this cruel practice and have made great progress

sation estimates that up to 140 million girls and women have been subjected to FGM, a traditional practice designed to curb sexuality that involves the partial or total removal of the outer sexual organs. The procedure can cause lifelong physical and psychological complications.

Julia Lalla-Maharajh, chief executive and founder of the charity Orchid, which campaigns against FGM, said, “Female genital cutting is a social norm that has profound effects on women's physical and mental health.

“It is deeply traumatic. It results in infections that can be fatal, and can lead to sexual problems, cysts and infertility. But change is happening. Over 7,000 communities across West Africa have said they will no longer cut their daughters. This message can spread widely.”

in ending it here in the UK. “The close links between communities in the UK and in Africa will help to build powerful

grassroots movements that expose FGM for what it is: child abuse.

“At the same time, the new research programme will help support these initiatives by providing vital evidence about what actions we can take to make a real difference to the lives of women and girls.”

The Diaspora Grants Programme is being operated by The Girl Generation, a consortium established by DfID) last year. The Girl Generation aims to galvanise the existing Africa-led, global movement to end FGM by supporting and accelerating campaigns against the practice in 10 of the most affected countries and mobilising the resources needed to end FGM in a generation.

Naana Otoo-Oyortey, Executive Director of Forward, a consortium partner in The Girl Generation, hailed the grant funding.

She said, “The Diaspora Grants will provide an opportunity for African-led organisations in the UK and organisations in the African continent to develop and strengthen their joint working to end FGM. “This grant programme acknowledges the fact that diaspora organisations and individuals have been key players in raising the profile of FGM in the UK and many members of the diaspora are willing and able to contribute skills and expertise to support actions to end FGM in Africa.”

Applications for funding under the Diaspora Grants Programme are open and close on Wednesday April 8. The application form and guidance notes are available on The Girl Generation’s website, www.thegirlgeneration.org For enquiries and further information, write to diaspora@thegirlgeneration.org

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HSBC FILES REVEAL“THE BIGGEST Among the cache of leaked documents from the secretive Swiss banking arm of HSBC that have caused a sensational tax dodging scandal in the UK are documents detailing how it also facilitated accounts for the purpose of bribing Nigerian government officials. They detail how a British lawyer, acting on behalf of a subsidiary of US multinational company Halliburton – then led by Dick Cheyney, who went on to become US vice president under George W Bush – funnelled cash into the pockets of the political elite to win contracts to build the Bonny Island Natural Liquefied Gas Project. Here, a report from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, follows the money and reveals new details about the bank’s role as a conduit for corruption.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

Former US VP Dick Cheyney

Jeffrey Tesler

here is no day when I do not regret my weakness of character,” said a contrite British lawyer in a Houston courtroom. “I allowed myself to accept standards of behaviour in a business culture which can never be justified. I accepted the system of corruption that existed in Nigeria. I turned a blind eye to what was happening, and I am guilty of the offences charged.”

“T

These are the words of lawyer Jeffrey Tesler, who was speaking at the end of his 2012 sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to US corruption charges for his role in what is known as the Halliburton Bribery Scandal.

The case lifted the lid on how a network of secretive banks and offshore tax havens was used to funnel $182 million in bribes to Nigerian officials in exchange for $6 billion in engineering and construction work for an international consortium of companies that included a then Halliburton subsidiary.

In 2010 Nigeria indicted former US Vice President Dick Cheney, who was CEO of Halliburton before he was elected, only to later clear him when Halliburton worked out a $35 million settlement.

Among the recent cache of leaked records from the Londonbased global bank HSBC – which has caused a tax avoidance scandal in the UK – are documents revealing new details about the bank’s role as a conduit for the Nigeria bribes and new details about how Tesler operated.

deals to relishing his relationships with successive Nigerian military and civilian governments.

Tesler began planning the bribe payments in 1994 and transferred small amounts of money through Switzerland in July 1996. But by 2003, his role had escalated.

In one brazen episode in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, Tesler directed the drop-off of a travel bag stuffed with $1 million in $100 bills in the foyer of a luxury hotel where the per-night cost of a suite can exceed the nation’s average annual income of $3,000.

It was one of at least 20 money transfers that Tesler made or directed. The cash was destined for Nigeria’s ruling party via the state-owned oil and gas company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), according to an official Nigerian report.

Months later, in April 2003, the then governing party – the PDP under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo (President 1999-2007) – scored an overwhelming victory in an election marred by vote rigging, fraud and violence.

S

witzerland’s famous bank secrecy laws encouraged Tesler to use the country as base for moving bribe money. And HSBC Private Bank (Suisse), with offices near luxury hotels in Geneva and Zurich, was his preferred bank. When US authorities seized 12 of Tesler’s Swiss accounts in 2013, five were with HSBC – more than any other bank.

The files obtained by Le Monde and ICIJ show that nine people, including members of the Tesler family and Nigerian nationals, held a variety of roles with accounts at HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) between 1990 and 2003 – months before the completion of the gas plant. Nine of the 12 accounts instructed HSBC to keep all correspondence under lock and key in a bank safe.

Despite Tesler being under investigation since 2003, HSBC continued to offer advice, services and cash withdrawals to him and his family, whose accounts with the bank totalled tens of millions of dollars at one point in 2006 or 2007. HSBC advised the family even though its individual files for Tesler and those close to him include references to “criminal cases” and “the Tesler affair”.

Tesler’s wife, Judy, is named in the files as a beneficial owner and a controlling client of two accounts, one of which was opened in 1999 and at one point in 2006 or 2007 held $35.3 million. The files do not specify her role in relation to a third account.

“The cash was destined for Nigeria’s ruling party via the state-owned oil and gas company, according to an official Nigerian report” The files, obtained by the French newspaper Le Monde and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), show ties between Tesler and high-ranking Nigerians not previously named publicly in connection with the scandal, raising the possibility of renewed questions about Nigeria’s handling of the affair.

The Halliburton Bribery Scandal dates back to 1994 when the then Nigerian government launched ambitious plans to build the Bonny Island Natural Liquefied Gas Project.

Tesler was then, in his own words, “a simple lawyer” from North London. He grew from advising UK-based Nigerians on property

As he did with his wife, Tesler also transferred bribe money into accounts in the names of his daughters, according to US and French prosecutors. One daughter, Laura, then a 20something psychology student, according to the leaked files, became a millionaire – at least on paper – through her beneficial ownership of an account under the name of a Panamanian company that held almost $4 million.

Judy Tesler and her daughters were not charged.

On January 14, 2005 – 15 months after Tesler was first identified during a French corruption investigation – Judy Tesler’s agent instructed HSBC to buy and sell investments worth $380,000. This account was frozen due to ongoing criminal investigations, but HSBC staff waived the sale through. Months later, bank staff met with one of the beneficial owners in London, possibly Judy Tesler, to “review portfolios.”

In April 2005, HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) recorded a visit from “JT,” likely to have been Jeffrey Tesler, who collected mail and withdrew more than $10,000 in cash from yet another account.

“If a bank has reason to believe that funds are in any way related to criminal activity, then any transfers in and out of the account should be reported,” Jimmy Gurulé, a professor at Notre Dame University and a former assistant US attorney, said in an interview with ICIJ. “Banks should not permit their clients to benefit from dirty money.”

Gurulé added that the fact the account was later seized by authorities “raises some red flags over why the bank concluded the account wasn’t linked to criminal activity and authorised the sale.”

In response to ICIJ’s questions, an HSBC spokesman said the bank does not comment on specific clients.

T

he leaked files reveal that Tesler had financial ties to two former Nigerian officials: now-retired Major General Chris Garuba, chief of staff to former Nigerian president Abdulsalami Abubakar, who himself allegedly received bribes as president; and Andrew Agom, a senior government official who was killed in an attack on a motorcade. Bank staff also responded to a request from Agom’s widow to unfreeze her husband’s account, whose post was sent to Tesler’s North London law firm and which was marked as subject to criminal investigations into Tesler. The files do not indicate whether or not the account was ultimately unfrozen.

Garuba, a former governor of Northeastern Bauchi state, is now chairman of Obekpa Petroleum, a Nigerian oil company. Before his death, Agom was a board member of the People’s Democratic Party, which controlled the government when this affair unfolded.

Agom was the beneficial owner of an HSBC account linked to

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7

SCANDAL IN NIGERIA’S HISTORY” a Gibraltar-based company, Hemisphere Bonny Island Services Limited, which held a maximum amount of $797,377 at one point in 2006 or 2007. Africa Confidential magazine previously named a company known as Hemisphere Services (Nigeria) as a “recipient of largesse” from Tesler after viewing documents disclosed to the magazine during a French corruption investigation.

Agom’s account was opened in 1991, on the same day that an account was opened in the name of former Nigerian Air Force Chief, Abdullahi Dominic Bello. A Nigerian government investigator has previously described Swiss accounts held by Bello as a conduit for “slush funds”. The investigator did not specifically mention HSBC. A spokesman for Bello told ICIJ that the account, which was used for business purposes and opened by Tesler when he was Bello’s lawyer, had never been used for slush funds or bribes. “At no point has Mr Bello been charged to any court over the bribery scandal,” said the spokesman, adding that, “it must be a coincidence that Mr Agom and [Bello’s company] opened an account the same day.”

The HSBC files identify Chris Garuba and his wife Rita as HSBC clients; their names are listed along with Tesler’s in an account named Bridlington Enterprises Limited, for which Tesler acted as an attorney. The files show that the account was opened the year before Tesler sent his first bribe payment to Switzerland, although the files do not show that Tesler transferred money into the Bridlington account, which held as much as $367,547 in 2006 or 2007.

Chris and Rita Garuba did not respond to ICIJ’s requests for comment.

Tesler was sentenced to 21 months in prison and he forfeited $149 million from his Swiss accounts to the US government for serving as the go-between for bribes paid to secure contracts for KBR, the former Halliburton subsidiary, and the other consortium members, the Japanese firm JGC Corporation, Paris-based Technip, as well as Italy’s ENI S.p.A. and its Dutch subsidiary Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V. The forfeited money is still to be paid.

B

etween 2009 and 2011, the consortium members paid penalties totalling more than $1.5 billion for their role in the bribery scheme. Two KBR officials who had worked with Tesler, Wojciech Chodan and Albert (Jack) Stanley, KBR’s former chairman and CEO, were sentenced to one year of probation and 30 months in prison, respectively.

Cheney had been chairman and chief executive of Halliburton, the parent company of KBR, for five years – from 1995 to 2000 –

UK AGENCY ACCUSED OF FUNDING CORRUPT COMPANIES IN NIGERIA A government agency tasked with funding overseas development has been accused of fuelling corruption in Nigeria by MPs on the Public Accounts Committee.

The Department for International Development (DfID) faces damning criticism for failing to examine the financial management of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), the agency tasked to fund large projects in developing countries.

MPs on the PAC heard allegations that £19m of PIDG money may have ended up with a firm associated with the convicted money launderer James Ibori, because of a failure of control.

Separately, the agency gave nearly £20m to another company named as a suspect in a Nigerian financial inquiry into allegations of looting of the country’s oil revenues, the report said.

MPs also complained that PIDG board members had been allowed to run up tens of

thousands of pounds in air fares for fully flexible businessclass tickets. Between January 2011 and July last year, more than £75,000 was paid out on just 15 flights.

Margaret Hodge, the committee’s chair, said that DfID’s performance had been unacceptably poor.

Civil servants had been unable to demonstrate that UK taxpayers’ money was being used for its intended purpose of helping the world’s poorest people, she said.

“Every pound that is lost to fraud and corruption is a pound that could have been spent on educating a child, improving health systems or supporting economic development.

“We recognise that PIDG operates in countries where standards of governance can be challenging. However the department’s oversight of PIDG has been unacceptably poor and has left it open to questions about the integrity of PIDG’s investments and some of the companies with which it works.”

PIDG, funded by seven nations including Britain and Switzerland, encourages private companies to carry out infrastructure projects in developing countries.

The report said there was a lack of oversight and a handsoff approach to the fund from ministers and officials. And said that Britain did not exercise its voting rights well to control the funds and had allowed other countries equal voting rights, even though the UK provides 88% of PIDG’s money.

Poor oversight by officials allowed money to sit idle in a bank account rather than funding projects, the committee concluded. Between January 2012 and February last year, an average of £27m of DfID’s money was left sitting in PIDG bank accounts.

Some of the report’s claims have been hotly disputed. A DfID spokesman claimed the alleged links with Ibori had been thoroughly investigated and “absolutely no evidence” had been found to support them, or the claims related to the looting of oil revenues.

However, the committee said that neither DfID nor PIDG had provided documentary evidence to allay MPs’ concerns.

before becoming US vice-president in 2001.

Cheney’s lawyer has asserted repeatedly that his client was not involved. “The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated that joint venture extensively and found no suggestion of any impropriety by Dick Cheney in his role of CEO of Halliburton,” attorney Terrence O’Donnell wrote in a 2010 statement to the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, Tesler, now 66, has served his sentence and returned to England, where he told authorities he would “spend the last few years, which God may graciously grant me, to seek forgiveness.”

Jeffrey Tesler did not respond to ICIJ’s requests for comment.

In Nigeria, anti-corruption campaigners continue to call on authorities to identify and prosecute Nigerian citizens involved in the scandal. While never publicly released, a 2010 Nigerian government document reportedly included three Nigerian presidents, a vice-president, a minister, intelligence chiefs and corporate titans in a list of bribery beneficiaries. The report did not name Garuba or Agom.

“In terms of the personalities and the amount of money involved it is probably the biggest scandal in Nigeria’s history,” Dauda Garuba, Nigeria coordinator at the Natural Resource Governance Institute, said in an interview with ICIJ. (Dauda Garuba has no connection to the Garuba family in HSBC’s files.)

“But although we’ve seen the indictment and conviction of foreign companies and their top executives in Europe and America,” Garuba said, “Nigeria’s own government has not taken action in the very country in which the corruption took place.”

Chief reporter for ICIJ Will Fitzgibbon. Additional reporting Musikilu Mojeed

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NEWSWATCH BELOW: Al Vandeberg, an American of Dutch heritage, travelled to London in the 1970s to photograph the city’s inhabitants for his series of photographs ‘On a Good Day’.

9

RIGHT: ‘This photograph of a black police officer was taken on Camden High Street in North London in 1984

by Normski’ Anderson, who was born in 1966 to Jamaican parents.

THE WAY WE LIVED ABOVE: Young woman seated on the floor at home in front of her television set 1972, Neil Kenlock

Staying Power is a fascinating exhibition of black British experience photographed by black British photographers during the 1950s to the 1990s. It is part of a project to increase the number of black British photographers and images of black Britain in the V&A collection. It aims to raise awareness of the contribution of black Britons to British culture and society, as well as to the art of photography.

Open until May 24 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; www.vam.ac.uk LEFT ABOVE: young black woman BELOW: from the Notting Hill Carnival.

Both from Al Vandeberg’s series ‘On a Good Day’

ABOVE ‘Barry’s Haircut’ comes from the emergence of the skinhead sub-culture which, at first, was racially mixed and inclusive. Photographed by Gavin Watson who grew up on a council estate in High Wycombe.

ABOVE: James Barnon’s 1967 photo of his friend Mike Eghan in front of the ‘Piccadilly Lights’ advertising screens is a joyous and optimistic image of the opportunities of moving to London.

ABOVE: Brixton , in South London, is not just a hub of African-Caribbean culture; there are many people of African descent in Brixton too, and this photo, ‘African Homeboy’ by by Normski’ Anderson, is a striking image of the vibrant colours of African clothing. 1987

Nigerian applicants overwhelm UK scholarship scheme A staggering 3,000 Nigerians have applied for the 39 available places on the celebrated Chevening Scholarship programme, the UK’s High Commissioner to Nigeria Andrew Pocock disclosed on February 10 at a reception party held for the class of 2014.

The Chevening Scholarships Programme was inaugurated in 1984 as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Awards Scheme, FCOAS, and boasts a glittering alumni.

The programme is funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office with the objective of enabling young Commonwealth citizens to obtain a Masters Degree at a UK university.

“The Chevening Scholarship Programme creates opportunities for young people who are already doing well in

their fields. It is to develop leadership skills so that the scholars can bring what they

John Momoh of Channels Television

studied home to develop their country,” Mr. Pocock said.

In response to the high demand, he said the British High Commission was exploring the option of partnering with the Nigerian

private sector to send more young professionals to the UK for studies.

Tom Odemwingie, President of the Chevening Scholars’ Association, thanked the British Government for offering the scholarships to Nigerians.

Chairman of Channels Television John Momoh expressed his delight at being a Chevening scholar, which he said had changed his life story from one of a humble beginning to that of being a successful media entrepreneur.

“From living in a one-room apartment with a family of seven to where I am today, the Chevening Scholarship Programme is one of the catalysts that made that possible,” Mr Momoh said.

He added that the British Council facilitated the loan that he used to acquire the transmitter with which he

started Channels Television.

Past beneficiaries of the award also include Diezani

Alison-Maduekwe, Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, and Sanusi Lamido,

Emir of Kano and a former Central Bank of Nigeria governor.

10

NIGERIAN WATCH 20 Feb - 5 Mar 2015

NIDO chief launches bid to become MP The general secretary of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) Godson Azu has been selected to contest the forthcoming UK general election on behalf of the All People’s Party.

The broadcaster, author and consultant public policy analyst will be fighting the marginal Brentford and Isleworth seat in Hounslow.

The current MP is Conservative Mary Macleod, who won with a majority of just under 2,000 at the last election.

Mr Azu told Nigerian Watch that he will be focusing his campaign on local issues, the key ones being for more social housing in the area, that has undergone rapid gentrification in recent times and for expansion of Heathrow Airport, to boost jobs and the local economy.

Mr Azu has lived in the borough for over decade and as a community activist ran on the APP ticket in last year’s local elections.

The APP is a relatively new party on the UK political scene. It was formed by Prem Goyal OBE JP to “fight for equality

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at the top in all boroughs and constituencies across the UK to ensure minorities, women, young people and working class people are equally and proportionately represented at the top.”

The party uses Southwark as an example. The party says on its website, “It is unacceptable that out of the top 13 political leaders in Southwark, including 12 from Labour, we have only one minority leader. It is an insult to talented minorities that only 10% of political power is given at the top to those who make up 45% of the borough’s population and 70% of Labour’s vote.”

It pledges to fight to give avenues to leadership for all people. Its manifesto focuses on social justice and equality and pledges to scrap the bedroom tax, campaign for more social housing and investment in hospitals and schools.

For more information visit www.allpeoplesparty.co.uk

Parents called on to take up the fight against street gangs and knife crime In the wake of a bloody start to the year, with four teenagers murdered in January alone, campaigning community leader Dr Toyin Idowu of Yac ‘n’ Cay (Youth Against Crime not Crime Against You) has launched a series of meetings to “explore ways to steer children and young people away from street, gun and knife crime”.

The first meeting of the series takes place this Saturday (February 21) between 12-2pm at Kings College London, New Hunts House, Guy’s Campus, London Bridge. They will

continue on the last Saturday of every month throughout the year.

While this inaugural meeting is aimed at parents and guardians although future events will be staged for children and young people.

On Saturday the keynote speaker will be Joan Deslandes, headteacher of Kingsford Community School in Newham. Ms Deslandes will talk about the devastating impact the murder of young people can have on the wider community.

Her school was rocked by the murders of two young pupils in 2007.

Adam Regis, nephew of Olympic

sprinter John Regis was killed on March 17 while 14-year-old Paul died after a gang attacked him outside a block of flats on Good Friday.

The shockwaves from the killings were still being felt in 2012 when a memorial garden in their honour was opened at the school.

The talks are based on the belief that knowledge is power and aims to help parents spot the warning signs that their children are taking the wrong road and how they can help steer them away from potentially fatal trouble.

The long arm of the law finds So Solid Crew murder suspect in Nigeria A man wanted in connection with the murder of Marcus Hall outside a So Solid Crew gig in Luton 14 years ago has been arrested in Nigeria.

Adebayo Ekun, 38, was previously identified by police as wanted for the murder of 18-year-old Marcus who was beaten and stabbed to death on March 21, 2001.

Seven men were convicted in 2002 and 2003 for the

part they played in his murder.

Ekun was arrested in Nigeria recently and is currently in custody awaiting extradition back to the UK. Last year investigators launched a fresh appeal for his arrest, offering a £5,000 reward.

The Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit is working with the National Crime Agency in Nigeria to carry out the extradition process.

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Letters to the Editor Let us know what you think. Put pen to paper and send your letters to: The Editor, Nigerian Watch, Chartwell House, 292 Hale Lane, Edgware, Middlesex HA8 8NP, or email us at: editor@nigerianwatch.com Letters to be included in the next issue must be received by no later than March 2, 2015. Anonymous letters will not be published. Please include your full name, postal address and contact telephone number. Names and addresses can be withheld, if preferred.

Letters may be edited for publication.

Why June 12, 1993 must not be allowed to repeat itself this time around During the June 12 election of 1993, many people died and the country’s system was shot down. To date, 22 years on, Nigeria as a nation is just trying to come out of the dilemma of the annulment of that General Election by the then Military Government.

The world is watching to see whatever we make of our democracy.

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NW COMMENT the world, the fear of God should be our watch word.

Nigerians, by their nature, do not do things easily. Therefore the permanent voters card (PVC) collection should have been attached to various networks such as the opening of bank accounts, school admissions, hospital visits, purchase of airline tickets, obtaining a driver’s licence etc.

If it had been done that way, all the PVC would have been collected within weeks and the apparent reason for postponing the elections would not have arisen.

Unfortunately, people that could give the government and Independent National Electoral Committee good advice are kept away, many in the diaspora.

The coming elections must be free, fair credible and peaceful. To this end, INEC must save Nigeria from a calamity by declaring the rightful winners and whoever wins, should be allowed to takeover.

Those who have stolen public funds should not be seen to be protected but nor should they be put in prison, so long as they refund the stolen money.

Such money, when realised, should be used to provide rural areas with; boreholes for potable water; good roads; health centres; and electricity.

We as a nation need to invest in the remoter regions of Nigeria to halt escalating urbanisation.

W

e are going through a period of uncertainty that is unsettling. The elections in Nigeria have been postponed, America has shouted its disapproval, speculation is rife.

Any one of any number of theories for the delay sound plausible. The spectre of 1993 haunts the stage.

Into the mix throw our former president Olusegun Obasanjo, who has been making increasingly extreme allegations about his onetime protege and current president Goodluck Jonathan.

OBJ’s behaviour is unbecoming of his status.

And rather than succeed in questioning Jonathan's time in office most are now questioning his own erratic outbursts.

He protests too much, in a manner that brings us all into disrepute and one can only wonder why?

Perhaps then the dark cloud of postponement has a silver lining.

Maybe the unexpected delay will allow for a period of calm reflection for both the political elite and electorate.

Maybe that will allow time for rancorous personal disputes to be set aside and for Nigeria to be put first.

And maybe, just maybe, because of that the right result will emerge. We hope and pray that it does.

Maryanne Jemide, MD

Victor Osobu, Borehamwood, via email

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NIGERIAN WATCH 20 Feb - 5 Mar 2015

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NEWS FROM THE NIGERIA HIGH COMMISSION, LONDON

Ambassador backs drive to get more women to enter political arena The recently launched Foundation to get more African, Caribbean and Asian women to enter politics (FAWP) has received the backing of Nigeria’s Ambassador to the UK, Dr Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, OFR, CFR. Following a hugely successful launch at the House of Commons on February 3 – attended by a host of MPs and over 120 people – His Excellency invited the founder Kate Anolue to the High Commission to personally make known his support for her organisation.

Introducing Ms Anolue, the former Mayor of Enfield, to the meeting, Minister for Immigration Mrs Olufolake Abdulrazaq explained “the purpose of FAWP is to address key issues such as gender equality and ethnic minority women in politics.”

Ms Anolue told His Excellency that MPs were “excited” about the project, which had grown from a vision to help bring more Nigerian women into politics to embrace women across Africa, the Caribbean and Asia in response to popular demand.

“Being inclusive is something we women like,” explained Ms Anolue.

She continued, “Politics is about leadership in everything – health, education, society – and we aim to inspire and empower women to take up those leadership roles.”

She revealed that many MPs had committed to running workshops to introduce women to the day-to-day realities of political office and that FAWP would visit primary and secondary schools “so young girls from an early age know that leadership roles are available to them, and achievable.”

She also said that FAWP would like to take its programme to Nigeria.

As an active member of the diaspora, Ms Anolue is of well course known to Dr FROM L-R: Chinelo Anyanwu; Jasmine Assamoi; Christina Adamu; Chuma Mjiali; Pauline Long; Kate Anolue; HE Dr Tafida; Tafida and he Minister immigration Mrs Abdulrazaq; Felicity Okolo; Justina Mutale and Ronke Udofia made reference to “We wish to have more people from her tireless work and many great to the UK. “You came here, served the our country like you, who come here, accomplishments.

“Madam, honourable Kate Anolue, community as a midwife and a make a success of themselves and then who I have admired since my arrival politician and you also thought to go take a little bit of that back to Nigeria here seven years ago for your back home to do something there to to assist the country.”

Dr Tafida then made a donation to willingness to serve the whole share your successes. We cherish you community here and in Nigeria,” he and offer you any assistance you need the Foundation, which had been said. “You are a source of pride to to achieve your ambition for this proposed by Mrs Abdulrazaq to support the training being offered.

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13

NIGERIA 2015 ELECTION SPECIAL: MARCH 28

BEFORE THE COCK CROWS Why is OBJ out to get GEJ? Is the PDP facing defeat in the manner of Gordon Brown’s Labour Party? Is GMB the right man to lead the APC? Journalist and social commentator Emeka Asinugo KSC surveys the choice facing voters in the rescheduled Nigerian elections.

R

ecently, the respected British magazine The Economist analysed the potential of the two main contenders in the 2015 presidential elections in Nigeria – Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) and General Muhammad Buhari (GMB).

The magazine was of the opinion that, given the prevailing circumstances in the country, particularly as they relate to the Boko Haram insurgency and institutionalised corruption, Buhari might be the better of two evils.

The candidates it observes stand out distinctively as symbols of Nigeria’s broken political system, which makes all of the country’s other problems even more intractable.

The main gripes on GEJ are, in summary: l Jonathan has been unwilling to tackle institutionalised corruption; l The Central Bank Governor was sacked for daring to report a missing $20 billion; l Under Jonathan, about 18,000 Nigerians have died as a result of Boko Haram insurgency; another 1.5 million have been

displaced from their ancestral homes; l Under Jonathan, schools were invaded with impunity by Boko Haram and students abducted or killed. Over 200 girls kidnapped from Chibok are yet to return to their families; l Under Jonathan, the value of the naira has continued to depreciate, reaching a climax of

N292 to the pound; l Under Jonathan, the oil wealth has not been fairly distributed; l Under Jonathan the lifespan of the average Nigerian has considerably depreciated; The magazine’s searchlight then beamed on General Buhari, who it said had blood on his

hands. It observed in summary: l Buhari is an ex-general who, three decades ago, came to power in a coup; l His 18-month rule was nasty, brutish and mercifully short; l His economics, known as “Buharism”, was destructive. Instead of letting the currency depreciate in the face of a trade deficit, he tried to fix prices and ban “unnecessary” imports; l He expelled 700,000 migrants under the delusion that this would create jobs for Nigerians; l He banned political meetings and free speech; l He detained thousands, used secret tribunals and executed people for crimes that were not capital offences; l He is said to be a strong advocate of Islamic laws but uses his driver and cook, who hail from eastern Nigeria, as exalted slaves to showcase his tolerance for other religions; That is so far for GMB. And now, back to Jonathan.

Turn to page 14

PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES Is Boko Haram just a convenient excuse for postponing Nigeria’s elections? If they can be defeated in six weeks why was it not done sooner? Ayo Akinfe says the west – and diaspora – are equally as culpable for the delay in the polls that they now denigrate and criticise Nigeria for

1

So, Nigeria’s elections have been postponed and the debate rages on as to whether it is a ploy by the government to rig the result. I must admit that given past precedents, Nigerian governments can do anything, so we must all be vigilant.

tional Electoral Commission (INEC) should have done is postpone the elections in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States and proceeded as planned in other parts of Nigeria. The only problem with that is what if the votes from those three states held the balance of power to determine the outcome of the presidential election?

2

I for one am suspicious of the government’s motives as most of the unregistered voters are in the northeast, which is APC territory, so why is the ruling PDP so concerned about APC voters not being registered?

3 4

7

This picture (left) is from the First Gulf War. It is of Iraqi troops surrendering as the allies entered Kuwait. Do you know that Kuwait was regained without a shot being fired because the Iraqi troops were shell-shocked and sleep-deprived due to continuous allied bombing? Even though the bombs did not hit them as they were well dug in, the continuous bombing denied them sleep.

So far, 66% of registered voters have collected their permanent voters’ cards. Now, in any election, getting a 66% turnout is brilliant. In 1979, do you know that the turnout was only 25%?

Having said that, I must say I am somewhat irked by the hypocrisy of the West, who are attacking the Nigerian government for postponing the polls despite having received reports from security chiefs that they are not ready. We are unable to hold our elections because Boko Haram is still holding large swathes of Nigerian territory. If the West was keen on promoting Nigerian democracy, they would have helped us eradicate Boko Haram long ago.

5 6

Across northeastern Nigeria, 1m voters are not registered and about 1.5m people have been displaced from their homes due to the Boko Haram crisis. With Boko Haram controlling 14 local governments, in the region, it would be impossible to hold elections there.

In Borno State for instance, Boko Haram still controls 10 of the 27 local governments. As we know, Boko Haram does not support elections, so will not allow any polling to take place. There is a case for postponing elections in this area. Maybe what Independent Na-

8

Bombarded daily by B52 Bombers the Iraqi troops had not slept for days, so were in no state to fight when American ground troops entered Kuwait. As you can see, they surrendered without lifting a finger.

Had Boko Haram been bombed that way, by now, they would have long been defeated.

9 10

I am at a loss as to why the US and UK were not willing to provide the Nigerian government with B52 bombers and drones to pound Boko Haram positions in the northeast. If they had been bombing Sambisa Forest non-stop since the start of the year for instance, Boko Haram’s fighters would have been totally sleep deprived and by now would have surrendered.

If Nigeria’s democracy is endangered with this postponement, the West is just as culpable as the PDP. We diasporans must accept our fair share of the blame too. We did not get the US and UK governments to designate Boko Haram a terrorist organisation early enough. Our failure to put pressure on them led to the formulation of an irresponsible foreign policy.

14

NIGERIAN WATCH 20 Feb - 5 Mar 2015

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NEWSWATCH NIGERIA 2015 ELECTION SPECIAL: MARCH 28

Continued from page 13 t is unfortunate that the many things Jonathan did not do seem now to overshadow the many things he did, and for which his regime will definitely be remembered.

Perhaps, this is because of the nature of the man himself, known generally as soft and listening. Sometimes it is difficult for such people to praise or even appraise themselves. They leave others to assess them and generally accept their verdict, no matter what it is.

But for the record, every Nigerian knows that historically the power sector had been epileptic before Jonathan. Economists estimated that power outages cost Nigeria billions of pounds on the importation of diesel for generators and in lost output.

On August 2, 2010, Jonathan launched his Roadmap for Power Sector Reform. Its primary objective was to achieve stable electricity in Nigeria. Jonathan subsequently oversaw the privatisation of the country’s power sector, the end goal being an efficient and reliable power supply for the entire population. The Power Holding Company of Nigeria, which acted as the state electricity provider was broken up into 15 firms and control of the country’s state electricity assets was handed over to the successful bidding companies.

Fourteen months later, on 11 October, 2011, President Jonathan launched the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YOUWIN) Initiative,

“As Nigerians go to vote next month, let them bear in mind that it is not all about GEJ and GMB. It is about Nigeria’s march to nationhood”

I

Emeka Asinugo

T

hirty-two years after being overthrown by General Buhari the first Executive President of Nigeria Alhaji Shehu Shagari broke his silence in a rare interview with African Independent Television in Sokoto. He said, “Jonathan may not be the best, but I can mention three to four breakthroughs in Nigeria that have occurred under his five years in office.”

He noted that: l Under Jonathan’s administration, trains are back in Nigeria after about 30 years of neglect.

In fact, he said, “my 27 year old grandchild boarded a train for the first time in his life in 2014.”; l Jonathan’s administration is the first government in Nigeria to construct over 125 modern Almajiri schools and 12 Universities in a short frame of time; l He is the first Nigerian leader to construct Cargo Airports and ensure every zone in Nigeria has an international airport; l His is also the first Nigerian government to eradicate the high level corruption in the distribution of fertilizer and payment of ghost workers; l His is the first government to start diversifying Nigeria’s economy back to agriculture, which had been in decline since its heyday in the 70s.

“We need to remind ourselves that most of the problems we accuse Jonathan of were only inherited by him. He never created them” which was an innovative business plan competition that harnessed the creative energies of young people between the ages of 18-35. The YOUWIN Initiative met its target to create between 40-50,000 sustainable jobs by 2014.

In 2011, President Jonathan also launched the Transformation Agenda. The Transformation Agenda epitomised the Federal Government’s articulation on how to deliver projects, programmes and key policies, from 2011–2015 co-ordinated by the National Planning Commission (NPC).

Under President Jonathan, Nigeria’s foreign policy was reviewed to reflect a “citizen-focused” agenda, designed to “accord the vision of defending the dignity of humanity the highest priority” and connect foreign policy to domestic policy, while placing a greater emphasis on economic diplomacy.

First Executive President of Nigeria Alhaji Shehu Shagari

Jonathan. Right from the outset in 1999, when the mantle of political leadership was handed over to Chief Obasanjo, smarting from his prison release, the foundation was laid to make or mar Nigeria. What Jonathan inherited, unfortunately, was the dreg of the palm wine.

Had Obasanjo laid a more solid background for the country by 1999, rather than make overtures towards enriching himself; had he followed the footsteps of his kinsman, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, to turn Nigeria into a Welfare State, given the enormous oil revenue the country was acquiring and the fact that the country had enough bruises from military rule, Nigerians would not be in the mess they find themselves today. But Obasanjo failed.

And Jonathan could fail too, because his Godfather actually got it all wrong. And that is why when the father and the son got it all wrong, the father had to blame his son publicly, at least to save himself the shame of being blamed by others. That is what has happened between Obasanjo and Jonathan in their PDP.

I

n many countries, Nigeria included, it is not a simple task to unseat an incumbent of any stripe. So it will take a strong force to remove the sitting President from Aso Rock, even if the majority of Nigerians clamour for his exit.

If GEJ does not use his incumbency to influence the results of the votes, then count on him: he is truly a good and God-fearing man.

However, Jonathan has certainly made his mistakes, as many in that very demanding position are likely to make, faced with the same situations. And we need to remind ourselves that most of the problems we accuse Jonathan of either creating or abating were only inherited by him. He never created them.

Has anybody wondered why Chief Obasanjo preferred to scold Jonathan, his political godson, in public – and criticise him on the pages of national tabloids rather than privately?

Surely, if the elder statesman saw that this President of his making was not getting things right, he could have called him privately to suggest to him the way to do things right.

But OBJ, being the worldly-wise man he is, realised that someday soon the PDP after 16 years of misrule could collapse and then it would be time to apportion blames. He had to find a way out. He has actually found a way out, by endorsing the Presidential candidacy of the opposition General Buhari.

To put the matter directly, if the present government fails, that is, if Jonathan fails in his bid for a second tenure, it is not all about Jonathan, it will be all about PDP. It is the PDP that killed Nigeria, not

W

ho should then blame Jonathan? Even when some people are quoted as saying they would make governance difficult for Jonathan, I think that is arrant rubbish. They are in no position to do so. The fire of discontent was stoked when the PDP, advertently or inadvertently. refused to harness the economic fortune of the country and turn the country into a Welfare State. Most oil producing countries in the Middle East which did so were able to contain civil uprisings in their countries, such as happened during the Arab Spring of 2010.

When the Labour Party was in government in the UK, we had a similar experience. After about 11 years of Labour rule, people were getting used to it as the only government that could manage the system.

Truly, Labour was the party that cared about the welfare of the ordinary working class families of the UK. They were always there for working class families and could always count on their votes and the votes of their unions.

However, during the last campaign Gordon Brown – then the Chancellor of the Exchequer and third in command after the Deputy Prime Minister – insisted on the terms of an agreement he had reached to succeed his one-time ally and the then Prime Minister Tony Blair being met.

Within the Labour Party, there was a heated battle. Many of us knew Gordon as a quick tempered boss and believed that Tony should continue. It was at a time when we had successfully formed the “Africans4Labour Movement”, a strong organisation of black Africans who had committed themselves to campaign for African votes for the Labour Party.

Gordon however, had his way and took over from Tony as the Prime Minister and new head of the Labour Party. It was the beginning of the end.

During a campaign outing, Gordon was asked a question by a woman on immigration, who somehow was stubbornly insistent on getting a satisfactory answer from the new PM. Gordon satisfied her with his answer but he made some uncharitable remarks about the lady when walking away and, with the microphones still on, was heard to call her a “bigot”.

That derogatory remark cost Labour the election as people later said it showed he had no respect for ordinary voters who left whatever else

they were doing to come out and vote Labour.

And that was how Labour lost the elections to the Conservatives, who now form the government.

In 16 years of rule (or misrule) the PDP needs to ask itself as a party if it has satisfied the

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown

yearnings and aspirations of the people who have consistently voted it into power. In a democracy, everybody is important. The President may be the leader, but no leader, no matter in what capacity, can ever succeed to deliver effectively if he does not have the full backing of those he is leading.

T

he APC has tried to make itself visible as a responsible opposition since its formation.

Its spokesman Lai Mohammed has been at the vanguard of portraying the party as such.

The fact that all the three major and other accredited parties were even able to agree on forming an opposition mega-party and actually went on to successfully put things together is a great feat and a demonstration of the party’s level of seriousness.

What many Nigerians doubt, however, is whether the APC still believes it made the right choice in fielding Buhari as its flag bearer. They believe that a younger Northerner, like any of the sitting APC governors, would have been a better choice, while people like GMB would have been better advised to stay on as Patrons of the party, to be consulted on matters of national interest.

As Nigerians go to vote next month, let them bear in mind that it is not all about Jonathan or Buhari. It is about Nigeria’s march towards genuine nationhood.

It is first about the welfare of the poorest (not the richest) segment of the Nigerian society. It is about clean drinking water. It is about affordable medical care. It is about well furnished schools and laboratories. It is about affordable local government council houses for working class families. It is about good roads (not death traps).

It is about non-stop electricity supply.

It is about who can bring back the many over qualified Nigerians abroad serving foreign countries and foreign interests instead of serving the interest of the impoverished citizens of the country of their birth. It is about the future of Nigeria and Nigerian youths.

Before the cock crows on March 29, who knows, the gods will have sealed the fate of APC and PDP – and the Nigeria of your dream!

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NEWSWATCH

15

The first black woman director of the Evangelical Alliance out to break negative stereotype of church The Evangelical Alliance recently appointed one of the youngest leaders in its nearly 170 year history.

Chine Mbubaegbu, 30, is the EA’s former head of media and communications and will now serve as director of communications. Of Nigerian heritage and a Cambridge theology graduate, she’s also the first black woman to serve as an EA director.

She will take the reins at a time when the very word ‘evangelical’ is a challenge. For many people its connotations are profoundly negative, associated with a harsh judgmentalism that makes some Christians wary of identifying themselves with the label.

One of her tasks will be to make the Alliance – and evangelicals more widely – synonymous with more than condemnation.

Speaking to Christian Today, Chine addressed the task at hand. “I do get frustrated by the caricatures of evangelicals in society as homophobic, judgmental women-haters and that evangelicalism is synonymous with televangelism. That’s simply not what evangelicalism is supposed to be about.

“When the word evangelical is used in any other context, it simply means someone who is passionate about a certain thing and is keen that everyone knows about it. That’s what I want evangelicals to be known for: being passionate followers of Christ, keen on seeing his good news impact every area of society – with our hearts turned

towards those facing injustice or who are forgotten and excluded.”

It’s not just how evangelicals are seen by those outside the Church that worries her, however.

“What I’m more saddened by is the perception of evangelicals within many parts of the Church,” she said.

“There are so many Christians who are evangelical in everything but name and so many instances in which I see high profile Christians using the ‘evangelical’ word when what they mean is ‘mean or judgmental Christian’.

“In some instances, they do have a point and we need to be aware of that and seek forgiveness for the times when we haven’t been as loving as we should be. We also need to call each other out on this. In any case, I’m less worried about labels and more concerned with Christians being seen as the force for good we strive to be.”

One of the obvious points at which what evangelical Christians want to say will clash with wider social values is in

the area of sexual morality – and not just in the area of same-sex relationships. To a certain extent that’s inevitable, Chine says. “I don’t think we

should be surprised when the Church clashes with wider social values, nor should it necessarily mean that we are wrong on those issues.”

However, she adds, “I think in our communication we want be careful about the tone in which we say things and to steer clear where possible of things that detract from the good news

– to point people towards God rather than away from Him. Often, that’s so difficult and we do get things wrong.

“But increasingly there’s a sense that we don’t just want to say the things people will expect us to say. That’s why we’ve done things in the past year including becoming Living Wageaccredited and backing campaigns such as No More Page Three and 28TooMany’s petition against female genital mutilation.”

One of the main challenges she sees facing the Churches at the moment is the ‘missing generation’ – those in their 20s and 30s – who are leaving the Church or who were never there in the first place.

“Often those who leave the Church cite irrelevance, hypocrisy and the perceived judgmental nature of churches as reasons why they’d rather not attend; although they still think Jesus is great.

And so this is a major area of concern for the Alliance. It’s one of the reasons we launched threads [a network for young adults] two years ago. It’s been

more successful than we would have hoped and is an attempt to show our generation that our faith has something to say about every area of our lives.”

One of her challenges will be relating to the secular media. Does she subscribe to the view, common in Christian circles, that the media is biased against the Church? No, says Mbubaegbu – “as a former newspaper reporter myself, I know that a good Christian story can get into the press – particularly the regional press”.

She does, however, highlight the problem of a lack of religious literacy within the media, where people of faith are under-represented, concluding that “more communication is needed, not less”.

Churches generally, she believes, need to work harder at promoting themselves in the wider world.

“I think we have to be honest with ourselves about how we come across and work hard at ensuring our tone and image are right,” she says.

“In engaging with the media, the best thing to realise is that journalists are humans too. They need relationships, they love a good story, and want to do their jobs well. Send them the stories that you would be interested in yourself, take them out for coffee without asking for anything in return and remember they’re more likely to run a story of yours if you’ve formed genuine relationships with them.”

STUDY FINDS EBOLA AID Climate threat to SSA investments WAS ‘TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE’ By the end of 2014, aid pledges to assist in tackling the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in west Africa reached at least $2.89bn, yet only around 40% ($1.09bn) has actually reached affected countries, finds a report published by The BMJ this week.

“These delays in disbursements of funding may have contributed to spread of the virus and could have increased the financial needs,” concludes report author Karen Grépin, Assistant Professor of global health policy at New York University.

Using international donations captured by the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (OCHA) financial tracking system, she examined the level and speed of pledges made to the Ebola epidemic and how they aligned with evolving estimates of funds required to bring the epidemic under control.

On March 23 last year, Guinea’s Ministry of Health notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of a “rapidly evolving outbreak” of EVD in the south eastern part of its country.

Within a week of the notification, WHO sent an initial donation of protective equipment and other medical supplies to Guinea.

However, the first major appeal to the international community for funding did not happen until August, when WHO, along with the presidents of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea called on international donors to provide $71m to support the control of the outbreak.

By September 16, roughly six months after the start of the epidemic, the UN estimated that nearly $1bn in humanitarian assistance was needed. By mid-November, the official request for funding was estimated at $1.5bn.

“Clearly, international leaders have found it challenging to estimate the financial requirements to tackle this rapidly spreading outbreak,” says Grépin in her report. “The problem has not been the generosity of donors but that the resources have not been deployed rapidly enough.

“Monitoring and tracking donor responses to the epidemic, and how the money was spent, is important to improve our response to future public health threats,” she adds.

“Learning from this experience will help us to understand what worked and what did not in this epidemic and will also help us better assess funding needs in the future.”

African governments and businesses are putting their investments at risk from the longterm impacts of climate change because they are failing to take climate information into account, says a new report from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and SouthSouthNorth for the Future Climate For Africa (FCFA) programme and Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN).

African countries are investing in infrastructure and development programmes that will last for decades – and could be deeply affected by climate change from mid-century onwards. Ports, large dams, and social infrastructure such as hospitals and schools built today could last well beyond 2050.

By then, Africa’s climate could look quite different than it does now – or has in the last century.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), if the world keeps emitting greenhouse gases at present rates, average temperatures across large swathes of Africa could rise by more than 4°C across by the late 21st century.

Even under a low emissions

scenario, average temperatures across Africa will continue to rise in the coming decades, putting greater numbers of people and assets in the path of floods, droughts and heatwaves, from mid-century onwards.

The report, Promoting the use of climate information to achieve long-term development objectives in sub-Saharan Africa, is based on initial research into the use of long-term (5-40 year) climate information in Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia and the coastal cities of Accra, Ghana, and Maputo, Mozambique.

The report finds that governments and businesses are failing to consider long-term climate information in investment planning: in most of the case study countries, not a single example of climate information being effectively taken up into long-term decision making was found.

As a consequence, new infrastructure and other programmes may be highly vulnerable to future climate impacts.

Lindsey Jones, a Research Fellow at the ODI and author of the study, said, “Understandably,

African decision-makers are overwhelmed by a large number of immediate, short-term development needs and this can eclipse longer-term concerns.

“However, even some shortterm interventions today, like designing healthcare systems, could have consequences far in the future. Climate information – especially when it’s linked with tools for economic analysis – can guide decision-makers towards modest changes in design, to make programmes more climate resilient. Doing so requires a step change in the way we currently conduct and communicate climate science.”

Sam Bickersteth, CDKN’s Chief Executive, said,“The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment has indicated that climate change will have substantial impacts on Africa.

With so much infrastructure yet to be built to meet African countries’ development needs, there is an opportunity to apply science more fully to the policy and planning processes. This report shows some of the constraints as well as the opportunities to communicate science to meet the particular needs of decision-makers.”

16

NIGERIAN WATCH 20 Feb - 5 Mar 2015

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LEISUREWATCH

The Fortnight LONDON FASHIONWEEK 2015 International Fashion Showcase 2015 The British Council and

What to see and do over the next 14 days...

KENNETH IZE

the British Fashion Council will present 110 emerging designers from nearly 30 countries in the largest public exhibition of its kind. The annual international catwalk now in its fourth year, is free of charge and will take place during London Fashion Week.

This year the White Space Creative Agency and Yegwa Ukpo present Metamorphosis “an experiment in time that admires both the naturally – subtle KENNETH IZE and wildly – obvious progressions in the trajectory of a designer’s fashion artistry.”

Which means in other words we get to see the following up and coming Nigerian designers; Grey Founded in 2009, Grey fuses design, colour and texture with functionality.

Iamisigo Established in 2009 in Ghana and Nigeria, Iamisigo creates an awareness of how African culture is fused with minimalism.

Kenneth Ize A Nigeria-based brand also operating in Vienna – launched 5 months after its first show at Lagos Fashion and Design Week in 2013.

Orange Culture Founded in 2011, Orange Culture combines classic and contemporary western silhouettes with African sensibilities.

T.I Nathan whose minimal knitwear has carved a niche for itself by telling personal yet controversial stories.

20-24 Feb, 10.00am-6.00pm. FREE 3rd Floor Gallery, Brewer Street Car Park, 32 Brewer Street, London. W1F 0LA www.design.britishcouncil.org

All My Sons by Arthur Miller Talawa’s critically acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, directed

by Artistic Director Michael Buffong will set out on a UK tour commemorating the centenary year of Miller’s birth.

Doña Croll and Ray Shell lead the cast in this searing investigation of honesty,

FILM

Difret

Short Films at LSE

Based on a real-life story, this film exposes the practice of abduction into marriage, a common Ethiopian tradition.

The film tells the story of Hirut, a 14-year-old girl on her way home from school when kidnapped by men on horses. After a failed attempt to escape she ends up shooting her would-be husband.

An empowered and tenacious young lawyer arrives from the city to represent Hirut and argue that she acted in self-defence, embarking on a collision course between enforcing civil authority and abiding by customary law

T NATHAN

IAMISIGO

GREY

ORANGE CULTURE

guilt and the corrupting power of greed.

Set in 1947, Joe and Kate Keller, an all-American couple, are living with the ghosts of World War II. Joe is a successful, self-made businessman, loving family man and pillar of the community. Joe and Kate’s happiness is clouded by one

Partnering Shorts at the Frontline Club, The LSE Literary Festival showcases nonfiction filmmaking in this evening of documentaries from different parts of the world, covering the theme of place and identity.

Including: Shipwreck; in October 2013, a boat carrying 500 Eritrean refugees sunk off the coast of the Italian island Lampedusa. More than 360 people drowned. Abraham, one of the survivors, walks through a graveyard of shipwrecks and vividly remembers the nightmarish experience.

Meanwhile at the harbour, hundreds of coffins are being loaded onto a military ship.

Adrift; forced to flee his home country of Uganda, Simu now works and lives 150 km above the Arctic Circle. Surrounded by the frozen landscape, he shares his family story.

27 Feb, 7:00pm. FREE Book online from Feb 3rd.

Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building, 54 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A www.frontlineclub.com

thing – their son is missing in action, presumed dead by all but his mother …

UK Tour; Feb 12 - Apr 24 You can catch the show as it skirts London;10-14 Mar, Watford Palace Theatre 31 Mar-5 Apr, Richmond Theatre www.talawa.com

tain control, condemns her to a torturous death – she’s to be buried alive.

19th Feb - 14 Mar, matinee and evening performances. From £12.

Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, London E15 www.stratfordeast.com

I Write, I live, Bush Theatre As part of an ongoing series of conversations with contemporary black British playwrights, Diana Nneka Atuona (below) discusses her Royal Court theatre sell-out play Liberian Girl with journalist and playwright Juliet Gilkes Romero.

23 Feb, 7.30pm. From £5 Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Road, W12. www.bushtheatre.co.uk.

Muscovado

In cinemas 6 March with additional screenings for International Women's Day on 8 March.

Friday, 6 March 2015 - 6:00pm For more information and cinema listings go to www.sodapictures.com THEATRE

Antigone Sophocles’ acclaimed Greek classic reinvented.

When Creon refuses to bury the body of Antigone’s unruly brother, her anger quickly turns to defiance.

Creon, in an attempt to re-

The rise and shine of Comrade Fiasco

The latest scorching new play about slavery in 19th century Barbados from BurntOut Theatre. A heady mix of sexual intrigue, piercing choral music and extreme racial tension.

Touring the UK 24 Feb-14 Apr. See website for dates and venues; www.burntout theatre.co.uk

Held in prison after a brawl, Chidhina, Febi and Jungle are joined by the mysterious Fiasco, who claims to be a freedom fighter who has spent many years hiding in a mountain cave, unaware Zimbabwe is finally free from British colonial rule. The play attempts to unravel whether Fiasco is fake or fact.

26 Feb-21 Mar. From £10 Gate Theatre, Above The Prince Albert Pub, 11 Pembridge Road, W11 www.gate theatre.co.uk

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NIGERIAN WATCH 20 Feb - 5 Mar 2015

17

NOW BOOKING: WOW WOMEN OF THE WORLD FESTIVAL Southbank Centre’s annual festival to present, recognise and celebrate women, returns for a fifth year, supported by Bloomberg. Marking International Women’s Day on Sunday 8 March, the festival includes a programme of gigs and musical performances created and performed by women. Mar 1 - 8 www.southbankcentre.co.uk

Inspired by Amanze’s own experience of being born in Nigeria, growing up in the UK and now residing in America, her work speaks widely of a growing community of individuals whose sense of identity is no longer tied in with a sense of place.

A Story. In Parts stems from Amanze's trip to Nigeria in 2012. While there, she wrote profusely: letters, poems and fictional stories that captured her journey of self-discovery and the encounter with her birthplace.

20 Feb - 28 March. FREE Tiwani Contemporary 16 Little Portland Street, W1 www.tiwani.co.uk

Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze: A story.

In parts.

Making Tracks ‘Adventures in well travelled music’ Trio Dakali The three musicians of Trio Da Kali hail from a heritage of distinguished griots – the caste of specialist hereditary musical artisans in Mali.

They bring a fresh, contemporary, creative twist to their musical art, breathing new life into their ancient traditions.

22 Feb, 7:30pm. From £19 Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, E1 www.richmix.org.uk

http://www.wahwah45s.com

tUnE-yArDs + Ibibio Sound Machine The celebrated tUnE-yArDs and Ibibio Sound Machine – who wowed at last year’s WOMAD festival – (below) bring their live experience to Royal Festival Hall.

5 Mar, 7:30pm. From £17.50 Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Rd, SE1. www.southbankcentre.co.uk

Wah Wah 45s with Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra OTHER

Sugar In The Blood, Salt In The Wounds: The Second Huntley Symposium Explore your family history with guidance from author Andrea Stuart and family historian Patrick Vernon OBE. Andrea will read from her book Sugar in the Blood, in which she knits together her imaginative speculations with family research, secondary

sources and the work of historians of the region Patrick will share two case studies highlighting the slave routes from the Transatlantic and the Indian Ocean slave trades, based on his family history and the life of the late Walter Mbotela of Frere Town, Kenya.

21 Feb, 11:00am to 4:30pm. FREE London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, EC1R www.eventbrite.co.uk

Feyisola Adeyemi, Kwame Koranteng, Elizabeth Eldima, Eldimaa Fashion and Yemi Osunkoya of Kosibah.

22nd Feb, 5:00pm - 9:30pm.

From £20.

Porchester Hall, North Kensington, W2 www.glamafrica.com

Power, Dress and Spirituality in West Africa

Labour wants to find out what the Labour Party can do for Britain’s ethnic minorities.

The panel and audience will discuss how Labour’s 2015 manifesto can improve the lives of Britain’s BAME communities. Panelists include: Diane Abbott MP Simon Woolley (Operation Black Vote), Patrick Vernon OBE, and Cllr Abena Oppong-Asre.

25 Feb, 7:00 - 9:00 pm. FREE Committee Room 10 House of Commons, SW1A. www.eventbrite.co.uk

Glam Glam Africa Fashion Night is a unique fashion party taking place during London Fashion Week, showcasing exquisite collections from six African fashion designers including;

Claudia Jones – 100th Anniversary of Her Birth

Fashion historian Amber Butchart presents Lorene Rhoomes, the designer behind Akhu Designs, who discusses textiles and dress in west Africa, followed by a gele (head wrap) workshop.

23 Feb, 7:00pm Tickets £12 include a complimentary Peroni and entry to the Women Fashion Power exhibition between 6:00 - 7:00pm Design Museum, Shad Thames, SE1 www.designmuseum.org

Akala Join Social entrepreneur and MOBO award-winning hip hop artist Akala – renowned for fusing rap, rock and electro-punk with fierce lyrical storytelling – at this lecture about his unique work. He went down a storm at TEDx speaking about the Evolution of the MC. 24 Feb, 6:00 - 8:00 pm. FREE Kingston University, Penrhyn Road Campus www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/akalakingston-university-lecture

Labour Manifesto 2015: what we can do for Britain’s BAME communities With the general election on the horizon, London Young

Founder of the West Indian Gazette, social justice activist, political campaigner and feminist, this is a chance to look back at the prolific life and legacy of Claudia Jones.

Through film, archive material, personal accounts and panel discussion, celebrate this great woman who today is still hidden within British history. 28 Feb, 12.00 –

6.00pm. From £15 1 Windrush Square, Brixton, SW2 www.bcaheritage.org.uk MUSIC

Dub Colossus Soundsystem Dubwise sounds with a musical palette broader than Broadway. Take some ethio-jazz and full on funky grooves, with a little spice of afrobeat for good measure; throw into the blender and lovingly put together on a solid foundation of Dub and you get Dub Colossus Soundsytem, global dub for the 21st century. Get on down.

Feb 19th, 7:30pm. From £10. The Forge, Camden, NW1 www.forgevenue.org

Wah Wah 45s is renowned for being the label that throws the best parties. Heading up the night is Dele Sosimi, one of the most prolific musicians on the Afrobeat scene.

27 Feb, 8:00pm. From £9.50 Brixton Jamm, Brixton Road, SW9

Omowale Malcom X Observance – 50th Anniversary of the Assassination Remembered 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Omowale Malcolm X (February 21). This celebration of his legacy will consider how his Garveyite blackprint can help today’s black youth become a revolutionary generation, capable of transforming the world.

Feb 22, 12:00pm. FREE Triangle Centre, 91-93 St. Ann’s Road, Tottenham, N15. Limited spaces available: 07908 814 152

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NIGERIAN WATCH 20 Feb - 5 Mar 2015

19

SUPER EAGLES SET FOR LONDON SHOWDOWN WITH BLACK STARS Want to speak directly to UK Nigerians

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NIGERIA'S Super Eagles are to hit London next month, where they will face Ghana's Black Stars in a friendly game scheduled to take place at Fulham's Craven Cottage ground on March 29.

Given the fierce rivalry between the Super Eagles and Black Stars, which has raged since their first meeting in 1951, and the fact the match is to be played the day after Nigeria’s rescheduled Presidential election, is sure to make it a lively affair.

Organised by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) as part of a rebuilding plan, the match has been scheduled to ensure the Eagles are occupied during the forthcoming international break. Three days before the London match, the team face Bolivia at home in a friendly match at the Akwa Ibom Stadium.

According to the NFF, the Super Eagles will

use both games to prepare for the 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifiers which commence in June.

Despite being defending African champions, Nigeria's Super Eagles failed to qualify for the recently concluded 2015 African Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.

While the London game is expected to enhance the rebuilding process for the Super Eagles, Ghana will be looking to use it to get over the trauma of failing to lift the Nations Cup after an agonising penalty shoot-out loss to Ivory Coast in the final.

Nigeria and Ghana played a barren draw the last time both countries met in a friendly encounter in October 2011. This time around, however, with both sides having much more to prove it is expected to be a much more competitive affair.

DIASPORA TALENT HUNT Continued from page 20 match. I am meeting the parents of a number of these youngsters this time and have plans to meet all of them and also their parents in due course.

“You see, some of them might have represented England at junior level, but they are willing to represent Nigeria at senior level, and that is

what we are looking at. We are looking at strengthening our teams at all levels and these players are willing, once we can convince them that there is a new set-up in Nigeria football.”

Among the players on Pinnick’s radar are 18-year-old attacking midfielder Alex Iwobi of Arsenal, who has joined up

with the country’s Olympic Team ahead of their departure for an 11th All-Africa Games qualifying match against Gabon in Libreville on Saturday; Southampton and England under-18 defender Joshua Debayo, also 18; Arsenal defender Semi Ajayi;and Chelsea and England U-19 defender Ola Aina.

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Continued from page 20 In addition to her star performances in the U20 World Cup, Asisat also collected the Golden Ball award when the Super Falcons qualified for the 2015 World Cup by winning the African Women’s Championship. Also, she has been named the 2014 African Women’s Player of the Year and Youth Player of the Year after helping her club side Rivers Angels, become Nigerian champions.

Mr Beard added: “There’s been plenty of other interest in her in the last few months but she chose to join us and I’m absolutely delighted. We’ve won the league for the last two years and we’ll aim to do it again, although next season is going to be the most competitive ever.

Nicknamed Seedorf after Dutch legend Clarence, Asisat is expected help the club retain its league title. “To be able to join the reigning Super League champions is absolutely fantastic. Liverpool Ladies are a massive club with some fantastic players, who I believe can help me to develop my game to the next level.

“Since I began my football career I have always dreamt of being a professional footballer so to be able to join the reigning Women’s Super League champions is absolutely fantastic.

THE GUNNERS FOLLOW SUIT

Hot on the heels of Liverpool Ladies signing Asisat Oshoala, Arsenal Ladies announced they were bringing a player of Nigerian heritage to north London.

Nigerian-born American striker Chioma Ubogagu has joined the Gunners from the Stanford University team, bringing to two the number of Nigerian players plying their trade in the English Women's Super League.

Ms Ubogagu who featured for Team USA during the 2012 Fifa Women U-20 World Cup has played 89 times for the US national team, scored 27 goals with 37 assists. She is said to be the granddaughter of a former Nigerian international but was born in London and grew up in Texas.

Arsenal Ladies manager, Pedro Martinez Losa, said, “Chioma is a player I have known about from my time coaching in the United States and she is a fantastic talent.

She is very creative, and is able to make goals as well as score them, so I think that she will fit in very well with us.”

“Liverpool Ladies are a massive Club who have some fantastic players who I believe can help to develop my game to the next level. It was also a big

incentive to be able to play in the Uefa Women’s Champions League which is a huge competition and one I’m confident we can do well in.”

NIGERIAN WATCH 20 Feb - 5 Mar 2015

INSIDE

SPORT WATCH 20 Feb - 5 Mar 2015

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SUPER FALCON FLIES IN

EAGLES TO PLAY GHANA IN LONDON

NFF chief scouts diaspora talent

UK WOMEN’S FOOTBALL SUPER LEAGUE SWOOP FOR NIGERIA STAR

By AJ JAMES SUPER Falcons’ striker Asisat Oshoala has signed for Liverpool Ladies Football Club – the women’s team of the most successful professional football club in the UK – making her the first African player to compete in the English Women’s Super League.

By far one of the greatest talents in world football, Asisat won both the Golden Boot and Golden Ball at last year’s Under-20 Women’s World Cup Finals, in which Nigeria finished second.

Liverpool Ladies manager Matt Beard, expressed his delight at signing her, describing Asisat as one of the best young players in the world.

Mr Beard said, “We beat a number of top American and European clubs to Asisat’s signature.

Asisat is one of the best young players in the world.

“She’s not the finished article yet but she’s got pace, power and she certainly knows where the goal is. I watched her at the Under-20 World Cup, where she was sensational and we had early dialogue with her about coming to Liverpool.”

Turn to page 19

Nigeria Football Federation President Amaju Pinnick has met with the parents of some young diasporan players making the grade in the Premier League in an attempt to convince them to represent Nigeria at senior level.

On his way to a meeting with FIFA President Sepp Blatter, the NFF boss stopped over in London to watch Sunday’s FA Cup fifth round match between Arsenal and Middlesbrough at the Emirates Stadium.

He told reporters, “I was able to see Kenneth Omeruo and Chuba Akpom at the Turn to page 19