4th oct 2014

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Saturday, October 4, 2014 Vol. 1 No. 228

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FG: No request on Kashamu’s extradition Ndubuisi Ugah, Johnchuks Onuanyim and Tunde Oyesina Lagos/Abuja

T

he bid to have the chairman of the Contact, Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of

the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West, Buruji Kashamu, extradited to the United States to face charges allegedly related to drugs deal may linger more than expected.

This is because the federal government said it had yet to receive

any formal letter or request from the U.S government seeking the extradition of Kashamu to face the charges, Saturday New Telegraph has learnt.

Kashamu was indicted by a U.S court in May1998, for allegedly being the key player in an in-

ternational drug smuggling ring.

Consequently, he was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Chicago alongside 13 persons, with conspiracy to import heroin into the U.S and distribute, a development which Kashamu claimed

MAY7VEN

PA AKINKUNMI

This is my seventh attempt at Project Fame }13

My parents thought I’d be in jail or pregnant }23

I don’t know what impact national honour will have on me }50

Conversation

SHOWBIZ

GEOFFREY OJI

Project Fame winner:

(Odegbami’s daughter)

FEATURES

was a case of mistaken identity as his late brother was the criminal.

“I am not aware of any request from the U.S government for the extradition of Buruju Kashamu,” Minister of Internal Affairs, Abba CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER 2014

SPORT

FREE

Sport Splash 25

EnyEama’S rEturn BIG BOOSt FOr EaGlES – aGu

Super Eagles

Your free 8-page thriller }25

Keshi must sort out Emenike altercation – Akanni p.27

Premier League

Unbeaten Chelsea, Arsenal in Super Sunday showdown p.28

Premier League

Ideye set to return against Liverpool p.28

Interview

My kids won’t play for Nigeria – Udoka p.31

F

Falae to obasanjo

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Charles Ogundiya Ejide, should take the blame especially for the 3-2 defeat against ormer Super Eagles first Congo, the Nasarawa United goalchoice goalkeeper, Alloy keeper trainer said Ejide should not Agu, has described the return be singled out for blame, declaring of Lille of France goalkeeper, that the whole team played below Vincent Enyeama, to the national expectation. team as a welcome development.

“Ejide is a good goalkeeper but Agu argued that the team needs when there are issues in the team, all its best hands available for the two- you look at it from the attackers to legged matches against Sudan this the goalkeeper; you look at what month as he called on all the players led to the goal before judging the invited to give their all for the maxi- goalkeeper. Was the ball supposed mum points in the encounters. to get to the goalkeeper in the first Enyeama missed Eagles’ first instance? What option does the two African Cup of Nations qualifi- goalkeeper have to stop the ball? ers against Congo and South Africa When you put all these factors towhere the African champions were gether, then you know where to only able to pick one point out of the place the blame. maximum six available.

“If you look at the game against “Enyeama remains the team’s South Africa, he proved to us that captain and one of the best goal- he is a capable hand that can deliver keepers in the world. He is our first when given the chance. choice and we missed him in the “You don’t judge a player after two games we played, His return just one game, especially goalkeepis a big boost. ers. If a player continues to make “You will agree with me that he the same errors in more than three has been doing well for the coun- games, then you can easily discard try whenever he was called upon to such players, but judging someone serve the nation,” Agu said. after a game is not right. We are all When asked if stand-in goal- humans and bound to make miskeeper in the two matches, Austin takes,” he said.

your govt most corrupt }45

Security tightened ahead of Eid-el-Kabir lJonathan, governors, Ekweremadu, Kalu, Dangote, others felicitate with Muslims l Pilgrims from 163 countries pray at Arafat

Our Correspondents

S

ecurity was beefed up across the country yesterday as Muslims joined fellow faithful across the world to celebrate Eid-el-Kabir.

The move, which was

occasioned by the renewed onslaught of the outlawed Boko Haram sect, was aimed at forestalling any breakdown of law and order across the country.

The Federal Government had declared October 6 and 7 as public holidays

to mark the festival.

The Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, had issued a stand-in order to all police formations across the country to be on the alert for any possible breakdown of law and order.

And to underscore the

importance of this, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti, yesterday ordered his lieutenants to beef up security at worship centres ahead of today’s Sallah celebration.

According to the police boss, special attention were

given to worship centres, recreational parks, bus, train and boat terminals.

Police spokesman, Kenneth Nwosu, in a statement said: “The CP has directed all Area Commanders, Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) and Commanders

of all Police Operational and combat outfits to ensure water tight security during the Sallah celebrations.

“This is to ensure that all residents of Lagos State enjoy a peaceful celebration.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

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SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

Contents | 04.10.14 INSTYLE

Getting Slit

Celebrities have long walked the red carpet in evening gowns with thigh-high slits. They are one of the easiest ways to add some oomph to your looks. But there are vital tips. Ignore them at your own peril

}15

Blues for Tiwa and Ini

SHOWBIZ

One of the news loyal fans would rather not hear is that of marital storm in the lives of their beloved stars. However, it seems there is a dual dose of sad news here with reports that Tiwa Savage and Ini Edo are having difficult times with their spouse

}24 Safe in His hands

SPORT

Having missed the Super Eagles’ first two matches of African Cup of Nations qualifiers which both produced dismal results, the team’s first choice goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, returns for the Sudan match

}25

A Verdant Dream

IDEAS & BRANDS

Tunji Olugbodi, chief executive officer of Verdant Zeal, a marketing communications company, talks about transiting from journalism to advertising and why he’s still obsessed with Volkswagen Beetle and Peugeot 404

}37

DESTINATION

Prepped for Akwaaba

Since making its debut about 10 years ago, Akwaaba has become a major highlight of Africa’s travel and tourism calendar. This year’s event which opens in a few days at the Eko Hotels & Suites is just another reminder of the huge potential in tourism

}42

MY WEEKEND

Meeting the ‘Small Chops King’ His imprint is visible at most of the big parties in Lagos. But only a few who have tasted his snacks can actually put a face to the Saheeto brand. This interview is more or less an unmasking of Saheed Kekere-Ekun

}44 Plus: Politics 47

|

Street Diary 10

|

Faceoff 48

Comment

EFCC: Let it bark and bite!

I

n an apparent reaction to widespread criticisms of its seeming lackluster performance in recent years, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) vowed recently to commence the prosecution of former state governors found culpable of economic crimes “as soon as investigations into their cases are concluded.”

Executive Secretary of Commission Mr. Adegboyega Emmanuel Aremo, who said this in Lagos, however, dispelled rumours that the commission was hesitant to prosecute some erring governors who had been found to be corrupt. “The commission is not in any way shying away from prosecuting any governor and no governor is sacred,” he told reporters in Lagos. “What we are doing is to ensure a thorough investigation into all their activities. We don’t want to do things hurriedly. Right now we are beaming our searchlight on their activities as we are moving towards the festive periods and end of the year.”

Very well said. But, the truth is that the EFCC has been in a deep sleep for some time now. To say the very least, it has been quite lethargic in the discharge of its responsibilities. In any case, why is it now that the 2015 general elections are around the corner that the anti-graft agency has realised that there are some governors to be prosecuted? Are governors or politicians the only corrupt set of people in the country? In both the public and private sectors, cases of wanton corruption are reported on a daily basis yet the EFCC has kept a dignified silence.

Isn’t it baffling that the commission will leave economic saboteurs alone and go after fishermen?

Part of the problem of the anti-graft war, in our view, is that the EFCC--or any other anti-corruption agency for that matter—is not independent enough to act impartially. Without independence, it would be difficult for the EFCC to achieve the desired results in the antigraft war. For, cynical as it may seem, it is only logical, indeed natural, that he who appoints also has the power to dictate how the appointee operates. Even if there is no express order from the Presidency (and there may just not be any) to ignore the shenanigans of, say, the ruling party politicians, the EFCC will on its carry out such a non-order. Why? Because, here, the name of the game is sycophancy, or playing it safe, to keep one’s job. If by

appointment and funding the EFCC is not independent, it cannot be expected to act independently against government officials, especially those who are members of the ruling members.

Which is to say that the EFCC can only be as active (or hot, if you will) or tepid as the political establishment wants it to. If the leadership is upbeat about anti-corruption, so will the EFCC or any other anti-graft agency for that matter; if it is not, so shall the anti-corruption war be cold.

We urge the government to reform the EFCC as the starting point of any ‘renewed war’ against corruption. The law establishing the agency must be changed to make it more independent of direct control and influence of the office of the President. More importantly, to sustain such independence, the agency must be funded from the first-line charge so that it does not run the risk of being starved of funds whenever its operations run counter to the expectations of politicians.

Corruption has become so commonplace in Nigeria that it seems to have become the rule rather than the exception.

And yet, corruption is an ill-wind that blows no one any good: it engenders underdevelopment, stunts growth, fosters economic stagnation and dependency and leads to social disorder and political instability. It is a monster that must be tamed at all cost.

Corruption is a global concern. But, it would appear that the war against it is taken more seriously elsewhere than here. For instance, China routinely jails ex-judges, top party members, generals, among others, for corruption. In nearby Ghana, the deputy minister of communication was sacked last year for saying on audio tape she would not quit politics until she had made $1m. Another, the minister of sports, had earlier (2009) resigned voluntarily for allegedly misappropriating some $20,000. The United Nations Convention on Corruption, is concerned that corruption poses serious “problems and threats…to the stability and security of societies, undermining the institutions and values of democracy, ethical values and justice (and) jeopardizing sustainable development and the rule of law.”

Undoubtedly, EFCC has a lot to do.

To succeed, it must, at the risk of belabouring the obvious, be restructured and given the independence to operate without interference of any sort.

Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief n Eric Osagie Deputy Managing Directors n Gabriel Akinadewo

Felix Oguejiofor Abugu

Managing Editor n Suleiman Uba Gaya

Editor, Daily n Yemi Ajayi

Editor, Saturday n Laurence Ani

Editor, Sunday n Emeka Madunagu

Deputy Editor, Saturday n Waheed Bakare

Bureau Chief, Brussels n Leo Cendrowicz

Bureau Chief, Washington DC n Marshall Comins

Editorial Coordinator, Europe n Sam Amsterdam

News Editor n Ndubuisi Ugah

Advert Manager n Taiwo Ahmed

Ag. Sales/Marketing Manager n Uchey Okezie

Head, Graphics n Timothy Akinleye

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SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

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OpeningShot SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER, 2014

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2014

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‘I’m no longer cynical about government’ problem with that is that they are incapacitated and at the end of the day produce nothing.

On freeing parastatals, departments and agencies from parent ministries I think there may be a need to reduce the hold of parent ministries on government agencies. Too many meetings rob you of productive man hours. Maybe quarterly meetings of the parents’ ministries and the agencies are better just to provide guidelines, just like the boards. Let the agencies be focused on their assignments and then they ask questions every quarter and are given new challenges based on the mandate of each of the agencies.

Professor Tunde Babawale shot into limelight with his fiery and incisive commentary on Nigeria’s state of affairs from his seat at the University of Lagos’ department of political science. But getting appointed as the director-general of the Centre for Black and African Art and Civilisation (CBAAC) eight years ago lent fresh perspectives to his worldview. Babawale who recently returned to his position at the university speaks with ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA on his time at CBAAC, the civil service and family life.

On how he received the news of his appointment When I got the news of my appointment in August 2006, I received the news with mixed feelings. Mixed feelings in the sense that I felt that it was a mark of recognition of one’s relevance to the society. But on the other hand I have held very cynical view of public office given the experiences we’ve had with so many people, especially in academics who have served previous governments. Quite a few discharged themselves creditably well but many had their reputation tarnished as a result of their association with government, especially military government. So I felt it was a very serious challenge, which I needed to weigh very carefully. But I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to accept the challenge and put in my best without necessarily tarnishing my image or disappointing the academic community from which I came. That was the feeling that I had.

Coping with red tape in the civil service In academics red tape and excessive bureaucracy were not the order of the day as they were in the civil service. That was the first major challenge I faced. I also discovered that things because of that situation are often done with greater dispatch and a greater sense of urgency in the ivory tower than they are done in the civil service. I needed now to bring the experience that I have garnered in the university to bear in my running of the affairs of CBAAC. By which I mean that I wanted to get the people, that is, the staff that I worked with to do things with a greater sense of urgency

and with a greater sense of commitment to the goals of the organisation. I think to a large extent I can say that I was able to achieve that.

Setting goals On assumption of office, I felt that there was need first and foremost to step up the activities of the organisation in order to make it live up to the responsibilities assigned to it in its mandate as enshrined in the law, which is Decree 69 of 1979.

Secondly, I wanted Nigerians to begin to get more interested in culture. I decided that what was going to be done was “taking CBAAC to the man on the street”. I wanted the people to be sensitised on the activities of the agency, to its existence and to its relevance to the promotion of our culture and our values.

Thirdly, I gave myself the challenge of “lifting culture beyond the realm of antiquity”. There has been this misperception that culture was all about a fossilised past, was all about antiquity, was all about ancient things; but culture in my view is much more than that. It has to do with the living conditions of the people, with their day to day activities and how they meet the needs of their day to day living. These were the challenges that I gave myself.

Working in government establishment a difficult one It is a very tricky thing. Working in Nigerian government establishment is like running an obstacle race. It is a difficult terrain to operate in it. There are too many unpredictable developments that come in. Budgets are approved on papers,

but budgets are different from releases.

So when people see what you’ve got in a year they think really that is what you’ve got in actuality.

But it differs and it is when you get into the books that you discover this. For capital projects for example, there has never been a year in the last five or so years that any agency has exceeded maybe 50 or 60 percent releases of what was contained in the budget.

On government’s restructuring Government must be structured in such a way that when ‘x’ amount is planned to be expended on capital projects such ‘x’ amount of money must be released in order to avoid the spectre of abandoned projects that have continuously haunted our country. We have fine and fantastic policies but the critical question is to what extent do we implement those policies?

Sometimes we allow things to drag for too long before taking action and that affects performance. Again, the level of funding of many government’s agencies is poor and the earlier we realized that agencies can only perform when they are well funded, the better.

Accountability and its bane The best way to make it difficult for people to give account is not to fund them. Part of the problem we have with accountability in Nigeria has to do with under-funding. and I will suggest that if we needed a fewer number of government agencies let have those that we can fund instead of having an unwinding number of agencies that are under-funded and the

We need an apolitical civil service The problem of political office holder is there, but when you have a properly structured civil service that is apolitical, everyone conforms to the system. That is what happens in developed countries. Regardless of whether it is the Republicans or Democrats that comes to power in the United States, the American civil service is the same. So that is what we need, return efficiency to the civil service, return effectiveness to the civil service, return legitimacy to the civil service and make it impartial, don’t make it a slave to the political power wielders who are temporary passersby in the service. Let them be independent and once it is the rule that they are enforcing there is nothing anybody can do about it. It is because they are also now beginning to have an inclination to wanting to bend the rules, to please the power wielders and themselves, that is why we have problems.

Not cynical of the government anymore As an outsider then I was very cynical but more of an insider now am not anymore because I know that there are difficulties with the civil service but that is still the surest way of delivering the goods to the people.

Missing the university’s ambience and camaraderie I missed a lot then. Yes, we conduct researches in CBAAC but not as much as we do in the university. I was attending conferences when I was still in CBAAC and I was organising conferences, but I think I would have been invited to more if I was here. I missed the comradeship of my friends and colleagues whom I couldn’t even have time to socialise with. Till the day I handed over I was busy and that tells you how it is, you work round the clock.

I missed the ambience of the university community, our seminars that were regular I missed them. I missed my classes because I didn’t have the opportunity to talk to students except when I respond to occasional invitations to give either convocation lectures or to give keynote addresses in conferences.

Sacrifices I was a regular face at the University of Lagos Staff Club before my appointment and even though I was staying in Lagos during my tenure, I don’t think I have been to the staff club in the last three to four years. It is not that I didn’t want to go, but I didn’t have the time. My family certainly has suffered a bit because of my regular absence from home, but we thank God that everybody is healthy and they understand that it was a period of service to the country. I always give credit to my wife and my kids for that understanding.

Thankfully we are back together now and we share more moments and time together.

We eat together most of the times and we are all happy.

News

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

5

Police beef up security at worship centres as Muslims celebrate Eid-el-Kabir CONTINUED FRO M PAG E 1

Strategic infrastructures are also to be adequately protected during this period.

All Area Commanders and DPOs have been enjoined to ensure visibility policing as a confidence building measure.”

Equally, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) said it had deployed about 50,000 of its personnel nationwide to ensure adequate security during Saturday’s Sallah celebration.

The corps stated this in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Mr. Emmanu-

el Okeh, on Friday in Abuja.

The statement said the Commandant General of the NSCDC, Dr. Ade Abolurin, had directed all zonal and state commands to deploy personnel in strategic places for the celebration.

Abolurin said the personnel had been deployed in strategic locations such as Eid praying grounds, federal highways, relaxation spots and all nooks and crannies of the country.

Sniffer dogs had also been deployed to sniff out combustive chemicals and other dangerous compound substances used in the creation of bombs and IEDs, he

added.

“I also want to advise criminal-minded individuals that always capitalised on festive periods to carry out their nefarious activities to desist from such acts or relocate from the country…,” he said.

In some states like Delta, Kogi, Kano, Adamawa, Sokoto, Borno, Kwara, Ekiti among others, heavy presence of police personnel were noticed on major streets in the metropolis.

In Asaba, the Delta State capital, the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Celestina Kalu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP),

assured the public that adequate security measures had been put in place to ensure peaceful celebrations.

Also, NAN reports that the Oyo State Police Command’s spokesperson, Mrs Olabisi Ilobanafor, has assured residents of adequate security during the celebratiobns.

“We have our men everywhere and as Nigerians celebrate, we shall be watching over them in all parts of Oyo State because it is our duty to make sure they are all safe.

“We want to, however, advice that people should be modest in rejoicing and

also be watchful of their environment,” she said.

However, President Goodluck Jonathan has felicitated with Nigerians, especially Muslims on the occasion of the Sallah celebration.

The president said: “I greet and felicitate with all our countrymen and women of the Islamic faith as we celebrate this year’s Eid-El-Kabir.

“I also congratulate all believers who have successfully undertaken the Hajj this year as enjoined by Prophet Mohammed (may peace be upon Him).

“As they conclude the

rites of the Hajj and prepare to return home, let xxxxxxx us all join them in offering special prayers for greater security, peace, unity and progress in our dear country as well as for the peaceful and successful conduct of next year’s general elections.

“With this week’s issuance of a formal notice of the impending general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), another national campaign season is now truly upon us and I urge all political leaders in the country to place the overriding interest of the wellbeing and progress of our fatherland above all other considerations in the coming campaigns and elections.

“My administration has done its sincere best in the past four years to implement its agenda for national transformation and move our country forward on several fronts.”

Also felicitating with Muslims, the former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, called on Nigerians to pray for the country.

Kalu, who described the Sallah season as a period of spiritual rededication, said: “It is with joy that I join our Muslim brothers and sisters in celebrating yet another Eld -el - Kabir.”

In a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Kunle Oyewumi, the former governor said: “This special season calls for sober reflection as individuals and as a nation. Nigeria needs prayer and there is no other time to do this other than now, let’s keep praying for the country’s leadership.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 53

Pilgrims from Ogun State at the Mount Arafat, in the City of Mecca, Saudi Arabia…yesterday

‘We haven’t received any request from US on Kashamu’s extradition’ CONTINUED FROM PAG E 1

Moro, explained. “When any such request comes, the government of Nigeria will study it and act appropriately.”

Moro’s position was corroborated by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN).

Speaking through the chief press secretary in the ministry of justice, Mr. Ayodeji Ajibade, Adoke said Nigeria had not received any letter in that regard from the United States government.

He, however, added that “as soon as the letter gets to the table of the AGF, it would be treated on its own merit”.

Kashamu’s case made fresh headlines when a U.S Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in August 18 this year denied the

PDP chieftain an “order of mandamus” he filed to stop his trial.

In denying his petition for writ of mandamus to the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division in case No. 94 CR 172-15, the presiding judge, Mr. Posner, said Kashamu had two possible avenues of relief.

The judge observed that the two options open to Kashamu to get the relief he sought were to either travel to the U.S to defend himself in a trial or “to obtain from us, as he is trying to do, a writ of mandamus ordering the District Court to dismiss the indictment”.

He then gave a damning verdict on the Nigerian government’s inclination towards the case: “But the government may be whistling in the dark in saying that it’s optimistic about being able to extradite him from

Nigeria.

“The proof of the pudding is in the eating; the government has not tried to extradite Kashamu from Nigeria and for all we know may be feigning ‘optimism’ in order to undermine Kashamu’s claim that the threat of extradition is a sword of Damocles disrupting his life without our government’s having to undergo the expense and uncertainty of seeking extradition of a foreign big shot exonerated (though only partly) by the judiciary of our British ally.

“Given Kashamu’s prominence in Nigerian business and government circles, and the English Magistrate’s findings and conclusion, the probability of extradition may actually be low.”

Meanwhile, the U.S has said it will proceed in good faith in the extradition proceedings against Kashamu.

But when asked whether any formal request has been made, Mrs. Dehab Ghebreab, a public affairs officer at the U.S ConsulateGeneral in Lagos, simply said, “the United States Government does not respond to enquiries which are still under investigation”.

Reacting to the issue, the National Coordinator, Rights Monitoring Group (RMG) and Country Director, Centre on Convention for Democratic Integrity (CCDI), Mr. Olufemi Aduwo, said Kashamu had a case to answer.

“For Buruji, he has a case to answer. The whole world is listening; ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo has written Mr. President on this issue, even my group, RMG, has written the Presidency on this issue.

“We must ask the judiciary why they are keeping this case in the dark. Buruji was the one

that started the case in Nigeria.

Don’t also forget that he has dual citizenship, Benin Republic and Nigeria. We should ask the Supreme Court why the process is dragging,” he said.

Also, a human rights activist and chairman of Coalition Against Corrupt Leader, Debo Adeniran, said he should be extradited.

He said: “That shows that if somebody committed a crime and wants to run away from it, it cannot run forever. And that is an example of where the judicial system works. So, if Kashamu could escape justice in Nigeria, it didn’t mean that he could escape justice all over the world. It also exposes the hypocrisy of our government, whereby those being parade as their friends and allies are those that have one criminal baggage or the other to deal with.”

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News

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

Fayose's inauguration: Anxiety over Ekiti CJ's presence ASSURANCE The people have been assured of the swearing of governor-elect, Ayo Fayose, despite the present crisis in the state Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

W

ith less than two weeks to the inauguration of Ekiti State Governor-Elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, as the governor of the state, there has been anxiety in the state over whether the Chief Judge, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, will be willing to attend the ceremony and administer necessary oaths on Fayose.

The anxiety stems from the ongoing face-off between the duo over recent developments in the state judiciary.

The two men have dragged each other before the National Judicial Council (NJC) via petitions over attacks on some judicial officers in Ekiti State.

The CJ petitioned the NJC over penultimate Monday's invasion of the court of Justice Olusegun Ogunyemi who was hearing two suits challenging the eligibility of Fayose to contest the June 21 governorship poll.

Also, the CJ is irked by the alleged assault on Justice John Adeyeye three days after the court's invasion.

He indicted Fayose on both instances.

Fayose, on the other hand, petitioned the NJC, asking it to probe activities of Ekiti State judiciary, saying it stinks.

The situation is not helped by the various interpretations read to the advice by Governor Kayode Fayemi, to the CJ through the Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Wale Fapohunda, that courts in the state could relocate to another state to hear matters before them.

Commenting on the possibility of the CJ boycotting the inauguration, the Chairman, Ado-Ekiti Branch of the Nigerian Bar Associa-

tion (NBA), Mr. Joseph Adewumi, allayed the fear and the anxiety of the people.

"The CJ cannot boycott the event. I am not sure that rumour is correct. The CJ has a constitutional duty to perform to swear in the incoming governor on October 16. There is no anarchy in the state to warrant such a thing.

"Section 185 (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria confers the power to administer all the necessary oaths on the new governor on that day on the CJ. "The NBA in Ekiti State is hammering on the need for our politicians to allow peace to reign because there must be a conducive atmosphere for everybody to perform their constitutional duties and roles and we pray politicians would listen to us and do the right thing," he said.

Speaking in the same vein, a former AttorneyGeneral in the state, Mr. Owoseni Ajayi, said despite the rancour between the CJ and Fayose, the former

cannot afford to shy away from performing his constitutional roles.

Ajayi, who is the immediate past chairman of Ado-Ekiti NBA, added that boycotting the event would mean the CJ abdicated his statutory responsibility.

"Ekiti CJ cannot do that.

It is his statutory responsibility and cannot afford to boycott it. If he does, the Chief Justice of Nigeria will ask another judge to do it and definitely, it will attract necessary sanctions for the CJ. "The swearing in will take place on that day because there can be no vacuum and why would the CJ refuse to do his job in the first instance? Is he fighting a personal battle against the governor-elect?

"Don't allow us to speculate on what cannot happen. If the CJ feels he needs more security on the day, the Inspector-General of Police will provide that. It is going to be a happy day for Ekiti people and by God's grace nothing will scuttle it,"Ajayi said.

The Week Ahead

MFM holds ‘Power Must Change Hands’ today The Mountain of Fire and Miracles (MFM), will today hold its October edition of ‘Power Must Change Hands’, at Prayer City, Km 12, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, at 7a.m. The General Overseer of the church, Dr. D.K. Olukoya, urged members to attend the event tagged: ‘Operation Environmental Sanitation’, by fasting as “just praying on sand in your environment, the rest will be history.”

Two power firms get Oct 6 payment deadline The Federal Government has approved the extension of payment deadline by preferred bidders of Afam Power Plc and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company to October 6.

The statement made available by the Head of Public Communications of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Chigbo Anichebe, said the Federal Government decided to extend the date of payment for the balance of 75 per cent of purchase prices of both companies by an additional 60 days, from August 6 to October 6.

It stated that the decision to extend, rather than cancel the sale of the firms, was because the government did not meet some of the agreements made during the transaction.

Osun schools to resume Oct 6 Osun State Government has fixed October 6 as the resumption date for public and private schools in the state.

A statement signed by the state’s Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, said Governor Rauf Aregbesola had directed all public and private schools to reopen for the 2014/2015 academic session on October 6.

Laoye-Tomori, who is also the state Commissioner for Education, said: “This will enable principals and teachers to receive adequate training to prevent Ebola epidemic in schools and in the state in general.”

Contempt proceeding against CBN holds Oct 6 A Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed October 6, to hear a committal proceeding instituted by some pensioners against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), over alleged disobedience of judgment.

The plaintiffs-James Jemilo, Thompson Edun, Jacob Amao and Joachim Ajala, had sued for themselves and on behalf of all CBN pensioners on May 6, 1999, praying the court to compel the CBN to comply with the Federal Government’s directive on pension harmonisation.

The plaintiffs had averred that the policy was introduced in the public service with effect from January 1, 1997.

“The policy was designed to eliminate the disparities in the pensions of workers, who retired on the same grade, with those who served the same number of years but retired at different times,” they averred.

9th Abuja Trade fair ends Oct 6 L-R: Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosun and Rear Admiral Samuel Alade, during the funeral service in honour of late Brig-Gen. Benjamin Adekunle in Lagos…yesterday

PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

Mutiny: Spare soldiers' lives, Primate urges FG Ndubuisi Ugah

with agency reports

B

arely 48 hours after a newly-reconstituted General Court martial (GCM), was inaugurated to try 97 officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army for mutiny on October 15, the Primate of Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, yesterday appealed to the Federal Government to spare the lives of 12 soldiers sentenced to death for mutiny.

Okoh made this appeal in Abuja, while speaking to

journalists at the sidelines of this year’s Anglican Communicators Conference at St. Mathias Anglican Church, Zone 3, Wuse.

The soldiers were on September 16, this year, sentenced to death by a General Court Marshal of the Nigerian Army for attempting to kill their General Officer Commanding (GOC), MajGen. Ahmed Mohammed, on May 14, this year in Maiduguri, Borno State.

Okoh urged the government to consider the soldiers’ defense and patriotic service which they

had rendered to the nation.

“Military Law is a very strict law; we want to make an appeal to the Nigerian Army to tamper justice with mercy and spare their lives.

“The soldiers have invested their lives in the defence of the nation; the government should not only see their errors but should equally see the good they have done.

“So, it is left for President Goodluck Jonathan to consider that human beings can make mistakes, and also consider to forgive them,” he said.

The Primate, however, noted that the war against insurgency had consumed many people in the country, and cautioned that more should not be added to the number.

A nine-member military tribunal presided over by Brig-Gen. Chukwuemeka Okonkwo, convicted the soldiers.

Eighteen soldiers were arraigned at the military court and 12 were sentenced to death by firing squad, one was jailed for life with hard labour, while five were set free.

The 9th Abuja International Trade Fair, which began on September 23 with the theme: ‘Strengthening Small and Medium Enterprises for Economic Growth’, will end on October 6 in Abuja.

President of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ABUCCIMA), which is the organisers of the event, Mr. Solomon Nyagba, said exhibitors came from Egypt, India, Ghana, Senegal and Burkina Faso among other foreign participants, who graced the two-week event.

Emeka Ike vs Actors’ Guild suit comes up Oct 10 A Federal High Court in Lagos will on October10 hear a suit filed by a Nollywood actor, Emeka Ike, against the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN), over a leadership tussle.

The case, which was fixed for hearing of the plaintiff’s suit, could not go on due to the tight schedule of the court.

Justice James Tsoho had adjourned the suit alongside few others to enable him to attend an official function.

Dimgba Igwe for burial Oct 11 The late Vice-Chairman of Sun Publishing Newspapers, Mr. Dimgba Igwe, aged 58 will be buried on October 11.

A statement issued by the deceased’s elder brother, Mr. Hanson Igwe, said the burial programme will start with a funeral service at his residence in Okota, Lagos, on October 4.

The statement said the funeral service would hold at the deceased’s hometown in Okafia, Igbere, in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State.

4 OCTOBER 2014

Judge frowns at delay in Cynthia Osokogu’s murder trial Akeem Nafiu

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ustice Olabisi Akinlade of a Lagos High Court has spoken out against the delay of criminal proceedings in the trial of four persons charged by the Lagos State Government for the murder of Cynthia Osokogu.

The deceased was allegedly murdered in her room at Cosmilla Hotel, Lake View Estate, Festac Town in Lagos by her Facebook friends.

The judge spoke yesterday against the backdrop of another delay in the trial of the four accused persons; Okwumo Nwabufo, 36; Olisaeloka Ezike, 27; Orji Osita, 35 and Ezike Nonso, 27, owing to the absence of defence lawyers in court.

Justice Akinlade had adjourned the matter till yesterday for the accused persons to open their defence after the prosecution had concluded its case. However, two of the lawyers to the defendants were not in court for the defence.

The judge while expressing

her disappointment over the absence of the defence counsel wondered why the case was being delayed and threatened to go on with the case on the next adjourned date.

The judge equally frowned at the fact that the lawyer to the first defendant was not in court and also failed to write any letter to the court, whereas the same lawyer sent a text message to the prosecutor, Abiola Adeyinka, that he would not be in court owing to the need to attend an eye clinic.

The fourth accused (Nonso), on the other hand, when asked about his lawyer, told the court that the lawyer promised him to be in court.

Justice Akinlade, obviously displeased with the development, queried why the lawyers were not in court and said: “I don't know why they are delaying this matter. They are not even concerned that the first and second defendants are in custody. What is the essence of giving date and lawyers will not honour it.”

Arrest of AIT reporter, Amaechi Anakwe, dictatorial – NUJ

Yusuf Shuaib Abuja

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he Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) has described the arrest and charging to court of its member, Amaechi Anakwe of the African Independent Television (AIT) on the order of the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Joseph Mbu, as uncivilised and a despotic show of power on the journalism profession.

A statement issued yesterday and co-signed by the union’s National Secretary, Sh’aibu Usman Leman and Assistant National Secretary, James Uwem, said Mbu’s alleged claim was unwarranted.

According to the statement, the union considers

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the claim of Mbu “an alleged act of deformation” as penchant that he was described as a controversial character in the Nigeria police force.

The statement stated that the claim was inconsequential and, therefore, demanded for the unconditional dropping of all charges on the matter by the police.

“We call on the police Authority to duly sanction AIG Mbu and other officers with such temperament within the police force who do not mean well for police the nation.

“It is also imperative that the police should orientate such offices on international best practices in their operations to forestall a re-occurrence of similar incidence,” the statement added.

MINNA Niger withdraws suit against NTA reporter

NEWS IN BRIEF

A Minna Chief Magistrates’ Court on Friday granted the request of the Niger Government to withdraw a suit against one Tega Oghenedoro, a reporter with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

The accused had been in prison custody for allegedly blackmailing the Niger State Government, an offence that is contrary to sections 293, 234, 397, 324, 293 and 397 of the Penal Code.

He was arraigned on September 30 on a four-count of joint act, cheating, extortion and intimidation.

At the resumed hearing of the matter, the state counsel, Mr. Moses Ciroma, prayed the court to terminate the case as both parties in the suit had agreed to settle out of court.

27.78

The average age of Ecuador team in the just concluded Brazil 2014 World Cup. Source: Telegraph.co.uk

IKEJA Lagos gives free bus ride on BRT today

In order to ease movement of commuters during the Eid el-Kabir celebration, the Lagos State Government is offering Lagosians free bus ride on Saturday 4th October 2014.

Commuters along the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route will enjoy free ride from Mile 12 to CMS while those on the Bus Franchise Scheme (BFS) will ride free on Ikotun-Igando-Iyana-Ipaja-Ikeja.

Managing Director of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Dr. Dayo Mobereola, in a statement urged Nigerians to reflect on the significance of the celebration which is sacrificial giving and urged that it should not be reduced to mere eating and drinking alone.

IGANMU Train crushes woman to death in Lagos

Authorities at the Nigeria Railway Corporation on Friday confirmed the death of a middle-aged woman believed to have been crushed to death by a train.

The Lagos District Manager of the corporation, Mr. Akin Osinowo, told to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Lagos, that the incident occurred on Thursday evening in Iganmu, when the woman attempted to jump on a moving train.

The woman was reported to have jumped down from a tricycle conveying her and hurried to catch an ApapaIjoko bound train but fell off the train while struggling to get on it.

Osinowo said the woman might have died as a result of injuries she may have sustained from the fall.

1.49%

The percentage of individuals using the internet in Guinea in 2012.

Source: Itu.int

2.3bn

The projected increase of the world’s total population between 2009 and 2050.

Source: Unesco.org

Ondo PDP welcomes Mimiko, rejects dissolution of exco DEFECTION The deflection of Gov Mimiko to PDP may stir tussle as the party executives insist on holding on to power.

Babatope Okeowo

T Akure

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State yesterday said the defection of Governor Olusegun Mimiko will brighten the chances of the party in next year general election but may spell doom if not well handled.

However, the party said despite the fact that it welcomed the governor to its fold, it would do all within the law to protect the struc-

tures of the party at ward, local and state levels.

Briefing agitated crowd who besieged the party secretariat along Oyemekun Road, Akure, the Deputy Chairman of the party, Chief Fatai Adams, said inasmuch as the party welcomes the governor, it would not surrender the party structures to him.

According to him, not less than 60 party members have collected nomination forms for different positions ranging from Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly.

He said since the party primaries were less than one month from now, dismantling party structures would spell doom for the party and might lead to exodus of members who had toiled day and night

to build the party to a virile platform.

Adams, who said Mimiko was officially received on Friday, by the national leadership of the party see the development as a way of boosting the chances of the party and its candidates in future elections in the state.

According to him, the state working committee of the party is ready to help the administration of Mimiko to succeed and deliver the needed dividends of democracy to the people of the state.

“We are ready to work together with Mr Governor for a successful election of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.

We are ready to expand the party as we have seen senators showing interest in the party, House of

Representatives members and House of Assembly members seeking to join the party. But we are not ready to surrender the party structure,” he said.

Adams said the fears that the coming of Mimiko to PDP would lead to the dissolution of party structures made them to challenge the step at the Federal High Court, Abuja and an Abuja High Court.

“I did say the positions of the executive were contested for. We came as a result of election held on March 17, 2012. And by that mandate, we are to serve for four years. So, coming on board and some people will just sit down and cut short our tenure, we believe it's illegal. And that is why I promised that if it should happen, it will not go unchallenged.

Support Buhari to defeat PDP, Buhari supporter tells Atiku Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

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ne of the supporters of former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential ambition, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has congratulated former vice-president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, for welcoming Buhari on the board of All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket, stating that Atiku should support Buhari to wrestle power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Okechukwu, who spoke to journalists in Abuja, posited that it would be a winning strategy for APC if such

support would come up.

He said: “I am making this passionate appeal on many grounds, one the bitterness, rancour and ill temper which a gruesome monetised indirect primary will most likely generate; definitely poses grave danger and may scuttle the earnest yearning of Nigerians for regime change.

“Secondly, is it not better to harvest the celestial bond between Buhari and Nigerian masses and the middle class, a bond which made it possible for him to garner with modest means in a micro political party, over 12 million votes in 2011 presidential election?"

7

Managing Director, News Agency Of Nigeria (NAN), Mr. Ima Noboro (left) and former Director-General, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Olusegun Runsewe, during Runsewe’s condolence visit over the death of the former Managing Director of NAN, Mrs. Oluremi Oyo, at the NAN headquarters, in Abuja…yesterday

8

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4 OCTOBER 2014

IBADAN Alaafin lauds Jonathan at UN 68th session

N EWS I N BRIEF

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, has applauded President Goodluck Jonathan’s performance at the 68th session of the United Nations Organisation (UNO) held in the United States of America.

The monarch gave the commendation in a letter dated September 29 and addressed to the President in Ibadan on Friday.

The letter reads: “I am writing this open letter to you to put on record my impression of your performance at the just concluded 68th session of the United Nations Organisation which was held in the United States of America."

MINNA 500,000 Nigerlites endorse Aliyu for Senate

About 500,000 Nigerlites have unanimously adopted the Niger State Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, to vie and contest for the Senate in 2015.

The state Coordinator of the Talba Success Movement, Alhaji Hamisu Jankaro, who led the thousands of Nigerlites to the governor’s house during an interactive section to mark this year’s Sallah celebration with Muslims on Friday, said most youth organisations in the zone had already endorsed the governor as the sole candidate to contest the 2015 election and represent the Senatorial Zone under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

IKEJA N100m fraud: Court orders company to forfeit assets to victim

An Ikeja High Court on Friday ordered a company, Folik International Ventures Limited, to forfeit its assets to another company it had defrauded of N100 million.

Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye, granted the forfeiture order while delivering judgment in a case brought against the company by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Folik International Ventures Limited and its owner, Folake Kowo, were arraigned on October 9, 2013 for fraud offence.

The EFCC had alleged that the company and Kowo had, between June, 2011 and January, 2013, in Lagos, sold 200 cartons of frozen fish valued at about N100 million on behalf of Time Unicorn Ltd.

10.08

N161.7m

The number of fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants of Morocco in 2012.

Source: Itu.int

The IGR realized from road taxes of Ebonyi State in 2010.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

77

The life expectancy (in years) of men at birth in Bermuda in 2010-2015.

Source: Un.org

No law stops Jonathan from contesting in 2015 - Okwu CLEARANCE GEJ absolved of any fault to seek a second term in office Okegwo Kenechukwu

T Onitsha

he embattled National chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Max Okwu, has said that there is no law in Nigeria that prohibits President Goodluck Jonathan from accomplishing his presidential ambition for a second tenure in 2015.

Okwu, who stated this at a forum at Umunya in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, accused the South-East political class of sabotage, saying they should be their

brothers’ keeper.

“If PDP nominates Jonathan, nothing stops him from running for the second term. I assure the president that, APGA will give him 100 percent support,” he said.

The APGA factional chairman, who spoke when he addressed journalists in the compound with the governorship candidate of APGA in Anambra State in the 2013, Dr. Chike Obidigbo, said it was imperative for Nigerians to back President Jonathan in 2015.

On the position of his party over President Jonathan’s second term bid, Okwu said his party would endorse Jonathan at APGA's National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.

Okwu added that there was no law in Nigeria that said Jonathan should not

run, pointing out that in most democratic countries of the world, sitting presidents were usually nominated to run for a second term.

Meanwhile, a mild drama ensued in Obidigbo’s compound while the press briefing was ongoing.

It was gathered that some thugs had invaded Obidigbo’s and held Okwu and his entourage hostage for over 30 minutes, thereby leading to a-free-for-all.

Trouble started when the thugs whose mission Saturday New Telegraph could not immediately ascertain and numbering about six, barged into the compound and were confronted by another set of thugs loyal to Okwu, which resulted in a fracas.

It, however, took the intervention of Obidigbo and some police officers deployed in the area to

forestall the escalation of the fight.

Obidigbo had invited members of APGA loyal to Okwu’s faction in the state to his house for a 'thank you launch', for their support and solidarity during and after the 2013 elections.

The occasion, which attracted a cross section of APGA loyalists in Okwu’s camp had the National Vice-Chairman, Deputy Chairmen of the party’s South-East, chairmen of Enugu, Abia, Imo, Delta, River and Edo of the party in attendance.

Fielding questions further from journalists, Okwu said the issue of who becomes the national chairman of the party was still pending in court and until that it was determined, it would not be assumed to have ended.

12 feared killed in fresh attack in Plateau Musa Pam

A Jos

t least 12 people were feared killed yesterday by suspected Fulani terrorists in four villages in Bachit District of Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Saturday New Telegraph gathered that the four villages were attacked simultaneously at about 1a.m. by the Fulanis who mobilised themselves against the locals to killed and burnt their houses.

It was learnt that the natives were taking unaware by the suspected terrorists who also burnt Houses belonging to the victims Eyewitness told Saturday New Telegraph that over 500 people were displaced as a result of the attack mostly women and children while others have fled the communities for fear of another possible attack.

However, Majority Leader and Member representing Riyom Constituency in the Plateau State House of As-

sembly, Hon. Daniel Dem who confirmed the attacked said 9 people were killed in a simultaneous attacked carried out by Fulani herdsmen in Riyom Local Government Area, burning houses, including that of late Senator Gyang Dantong.

He said though normalcy has been restored as a result of intervention of the Operatives of the Special Task Force, but called for adequate security measures in the affected communities to enable the villagers continue with normal activities.

Dem also called on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to assist the victims with relief materials to cushion the effect of the dreaded attacked.

Meanwhile, Spokesman of the Special Task Force (STF), Captain Iwehe Ikedichi, confirmed that there was an attacked in Riyom Local Government Areas but said he doesn't have detail report of the incident and promise to do that as soon as his office is furnish with information as at the time of filling this report.

Withdraw charges against Exxon Mobil, Akpabio advises communities

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kwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, has charged ExxonMobil’s host communities to withdraw impending court cases to enable the company to execute special community projects in their areas.

Akpabio gave the charge Thursday, when the Chairman/Managing and Lead Country Manager of ExxonMobil Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Nolan O'Neal, paid him a courtesy visit at Governor ’s Office, Uyo. He said: “I thank you for the assurance that I should pass to the people of the state that the special community projects that we had negotiated and

agreed upon has finally received leadership approval and the money is ready to start the project.

“But what is impeding the projects is that some of the communities went to court and there are about 14 cases pending in the courts. I think it is in the interest of those communities affected to immediately withdraw those cases from courts to allow contractors to be mobilised to sites and commence meaningful projects in the areas.”

He explained if those projects were not executed as at when they should, the communities would be at the losing end, considering the bureaucratic procedure involved in getting approval for such community projects.

Africa Hotel Investment Forum ends on a positive outlook Andrew Iro Okungbowa

I

L-R: Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon; Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, and his wife, Olukemi, during the governor's 60th birthday thanksgiving service, at the Government House, in Akure…yesterday

nternational hotel brands dominance of Africa's hospitality sector continues on a large scale as many unveils new hotels in the pipelines with Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Africa, Ghana, Morocco, Kenya and Uganda high on the list of investors.

This was one of the major fallouts at the just concluded Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The yearly forum organised by Bench Events focused on the hospitality

sector in Sub-Sahara Africa and the level of investment attracted by the sector as well as the benefits from it.

It attracted major hotel owners, investors, financiers, management companies and other stakeholders across board from different parts of Africa and the world.

In the course of the event, many of the international hotel brands took turns to either announce new properties in the pipelines or those already delivered and awaiting formal opening with some of the new signings spanning this year to 2017.

4 OCTOBER 2014

National Award to Orji, an affront on Abia people – APC chieftain Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

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chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Abia State, Chief Okey Nwagbara, has described the National Honours Award bestowed on Governor Theodore Orji as an insult to the people of the state, especially those residing in the ‘abandoned city of Aba’.

Speaking to journalists at the Imo Cargo Airport, Owerri, Nwagbara, who is also the APC Zonal Chairman for Abia Central, stated that considering the level of development of the state under Orji, the award was most undeserved.

“Governor Theodore Orji can only be seen as deserving award when viewed through the prism of PDP politics. But in all fairness, it is a disservice to Abia people to reward Orji for misrule when all he deserves is condemnation and vituperation for the gross maladministration of Abia State and the massive

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dilapidation he has inflicted on the economic base of the state through sheer dereliction of his responsibilities to the people. What institution of state is functional in Abia State beside the institutionalisation of political thuggery?”

While describing Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha and Senator Chris Ngige as true Igbo sons, Nwagbara said both leaders had distinguished themselves as true representatives of the people.

“If you are looking for real Igbo men, look in the direction of these men; they do not run with the crowd.

While several other leaders have been railroaded into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has exploited and plundered the South-East for the past 12 years, these men like the pure Igbo stock they are, have resisted the bandwagon movement and charted a whole new course in the greater interest of the Igbo nation," he said.

FCT ‘7.2m Nigerians enrol in NHIS’

NEWS IN BRIE F

The Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Dr. Femi Thomas, has said that about 7.2 million Nigerians have enrolled and benefitted from the scheme since its inception in 2005.

Thomas, who stated this in Abuja, at the 9th Abuja International Trade Fair, said management had adopted various strategies to ensure that Nigerians enrol in the scheme.

He said Nigeria was the first country to introduce the mobile phone method of assessing free health scheme in the world.

7,800

AWKA NDLEA raises the alarm over drug scourge in Anambra

Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Anambra State, Mr Sule Momodu, yesterday said the illicit drug situation in the state had risen to an alarming and worrisome level.

Momodu raised the alarm in Awka, when the agency visited the wife of the state governor, Mrs Ebele Obiano, to seek her support for the command’s war against the use and sale of illicit drugs.

He said the use and sale of cocaine, heroin, cannabis and other psychotropic substances had become rampant in the state.

“As a mother, the governor’s wife could appreciate the pains and dangers of drug addiction among children and youths,” Momodu said.

The estimated number of deaths that could be prevented due to reductions in smoking.

Source: Smokingstatistics.org

44.7%

The percentage of households with internet access at home in developed countries in 2005.

Source: Itu.int

9

FCT Paucity of funds stalls Inland waterways project - Minister

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr. Steve Oru, on Friday said dwindling finances was delaying the implementation of the inland waterways projects.

Oru, who made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said the concept of the waterways transportation system was to create a network of waterways in the Niger Delta region.

“Nigeria has the second longest length of waterways in Africa with 8,600 kilometres of inland waterways and an extensive coastland of about 852 kilometres,” he said.

8.93m

The total population of Azerbaijan (rep. 0.13% of world’s population) in 2010.

Source: Blatantworld.com

Five rescued as storey building collapses in Abuja Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

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ive people yesterday escaped death as a storybuilding under construction collapsed in Jikwoyi, Abuja Municipal Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Findings by Saturday New Telegraph revealed that the building nicknamed Mimshack Arena, located at Jikwoyi phase 4, Abuja was hitherto used as a night club, bar and relaxation point, but the owner, Mr. Meshack, a senior serving police officer, apparently with the intention of maximising the available space, decided to make the building a high rise without carrying out necessary structural and engineering tests to ascertain the state of the structure.

In the same vein, several eye witness account said that

no death was recorded as at the time of press, but Saturday New Telegraph witnessed the rescue of five people alive, while three other workers rescued from the rubbles were critically injured.

Giving his own account of the incident, a suya seller, Mallam Iliya Haruna, said he personally witnessed the rescue of three people before the arrival of the policemen, men of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other rescue officials 30 to 40 minutes of the collapse.

Promise Richard, another eye witness, who runs a boutique shop in the premises, in his account, said: "It was shortly after we commenced work for the day, around 10:45 a.m., suddenly I saw the engineer running out of the site, and I was curious, I didn't know he had saw it coming."

Tinted glass permit: Lagos residents to apply to CP Juliana Francis

T

he Lagos State Police Command has urged car owners, residing in the state who want to apply for the approval of factoryfitted tinted glass permit to go through the office of the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti.

The order followed the delegation of the powers of the Inspector General of Police (IG) for the approval of the permit to Commissioners of Police in the various

state commands.

The Police spokesman, Kenneth Nwosu, said such applications should be accompanied by the following documents: Photocopies of the vehicle papers including vehicle licence, photograph of the vehicle capturing the front and rear number plate, photocopy of the driving licence of the owner of the vehicle and two passport photographs of the owner of the vehicle. see news extra on page 53

African Independent Television (AIT) presenter of Political Platform, Mr. Ameachi Anakwe(left), and his counsel, Nwoke John Kalu, after he was discharged for accusing an AIG of Police, John Mbu, for being controversial, at the Abuja Zone II Magistrate Court... yesterday.

PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI

Why Associated Airline crash report is not out – AIB DELAY The AIB has explained why an airline's crash report has not been released.

T

Wole Shadare he Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has said the delay in the release of the final report of Associated Airlines crashed that occurred on November 3, 2013 was as a result of the wait for the outcome of the engine teardown including the aircraft propeller systems to be able to reach certain conclusions on the investigations.

The agency stated this yesterday in an interim statement it issued on last year crash of Associated Airline EMB -120, which occurred in Lagos.

The AIB stated that although investigations into the crash had reached an advanced stage, the bureau stated that it is still wait-

l Plane’s components sent to US, Canada for analysis ing for the outcome of the engine teardown including the aircraft propeller systems to be able to reach certain conclusions on the investigations.

The Commissioner, AIB, Dr. Felix Abali, who stated this yesterday in Abuja, at the one year anniversary of the accident, said the airplane’s components were sent to Canada and the United States of America to determine why the propeller went into auto-feather during take-off.

According to him, “On October 3, 2013 about 0930hrs 5N-BJY EMB 120 on a domestic charter flight crashed into the Joint Users Hydrant Installation area of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos.

“The aircraft experienced a power loss on the right engine propeller resulting in auto-feathering activation on takeoff from runway 19L of the airport. Twenty persons were on board the

aircraft, which included seven crew members. Sixteen persons were fatally injured and four persons survived the accident including two crew members.”

He added that in accordance with Annex 13 to the convention on International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and Nigerian Civil Aviation Aircraft Accident Investigation Regulations 2006, this is an interim statement being issued at the 1st anniversary of the accident to provide an update on the status of the investigation.

The purpose of this investigation, he said, was to prevent aviation accident and incident, stressing that it is not to apportion blame or liability.

“The investigation has examined available factual, operational, and technical evidences to identify causal and contributory factors involved in the accident.

“Investigative reviews of the engine tear down,

especially the aircraft propeller systems are still ongoing in the USA to determine why the propeller of the right engine auto feathered on takeoff.

Further test and research on selected components is still being carried out with engine and aircraft manufacturers. Safety issues associated with operations of the airline at the time of the accident are being evaluated.

“The draft final report is currently in progress in accordance with ICAO annex 13 and will be released as soon as the investigation and report is completed,” he added.

It would be recalled that AIB shortly after the accident released a preliminary report based on the preliminary readout and analysis of flight 361’s flight recorders recovered from the crashed aircraft, which revealed loss of thrust on the right engine on take-off.

Voices What will be your immediate reaction if you caught your spouse cheating on you? p.12

Street Diary SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER 2014

10

‘Why I switched from timber business to traditional orthopaedics’

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Elijah Samuel hen Roselyn Uyi, an Ijaw-Arogbo, was growing up as a child in her Ese-Odo community of Ondo State, she craved to be involved in acts of buying and selling, and attain lofty height.

Even though it runs in the family lineage, and her father was a successful practitioner who was endowed with great expertise in tradomedical practice in the orthopaedic field, she was flippantly disposed to thread the line. Thus, all her father’s entreaty to concentrate and be actively involved in the orthopaedic practice was trivialised. Although she actually reluctantly learnt, it was with a discreet resolve not to practice as she had imbibed a notion that the practice was inseparably laden with token of fetish influence. This, she believed, ran against her religious ethics.

“Traditional Orthopaedic practice is a family line of vocation, so I was born and grew up with it. That I grew up with the vocation notwithstanding, I never ever wanted to have anything to do with it. The reason for this was because of my religious background. This fuelled the notion that the vocation was enhanced with fetish applications. I never knew that when God endows one with a talent, its efficacy doesn’t have to do with incantations or any extra-fetish effort.

“In those days when my father was practising the vocation, I never really got serious with errands that pertained to the practice. I took errands like grinding of leaves, tree barks and the likes, which were to be applied in the treatment of fractured bones with levity, and tagged it as a fetish act which ran contrary to my religious beliefs. This made me always to evade such errands.

“Interestingly, by the time I realised that it had no fetish attachment and yielded to practise the vocation, my father had died,” Uyi stated.

Although she had picked some skills from her father, Uyi stuck to her gun. So, she navigated on to actualise her dream of being successful in business, she delved into several ventures at different era. As she was still relishing her success, something mysterious happened that altered the course of her life.

That mysterious occurrence made her succumb and retrace her step to toe the path of family vocation: traditional orthopaedic practice.

“I went to do businesses at different times of life. I only yielded about 10 years ago to practice after some strange occurrences.

“I was involved in several businesses before the last one which was in timber and plank business at Oko-Baba sawmill in Ebute-Meta, Lagos.

Uyi and a child with a fracture

“My resolve to practise traditional orthopaedic vocation was mysterious. I was doing very well in the plank market business, thus I had no worry for anything. But a few years before I finally yielded, I realised that I was losing money. It was inexplicable but I trudged on in the business until a major misfortune happened that made me succumb to traditional orthopaedic,” Uyi recalled.

She continued: “There was a particular day that I was at Costain ButStop on my way to buy stocks as I had nothing left for sale. As I was standing at the bus-stop, I just felt a surge over me and discovered the bag I was carrying which contained the sum of N300, 000 suddenly became light. When I opened the bag and did not find the money inside, I became perplexed because there was no clue to the disappearance of the money. My bag was intact as there was no robbery incident.

That was how I lost the capital for my business.

“It was a most difficult time of my life as I was later faced with the

As I was standing at the bus-stop, I just felt a surge over me and discovered the bag I was carrying which contained the sum of N300, 000 suddenly became light

dilemma of how to survive with the family as all had been lost. There was no food at home for the family; there was nobody to run to. In the course of my idleness, something happened that actually signaled the commencement of practice in the orthopaedic vocation. One of my aunts who was bereaved at the time broke her arm while she was wailing.

“When I got to her place, I felt great pity for her and decided to ameliorate her pains. Immediately, I swung into her treatment by applying the residual knowledge in me and did the needful. I went back two days later, saw the improvement and still dressed the arm; in no time she was healed. I was encouraged at the result. That was my first personally-handled case.”

The success of that maiden practice was the breakpoint that set her on the path of a brilliant expertise for a successful and rewarding traditional medical practice in orthopaedic as she was “called upon by my aunt to attend to one of her

neighbours whose child was involved in an accident. When I got there I tried to excuse myself from that responsibility by suggesting alternative options, but the woman would not take any of my suggestions. She said since I handled my aunt’s case, I should use the same hand that I used to handle her child’s case. As she was adamant, I reluctantly volunteered assistance.

“When I got home, I reported to my husband all that transpired and told him that I wouldn’t want my benevolent gesture to turn sour.

He encouraged me to go on and do my best with the case. I was encouraged and continued with the treatment without charging a dime: the fractured leg also healed up. This bolstered me the more.

“The successes recorded in the first two cases made me give a deep thought to the possibility of a career in the traditional orthopaedic practice. Considering that I had had diverse revelations through dreams in which I would see myself tending people with fractures; or being with my dead father in a place where people were being given medical attention. All these were happening when I was still engaged in flourishing business.

Because I had developed abhorrence to seeking divination, from the early stage of life, I neither discussed nor attach any importance to the dreams then.

“In my dilemma, people who I have treated were directing people with similar cases to me. I couldn’t look away but had to help them.

Thus, I counted about 10 cases that I treated without charging any fee.

Having seen the successes God had granted me in the discharge of care-giving responsibilities, and in the face of my joblessness, I concluded that God had given me a ministry to offer care in orthopaedic field.

“The only person I told about my dreams and decision to go into full-scale orthopaedic practice was my uncle who also is a practitioner in FESTAC area. After listening to my tales, he confirmed and encouraged me to go into the practice. He further supported me by assigning cases to me to handle. Through this, I encountered diverse cases which were however successfully handled. All these swelled my wealth of experience.”

Now, her once-held-abhorrence for orthopaedic practice has totally crumbled as Uyi now understands that no one can alter what God has predestined as one’s lot in life.

As it is normal for a succession plan to be put in place in any business vocation, Iya Haga is not in a hurry to be succeeded in her vocation. But she expressed joy and optimism at the positive disposition of one her children who has learnt some skills in the vocation.

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

Street Diary

Agagu’s casket tragedy opened new season in our lives – MIC boss family

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Muritala Ayinla ne year after the multiple tragedies resulting from a plane crash hit the nation, the family of MIC boss, late Olatunji Okusanya, on Thursday held, first year remembrance service in honour of the late undertaker, his son and other staff of the MIC Funeral Company.

Late Tunji Okusanya and his, son, Tunji Okunsanya Jnr and other four staff of MIC Casket lost their lives when a chartered aircraft carrying the remains of a former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, 20 passengers and crew crashed less than a minute after take-off from the local wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja.

Thirteen out of the 20 passengers aboard the flight were immediately confirmed dead by the management of the Embraer 120 aircraft with registration number SCD 361 belonging to Associated Aviation Limited.

Although the metal casket bearing the remains of the former governor was recovered intact, owner of Nigeria’s most popular coffin marketer / maker, MIC Funeral Company; his son, Tunji Jnr, who was the project Director of the funeral company died in the crash.

Speaking in an exclusive interview New Telegraph in Lagos, widow of the casket maker, Mrs. Mobole Erogbogbo, said parts of the activities slated for the marking of the day was the commissioning of JAY’S GARDEN,” a beautiful eco-friendly haven created by Merrymaid Water Gardens Limited in memory of her son, Okunsaya Jnr. She added that a booklet dedicated to the memory of her son would also be launched.

Recounting the family’s experience without the late MIC boss and his son, she said the incident was a big shock to the family, but

Okusanya Jnr (left) and Okusanya Snr

God has been taken care of the family ever since the painful losses.

She said:”Tunji Jnr. was supposed to get marry this year, unfortunately that didn’t happen he was a believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ as we are. He was my companion.

Tunji had plan of Commentary Care Volunteers, he had plan of looking after commentaries, making sure that they are up to standard. He had his own personal business apart from MIC. Life without them has been a learning experience. It is a new beginning as far as I will say. A new beginning in somebody’s life, the person you have been so used to for so many years.

“It is painful that people who have been your companions and all of a sudden, gone

forever. It is not that they have travelled for a day or month, you won’t see them again. It is a vacuum that has been left but thank God for Jesus Christ.

It is has not been easy but we survive it. God is our strength, we are looking forward, and we are not going to look back. We have hope of resurrection.”

Also speaking, London-based daughter of Tunji Okusanya, Mrs. Bolanle Okusanyan-Feyita, who handles international projects for the company, said the October 3 would remain indelible in their lives, saying it was a day the family and company became conscious to the reality of life.

She added that none of the family members had premonition of such tragedies, adding that Tunji Jnr drove their mother to the air-

NASFAT preaches against aggression Olushola Ricketts

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n Islamic group, NasrilLahi-L-Fathi Society of Nigeria (NASFAT), has urged its members and Muslims across the country to live a life of compassion, love, tolerance and friendship.

Speaking at the induction ceremony of new executives and council of elders for its Ikotun branch, the 2nd Vice President of NASFAT Worldwide, Alhaji Wasiu Bolaji, noted that the admonition was a practical way to convince the people that Islam was truly a religion of peace.

He said it was unfortunate that the act of terrorism around the world today was being linked to Islam and Muslims, insisting that those who knew the truth had decided to conceal the fact about the real causes of

terrorism and human cruelty that the world witnessed today.

“Islam is a religion of peace anytime; you don’t need to be confused otherwise. You should go and study your Holy book thoroughly in case of any doubt, as Islam was never evangelized with the swords.

All the wars fought by Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) were defensive wars against the very aggressive infidels...

“Therefore, to change these erroneous perceptions, it behoves of us all as NASFAT members, true Muslims and shining ambassadors of Islamic religion to stay away from violence. No matter the level of persecution against us, because of our faith, we must never adopt aggression as a means of resistance. Instead, we must engage in intellectual ways of being heard. We should re-

member that the holy Qur’an doesn’t permit us to hurt even a fly, not to talk of fellow human beings. And we should remember that the holy book strongly prohibit aggression,” he added.

Admonishing the new executives, NASFAT President, Alhaji Sheriff Yusuf, represented by the group’s Chairman, National and Zonal Coordinating Committee, Alhaji Basir Abdulsalam, and the Chairman, Zone II of NASFAT, Dr. Rafiu Agbola, told the newly-elected executives they must discharge their duty of office creditably well and according to the dictates of the holy Qur’an.

“You all should remember that this mandate given to you is for the purpose of quality and fair representation. You must discharge these duties diligently, fairly and transparently,” he added.

port a day before the unfortunate incident, which has changed the family.

She said:”It was just a different season in our history. I can’t describe the feeling of the family.

Shock will be an understatement for the way we feel because my father and I were very close, I didn’t expect it. He was my father and a friend, despite the fact that I don’t based in the country,

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I talk to my dad five days in a week. We talked for more than four days in a day.

“I have been working for my father for almost 15 years because I do all the international projects because people that are coming home to bury their loved ones, the casket fittings and others. My father was also a member of different international organisations, so I was the responsible for maintaining the relationship with the organisations and other international business. My father started the company in 1946.”

On how she has been coping running the company without her dad and brother who managed the MIC casket in Nigeria, she said: “God has been faithful but is has been very difficult. I thank God as a Christian; God has strengthened me by showing me His love. The whole situation has put me out of my comfort zone. This circumstance is not what I wished for myself, but I thank God.” Harping on the programme slated for the remembrance, the late MIC boss’s widow said: “Jay’s Garden will serve as a special enlightenment programme on educating the public on preservation of Garden Birds in memory of his Tunji Jnr’s uncommon love for feeding and nurturing birds in his life time.

We hope to keep this education continuous and develop it to an annual event. There will be a thanksgiving for the lives of, Olatunji Okusanya Snr, his son, Tunji Okusanya Jnr and prayers for the family during.”

44-year-old man impregnates 12-year-old girl Joe Obende Warri

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orty four-year old Augustine Edafiake and a father of five is being detained at the Police ‘B’ Division, Warri, Delta State, for allegedly defiling a 12-yearold who is now and three months pregnant.

The girl’s stepmother had drawn the attention of the girl’s father to certain changes in the 12-year-old such as an enlarging bust line and hips, and a new sleeping culture which he had earlier ignored.

With time, he began to agree with his wife. So, he took his daughter for medical tests which indicated she was 32 weeks (three months) pregnant.

Family members were called in to find out from the primary four pupil how she became pregnant.

She opened up and told the gathering how their neighbour, Edafiake, had been sleeping with her whenever her stepmother was away.

Each time he slept with her, she said he gave her between N1, 000 and N1, 500 with which she bought “sweeties” to eat, adding that he warned her not to divulge “the show” to anyone.

When confronted, Edafiake had earlier denied the allegation but when thrown into the cell, his family members began pleading for a “settlement” as he had obviously confessed to them that he had been sleeping with the girl.

Enraged by the development, the police have vowed to prosecute him for the dastardly act.

Family members of the girl are insisting on one of two lines of action: the accused marries the girl by paying the full bride price according to Urhobo tradition or he faces the law.

When New Telegraph visited ‘B’ Division, yesterday morning, the lover boy was still in detention with his family members making frantic efforts to meet the conditions for securing his bail.

Voices

SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER 2014

What will be your immediate reaction if you caught your spouse cheating on you?

I will descend on the man first It will not be funny because immediately I catch her red-handed; I will first beat the man with her before descending on my wife.

(Bello Ibrahim, businessman)

I will leave her to her fate It appears I'm too special for her to keep that is why she did that. Well, there are other fishes in the pond. But at the moment, I'll smile and tell her she doesn't understand the four letters -LOVE(Charles Banjo, artist)

I will control myself My mood will change totally, it might be obvious but I will still have to control my action first and ask her who is the guy and what does he want.

(Moses Tolulope)

Both of them will see hell!

I can’t imagine what I will do if I catch them but I know both the woman and my husband will see hell with what I will do to them.

(Bukky Ajayi, student)

I will weep bitterly I'll cry bitterly. I'm a very open person. When I give you all and you decided to treat me like that, I'll curse your generation and rule out the relationship.

(Kemi Omotayo, student)

I can’t even imagine such happening I will just faint because I can’t even imagine living without him.

(Catherine Awoniyi, pastor)

I will leave them for the judgement of God I will act like I didn’t see them and leave them to God for punishment.

(Taiwo Benson, teacher) I will beat her instantly I will beat the hell out of her instantly then she will explain why she cheated on me.

(Okafor Michael, businessman) I will beat life out of her I'll beat life out of her. I know the level of commitment in relationship is no longer as they used to be. So I'll keep my head up and remain vigilant. If she still insists on that part I'll end the relationship.

(Tomisin Johnson, Fashion Designer) I will be left in a confused state I'll be in total confusion. I don't even know whether I should run, wait or ask why she's doing it. Confusion is the word.

(Adeyemi Favour, student)

There will be a bloody fight What! My wife with another man on my matrimonial bed!

There will be a fight. It will be bloody.

(Gbenga Bolaji, baker)

It depends on the prevailing mood Of course, it all depends on the individual temperament. As for me, I will react positively or negatively depending on the mood in which she is caught.

(Are Dauda, civil servant)

The three of us will die I will throw my phone on the floor, go to the kitchen to get cutlass and kill the three of us. So when we get to heaven God will judge because I can’t decide what to do by myself.

I have to report it to God. (Chisom Kingsley, student) I will head straight for divorce I will just walk out and go straight to court for a divorce.

(Tosin Olubajo, student)

I will immediate leave the scene Leaving the scene will be most appropriate, just to help ease the negative reaction at the moment.

(Opeyemi Oyeyemi, civil servant)

I can do anything drastic Ahh I don’t know o but I can do anything drastic o!

(Tope kolawole, student)

I can’t stand the sight Of course, my first reaction will be very odd because I cannot bear to see such a scenario, knowing well that I wouldn’t do such a thing to him.

(Abimbola Majekodunmi,

civil servant)

I will be mad with her Well, I will be so mad with her.

(Olawale Oshine, civil servant)

compiled by

DUROJAIYE AYORINDE, SHADRACK YUSUF, INIOLUWA EKEOLERE AND JOHN EDU

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2014

WeekendDelight 13

C o n v e r s at i o n

Instyle

My Project Fame victory came after seven attempts

Thigh-high slit evening wears p.15

The Arts

A review of John Osumune’s Fire in the Centre p.35

Love&Living

I offered an employee a job and fell in love with him p.19

Destination

Getting prepped for Akwaaba p.42

Renee

Resilience is the word that best describes 27-year-old Geoffrey Oji’s triumph at MTN Project Fame. Oji beat other contestants to emerge tops at the Season 7 after a splendid performance of Asa’s Beautiful. It wasn’t as rosy as it seemed because it had been heartbreak at previous sixth attempts. He shares his remarkable tale with EDWIN USOBOH

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

How did you feel when you were announced the winner of Project Fame Season 7?

I feel really blessed, really honoured to have been chosen as the winner of Project Fame. It doesn’t make the rest of my other contestants losers; they are not because we are all winners actually. I just feel privileged to have been chosen to represent the other contestants. I’m just grateful to God because this is dream I have been pursuing for the past seven years and this is my seventh year that I got the opportunity to get into the academy.

It hasn’t been easy all along because things have been quite rough, but God was faithful to me by giving me the opportunity and the

privilege to be the winner of this season. This is my seventh year, my seventh attempt.

Before now, how far have you gone?

I normally get to top 20 for Lagos, but for the first audition, I was in the North, Kaduna precisely. I actually made it, but they couldn’t get across to me, they called someone else and that was Praiz.

What would you say you did differently this year?

I wouldn’t say I did anything differently, but in a way something different happened to me rather. Because along the line, I got the op-

portunity to further my education in Ghana, and while I was in Ghana things were a bit rough for me and I couldn’t pay my school fees. It was at about that time that the audition was going to take place and I had to abandon my exams and went for the auditioning. I was auditioned in Ghana, maybe the difference this time was because I wasn’t auditioned in Nigeria and the song I sang that day was not the kind of song I usually sing. I had to I pick an R&B song. I sang Dance with My Father

by Luther Vandross. That was the song that got to them and they picked me eventually.

You seem like a shy person, how do you hope to surmount that given you’re in show business?

Maybe when it comes to dealing with people at first, yeah. But on stage, I’m a different person entirely.

How would you say the Project Fame CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

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Weekend Delight

| Conversation

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

‘Girls who didn’t have my time are now calling me’ C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 3

Academy has impacted your musical career?

I must say so much. Project Fame has been able to position my mind in a certain way that I am not sentimental anymore. I always want to tell someone the truth; if you do something wrong, I tell you it’s wrong. Before I can’t do that because I’m not that kind of a bold person to start telling anybody the truth when they do something wrong. My time here has given me that boldness, that courage to be able to confront my fears and all.

What was your game plan when you registered to participate at the auditions?

My initial plan was to try and get into the academy first. I wanted to really get into the academy, I wanted to meet Uncle Ben, I wanted to be educated more on music and the music business. It’s one thing for you to be gifted and know how to sing, and it’s another thing for you to understand your gift.

So, when I came into the academy that was like a breakthrough for me.

Face of triumph... A banner announcing Oji’s victory on the organisers’ website and (below) the contestants who made it to the Academy

Did it ever occurred to you that you could win?

I believed I could win but when I came into the academy and I saw the other contestants, I began to have some doubt. Yet, when sometimes I felt someone was something, I tried not to be selfish. I would meet that person and say, for instance, ‘what if you did it this way?’ So, I never had the notion that it must be me. It’s not like I didn’t see it as a competition, I saw it like destiny. I saw it like this is what God has called me to do, and God is going to fulfil it in my life.

You are going back richer than you came into competition; how are you going to spend your money?

Basically, most of the money is going into business. Five million Naira is big, but at the same time it is small if you don’t manage it well. So I plan on investing major part of the money in a business that I’m still trying to talk to some people about, and then focus more on my music career. Thank God for MTN Project Fame, now that I’m the winner I have a platform. So I’m going to work on that and then try push and see how I can get good songs that is going to hit the market. I will go back to school at some point; but for now, I just want to sacrifice and dedicate this period to my music career.

Project Fame has produced six previous winners before you. What are your plans to rank among the most successful?

I believe that life will never give you what you deserve, it will only give you what you demand. So I have placed a demand to be a responsible artiste and I just want to believe that God will see me through. I am not saying I’m perfect, I could make mistakes but I want God to give me that courage that even when I make mistakes let me be able to get back on my feet and move on. I will not allow my misstates to weigh me down.

What’s your status on social media like since you were declared winner?

It’s been great. A lot of people call me, and you know it’s not easy and this is the time where everybody will want you to talk to them and if you don’t talk to them they will feel that

love if am singing about life; I’m singing gospel because everything about life is gospel. It doesn’t really matter whether you include Jesus or God, the thing is you’re telling people about the way they live their lives.

Let’s not be religious about it, let’s just be factual and let’s just think the way God wants it.

pride has set in. I’m just still trying to give everybody that attention. Even girls who didn’t have my time before are now calling me. One called me yesterday and she was like, ‘how far na Jofi? Ask me out again I’m going to accept’. I just laughed and said ‘naaa!’

nothing bad in having a relationship; having a relationship is good. But in the same entertainment world, where both of you are doing the same thing, it’s not going to be easy.

Do you have a girlfriend?

I don’t have a girlfriend. The girlfriend I had eventually got married when I was in school, I went to school, before I came back she was already married. I would not want to talk more about it.

Would you like to continue the romance you struck in the academy?

I had a strong closeness with Rukky.

She’s a very close friend of mine in the house. We are always together talking and sharing ideas. She’s a very intelligent person and she has so much wisdom in her. I just like her personality and the way she behaves, the way she thinks, the way she carries herself and all that. So, I’m hoping that it does but if it doesn’t, life continues. If you want to start loving and trying to get attached and all that, people will just see you as an unserious fellow. But there’s

“I never had the notion that it must be me. It’s not like I didn’t see it as a competition”

What was the most challenging thing you faced in the academy?

The most challenging thing was the education that we were getting from the academy, the workout every morning; Kaffy trying to teach you how to dance, and she doesn’t forget the routine that she has taught, we forget but she doesn’t forget the different routines. We were not used to it but over time it became part of us.

That was more like a challenge for me because it wasn’t really easy for me to catch up initially, but at the end I scaled through.

What kind of music should we expect from you?

I am going to be doing music all round. I don’t want to start saying that am going to be doing secular or gospel, but am a musician in the making and by the grace of God I’m going to do good music. If am singing about love, I’m singing God’s

Where did music start for you?

It started from Kaduna, my childhood days at the age of 10. I started singing in the church, Hope and Power Ministry, Kaduna. I used to live with a pastor, Rev. John Oseme, a very nice person with a great personality. The man has really helped me, most of the things you see about me today he’s the one that taught me, and then when I came to Lagos, I started attending Household of God Church, Ajah. But I everything actually started in Kaduna and I will never forget that time.

Was there any contestant’s eviction that really hit you?

That was Shola. When Shola was evicted I was not happy at all. He was my very good friend, we talked a lot about music, and how we were going to do things together when we eventually leave the academy. The guy is so good musically. That was the first and only time I was on probation.

Luckily for me, the Faculty saved me.

Who is the first artiste you’re likely to work with?

It definitely Tuface, because he is someone I really want to work with. He is a great person and inspiration to me and he is also from Benue State like me.

You are the second Project Fame winner from Benue State; have you met Monica Oga, the first such winner?

Yes, she is my friend we have been friend even before I came to Project Fame.

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

Instyle

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'Zizi ... my wonderful designer' Gospel artiste, Princess Ann Inyang was hooked on dresses with monochrome hue.

That is giving way now as she sees the need to add on some bright colours, conscious though of her figure. ANGELA DAVIES writes.

Stephanie Coker

Sexy in thigh-high Benita Nzeribe

Strut in thigh-high slit evening wears

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Angela Davies e have seen celebrities strut the red carpet at different events in glamorous thigh-high slit evening gowns flaunting their legs with elegance.

Originally made popular in the '70s by designers like Givenchy, Halston and Ossie Clark, this leg-baring style is one of the simplest ways to add a little oomph and sex appeal to your evening look.

When worn and accessorized properly, you will be the cynosure of all eyes at that event. So if you are ready to show off your spotless sexy legs, then follow these tips.

TIPS • Select a lightweight fabric – It is advisable to wear a leg-baring slit in fabric that will move effortlessly with your body and flow over your legs and curves.

• Choose a timeless and sophisticated style.

• Select a fascinating neckline- Leg-baring slit outfit will blend perfectly with a

statement neckline like the deep cut, scoop-neck that will draw the eye up and make you look inches taller in an instant.

• Play with a subtle side slit – You can opt for a more subtly placed side slit, which offers all the drama of a front slit, but in a more toned-down fashion.

• Define your waist Whether it is with a thin belt or a thick band of contrasting colour, defining and cinching your waist is a definite way to make your thigh-high slit look more seductive.

• Always pair your thighhigh outfit with heels - You should create the illusion of long legs with pumps, strappy heel sandals or peep toe shoes.

• Strut with attitude The thigh-high slit is a sexy style that expresses plenty of confidence. So, you should strut with confidence.

• Accessories - You should accessorise your outfit with clutch, earrings, bracelets and even cocktail rings However, know that to wear sexy thigh high slit gowns, you should have spotless and well toned legs.

Ojy Okpe

Define your style I like wearing clothes that suits me. If I am doing English, I do English completely. When I am doing traditional, sometimes I mix it up with English. I like to wear things that stand me out. I like creativity even if I am wearing the simplest of outfits, like jeans and T-shirt.

What determines the kind of outfit you wear?

It depends on the occasion and my mood. It also depends if I am going to perform at that event. If I am performing, it is a different dressing altogether.

But if I am not performing, then, I will wear an outfit that suits me and is comfortable.

What kind of outfits make up a larger part of your wardrobe?

It is mostly gowns. It could be evening gown or flowing gown. It could also be something that hugs and accentuates my figure but not tight because of my unique kind of shape.

Outfit she is unlikely to be seen wearing?

I cannot be caught wearing short and very tight clothes.

Best designer Well, I design myself. But for now, Zizi Cardow is my wonderful designer.

Fashion accessory you cannot do without That is my eye pencil.

Most expensive fashion item ever bought It has to be a gown because I can spend so much on clothes but I cannot remember the particular gown now.

Signature perfume I use any good designer perfume and sometimes I mix them up. I don’t have a particular one. Once I perceive the fragrance and I like it, I buy and use.

Best colour I am getting away from black and white. It has always been best colour, but now I am mixing them up with brighter colours.

How do you like your make up?

I love it simple. I don’t like very loud make up.

How do you love your hair?

I just style my hair and I am good to go. I also do braid and fix sometimes too.

What kind of shoes do you love to wear?

I don’t wear covered shoes. I wear shoes that allow my toes peep out because I have lovely nails. The shoe I wear too depends on my mood but I Inyang walk more elegantEzeamakam ly with high shoes.

16

Instyle

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

Accessories to live for

Dangle those bangles

Facts

Wearing chunky bangles on your wrists adds dramatic effect to your arm and could also polish off your look, writes ANGELA DAVIES.

Duro Olowu, based in London but of a NigerianJamaican heritage, whose designs have been characterized as colourful combinations of African prints has gained him clients like Michelle Obama, Uma Thurman, Linda Evangelista and others because of his classy and elegant creations.

B

angles are timeless pieces. Women have adorned their wrists with bangles for centuries. And as the years go by, they come in a variety of materials for different looks which can make you to stand out.

Chunky bangles have once again become an elegant accessory which can be worn for some events. They are so trendy and fashionable, and in some cases polish off your look impeccably.

This jewelleries are eye-catching whether made out of leather, plastic, wood, or metals, silver or gold materials and are made into numerous designs. You can wear one statement bracelet or stack them up for a more dramatic effect. The jingling noise they make as you walk adds to the appeal.

In stacking up bangles, there are no strict rules to follow. Just stack up as many as you want and you will come out looking dramatic and stylish at the same time. However when wearing your bangle stacks, bear in mind to only stack on one arm and leave the other bare. Also avoid wearing bold earrings and necklaces with this look.

Keep all other jewellery simple and minimal.

Also, wear one eye catching bangle as the focal point. But if you don’t have a statement bangle, add a wristwatch watch as the focal point and have other bangles surround it.

Finally, when mixing different colours, it is always good to throw in some silver and other neutral tones to balance out the colours.

If your wrists are tiny, big bangles will not only look trendy but also give an illusion of volume. If you want to be daring, then, wear colours like yellow, red or even bright orange but make sure it complements your outfit.

The brand Levi got its distinctive 501 label from the storage lot number it was assigned in 1890. And it just got stuck since then.

The Hermès Birkin bag is named after singer, Jane Birkin

The four most common clothing materials are linen, cotton, polyester and rayon

FASHION ETIQUETTE

Always show off your slingback shoes

S

WHO WORE IT BETTER?

One shoulder blue evening gown

T

lingbacks are lovely shoes that are meant to be shown off. Hence, you should know how to wear them properly. If you are not showing them off as they should be, then you are not allowing the shoes complete the outfit as they should.

Slingbacks have an attractive look that allows the wearer to show off her shoes and her feet. This means that you should wear them with skirts, trousers and dresses and clothes that are just above the ankle. Cropped pants, knee length skirts and dresses are the ideal choices when wearing a pair of slingbacks because they do not only show off the shoes, but also allow you to show off your legs.

Dominic

Niyola

he fashion showdown this week is between beautiful Nollywood actress cum producer, Rita Dominic and songwriter and singer, Eniola Akinbo better known as Niyola. The outfit is contention is a one shoulder blue evening gown.

Rita Dominic looked flawless in her one shoulder blue evening gown which she wore to EbonyLife television founder and Moments with Mo host, Mo Abudu’s 50th birthday which held on Saturday, September 13 at Oriental Hotel in Lagos. The mermaid shaped gown which had white and blue trimmings on the gown added elegance to the entire outfit which incidentally formed the sleeveless one shoulder.

Dominic styled her evening look with drop earrings, cocktail ring and gold and black box clutch. She completed her look with pink lipsticks, well-shaped eye brow and beautifully done smoky eyes. She beautifully parted her hair and wore a pair of high heels.

On her part, Niyola looked elegant in her white lace one shoulder sequined blue floor length evening gown. Niyola also wore this outfit to EbonyLife television founder and Moments with Mo host, Mo Abudu’s 50th birthday. She harmonized her look with a white box clutch with gold trimmings, cocktail rings, blue drop earrings and pumps. Niyola loosely styled her side part hairstyle, wore red lipsticks, had her brow well shaped and also spotted smoky eyes.

So who in your opinion wore the one shoulder blue evening gown better? Is it actress, Dominic or musician, Niyola?

4 OCTOBER 2014

Omoni Oboli

Trends

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

Annabel

Looking sassy in straw curls

17

Temidayo Abudu

The sassy straw curls O

Angela Davies nce in a while every woman wants to wear a new hairstyle to look different and stunning especially if the style would enhance her face. These hair styles could range from straight hair to curls, braids and even dreads.

Every woman wants to wear a hairstyle that makes her look girly and sassy. In that regard, one hairstyle that is trending for women is the straw curls. It is a trendy way of giving your hair a bubbly natural curly look.

This eye-catching hairstyle looks can be deceiving, as the straw rolls up the hair into a short spiral fold. It is similar with the normal washing and setting we know but plastic drinking straws are used to roll the hair instead of the conventional rollers.

Although achieving the straw curl look is time consuming as it can take more than two hours to roll and dry. But the after effect is remarkable.

What makes the straw curl versatile is that it works for any length hair as long as there is enough to roll around a straw. The straw curl is perfect for transitioning hair as it beautifully blends straight ends with curly

kinky roots resulting in less stress while giving the hair a natural looking curl pattern.

Whether you wear virgin or perm hair, this style will work for you. Even if your hair is long or short, straw curl will definitely give you a stunning look.

How you choose to wear your straw curls depends on your personal style.

Some women roll with straw, dry the hair, remove straw and leave the curls for about a week before fluffing to give new and sassy look. While some women, on the first day, decide on the look they want. The straw curls can be style in different ways for varied looks.

So if you want to achieve the straw curl effect, here are things you will need.

• Plastic drinking straws • Bobby pins: To hold the straws

in place.

• Setting lotion • Scissors • Hair mousse • Hair spray • Tail comb: For parting and sec tioning.

• Hair dryer: To drying hair.

How to make straw curls • To begin, ensure your hair is washed, moisturized and comb slightly to detangle hair. Then, pat hair with a dry towel.

• Dampen hair with mousse and setting lotion before wrapping hair with straw.

• Cut the drinking straws to a size an inch or two longer than your hair.

• Determine how small or large you want each section of your hair to be. However, smaller sections will last longer and result in a tighter, more defined curl and will also give the kinky look if that is what

Yvonne Jegede Hair rolled with straw and after straw is removed

you want.

• Start rolling the hair around the straw starting at the bottom and rolling all the way down to the scalp firmly.

• Secure straw and hair by pinning the inside of the curl lengthwise against the scalp. Continue this process until all hair is rolled and secured.

• Sit under a hooded dryer to a blow dry. Make sure hair is completely dry before removing the straws.

• Once your hair is completely dry, remove the straws carefully.

• After all of straws are removed, begin fluffing and separating curls to close in parts and to achieve the desired fullness.

Things to note when it comes to straw curls: • Your hair does not need to be parted straight or all set in one direction.

• Time to complete the straw curls hairstyle depends on the length and thickness of your hair.

• Straw curls can last up to three or four weeks if well managed. So, protect your hair by wearing a hairnet at bedtime. In the morning, just use your hand to fluff hair as you desire and off you go. However, because of the tight curl pattern, it is advisable to use hair spray once in a week to make it shine and your curls will still be in place.

• When you want to take off curls, do not comb out; instead wash curls off with warm water, shampoo and conditioner.

The hairstyle looks stunning on women with full and thick hair. It gives the feel of afro hairstyle.

Short Story SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

T

his is not the first time small Lady Victoria is asking me to go to the barn and wait; she loves playing games with me. She rides me like a horse and commands me to make noises like the cow Papa milks during summer.

“Poncho, cry like a cow!” she will command with a short stick with which she flogs me.

“Moooo!” I try to mimic, pretending hard to please her. She whips me again and the cane hits my ear, causing a great pain, but I try very much to bear the agony and crawl faster on all four. Today is different because small Master Edward is visiting.

“Make sure nobody sees you,” she instructs and I nod in agreement.

Mama says she likes me and always smiles whenever Small Lady Victoria calls me.

“Little Lady Victoria gotta thing for ma boy,” she always boasts to the other slave mothers whenever they gather to knit clothes for their families, occasionally sharing a mug of tea at the slave quarters in the plantation. Papa always dislikes their gathering to gossip and pretend to be like the Massas and Missuses after church service.

“Drinking tea don’t change you to be white,” he tells Mama whenever they quarrel, which happens often.

“We never like them, we slaves, Negro slaves and must work to buy us freedom,” he sulks. Papa always sits alone on Sunday and looks at the sun by day and the moon by night. He usually tells me inside the house, out of earshot, that I am, that we are from Badagry, a proud Yoruba clan in Africa.

“Your name is Opeoluwa. Always remember you have a people there and keep your identity inside you,” he says, an identity that exists between him, Mama and me inside the house.

But my name is Poncho and I am a Negro boy in Austin Farms in Jackson, Mississippi. Master Smith gave me my name and we are slaves to him and work in his cotton plantation.

Massa baptised me Poncho, after one of his prized horses that died of old age when I was born. Massa named me after the stallion not because I in anyway bear any resemblance to the beast, but because he did not want to get over the dead animal; he needed a living memory of his favourite horse.

The Nigger boy fit in so well; so I became Poncho.

I quickly walk towards the barn, making sure no eyes see me and nobody calls me. I get to the stable and wait by the wheat stead near the stable. I don’t know which animal Victoria will want me to play, so I scrutinize the horses.

“Nightingale, teach me to run faster,” I say as my eyes meet those of the pony standing close. She is my favourite and belongs to Small Lady Victoria. Master always teaches Small Lady Victoria to ride on Sunday evenings before I will tend and feed Nightingale. I gather up some hay and offer her and she eats from my hands. I hold her head and smell her; I always want to perceive the scent of Small Lady Victoria and will stay longer with Nightingale anytime she finishes her practice to smell deeper.

“Poncho!”

“Ma Lady,” I reply, startled out of my imaginary romance with the scent of one whom I adored. I make

Deep River myself visible and there she was, her skin shining like olive and her blonde hair rolling down her shoulders like Delilah, the woman in the story Mama told me Samson fell in love with in the Bible.

“Edward doesn’t like me,” Small Lady Victoria says, and then I know why she did not look much prettier.

He must be a fool I said inside my heart.

“He left,” Small Lady Victoria continues, “even when I invited him to come so we can ride you like a horse,” she says. I am glad he left; I do not want his white buttocks to spoil the warmth I always feel when Small Lady Victoria rides me.

“Why, Ma Lady?” I ask, trying very much to sound concerned.

“He says I don’t like reading books and poetry,” she complains.

“Books and poetry?” I repeat, squeezing my face to show disgust at the silly reason.

“Your Mama says you read,” she states. I am at loss if admission would score a sour result with her.

“She makes me recite Bible stories,” I offer in explanation, hoping she doesn’t get offended.

“I hate those teachers, they make me do too much homework,” she says, looking away from me, as the summer sun rays that sipped in and reveal her milky skin.

“Little Master Edward must be blind not to behold the beauty of the lady,” a little voice says inside me and I smile, hoping that he remains distant.

“I know you write,” she says, still not caring to look at me. My heart skips a beat, but I remain quiet.

I hold her head and smell her; I always want to perceive the scent of Small Lady Victoria and will stay longer with Nightingale anytime she finishes her practice to smell deeper

“Ginger says you write them little stories,” she reveals and turns to face me, daring me to deny the accusation. Her look shows she knows more than she was revealing and I instantly regret reading the story of five loaves and two fishes to the other Negro children.

It was Mama’s fault; she always wants to show me off as a bright boy who will one day buy us our freedom. “My Poncho can read and write,” she usually boasts to the other Negro mamas.

“I know Bible stories,” I offer in defence, praying she will not urge me further.

“Come here Poncho,” she orders and I step forward; I was wearing the corduroy gown Mama sewed for me.

“Lift your dress,” she instructs and I do so, breathing heavily, not knowing if my increased respiratory activity was more out of fear or excitement. She has never played like this with me before.

“Look at your little negro peepee,” she says with mischievous interested eyes. She looks me in the eyes for a moment and then smiles.

Still keeping her eyes on mine, she reaches out and touches my penis.

I gasp at first when her fingers made contact, but would not object or step back. My discomfort is only visible in my breathing and my arms feel heavy from holding my dress up.

Her eyes searches mine for an expression, but I give out none. She holds me tighter and starts stroking me, her eyes roving from my hips to my own eyes. Her lips parts a lit-

Writer in focus:

Ahaoma Kanu

18

tle and I hear her let out a giggle. I notice her breathing heavily too as she strokes me. Her mouth opens further and her eyes become intense as she notices my pee-pee getting hard.

“You can write, can’t you?” she asks. Her eyes sear through mine and her lips parts again before forming into a smile. She increases her grip on me and gives me a mixture of pleasure, pain and confusion.

“You can write Poncho, tell me now,” she breathes from her lips.

I cannot bear the torture anymore, so I say, “Yes!” Her hand stops moving, but she still holds on to me. Suddenly, she lets go of me and slowly brings her hand to her nose and inhales; her expression turn instantly from curiosity to disgust.

“Hmm! You smell like a rotten pumpkin,” she snaps and bends down to gather some dry hay to scrub her hands and get rid of the filthy smell she inflicted on herself.

“You will write poems for me,” she says, still rubbing her hands with pieces of the horse food. I remain quiet with my hands still holding the hem of my gown.

“If you don’t, I will tell my mother you write and will make Ginger tell the truth.”

“Lady Victoria!”

We both react instantaneously; she dropping the remnants of grass on her palms and cleaning her hands on her dress and I dropping my gown. It was the voice of Mama calling her.

“You will write poems for me,” she continues, her face completely ridden of the beauty I always adored; I now see in her face my nemesis.

‘Yes, Ma Lady,” I agree.

“You will give the poem to your Mama to bring to me next Sunday,” she instructs as she quickly runs outside to heed her name.

“I am here,” I hear her yell.

“I know Little Lady is with my Poncho,” I hear my Mama say. “Two of you will make good friends forever.”

“I don’t want a Nigger friend,” I hear her reply.

It is Sunday and the next sunrise will see us going to pick cotton at the plantation till sunset. I start going back to the quarters to wait for Preacher Damian. I need to read more Bible stories to inspire the poems I will write for Victoria.

It is the year of the Great Awakening and Papa still remains a heathen. He is a loner who works diligently on the plantation. Mama says he has a soul that is damned for hell because he still worships manmade gods, which he kneels down before inside our stick house at the quarters. Papa tells me stories about Badagry, where he says locust and honey are eaten after being fried.

He tells tales told by generations of descendants from Africa. He always kept his gods underneath his pillow – a piece of metal and a small black stone he always revers as Sango, god of thunder and Olorun Apata, god of rock. He told me that descendants of Badagry are protected by these gods anywhere they find themselves. to be co n t i n u e d

LIfe Experience:

‘I decided to leave my husband after my promotion’

p.20

L ve&Lv ng

Dear Love Doctor, ‘I’m single and lonely, help!' p.21

SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER 2014

19

'I offered an applicant a job and fell in love with him' Love Confession For a guy in search of a job, the venue of a job interview is hardly the ideal place to find love. But in this story, one woman's love for a jobless guy turns his world around.

When you undress, I see stars.

And when you kiss me, I drift away.

I

t all started years ago after I resigned from a high position in an oil company to establish my own business. I had saved enough money from my many years of service to the company. Besides my benefits came in millions of naira, so I was financially comfortable enough to venture into the project of starting my own business. I advertised in the newspapers to recruit fresh graduates for my company.

Most applicants I had encountered

in the past lacked confidence, while some found it difficult to defend their certificates. Some so-called graduates seemed to know little or nothing about the courses they studied because Nigeria is a country that depends so much on paper qualification.

That’s why many cut corners to earn their certificates.

But Marcus was a different kind of applicant who came for interview in my company. He appeared very confident and sure of himself. His face was calm and calculating and he looked like a real gentleman in his pretty black suit. As the MD of my company, I was the chairman of the interview panel and Marcus looked straight into my eyes as he answered every question we asked him.

He really performed well at the interview, and after the interview I asked him to wait to see me later after the other interviewees had left. I called Marcus into my office about thirty minutes to my closing time and asked him some personal questions about himself. I wanted to know his views on issues and ascertain the depth of his principles. Marcus told me all about himself and his struggles to suc-

According to my own weather forecast, the weather every night is cold without Marcus

ceed in a country like Nigeria.

He told me that he had fought hard to maintain his moral values in order not to give in to the pervasive corruption. Marcus told me he wasn’t the type of man who would offer bribe to get a job. He said he was happy to have led an honest life and based everything he did on hardwork and merit.

Marcus made it clear to me that he didn’t want a job not based on merit. He said many of his peers were reducing their ages and making false age declarations in court in order to get good jobs, but that he had sworn not to lie about his age. I really saw a different kind of applicant when I met Marcus that day.

I was lucky to have met a different kind of applicant that day and I thanked God for that. I fell in love with Marcus that day and employed him in my company. Though he was 34 and I was middle-aged, his love was as mature as that of a 50-yearold man.

I remember one text message he sent me. It read: “Thelma, when the night is cold and you need a man by your side, call me.

I’ll be there.”

No matter your position in life, love will always find a way.

According to my own weather forecast, the weather every night is cold without Marcus. And I need him to keep me warm with his touch. Now I’m pregnant and Marcus has proposed to me. He says my coming into his life has been his greatest blessing. I offered an applicant a job and fell in love with him in the process. To some, it might sound strange marrying a younger man and an employee in your company. But I think our love is more mature than that.

We’re going to get married later this year.

Romantic Quote “With my last breath, I’ll exhale my love for you. I hope it’s a cold day, so you can see what you meant to me.” ― Jarod Kintz

MODEL OF THE WEEK BLESSING 08064118825

20

Love&Living

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

Love News

Love Songs

George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin round off four-day wedding weekend

I

t's had all the drama of one of his signature Hollywood blockbusters.

And George Clooney ensured that his four-day Venetian wedding had the happiest of endings today as his marriage to British barrister Amal Alamuddin was finally made official in a 10-minute, €600 civil ceremony in the Italian city.

As the credits began to roll on proceedings, which had started on Friday afternoon, there was still time for one last scene to play out as the 53-year-old actor and his new wife arrived at Venice City Hall to complete formalities and sign the wedding register in front of witnesses.

Once again, the pair made a showstopping entrance after sweeping down the Grande Canal and making their way to the historic Ca' Loredan building which houses the city hall.

Amal dazzled in yet another fashionable ensemble, wide-legged Stella McCartney cream trousers with a matching top and hat.

She also carried a clutch by the same designer.

Although Mr Clooney’s spokesman in Los Angeles had declared that the couple had married on Saturday night,

Life Experience Like a soft hibiscus smiling in the sun, Your love makes all things bright and beautiful.

'I Will Never Let You Down' Tell me, baby, what we're gonna do I'll make it easy, got a lot to lose Watch the sunlight coming through Open the window, let it shine on you 'Cause I've been sick and working all week And I've been doing just fine (Hey!) You've been tired of watching me Forgot to have a good time, boy (Hey!) You can't take it all these faces Never keeping it real I know exactly how you feel When you say you've had enough And you might just give it up Oh, oh I will never let you down When you're feeling low on love I'll be what you dreaming of Oh, oh I will never let you down

to make the union legal under Italian law they were still required to to turn up for a civil ceremony.

They paid the €600/ £470 600 fee charged by the Municipality of Venice to non-Italians who want to wed in the city, and proceedings were conducted in the glitzy Sala degli Stucchi reception room.

Happy couple: A beaming George held tightly to his beautiful bride's hand as they left Venice's City Hall following their 10-minute ceremony The city's council had closed of the streets around the 13th century city hall building, bringing a small part of the area near to the famous Rialto Bridge to a virtual standstill as the newlyweds arrived at the venue in a chauffeur-driven taxi boat flanked by police boats.

The couple's arrival took place just as angry council workers were staging an angry protest outside the neighbouring Ca' Farsetti building over budget and salary cuts.

Council employees, who earn on

average 2,500 euros a month, are about to have their salaries cut by 500 euros.

The move comes after the mayor of Venice was forced to resign as a result of a multi-million pound corruption scandal earlier this year.

Protesters had been hoping that Mr Clooney, who has been outspoken on issues such as the war and famine in Darfur, may help publicise their grievances.

Council workers have even sent an open letter to Mr Clooney, addressing him as 'Caro (dear) George', and explaining that while they were happy that he had chosen Venice for his wedding, he should know that unemployment was on the rise and families were struggling to make ends meet.

Under the gaze of the world's media, the small group of gathered protesters whistled and chanted and held up placards as officials began turning up ahead of Mr Clooney's and Ms Alamuddin's arrival.

Courtesy: Woman's Day.

‘I decided to leave my husband after my promotion’

W

hen we get married, we take vows for better, for worse, till death do us part. But what if both parties are incompatible? My name is Margaret and I got married to my husband, James, seven years ago. Since then, I’ve had to endure an unhealthy, jealous and possessive relationship with my husband. He gives me only beatings and problems.

One day in the office, my husband came to visit me unannounced. He was told that I was at the canteen having lunch with one of the company’s customers. As usual, my jealous and possessive husband couldn’t control himself when he saw the businessman eating and discussing with me.

He assumed the man was having an affair with me, and pounced on both me and the man. We ended up having a big fight right there in the company’s canteen. Before the company’s security staff came, my husband had already given the man a serious beating, which resulted in his hospitalization.

With a broken head and nose, and with bloodstains on his white shirt, the businessman angrily cancelled the contract with my company and sued me and my husband, including the company,

RITA ORA

for assault. He accused the company of not ensuring his security while in their premises and asked the company to pay damages of millions of naira.

My Managing Director was so angry that he almost gave me a sack later. He called me into his office and tongue-lashed me in a way nobody had ever spoken to me before in my life. I was advised to go and apologize to the businessman and beg him to withdraw his suit if I wanted to retain my job with the company.

Afraid of losing my job, I went to the businessman and knelt down to beg him to have mercy on me and my children. I told him that if I lost my job, it would be a terrible blow, as my husband was irresponsible and incapable of taking care of the children. At last, the businessman forgave, but not after my erring husband had been arrested

and detained at the police station for some time. That was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

My husband had gone too far and I was beginning to think seriously about the usefulness of our marriage. For days I stopped talking to my husband. Whenever I returned from work, I simply prepared his meals and went to bed. Every night, I felt like a woman sleeping with the enemy. I wondered if I had married a human being or an animal. As far as I was concerned, my husband was a violent animal with whom no one was safe.

I decided to concentrate more on my work and ignore my husband’s excesses. It paid off. Within months, I won more contracts for my company and I was promoted to the position of Assistant Director. But while I celebrated my promotion, my husband grumbled that now that I’d become an Assistant Director, more men would chase me.

Without mincing words, he told me to choose between him and my company.

He said it was time I stopped working and became a housewife. What a man!

Now I’ve decided to leave my husband. I can’t tolerate him anymore.

I thank God that now that I’ve been promoted, I receive a higher salary which would help me take care of my children and live comfortably without my husband.

(Hey!) Oh, oh I will never let you down (Hey!) Oh, oh I will never let you down There's a million ways to go Don't be embarrassed if you lose control On the rooftop, now you know Your body's frozen and you lost your soul 'Cause I've been sick and working all week And I've been doing just fine (Hey!) You've been tired of watching me Forgot to have a good time, boy (Hey!) You can't take it all these faces Never keeping it real I know exactly how you feel When you say you've had enough And you might just give it up Oh, oh I will never let you down When you're feeling low on love I'll be what you dreaming of Oh, oh I will never let you down

Love Poem Sacrifices Of Love Love makes us strong.. then makes us weak, Love makes us see.. then makes us blind, Love makes us able.. then makes us disable, We want love.. but don't always need it.

Romantic Jokes

Thinking About Getting Married

"Honey," said this husband to his wife, "I invited a friend home for supper."

"What? Are you crazy? The house is a mess, I didn't go shopping, all the dishes are dirty, and I don't feel like cooking fancy meal!"

"I know all that."

"Then why did you invite a friend for supper?"

"Because the poor fool's thinking about getting married."

A programme for Singles and Married takes place at Holy Family Catholic Church, Festac Town, Lagos, every Monday by 7.00pm. Hosted by Rev. Fr. Sebastine Ukwandu.

4 OCTOBER 2014

Hidden 'bra cam' demonstrates how often men - and women - stare at women's breasts

‘I’m single and lonely, help!'

From Ayo. Love Doctor’s Advice: Go with the flow is the right thing. The thing is you have to stay in the now. Fear is be-

Blackberry Connection Ugo, 26, male, HIV Positive, needs male and female friends.

BB PIN: 2A187B7C. 08035272115.

• Connect with Mike on WhatsApp or BlackBerry Pin: 7ab29e22 or 21978F71 for details on how to send your BlackBerry or Smartphone Connect request.

C

cause you're overthinking of the future and predicting the premature breakup of your relationship due of anxiety. So anxiety is caused by negative self talk and the worry.

20 is very young, so you have lots of time to find the right girl. Don't be in a rush.

Just enjoy making friendships with girls, and keep light. If it's supposed to happen it will happen. You don't have to force it, and don't have to do anything special. You'll know what to do when the time arrives, and you'll be comfortable.

If you want daily love tips or advice, download The Color of Love Guide on your iPad and iPhone.

Search for ‘Color of Love’ on your Apple App store now and download the App. *Send your comments/stories to Love Doctor. E-mail: ireto007@ yahoo.com. For free marriage/relationships counseling, or if you have fibroid, fertility problems or need a male or female child; call Love Doctor Mike 07031028714, 08131161840. Visit lovedrmike. blogspot.com

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21

Odd News

Relationships & Love Advice

Dear Love Doctor, I'm a 20-year-old guy who has never kissed any girl on the lips; only on the cheek. I'm not very confident with myself when talking to girls because I overthink of situations all the time by predicting what's going to happen and the things I should do, and when this happens I notice I become more nervous so I told myself I'll stop thinking and just go with the flow but that way of thinking doesn't remove my self anxiety. My real question is how do I become good with speaking to girls and find a girl who can be my next girlfriend?

I'm really becoming desperate now because all my friends have been in a relationship and I have not even once, in addition I'm in my 20's now.

I'm single and lonely. Please help me.

Love&Living

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

The rule: Ask the opposite sex one question about love, and choose your lover from the top 3 answers.

Juliet, 24, fair, in Enugu, via08135926385, is asking all men: 'What are the causes of infidelity in early marriage?" *Call Mike: 07031028714 to send questions or issues.

ontrary to what some men might imagine, it is blindingly obvious to a woman when her breasts are being stared at.

But what about the less overt, splitsecond glances our bosoms attract on a day-to-day basis? Nestlé attached a hidden camera to the bra of a female volunteer in London to find out, and somewhat predictably, discovered that it happens constantly.

Some men had clearly mastered the art of subtlety better than others, and women were just as likely to sneak a peek at the volunteer's breasts as their male counterparts; resulting in 36 recorded glances in one day.

To be fair to the starers, the volunteer in this experiment was strolling around London with almost her entire lurid pink bra on show, worn under a mostly un-zipped sweater.

As she makes her way around the city - stopping by coffee shops, taking the underground and at the office - the number of breast-glances rapidly clocks up.

Interestingly, the many women who stare at her chest do so in a much more blatant fashion, some with a detectable air of disapproval.

In one clip, a baby quite reasonably gazes at the woman's breasts, and in another, even a dog is drawn to them.

The video is part of a new Nestlé Fitness campaign which encourages women to examine their own breasts for early signs of breast cancer.

'Your breasts are checked out every day,' the end-caption reads. 'So, when was the last time you checked your own?'

It may be everywhere, but our human fascination with breasts is actually something of a mystery among scientists. Women are the only female mammals whose breasts develop at puberty, irrespective of pregnancy.

Additionally, male humans are the only mammals who show interest in breasts in a sexual context.

Whatever the reason for this, there's also a specific size ratio that men find most alluring, according to a recent study conducted by London-based plastic surgeon Dr Patrick Malluci.

'Beckoning breasts' - as they've been dubbed - are '45per cent of the breast being above the line of the nipples and 55per cent below.'

Scarlett Johansson and Kate Middleton are both triumphant members of this category.

Courtesy: Daily Mail.

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Love&Living

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

True Confession From Overseas

Love Education

'I vandalised my house to keep my partner's grandmother out'

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y partner Nick's grandmother had been sick for some time. The family had been taking turns to visit and look after her. She was staying in a respite home for a while, but she didn't think she "belonged there with all the sick and poor people who have no families to go to and end up in a home like this."

At first I was able to handle the occasional visits and caring for her needs.

However, after a year of it, it began to take a toll on me and also my relationship with Nick.

Every time we visited her she would complain non-stop, moan about wanting to die and never be happy with the family's attempts to make her happy.

Nick called me cold-hearted and inconsiderate on many occasions because my patience was wearing thin.

I never intended to be inconsiderate, but it was just so hard for me to see his grandmother complain and throw all the help she was getting in their face. My own grandmother, who lived overseas, was chronically ill at the time also and I would have given anything to see her and care for her. And I knew that whatever help she was given she would have been grateful for. So, I suppose this added to my frustrations of his grandmother getting attention form her whole family and still she had some issue to complain about.

So, on the day when Nick informed me that the family had decided on a long-term plan for their grandmother — involving her staying with Nick and I the guest room of our new house — I was livid to say the least. It was suggested by the family and Nick didn't think I would mind. Of course, I would have had no qualms had his grandmother actually appreciated the idea.

But no, she didn't.

I expressed my concerns with Nick and he assured me it would all work out. The next day we visited her and, sure enough, she was already complaining about the idea. The list of issues unravelled and, according to her, the self contained room was too small, the suburb we lived in wasn't the safest, she didn't want to be left alone in her little room with nothing to do and, finally, she felt guilty for taking up our spare room and compromising our social life once she moved in.

It took a lot of strength for me not to lose my cool. Unless Nick and I increased the size of her room, came up with daily fun-filled activities for her, I quit my job to look after her full-time and then constantly assured her that

What is the meaning of Sexting?

S

I quit my job to look after her full-time and then constantly assured her that looking after her was a dream come true looking after her was a dream come true, she was not going to quit her whining.

I had had it. I couldn't bear to live with such an ingrate. I knew she was not at her best health, but I considered her lucky. She could still walk, breathe, eat and do a lot of things independently.

And her family was there to support her. She should have been grateful.

So, left with no other choice, I came up with an idea that would surely throw a spanner in the works. I came home early the next day after work and began my plan.

Firstly, I knocked over a couple of my pot plants out the front of my house to make it look like reckless kids had attacked us. Of course, I knew I had to do more than destroy a couple pots of my lavender, so I went out the back and pushed over one of my huge vases that Nick's grandma gave us as a housewarming gift. I smashed it all over the porch.

Then I grabbed a screwdriver from the shed and tried to jimmy inside a window and left a few noticeable marks on the screen. I didn't want to damage my beautiful house, but I was desperate. Next, I armed myself with a can of spray paint and wrote some graffiti obscenities on our brick wall. This was conveniently getting rendered and painted on the weekend so I didn't care about the damage there Finally, I grabbed a rock and smashed the window of the room that was to be our grandmother's. Then, I went inside and tried to make it look like a robber had fumbled around the house for valuables.

I called Nick and ranted over the phone that I think we were robbed and the house vandalised. Nick came home quickly and assessed the damage. We checked the house and confirmed nothing was taken.

"Obviously just a couple of young kids doing an amateur number on our house," I told him.

This wasn't uncommon in our neigh-

bourhood, so Nick believed it. We didn't bother calling the cops but I made sure of it that we called his family.

As predicted, his hypochondriac grandmother went into a state of panic. We both tried to assure her that our new security system was going to be installed shortly to prevent this in the future. But she wasn't happy with that idea. What a surprise!

She wanted to live somewhere where a person would be home with her 24/7 to ensure she was safe and look after her. I told her that as much as we wanted this, it was not possible. Needless to say, her accommodation plan changed.

Nick's grandmother now lives with his sister. His sister works part-time and looks after his grandmother three days a week. And Nick's mother, who is retired, looks after her the other four days.

I do feel bad about the lengths I resorted to, to ensure she would not live with us. And also, I feel sorry for Nick's sister — she is a very nice person and doesn't deserve to be put through such torture. But, the way I see it, it's her grandmother, not mine. If my grandmother was that ungrateful, I would have said something a long time ago. I respect my elders but I don't appreciate people walking all over me or my loved ones — no matter who they are.

Courtesy: nine.com

Wedding Traditions

Having two children: Southern Sudan

I

n Southern Sudan people of the Neur tribe believe that the marriage is not complete until the woman has had two children. If she fails to do so, the groom is able to seek a divorce.

Courtesy: list.com

exting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages, primarily between mobile phones. The term was first popularized in the early 21st century, and is a portmanteau of sex and texting, where the latter is meant in the wide sense of sending a text possibly with images. In August 2012, the word sexting was listed for the first time in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

The first published use of the term sexting was in a 2005 article in the Sunday Telegraph Magazine. Sexting has since been described as taking place in the UK, Australia, the United States, and Canada.

A study released on 4 February 2014 by security software McAfee, titled "Love, Relationships, and Technology", illustrates how many people send "risqué photos or intimate texts to people they know or strangers." According to the study, 49 percent of US adults use their smartphones to send or receive sexual content via video, photo, e-mail, or messaging. 50 percent of adults who sext save the sexts and images they receive. Of the sexters, 77 percent send explicit content to their significant other while 16 percent send it to complete strangers. 18 to 24-year-olds are the age group most likely to partake in sexting. Of this age group, 70 percent of people receive suggestive photos and messages. Men are more likely to send and receive intimate information than women. 61 percent of men sext while 48 percent of women do. The data from this study was gathered in a December 2013 survey of more than 1,500 US consumers between the ages of 18 to 54.

Sexting and relationships Sexting is a result of advances in technology enabling new forms of social interaction. Messages with sexual content can be exchanged from phones, emails, or social media website.

Sexting also occurs online on social media websites for the public to view. Newer technology allows sending pictures, and videos, which are intrinsically more explicit and have greater impact, without the involvement of photo printing personnel, or the need of a photo processing dark room at home (just like using an instant camera, but even easier and less expensive).

Sexting as a phenomenon began primarily through the extensive use of text messaging by young people; in fact, young adults use the medium of the text message much more than any other new media to transmit messages of a sexual nature. Further, text messaging use is related to sexting behaviours; for example, those that send any type of text message were more likely to have received a sexually suggestive image on their cell phone, and those that have unlimited text messaging plans are also more likely to receive sexually suggestive texts.

Despite the negative connotations that often surround sexting, many couples choose to engage in it; 54% of a study sample had sent sexually explicit pictures or videos to their partners at least once, and 1/3 of their sample had engaged in such activities occasionally, showing that sexting is actually quite prevalent in today's modern society. In a 2013, it was found that sexting is often used to enhance the relationship and sexual satisfaction in a romantic partnership. Sexting thus can be considered a "behaviour that ties into sexuality and the subsequent level of relationship satisfaction experienced by both partners".

Based on the interviews conducted by Albury and Crawoford, they discovered that sexting is commonly used in positive aspects. According to Albury and Crawford, sexting was not only an activity occurring in the context of flirtation or sexual relationships, but also between friends, as a joke or during a moment of bonding.” Reportedly, hedonism played a role in motivating sexting, and the length of relationship was negatively correlated with sexting behaviours. to be continued

Tiwa Savage-Tee Billz ... another marriage of convenience

p.24

ShowBiz

Olawale Ojo I didn’t know I could sing until I got to the university p.33

SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER 2014

23

May7ven: I’m more than that average singer Yemisi May Odegbami, known by the moniker, May7ven, is the pretty daughter of ex-football star, Segun Odegbami. The UK- based pop singer is back on her grind in Nigeria after a lull which she explains was necessitated by the need to explore the United Kingdom. She speaks with LANRE ODUKOYA. You became famous with your music a few years ago and disappeared suddenly and now you are back. Why did you take that long break?

You left a lot out, I didn’t just make an entry and leave; I made an entry, then I came back, went on tours, then I left and came back again. I don’t live in Nigeria, and I made a conscious effort that I wasn’t going to stay here at that point, because I see the bigger picture than just putting out music here, being local and not doing anything outside Nigeria. So, while some people decided to stay here, I felt someone had to keep flying the Nigerian flag in the UK and now you can see the proof that we are getting played on daytime radio in the UK. People like myself, D’banj, Fuse ODG and Wizkid all get daytime airplay on London radio stations. It’s a bigger agenda than

many of us involved. I never see it as a competition, I know when I started, I know why a lot of females are now here. The likes of Seyi Shay and Tiwa Savage were all with me in London when I did Bo Aso Lara Mi. so I influenced a majority of them to be doing what they are doing now. There always has to be a leader, someone who starts and creates things, and that’s how I see myself already. So the style I’m doing now, I guarantee you in another two years you’ll find another set of Tiwa Savage doing what I’m doing. I’ve always been an innovator and you can interview any of them, they’ll tell you the same thing. So they maybe threatened that I’m around and not the other way round.

You said you once managed Tiwa savage. When was that?

Yea, we grew up together. She was in my younger sister’s class, I’m a year older than both of them and there was this competition we were part of. I was 12 years old at the time, and I managed the group and sang with them as well, we were five girls in the group and we came out joint winners with a male group. I managed the group till we were about 16. I have everything on film and one day I’ll possibly leak the videos (laughs). But I remember Tiwa was always singing out of all of us, she sang the most while I was more focused on singing and dancing at the same time.

She’s always been passionate about music.

How would you describe your relationship with her now?

We still talk, when I’m in town I call her, when she’s in London they come to see me. We are not tight as in calling ourselves every day, the music business we are in doesn’t allow us to do that. But we are still cool, I’m her older sister.

just being a Nigerian artiste resident in UK. I have a team, PR company and booking agent in UK, my foot is firmly on ground in UK and that’s what I intend to replicate here in Nigeria. The reason I’m back here is because I’ve done what I can in UK, they know me there, they know the music, now is the time to show the Nigerian community what I can do as well.

What about your new song?

Yea, I dropped a song called, What ya Feeling, produced by a Nigerian producer, Ty Mix. We recorded the song in April. With this song, I want to hit people soft, and not come out hard straight away, I just decided to bring out a melodic side of me with this song, and it's been well received so far, no negative comments.

Going forward, what should we expect from you?

The next song would be Work with a banging video as well.

It’s a huge dance track and the singing is pretty awesome too.

Since you’ve been away, a lot of new female acts have taken over, so why would fans still want to listen to your songs?

My songs don’t sound like any other song you’ve heard in the Nigerian market. Apart from my vocals being unique, my style is very different too, I tend to do music that’s three years ahead of its time. All my songs from three years ago are still relevant today. My new songs now are futuristic too. I don’t want to look or sound like any other female artists and that's why my hair is ‘white’, I don’t dress like anyone of them. So by just meeting me, you’ll already see the uniqueness and when you dig in you’ll be more impressed.

Don’t you feel threatened by any of the female artistes making waves?

Not necessarily, because in order for survival there has to be

At what point did you know music was what you wanted to do?

I’ve always known from when I was three years old, I was always singing along to all the school plays, and I always wanted to dance desperately. When I was 8 years old, it became apparent that I have musical genes in me, I played drums in my church every Sunday, and I just kept at it till I was about 15 years old. From 15, I and Tiwa started doing back up for various artistes; we toured with Mary J Blige, Blu Cantrel. And then Tiwa left the UK to study in the states but I stayed back in the UK and I started speaking with record companies about getting signed, and they gave me a task to write three songs. At that time I had meeting with Virgin Records and E.M.I who were all interested in me, they thought I was an awesome artiste and the saw the potential in me.

Along the line, I got a job and started saving up so I could shoot a video of myself. At that time, my only ambition and dream was to get my video on MTV, so I called up my cousin who at that time had not shot any video before. I told him my concept and we shot my first video, Hands up’. When we shot the video, the next thing was to get it on TV, so I just submitted it randomly to a number of tv stations without knowing anyone, and luckily for me the first station to play it was MTV, I was blown away, I couldn’t believe it. Then I came to Nigeria and met with Denrele, he took me to Soundcity to do the Star host and a couple of other interviews, and it just grew from there. I won several awards, went on tour with Psquare, Tuface, D’banj and others. My follow up single, Bo Aso Lara Mi, was a huge success too, and I remember there were no female singers then just rappers, the likes of Sasha and Weird Mc. So I kind of got complacent and decided to go back to London because I was the only one doing the sexy stuffs and all. It was when I went back to London that Tiwa came to see me in UK, she spent two days and said she wanted to go back to writing music, and we prayed about it, Seyi Shay also came to me and I linked them up: I didn’t know they were going to come straight away and take over the scene (laughs).

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Showbiz

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

LANRE ODUKOYA

SHOWBIZ TODAY

lanre.odukoya@newtelegraphonline.com

E-BRIEFS

Tiwa Savage-Tee Billz: Another marriage of convenience

... And Ini Edo too

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kwa Ibom-born actress, Ini Edo, is in the news too for some unsavoury reason. It’s another tale of marriage break-up between her and the hubby, Philip Ehiagwina, who lives in the United States. The marriage which was contracted in 2008 allegedly packed up a few weeks ago. Sources say Ehiagwina frequently accuses his wife of failing to show sufficient fidelity to their union and does, in fact, assaults her occasionally. Ini Edo was said to have incurred the wrath of Ehiagwina’s family when she drove to the Urhomi family house one evening without her wedding ring. The family didn’t buy the claim that her $5,000 diamond ring was stolen from her by robbers. And the fact the marriage has yet to produce a child is a point the groom's family considers particu-

O

Sound Sultan celebrates fifth wedding anniversary L

Tiwa Savage and Tee-Billz (Inset: With Mekka Millions)

ne of the news loyal fans don’t want to read is that of marriage break-up involving their stars and perhaps one we hate to break too. Sadly so, as you read this, Tiwa Savage and Tunji Balogun's marriage seems to be heading for an abrupt end. Indications are rife that the couple may have buckled under some marital crises after the nearly five-month fairy tale wedding staged in Dubai. A few weeks back perhaps before the fracas reached its crescendo, Tiwa tweeted that her loving husband nicknamed, TeeBillz, shouldn’t dare consider returning her to her parents as an option. The highly emotive tweet got tongues wagging as it trended on the social media for days.

But penultimate Friday, an incident accentuated the guarded secret between the duo. It was TeeBillz’s birthday and while goodwill messages streamed in for him, Tiwa practically ignored the day they used to celebrate together.

And not long after, it soon emerged that a vocalist has replaced TeeBillz as her manager. She consequently announced Emeka otherwise known as Mekka Millions as her new manager.

Interestingly, the new manager is TeeBillz’s protégé and Tiwa may have done this to spite her man. Unconfirmed report has it that the duo has a major disagreement over sharing formula which remains unresolved.

Their last public appearance together was the Nigerian Entertainment Awards in New York. And after then, they haven’t been spotted anywhere togeth-

er nor shared pictures of each other on their respective social media page. Tiwa performed at her Africa Unplugged concert in London alone, and the same was the case at Mo Abudu's birthday party and Senator Florence Ita-Giwa's daughter's wedding.

Like most Nigerian celebrities in the beginning, Tiwa had always denied ever being in love with TeeBillz until they made their engagement public while they took their lovey-dovey moments to the finest places they could afford around the world. Then Tiwa’s fans started urging caution, first because TeeBillz has kids with another woman and second, because there’s no such job as ‘I’m my wife’s manager’ in Yoruba culture. TeeBills at the time had no definite means of livelihood. But before this time, TeeBillz had reigned supreme in Tiwa’s life and they were such an inseparable duo. Ironically, TeeBillz was alleged to regularly assault Tiwa, but was said to have made up with her early enough - another reason for the disapproval by some of Tiwa’s allies.

Tiwa’s new manager has said it’s too early for the songbird to comment on her marital crisis for now, but her fans are advising her to take a cue from Funke Akindele and listen to her head if marriage would stand in her way of success.

Meanwhile, there are parties prevailing on the estranged couple to reconcile their differences but separate business from marriage.

larly irksome. In fact, they were said to have made sure that the bride’s family returned the earlier bride price paid at the inception of the lifetime commitment. Ini is said to be releasing a press statement soon to that effect, but she’s at present in Makurdi shooting a movie. Recently, actor Desmond Elliot asked fans to pray for the actress who is a theatre arts graduate of the University of Calabar to get pregnant before the end of the year. It wasn't certain however if the post was actually made

by Elliot or if it was the handiwork of hackers.

However, last Thursday, she went on Twitter to tell her story. It partly reads: "I asked for a divorce from my ex-husband cos of lots of irreconcilable differences. I never cheated on my husband."

9ice gets fourth child, may be wedding soon

S

ome days ago, it was reported that singer, Abolore Akande, otherwise known as 9ice who is contesting for a seat at the House of Representatives in Oyo State welcomed his fourth child from Olasunkanmi Ajala, the same woman with whom he has twins a couple of days back. The pretty lady was delivered of a baby girl in the United States and was christened Michelle Abolanle Akande. The proud father has now showed off his tot on the social media. It is believed that the singer would be getting married soon to this lady who is said to be 32 years old. He said he’d soon be getting married in a recent interview and the lady is the only one he’d publicly professed love for. 9ice got his first child from Toni Payne before he got others from the Abuja-based lady.

anre Fasasi a.k.a Sound Sultan is still savouring the joy of his fifth year in marriage with his delectable wife, Chichi Farida, and children. While the nation was celebrating its 54th independence anniversary, Sound Sultan took to Twitter to voice his emotion: “While everyone celebrates independence, I always have a reason to thank God for making me a Nigerian cos I wouldn’t have found this kinda love elsewhere than in this beautiful gift of a woman.

Great mother, my best friend.

Those who know her know this.

Happy anniversary darling. I love you ToriTorun! 5 years like now now Aboo Iya Zee! @faridafasasi, help me thank her for loving me.’

SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER 2014

FREE

Sport Splash

Super Eagles

Keshi must sort out Emenike altercation – Akanni p.27

Premier League

Unbeaten Chelsea, Arsenal in Super Sunday showdown p.28

Premier League Ideye set to return against Liverpool p.28

25

Enyeama’s return BIG BOOST FOR Eagles – Agu

Interview

My kids won’t play for Nigeria – Udoka p.31

F

Charles Ogundiya

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

ormer Super Eagles first choice goalkeeper, Alloy Agu, has described the return of Lille of France goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, to the national team as a welcome development.

Agu argued that the team needs all its best hands available for the twolegged matches against Sudan this month as he called on all the players invited to give their all for the maximum points in the encounters.

Enyeama missed Eagles’ first two African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Congo and South Africa where the African champions were only able to pick one point out of the maximum six available.

“Enyeama remains the team’s captain and one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He is our first choice and we missed him in the two games we played, His return is a big boost.

“You will agree with me that he has been doing well for the country whenever he was called upon to serve the nation,” Agu said.

When asked if stand-in goalkeeper in the two matches, Austin

Ejide, should take the blame especially for the 3-2 defeat against Congo, the Nasarawa United goalkeeper trainer said Ejide should not be singled out for blame, declaring that the whole team played below expectation.

“Ejide is a good goalkeeper but when there are issues in the team, you look at it from the attackers to the goalkeeper; you look at what led to the goal before judging the goalkeeper. Was the ball supposed to get to the goalkeeper in the first instance? What option does the goalkeeper have to stop the ball?

When you put all these factors together, then you know where to place the blame.

“If you look at the game against South Africa, he proved to us that he is a capable hand that can deliver when given the chance.

“You don’t judge a player after just one game, especially goalkeepers. If a player continues to make the same errors in more than three games, then you can easily discard such players, but judging someone after a game is not right. We are all humans and bound to make mistakes,” he said.

26

Sport

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

Nigerian League Rendezvous with charles Ogundiya

charlesog2001@yahoo.com, charles.ogundiya@newtelegraphonline.com

08098042287

Dolphins target Abia Warriors’ scalp

D

olphins of Port Harcourt will be going all out for the three points at stake in the weekend match against Abia Warriors.

Currently third on the league table, Dolphins are five points adrift of the leader, Kano Pillars, and with nine matches to go, the club believes they can still snatch the league trophy from the defending champions.

Speaking with League Rendezvous, one of the longest serving players in the team, Victor Ezuruike, said they were working hard to win the league this season.

“We are working hard to become the champions at the end of the season. We really want to end the reign of Kano Pillars in the Nigerian league.

“If we can get all our home matches right and then pick a few points away from home, then we can achieve our goal.

“We are going to Umuahia this weekend and the game against Abia Warriors will be very crucial to our ambition of winning the

Olabiyi

Olabiyi leads Wonder Goal season 4 race

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nyimba midfielder, Rasheed Olabiyi, is currently leading the race to become the fourth beneficiary of the League Management Company’s Wonder Goal award.

According to the statistics on the LMC website, Olabiyi is leading with 60.6 percents followed by ElKanemi Warriors’s Emmanuel Ajia who has polled 24.2 percent. Following in third place is Dolphins striker Ifeanyi Egwin who has 12.1 percent of the votes.

Enyimba’s Olabiyi is up for award courtesy of his goal in the Oriental derby between Abia Warriors and his club on August 17. It was a Match Day 24 fixture that saw the midfielder firing a screamer from 25 yards that got Enyimba back into the game a second time and it eventually ended 3-3.

Ajia of El-Kanemi was nominated for his goal on Match Day 6 against his former club, Lobi Stars, on April 13. It was a clinical finish that saw him shake-off a marker from outside the box before firing to the top left of the post in the 2-0 victory.

league. The full three points in that game or at the worst a draw will improve our chances,” Ezuruike said.

He however said the players were not allowing the failure of the government to offset their outstanding sign-on fees to distract them.

The former Heartland defender said: “We have not allowed that to distract us, because if we had, the club would not have attained the position it is at the moment. However, we are calling on the government to pay us our money because we have families too that are looking up to us.”

Nembe’s days in top flight numbered

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embe City’s days in the premier league are drawing to a close after they suffered yet another disappointing home draw against Crown FC of Ogbomosho.

Nembe have been battling for survival since the beginning of the season and it is unlikely that the club will escape the dreaded drop.

Sitting bottom of the table with 25 points from 28 matches, it will surely take a big miracle for the club to remain in the elite division.

Recently, the owner of the club, Rumson Baribote, said Nembe have not been treated well in the league, claiming that the club is being victimised because of him.

Baribote was until recently banned from Nigerian football for 15 years following the issues he had when he was the chairman of the Nigeria Premier League.

However, investigations by League Rendezvous revealed that the problem of the club stemmed from the inability of the owner to provide the needed funds with players owed backlog of salaries and match bonuses.

Sunshine’s Aluko Tolu (top) vying with Enyimba’s Andrew Abalogu

Who can stop Kano Pillars from third straight title?

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efending champions Kano Pillars are currently cruising in the Nigeria Professional Football League as they prepare to win their third title in three seasons.

Pillars had won the league in the last two seasons and are currently leading the log with four points separating them from War-

Kano Pillars celebrating one of their league triumphs

ri Wolves in second position.

Since the commencement of the second round of the season, the club has been grinding out results while the chasing pack has failed to challenge them at the top.

With nine matches to go, the coach Okey Emordi-led side is favourite to win the 2013/2014 league crown.

Having a four -point cushion and a better goal difference, heading to the home stretch, it will take a major capitulation for the club to relinquish their title this season.

The club has four home and

five away matches remaining. In some of these fixtures, the club will be away to their rivals and that may be an added motivation for the club.

Fighting hard to dethrone the club are Nasarawa United, Enyimba International and Warri Wolves.

On October 19, Pillars will be away to Nasarawa United and the last day of the league will see them travelling to Aba for a date with Enyimba.

The question now is who can stop Pillars? Can any of the trio stop the club from making it a treble?

Glo league table

TOP SCORER AS AT MATCH DAY 29 1 Ighodaro Osaguona (Rangers) 14 Goals 2 Gbolahan Salami (Warri Wolves)14 Goals 3 Peter Ebimobowei (Bayelsa Utd) 13 Goals 4 Mfon Udoh (Enyimba) 12 Goals 5 Emem Eduok (Dolphins FC) 12 Goals 6 Rabiu Ali (Kano Pillars) 11 Goals 7 Adamu Hassan (Kano Pillars) 11 Goals 8 Adamu Mohammed (Gombe Utd) 9 Goals 9 Peter Onyekachi (Abia Warriors) 9 Goals 10 Bright Ejike (Heartland) 8 Goals

No

Team

P

W

D

L

SF

SA

Pts

GD

1

Kano Pillars

29

14

8

7

42

31

50

11

2

Warri Wolves

29

14

4

11

30

28

46

2

3

Dolphins

29

12

9

8

32

23

45

9

4

Enyimba

29

12

8

9

33

19

44

14

5

Nasarawa Utd

29

13

5

11

30

25

44

5

6

Giwa FC

29

13

5

11

29

26

44

3

7

Akwa Utd

29

12

7

10

23

22

43

1

8

Sunshine Stars

29

10

12

7

38

33

42

5

9

Sharks FC

29

11

9

9

30

25

42

5

10

Abia Warriors

29

12

5

12

38

32

41

6

11

Heartland

29

10

11

8

28

22

41

6

12

Rangers

29

12

5

12

36

32

41

4

13

Lobi Stars

28

13

2

13

28

32

41

-4

14

El-Kanemi

29

11

7

11

31

25

40

6

15

Kaduna Utd

29

11

3

15

29

36

36

-7

16

Bayelsa Utd

29

11

3

15

34

44

36

-10

17

Gombe Utd

29

10

5

14

30

33

35

-3

18

Crown FC

29

10

4

15

23

36

34

-13

19

Taraba FC

29

10

4

15

20

34

34

-14

20

Nembe City

28

5

10

13

16

42

25

-26

MATCH DAY 30 (5TH OCT 14) BAYELSA UTD VS SUNSHINE STARS GOMBE UTD VS EL-KANEMI FC TARABA VS WARRI WOLVES CROWN VS ENYIMBA SHARKS VS NEMBE CITY NASARAWA UTD VS KADUNA UTD ABIA WARRIORS VS DOLPHINS AKWA UTD VS RANGERS HEARTLAND VS KANO PILLARS LOBI STARS VS GIWA

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

Keshi must sort out Emenike altercation – Akanni

A

Vincent Eboigbe former Nigeria international, Waidi Akanni, has stated that coach Stephen Keshi must not allow the brewing altercation with star striker, Emmanuel Emenike, to fester.

Keshi made critical comments about the forward in recent time to the effect that he (Emenike) was not playing to instructions and was a source of discord in the Super Eagles camp.

But Emenike responded by saying that he was prepared to be left out of the national team set up by Keshi rather than being made out to be an undisciplined player before Nigerians.

Akanni, who is also an exchairman of Lagos State Football Association, said issues of this nature in the dressing room are capable of not only causing disaffection but also truncating efforts to qualify for the African Nations Cup next year.

He said: “You cannot have this kind of situation in the team, it shows that there is no unity. My experience tells me that when issues like this happen the coach must find a solution,” Akanni stated.

“As far as I’m concerned Emenike is one of our best players and there should not be any reasons to be talking about being left out of future assignments. I think Keshi should not let it get out of control to the extent of having a war of words in the media: ‘that Keshi said this, Emenike said that.”

“Keshi is not just the coach of the Super Eagles he is like a father to the players and should endeavour to resolve issues in the team quietly.”

Akanni however added that he doesn’t know what or who to believe when these kinds of stories become public knowledge.

“If I call Keshi now he will tell me something else, that the stories are

Sport

27

not true. I have called him several times in the past when such matters come up and he denies them. So one is sometimes caught in the middle as to what or who to believe. That is the reason I am somewhat skeptical,” Akanni added.

“But the important thing is that we have very crucial Nations Cup matches ahead and Emenike, being one of our best players, needs to be in a frame of mind where he can give his best. We can’t afford these kinds of distractions now.”

Musa battles Oliseh in Russia

Ajibade Olusesan

C

SKA Moscow striker, Ahmed Musa, is expected to be in action when his side host Kuban’ Krasnodar on Saturday in the Russian league.

Kuban’ Krasnodar has Sekou Oliseh, a former CSKA Moscow midfielder and Musa’s close friend in their fold but the two pals will have to wait until after 90 minutes before they would exchanging pleasantries.

Musa has managed just three goals in nine league appearances this term and Oliseh has scored two goals in seven games even as a midfielder.

In Spain, Ike Uche will be looking forward to adding to his lone strike for Villarreal when they travel to Celta Vigo, while Flying Eagles striker, Isaac Success will chase his first La Liga goal to Malaga.

Super Eagles midfielder, Ramon Azeez, can build on his last weekend’s performance when his club, Almeria, host Elche.

Azeez gave the assist that led to Almeria’s goal in their 1-0 win at Deportivo last weekend.

Emenike

Kano, Yola Polo tourneys get MTN boost P assionate as ever about the game of polo in Nigeria, MTN over the weekend, presented a cheque of N20 Million to Kano and Yola Polo Clubs in the just concluded MTN 2014 international polo tournaments in the two ancient kingdoms.

The Kano presentation held at the Usman Dantata Polo Ground on Sunday was one of the major highlights of the exciting polo event that was decided over two weekends of top class polo game.

A cheque of N15 million was handed over to the club officials at the ceremony.

Interestingly, the MTN-sponsored international tournaments that took place simultaneously in Kano and Adamawa states, also saw Yola Polo Club benefiting from the sponsorship support to the tune of N5 Million.

MTN Trade and Marketing Manager, North West, Abdulhamid Hassan who made the presentation in Kano said the company’s involvement with polo was its own way of contributing to the de-

velopment of the noble game that has been part of Nigerian culture for over a century now.

“MTN has been at the forefront of sports development with several sponsorship initiatives spanning polo, golf, soccer, amongst others.

We plan to do more in this regard and take sports to the level where it would rival the best anywhere

in the world,” he declared.

“Like the services we provide, polo is a unifying force that knows no boundaries. We are tapping into the passion that people feel for the game to bring to the front burner, the need to develop our sporting sector, so that in our little way, we can contribute to making life better for Nigerians,” he adds.

MTN’s Regional Trade Marketing Manager for North-West, Abdulhamid Hassan (left) presenting a trophy to Abba Dantata, captain of the MTN Cup in Kano ... recently

Sports Festival’s facilities ready soon, says Ugbe Charles Ogundiya

A

s preparations for the hosting of the 19th National Sports Festival gather momentum, the Cross River State commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Patrick Ugbe, has given assurances that all the facilities for the competition would be ready soon.

Ugbe disclosed that the remaining centre was at an advanced stage of completion, attributing the delay to the ongoing construction of the pavilion.

While receiving three completed lawn tennis courts on behalf of the state government, the commissioner said: “Some other facilities including the tartan track and pitch have been received earlier and put into use to test-run them.

“I can also assure you that other facilities like the

swimming pool, basketball, handball and Abula pitches will be completed soon.”

Cross River will host the 19th edition of the biennial competition running from November 23 to December 7.

Meanwhile, Oyo State athletes are waiting for the state government to call them to camp ahead of the competition.

Speaking to New Telegraph on condition of anonymity, an athlete who won gold medal for the state at the last edition of the competition in Lagos said: “We are yet to hear from the government. Most of us have been training on our own pending when we will be called to camp.”

Oyo state finished in the 9th position at the last edition, winning 42 medals: 12 gold, 13 silver and 17 bronze medals.

uper Eagles hit man, Emmanuel Emenike, and his Fernabahce teammates will be desperate to appease their fans with victory over visiting Konyaspor on Saturday after faltering at Akhisar Belediye last weekend.

The defending champions lost 2-0 to Akhisar Belediye last Sunday in a top-of-the-table clash with the Nigerian striker posting an uninspiring performance on the night.

Emenike has not been scoring enough goals for both club and country in recent times and pressure is beginning to pile on him and he will be glad to return to scoring way this weekend.

In another fixture in the Turkish league, former Goden Eaglets star, Chrisantus Macauley, could prove that his goal on is debut for Sivasspor was not a fluke when he faces Gençlerbirliği today.

He scored Sivasspor’s only goal in their 2-1 loss to Galatasaray last weekend even on his debut. He came

S

Emenike seeks redemption

igerian international, Brown Ideye, could be reinstalled into West Brom’s line up against Liverpool after shrugging off an injury.

The striker missed Baggies 4-0 demolition of Burnley last Sunday due to injury he suffered in the Capital One Cup victory over Hull City in which he scored his first goal for the club.

The former Sochaux player is reportedly available for selection again after overcoming the injury problems but it is uncertain if he will be handed a starting berth against the Kops following the heroics of the duo of Saido Berahino and Douglas Dorrans against Burnley last Sunday.

Stoke City will rely on their in-form winger Victor Moses as they travel to Stadium of Light for a date with Sunderland. Moses has formed a telepathic partnership with Peter Crouch.

Although the Chelsea loanee has not scored a goal of his own for his new side, he has produced fantastic performances and he will be glad to see his efforts being crowned with a goal on Saturday.

Similarly, Mikel Obi could be handed a role in Chelsea’s face-off with Arsenal on Sunday. The midfielder has lost his starting shirt to Nemanja Matic but he has squeezed out few minutes of football this season.

Coach Jose Mourinho may call upon him to play a part as they welcome the Gunners in a London derby.

N

Ideye set to return against Liverpool

EAGLES FOCUS

www.newtelegraphonline.com/metro

NEW TELEGRAPH

T

he final two unbeaten teams in the Premier League are set to face off in a huge match on Sunday, as Arsenal make the short trip across London to take on league leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal have been all bark and no bite so far this season, dominating opposing teams in possession, but consistently failing to create any meaningful end product from all of their time with the ball.

This has been a mark of Arsené Wenger sides during his tenure with the club, and although it is absolutely majestic when Arsenal get it right, fans will be hoping that this goal scoring crisis gets solved sooner rather than later. The Gunners have drawn

Arsenal 160 61 47 52 225 210

four of their opening six matches, and currently sit six points behind Chelsea in the table, so a result from this match is pivotal if Wenger and company want to have any hope of competing for the top spot in May. Chelsea, conversely, have been firing on all cylinders thus far in the Premier League, with their only points dropped so far com-

Head-to-head

Chelsea Matches played: 160 Wins: 52 Draws 47 Losses 61 Goals for 210 Goals against 225

Kick-off: 02:05 pm Venue: Stamford Bridge (London) Date: Sunday, October 5 Referee: M. Atkinson

ing in a draw with Manchester City. Striker Diego Costa has been on absolute fire, scoring eight goals so far this season, and new midfielder Cesc Fabregas leads the league in assists, having created a goal per game so far.

Sunday’s match will mark the first time Fabregas faces Arsenal in the Premier League, after spending his formative years under the tutelage of Wenger. Fans, however, should not expect there to be any less intensity shown from the Spaniard, who was shot down in his ambitions to return to Arsenal this summer. Ultimately, Arsenal’s long injury list and poor current form mean that they simply will not be able to keep up with Jose Mourinho’s side, so expect Chelsea to win comfortably at home.

UNBEATEN CHELSEA, ARSENAL IN SUPER SUNDAY SHOWDOWN

Global Football Special P

annover ’s bright start to the season has faded somewhat, with two losses in their last three, and they head to Munich to face a Bayern side who have hammered them in recent times.

Bayern have won the last six clashes between the two sides, scoring 23 goals in the process, while they have netted four or more against Hannover on six occasions since 2009.

Leaders Bayern are two points ahead of Monchengladbach, who host the fourth-placed Mainz on Sunday in a meeting between two of the four remaining unbeaten sides.

H

Bayern battle Hannover

er Mertesacker believes Arsenal can take renewed optimism into Sunday’s clash with Chelsea after their comprehensive win over Galatasaray.

Danny Welbeck’s fine hat-trick inspired Arsenal to a 4-1 victory over the Turkish side in the UEFA Champions League at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

And centre-back Mertesacker is now t a rg e t i n g t h re e points against Jose Mourinho’s men in the Premier League on Sunday.

“Obviously it’s [beating Galatasaray] a good lift [before the Chelsea game],” Mertesacker told Arsenal’s official website.

M

arouane Fellaini is set to give Manchester United a timely boost ahead of their match against his former team Everton on Sunday by making a return from an ankle injury.

United’s squad has been crippled by inju-

Fellaini set to face old pals

Fellaini

“We’ve got good confidence at the moment and will try and implement that in the game on Sunday.

“We know we can do better than the two consecutive seasons [there] before and I think we’ll try new things on Sunday to get a better result than last year.”

Mertesacker

Mertesacker confident of downing Chelsea

28 Sport SATURDAY N 4 OCTO

Lewis Hamilton believes more maturity and a better work ethic set him apart from the man he was when he last tasted Formula One title success.

‘I’m older, and I feel it!,’ he replied when asked what the major differences were between then and now.

‘Back then it was all instinct, I think my maturity was at a very early stage and I probably think that is the biggest change and hopefully I will keep getting more and more mature.

‘Also my work ethic. My work ethic is a lot better, more serious and more understanding - it seems to be working well for me.

Lewis Hamilton

SPORT BRIEFLY

Rory McIlroy was not the only winner at the British Open on Sunday.

The BBC said McIlroy’s father, Gerry, and three of Gerry’s friends placed a combined bet of 400 pounds (now $680) in 2004 on McIlroy winning the British Open before he turned 26.

McIlroy was 15 at the time of the wager and is now 25.

The odds were 500-1, so the syndicate looks to collect 200,000 pounds ($340,000) now that McIlroy has lifted the claret jug. He won by two strokes over Sergio Garcia and Ricky Fowler.

Rory McIlroy

After ten years of a very successful working relationship, WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (38-2-1, 26KOs) is planning to break out on his own, according to statements made by the fighter to Bild Sport.

Huck, 29-years-old, has formed his own promotional company - Huck Sports Promotion - and has his brother Kenan as CEO. Huck’s contract with Sauerland Event expires in December and boxer is not planning to renew the deal.

Huck stated: “I am very grateful to Wilfried Sauerland. But I’ve decided to take the reins into my own hands. As a great champion I want to be independent. Now I am free for Klitschko. I dream of big fights, even in the United States. I want to fight the best. Klitschko is at the top for me. I want to leave in peace and hope that he will place no obstacles in the way. It was a successful time together.”

Marco Huck

Emenike

on as a second half substitute and his coach could give him more playing time in this one.

P

aris Saint-Germain and Monaco meet on Sunday as the two pre-season Ligue 1 title favourites aim to gain momentum after stuttering starts.

Defending champions PSG are yet to lose this season but sit five points adrift of early leaders and arch rivals Marseille after being held to a 1-1 scoreline by Toulouse last Saturday, a result that marked their fifth draw of the league campaign.

However, the hosts should head into the game at the Parc des Princes with considerable momentum Cavani following a superb 3-2 win over Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.

That triumph, achieved without the services of injured talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic, served as a perfect illustration of the challenge of facing Monaco, who drew 0-0 with Zenit in their latest Champions League outing and have already lost four games in the French top flight this term.

Totti

still haven’t conceded there,” he said on Wednesday.

“It will certainly be a great game and Wednesday defeat will not change the atmosphere in the team.”

Roma will need to be wary of Carlos Tevez, who has an equal league-high four goals this campaign.

PSG could start this weekend’s fixture eight points behind Marcelo Bielsa’s Marseille, whose superb six-game winning streak will be expected to continue on Saturday when they travel to face a Caen side who have suffered a dip in form following their strong start to life in the top flight.

Second-placed Bordeaux will also be strong favourites against second-bottom Reims, but Rene Girard’s Lille - currently third - face the much more daunting task of a trip to Lyon.

Metz have been the surprise package of the season so far, continuing a revival that has seen them earn back-to-back promotions with a surge to fifth in the table.

Albert Cartier’s men sit level on points with PSG and will be out to maintain their eye-catching form versus an Evian side seeking a third straight win, while fellow new-boys Lens take on a Rennes side once again struggling under Philippe Montanier.

PSG, Monaco face off in Paris

J

uventus coach Massimiliano Allegri insists his team will stay upbeat ahead of Sunday’s top-of-the-table Serie A clash against Roma.

The defending league champions and this season’s leaders suffered their first defeat of the campaign in all competitions – a 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid - in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.

A day earlier, Roma - who have also won all five of their Serie A matches - were unfortunate not to get more than a 1-1 draw in their trip to Manchester City.

Juve are yet to concede in Serie A and have netted 10, while Roma have scored nine times and conceded just one.

Despite his team’s loss in Madrid, Allegri said they would remain positive heading into the home clash against Roma.

“Juve arrive in good shape, as we won all five in Serie A and

Juve, Roma meet in blockbuster

Turan

LA Liga Málaga v Granada 9pm Sunday Sevilla v Deportivo 11 am Celta Vigo v Villarreal 4pm Espanyol v Sociedad 6pm

Serie A Saturday Verona v Cagliari 5pm Milan v Chievo 7:45pm Sunday Empoli v Palermo 11:30am Lazio v Sassuolo 2pm Parma v Genoa 2pm Sampdoria v Atalanta 2pm Udinese v Cesena 2pm Juventus v Roma 5pm Fiorentina v Inter 7:45pm Napoli v Torino 7:45pm Monday Udinese v Parma 6pm Palermo v Lazio 8pm Palermo v Inter Torino v Verona

NO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

TEAM Juventus Roma Udinese Sampdoria Inter Milan Milan Verona Napoli Lazio Fiorentina Genoa Torino Cesena Cagliari Chievo Atalanta Empoli Parma Palermo Sassuolo

Serie A

TEAM Chelsea Souton Man City Arsenal Swansea Aston Villa Man Utd Tottenham C’Palace West Brom Stoke Leicester West Ham Liverpool Everton Hull Sunderland QPR Newcastle Burnley

P 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

P 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

PTS 15 15 12 11 8 8 8 7 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 3

PTS 16 13 11 10 10 10 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 4 3 3

PREMIER LEAGUE

NO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

PTS 14 12 11 10 10 10 9 9 8 8 8 7 6 5 5 4 3 2

PTS 16 14 14 13 12 12 8 8 8 8 8 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 4 3

Bundesliga NO TEAM P 1 Bayern 6 2 Mö’gladbach 6 3 Leverkusen 6 4 Hoffenheim 6 4 Mainz 6 6 Hannover 6 7 Frankfurt 6 8 Augsburg 6 9 Wolfsburg 6 10 Schalke 6 11 Paderborn 6 12 Dortmund 6 13 Köln 6 14 Hertha 6 15 Stuttgart 6 16 Freiburg 6 17 Bremen 6 18 Hamburger 6

La Liga

NO TEAM P 1 Barcelona 6 2 Valencia 6 3 Atletico 6 4 Sevilla 6 5 Real Madrid 6 6 Celta de Vigo 6 7 Villarreal 6 8 Eibar 6 9 Vallecano 6 10 Almería 6 11 Granada CF 6 12 Espanyol 6 13 Málaga 6 14 Getafe 6 15 Sociedad 6 16 Bilbao 6 17 Deportivo 6 18 Elche 6 19 Levante 6 20 Córdoba 6

ries this season, with currently nine players out injured.

Fellaini returned to full training this week, and now has a chance to feature in the fixture at Old Trafford this weekend.

The Belgian midfielder’s United career has failed to ignite since his £27m move from Everton in September 2013, with the player still looking for that elusive first goal for the club.

He was linked with a transfer away from United during the summer, with Serie A side Napoli interested.

Saturday Valencia v Atletico 3pm Vallecano v Barca 5pm Eibar v Levante 7pm Almería v Elche 9pm

Premier League Saturday Hull v Crystal Palace 3pm Leicester v Burnley 3pm Liverpool v W’Brom 3pm Sunderland v Stoke 3pm Swansea v Newcastle 3pm A’Villa v Man City 5:30pm Sunday Man Utd v Everton 12pm Chelsea v Arsenal 2:05pm Tottenham v Soton 2:05pm West Ham v QPR 4:15pm Monday Stoke v Newcastle 8pm

f Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde was hoping for a chance to regroup, he will not get it in La Liga this weekend.

Athletic face a daunting trip to Real Madrid on Sunday, just five days after a difficult UEFA Champions League outing in Belarus.

Valverde’s side headed to BATE on Tuesday on the back of a five-game winless run in all competitions, and they fell to a damaging 2-1 defeat that could prove fatal to their chances of qualifying from Group H. Athletic’s prospects of immediately getting back on track in La Liga appear bleak, too, as they travel to the Santiago Bernabeu to face a Real side who will be looking to return to form after a largely frustrating trip of their own in Europe.

Real had scored 20 goals in four wins ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Ludogorets, but needed a late Karim Benzema strike to see off the Bulgarian side 2-1.

Table-toppers Barcelona - two points clear at the summit and yet to concede a Liga goal this term - are on the road on Saturday, travelling to Rayo Vallecano.

And Luis Enrique will be keen to see a response from his players after the Catalan club were beaten 3-2 by French champions Paris Saint-Germain in midweek Champions League action.

I

Bilbao in Real task, Valencia host Atletico

Josef Zinnbauer’s task as new Hamburg boss does not get any easier when he takes the rockbottom side to Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.

Zinnbauer – the club’s former under-23 coach – replaced Mirko Slomka in the top job at Hamburg last month.

And while Zinnbauer’s arrival coincided with a goalless draw against two-time defending Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, a loss at the second-placed Borussia Monchengladbach was followed by a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt last week.

NEW TELEGRAPH OBER 2014

Sport

29

30

Sport

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

NFF Elections:

Tension, intrigues reign supreme P

Adekunle Salami

olitics is truly a dirty game.

When it comes to politics, anything can happen. It is a game where you expect the unexpected. The just concluded election into the board of the Nigeria Football Federation was full of intrigues, intimidation, power play and money politics.

Ordinarily, one would have thought the poll that was to elect officials to run football would not be a big deal but it had all the characteristics of the country’s general elections. So much tension was in the air and with seven contestants vying for the presidency, no one was sure of where the pendulum of victory would swing.

At the end of the day, Amaju Pinnick of Delta State beat others to the plum job after two rounds of voting at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Warri, Delta State. Other presidential candidates were Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi from Osun, Abba Yola from Kano, Mike Umeh from Anambra, Dominic Iorfa from Benue, Shehu Dikko from Kaduna and Amanze Uchegbulam from Imo State.

On the eve of the elections, information came in that the Department of State Services officials were after Dikko and he was prevented from travelling from Abuja airport. Aminu Maigari who was released just few days earlier was also quizzed at the airport.

Dikko told confidants that he would travel by road, but it was clear that he was not wanted. It was learnt that the DSS had documents against the football marketer. There were conflicting reports over whether or not Dikko made it to Warri but the security at the venue of the election was such that he would have been arrested if he was anywhere near the venue.

It was not a surprise that he was the only candidate absent at the presidential debate held on the eve of the election. He was also not at the NFF Congress, hence, six candidates eventually took part in the polls.

The election night witnessed so much drama and politicking in various forms. The delegates from the north were not happy about the predicament of Shehu Dikko and vowed to support another candidate, Iorfa. They were so strong and resolute with their position and they had the numerical advantage over other zones.

In the evening, a top government official was said to have addressed the delegates and he told them that President Goodluck Jonathan wished them well and urged them to ”consider his brother” for the NFF Presidency. The brother in this case is not a candidate from Bayelsa but the host FA chairman, Pinnick. The message was believed to be the coming from the bearer and not from Aso Rock.

However, the solidarity move of the northerners became weak and shaky as more intrigues and power play led to money politics in the early hours on elections day. Two of the presidential candidates were said to

Pinnick

It was a case of the highest bidder. Those sharing N250,000 each decided to keep their money because that was just less than 10 per cent of what another candidate presented to each delegate

Nigeria’s Kenneth Omeruo contesting with France’s Olivier Giroud at the World Cup in Brazil

be sharing N200,000 and N250,000 each respectively to the delegates by midnight. Although the delegates are 44, the idea is to give “motivation” to majority number to win their votes.

The number of beneficiaries could be between 25 and 30 delegates.

Authoritative sources revealed that while the “vote trading” was ongoing, three vehicles entered the hotel with yet another motivation package for the delegates. This time, it was in millions of naira to each of the delegates. Candidates sharing much lesser amount of money earlier had to stop. All through the night, delegates were holding meetings at caucus or zonal levels while representatives of the presidential candidates were wooing them with “packages” of different modes.

“It was a case of the highest bidder.

Those sharing N250,000 each decided to keep their money because that was just less than 10 per cent of what another candidate presented to each delegate,” our source said.

There were also indications that the former NFF President, Aminu Maigari, was allegedly in the team of those giving out motivation packages from one of the candidates to the delegates. Interestingly, Maigari, who was believed to be supporting Dikko,

was accused of betraying his brother and friend.

Details of what transpired cannot be enumerated fully in print but many would argue whether those things were still part of politics.

“It is not true that money was shared. That is how people talk after losing in an election. People should be noble enough to take defeat in good fate,” Nigeria Olympic Committee vice president, Solomon Ogba, said.

On the morning of the elections, there was uncertainty in the air. Reports came in that the Minister of Sports, Tammy Danagogo, received a court injunction the previous night stopping the election. As if that was not enough, the chairman of the electoral committee, Sampson Ebomhe, was arrested by DSS. At noon, the event scheduled for 10am was yet to start and it was looking as if the event could be cancelled or shifted again.

At about 1pm, Ebomhe was released and he declared his readiness to go on with the polls. The Congress was declared open at 1.45pm by director general of the National Sports Commission, Gbenga Elegbeleye.

Pinnick won the first ballot with 25 votes. Ogunjobi had nine, Iorfa six, Uchegbulam four while Yola and

Umeh had no votes. In the run off, Pinnick had 32 votes, Iorfa eight and Ogunjobi four.

Ogunjobi, Umeh and Yola embraced Pinnick and congratulated Pinnick, but Iorfa was furious and he stormed out of the hall. “I brought out a list of those that will win and it went that way. Pinnick was not the most popular but money exchanged hands and that was the decider,” Iofa said.

Yola however displayed maturity as he urged all stakeholders to support Pinnick to succeed as NFF boss.

“We have been in crisis for so long and now that a new president has emerged, we should rally round him to achieve results for Nigeria,” Yola said. Lagos FA boss, Seyi Akinwunmi, defeated Emeka Iyama and two others to emerge the 1st vice president while Ibrahim emerged chairman of chairmen and second vice unopposed. Other board members elected were Chris Green, Suleiman Kwande, Ahmed Yusuf, Dele Ajayi, Rabiu Inuwa, Modibbo Hussaini, Babagana Kachalla and Felix Anyansi.

Victorious Pinnick however promised to be a team player shortly after the polls. “I promise to carry along my board members and we are going to work hard to move football to the next level,” Pinnick assured.

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

My kids won’t play for Nigeria – Udoka How has it been since you called it a day with professional basketball?

Life has been much more simple, slower and relaxing. I realised how much time I’ve spent outside of America and I feel like I am playing catch up with a lot of issues plaguing this country right now; things I was oblivious to from travelling so much.

I have started a girls’ basketball programme in Jersey City, New Jersey for ages 1017 and my partner (Makhtar N’Diaye) and I are working to expand it to other areas in New Jersey. I eventually want to become an athletic director in the next few years.

Do you sometimes wish you were still playing competitive basketball?

I absolutely do not miss playing. I did everything I possibly could with basketball, surpassed my dreams and made history. I am a threetime Hall of Famer, travelled to places I would never have thought I’d see, won championships and earned a living playing basketball!

There was nothing else for me to accomplish. My fiancé, and my brother (former Nigeria men’s basketball team captain, and current assistant coach of reigning NBA champions, San Antonio Spurs, Ime Udoka) are also involved in basketball, so it will never be out of my life.

Any similarities to the problems you encountered while playing for Nigeria?

Lack of preparation and organisation mostly. If we know a tournament is two years

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Former captain of Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, Mfon Udoka, was part of the golden generation of players that won back to back FIBA Africa Women Championship titles for Nigeria between 2003 and 2005. The former WNBA star spends most of her time training young girls in the United States of America in the company of her fiancé, former captain of the Senegalese national basketball team, Makhtar Vincent N’Diaye. The American-born Udoka spoke to Ifeanyi Ibeh about her endeavours now and more. Excerpts lies they would tell us with straight faces. But it is always the same story every year. We will never attain our potential in basketball because most of the people involved in running basketball are in it for the wrong reasons.

How can Nigeria become a global force in basketball?

The Angolans are very good and organised and have consistently done well, but they still aren’t a global force in basketball. It will take them a long time to get to that level, but it’s going to take us much longer especially since nothing has really changed in the last 20 years.

profile • She was born 38 years ago in Portland, Oregon, USA, to a Nigerian father of Akwa Ibom descent and an American mother.

• She attended DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, majoring in Communications.

• Her first WNBA team was the Detroit Shock. She also played for Houston Comets and LA Sparks.

• She also played pro basketball in Spain, Portugal, Israel, China, Turkey and France.

• Her brother, Ime, is an assistant coach with reigning NBA champions, the San Antonio Spurs.

Back in 2011, you were named assistant coach of the Nigerian women’s team.

Do you still think about coaching at that level?

Not really, that was just something to do at that time. I am more interested in the administrative side of basketball and I am not really into travelling around the world for basketball anymore.

Having played at the highest levels of women’s basketball – the WNBA, the African Championship, the All-Africa Games and the Olympics – what in your opinion is wrong with Nigerian basketball?

The same things everyone talks about: no youth programmes, facilities, sport culture, organisation, government cooperation, and bad leadership.

There are too many people in Nigeria that act like they invented basketball; as if they know everything and don’t need to learn anything new.

Sport

You were part of the golden generation of Nigerian players who won the African Championships twice and qualified for the Olympic Games. Do you still have fond recollections of those championships?

Of course! We laugh about stuff all the time and shake our heads in disbelief at all of the drama we had to deal with. Nothing was ever run correctly and we still found a way to win. I know what I went through personally to win those championships: injuries, sickness, starvation, being the opponents’ punching bag. They tried to break me and it was tough, but I was tougher. I still have scars on my arms to this day.

Nigeria’s Udoka in action at the Athens Olympics in 2004

My mom encouraged all of us to follow our dreams and I will definitely do the same

Udoka and fiance, Makhtar N’Diaye

Do you think we can ever win the African Championships and qualify for the Olympics again?

Anything is possible. With our talent it should happen,

PHOTO: AFP but the way things have gone the last nine years since we won the last one, they don’t away, why wait one month be- look promising. fore the tournament and stress everyone out with the process It’s only a matter of time of booking flight tickets and before you decide to start a setting up a training camp? It’s family. Would you encourage nothing but complete insanity. any of your kids to play pro Back then, even when basketball? we won the women’s title My children will most and qualified for the Olym- likely be tall, so they will be pic Games, we had different pushed to play basketball. players show up every year My fiancé and I both played because there wasn’t a pro- pro so will have great advice gramme to build and retain on how to get there, but ultalent, making it difficult to timately you have to be taldevelop chemistry. ented enough and want to do it. My mom encouraged all of Why has it been difficult for us to follow our dreams and I Nigeria to fulfil its potential will definitely do the same. I in basketball? am grateful that America has People involved at the a culture that embraces and administrative level are in encourages youth sports. it for the wrong reasons. We used to laugh when the lead- So, would you encourage ers in the Nigeria Basketball your kids to play for Nigeria?

(Laughs) With a SenegaFederation would say things like ‘we are in this for the love lese husband I’m not sure of the game; this is not my what will happen with that! real job; I’m not getting paid I don’t think I would win for this’ or all of the other that fight.

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Sport

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

Lifestyle

Mayweather posts picture with a mil ion dollars

F

loyd Mayweather told regulators on Wednesday that the ‘reality’ TV show promoting Marcos Maidana fight was almost completely made up.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the boxer had lost touch with reality days later too.

The 37-year-old posted an instagram picture of himself lying in bed, listening to music alongside a million dollars’ worth of cash.

After beating Maidana, Mayweather admitted that his reality TV show was nearly all made up Talking of the Maidana bout, Mayweather said: ‘I

don’t want to just sell a fight. I want to sell a lifestyle.’

Called before Nevada boxing regulators on Tuesday to explain what went on in the Showtime All Access shows aired earlier this month before his rematch with Maidana, Mayweather said it was all just made-up entertainment to sell the fight.

It worked, he said, bringing in enough of an audience for him to sell more pay-per-views for a fight in which he was guaranteed a $32 million payday.

‘It wasn’t real marijuana,’ Mayweather said. ‘It’s Floyd Mayweather surrounded by bundles of dollars all about entertainment.’

Former Chelsea star finds love again

Video game shows Suarez ‘sinking his teeth’ into players L

“I don’t want

to just sell a fight. I want to sell a lifestyle.”

– Mayweather on the Maidana fight

uis Suarez appearing to bite Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup shocked the football community and will certainly live long in the memory.

Now, just a few months on, some fans have amusingly recreated the infamous incident using the new FIFA 15 game.

In pictures posted to Twitter, fans have claimed the game is ‘so realistic’ for letting them relive the moment that saw the Barcelona striker banned from football for four months.

‘FIFA 15 is so realistic’ said one Twitter user beneath an image that sees Suarez sinking his teeth into

Man impersonates Hull City skipper to impregnate model

F

Verheijen

ormer Chelsea defender Khalid Boulahrouz hasn’t always been the luckiest when it comes to love.

Boulahrouz’s marriage to wife Sabia ended last year and she is now in a relationship with former Tottenham man and Dutch compatriot Rafael van der Vaart.

But the 32-year-old appears to have bounced back after it was revealed on Wednesday that he is dating Miss Netherlands 2014 Yasmin Verheijen - who is 12 years his junior.

Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reports that the pair have been together for some time and that Boulahrouz - now playing for Feyenoord - plans to accompany his girlfriend to Miami for the Miss Universe pageant later this year.

Verheijen who has German, Indian, Chinese and Hindu roots, was born and raised in Amsterdam and is in the final year of training as a decorator.

Holland’s Daryl Janmaat.

‘Was playing the FIFA 15 Demo earlier got to say its pretty damn realistic,’ said another tweeter under an image of Suarez and new Barcelona team-mate Ivan Rakitic.

Of course, the ability to bite a player is not actually a feature of the new game.

H

Cunningham

ull City captain Curtis Davies has been revealed as the unwitting subject of a bizarre deception after pregnant model Josie Cunningham admitted she was tricked for 18 months into believing the father of her baby was the English Premier League player.

The wannabe glamour model, who rose to fame after undergoing a £4,800 breast enlargement on the NHS, claims she was ‘manipulated’ into having a relationship with a man who pretended to be the 29-year-old centre back.

Just hours before going into labour, the 24-year-old told her 55,000 Twitter followers she had been ‘physically fooled’ by the imposter - despite searching images of the player on Google when she was warned the man could be a fraud.

Stories courtesy Dailymail

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

Olawale Ojo: I didn’t know I could sing until I got to the university ABOUT MY ALBUM It’s my debut album, and I am very excited about this album because there are lots of great songs in the album and most importantly there are great collaborations in the album too. Though it was quite stressful for me to put together the songs, at least everything is set now, I’m excited and I can’t wait for my fans to listen, for people to just get to hear different things from me, RnB, Fuji, pop all embedded in to one great album. I am looking forward to great response from my fans and everybody out there.

WHY I’M RELEASING IT A YEAR AFTER WINNING PROJECT FAME TALENT HUNT A year is very short. The first time I entered the studio was when I recorded my first single, It’s nothing. It was quite challenging for me to get myself acquainted with writing songs the Nigerian way. I am used to writing with a piano before Project Fame. I used to just write songs as I play the piano and try to come up with lyrics and melody. But the Nigerian way now, I have to create a beat, or the producer creates the beat to work with or right on the spot you create the beat and melody, which was quite challenging for me. But after the first track and the second one I just got adjusted to it all.

WHY I TITLED IT ‘ALMOST FAMOUS’ Ok, about the title what happened was that I was at a photo shoot styled by a fashion stylist or so. And the inner shirt I wore had almost famous inscribed on it. So my manager saw it and suggested I use it as an album title and instantly it kind of gelled with me though that was a long time ago.

When I was doing a photo shoot for my first single.

THE ARTISTES I WORKED WITH Yes, I did work with some artistes. The first artiste I featured was Lil kesh on Follow my Lead. I worked with Skales who is like a brother to me and Tiwa Savage who is like my sister, she was my mentor on Project Fame and after that we decided to work on a track, Love Me, and the song is like my favourite track on the album.

FAVOURITE TRACK I think it’s because I took my time to write the song and I have already made some improvement with my song writing skills. Also, the song is outside my comfort zone, it has some Igbo language in it and i am a Yoruba boy. It took time for me to write the songs like days until others that took me just hours, sometimes within one hour i am done with the song. But this song just took me sometime coupled with the beats. And to have Tiwa on board too is like a blessing to me because I am a big fan of her.

WHAT PROJECT FAME HAS GIVEN ME ASIDE MONEY The financial backing is quite small compared to the platform itself. I used to hear you have a big platform but I didn’t understand it until now. When I go out for events, the kind of reception I get is really good. A lot of people know me. Even the A-list artistes in Nigeria, when I walk up to them to introduce myself, they say things

Immediate past winner of Project Fame West Africa, Olawale Ojo, has released an enthralling debut album. The pop singer has equally made the 10-track album a collectors’ item by featuring the Project Fame family in one of his videos plus the collaboration he had with Tiwa Savage and other singers. He spoke to LANRE ODUKOYA about the album and his fledgling career.

Showbiz

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like don’t worry we already know you and that really makes me happy and grateful to MTN and Ultima Studios for without them I won’t be here. I don’t think am here because am talented. I just see it as a blessing because there are lots of talented people out there who don’t have the privilege to this kind of platform.

THE PRODUCERS I WORKED WITH I worked with several producers. I worked with Dj Clem for my first single, I worked with spellz for the second single, I worked with Dj Coublon on the third. I worked with spellz again on the song with Tiwa Savage; I worked with Masterkraft on the song with Skales. I worked with Kenny wonder. I worked with Filkizz too.

WHERE I DRAW MY INSPIRATION I am not a stereotyped kind of person, so different things inspire me at different times. It depends on how I feel at that particular point in time. I have also noticed that I have a flair for writing love songs, it comes to me so easily and I think that’s my area of specialization. I also enjoy listening to RnB, so music from artistes like Maria, Bruno Mars, and Alicia Keys and pop songs from the likes of Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson and the likes also inspire me.

I don’t have favourite artistes, I listen to all generally but I find myself listening to more female artistes I guess that’s because of my range.

The Fuji side of me can be attributed to growing up in Ibadan. My first fuji performance was on Project Fame stage and I was even surprised I could do it that well.

I guess it’s been saved somewhere in my subconscious mind.

LIFE AFTER WINNING PROJECT FAME One of the challenges I am facing now is the expectations of people. People expect a lot from me as the Project Fame winner.

People have to grow and evolve but most people don’t understand that. They just want you to be like Wizkid or Davido and the likes overnight and things don’t just happen that way. One has to pay his/her dues first. I am paying my dues now and am being very patient, am not in a hurry to be the next biggest artiste in West Africa.

I am not where I used to be and am definitely working hard and making progress and am grateful to God. ME AND MY FEMALE FANS My female fans are very important to me; they make 90 percent of my fan base so I try to be very open and approachable to all but I don’t mix work with pleasures because for me music is serious business.

HOW I GOT THE PROJECT FAME FAMILY ON MY VIDEO, JUPA When the idea to bring in the Faculty and Project Fame Alumni for the music video of Jupa came up I was very excited and at first wondering how possible it will be to bring everybody on board. But after the success shoot I was so happy and grateful to everyone who showed up for it. My experience with the Faculty and Judges in the Academy motivates me till date and I remain grateful. The video is really making waves out there because people really like it and for that i am grateful too.

WHAT THEY DIDN’T TELL YOU ABOUT ME I grew up in Ibadan and had my elementary education there. I am a final year student of agronomy in Ladoke Akintola University. I am currently undergoing my projects. I have three siblings comprising two boys and one girl. I used to play drum sets in church when I was younger. I didn’t even know I could sing till I got into the university.

MY DREAM TO FEATURE BIG ARTISTES Of course yes, I have several artistes that motivate me that I would like to work with the nearest future. The list is endless though. Nigeria is blessed with great artistes.

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Showbiz

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

... a finger on the city’s pulse

CONFLUENCE

LANRE ODUKOYA

Remembering MIC Founder Okusanya and son

H

ow time flies. A year had just gone past when frontline mortician of the M.I.C Gold fame, Tunji Okusanya, and his son and protégé, Tunji Okusanya Jnr., lost their lives at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) after suffering injuries sustained from the Lagos Cargo plane crash which happened on October 3, 2013. The Okusanyas were on board the aircraft, which was conveying the corpse of the former Ondo State governor, Olusegun Agagu, to Akure for a lying-in-state and funeral ceremonies when the tragedy struck. Since that sad incident, the funeral undertaking industry has not had as much panache as was seen when the iconic mortician launched his funeral services.

This is why the Erogbogbo and Okusanya families held the first memorial anniversary for the late Okusanyas, four MIC staff members, Deji Falae and other victims who lost their lives in the ill-fated plane crash that bloody Thursday.

For the Okusanyas in particular, there was a lineup of activities by the family to remember and immortalise their illustrious sons. The commemorative

The late Okusanyas

events took place yesterday, exactly one year after the families’ colossal loss. The day began with the opening and dedication of Jay's Garden, a beautiful eco-friendly haven created in memory of late Olatunji Abimbola Okusanya Jnr., a.k.a. JAY at Merrymaid Water Gardens Limited (an art and water garden centre) at 10.30am which was staged at Fatai Kadiri Street, Fola Agoro, Abule-Ijesha, Shomolu, Lagos‎ where he was a director. The unveiling of the facility was also to put up to stage a special enlightenment programme on educating the public on preservation of garden birds in memory of the deceased’s love for feeding and nurturing birds in his short but eventful lifetime. The event was its inaugural as it’s hoped to develop into an annual event. Merrymaid Water Gardens opens daily and guests are warmly welcomed to visit and support this cause.

There will also be a thanksgiving service for the late Okusanyas and prayers for the family during the morning mass at 10am on Sunday, October 12 at the Chapel of the Healing Cross, Idi Araba, Lagos. The occasion is designed to be a gathering of family members in the Diaspora and friends from all walks of life.

Merrymaid Water Gardens entrance

Bola Shagaya acquires private jet to celebrate birthday O

ne of the closest friends of Dame Patience Jonathan, Hajia Bola Shagaya has also joined the league of proud owners of private jet. Hajia Shagaya, the billionaire mostly referred to Dame of Commerce who's seriously contesting to make it to the world's female billionaires' club recently launched the expensive Gulfstream G650 estimated to be worth $65m. And, wait for it, this acquisition was intended just to celebrate her birthday.

According to sources close to the woman of substance who has equally grown to become the strongest PDP stalwart in Kwara State, the private jet was her birthday gift. She’s the fourth Nigerian woman to own a private jet.

Other co-travellers are former senator, Daisy Danjuma, Diezani Allison-Madueke, the petroleum minister (well, it's still not clear if she actually owns or leases it) and Africa’s richest woman (according to Forbe’s rating) Folorunsho Alakija.

The interior of Gulf stream G650

Ex- speaker Dimeji Bankole’s 7-year-old daughter dies in UK

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ACROSS 1. SNORKEL 5. PIN 7. IBA 8. TEA 9. SIT DOWN 1. SITUATE 2. ORATOR 3. KISS 4. LITMUS 5. PASS 6. NAS

10. MISS 11. ALOE 12. AU 16. AL 17. BABA 18. PALM

22. POD 23. OAT 24. ILA 25. SPA 26. SATANIC

13. FRANTIC 14. PAMPAS 15. SALOON 19. ASIA 20. ADIT 21. LOS

ormer House of Representatives speaker, Dimeji Bankole, is grieving. We learnt that while Nigeria was celebrating her 54th independence anniversary, the urbane politician was busy mourning the death of his seven-year-old daughter, Yewande Semiat Bankole.

The girl lost the battle to sickle cell anaemia at a London hospital on October 1. It wasn't however clear if Dimeji and the wife knew about their status before getting married.

The family released a statement which reads: "With gratitude to Almighty Allah and with heavy hearts, we announce the demise of our daughter Yewande Semiat Bankole aged seven years at a London hospital. Yewande is the grand-daughter of Chief Alani Suara Bankole and the daughter of Rt. Hon. Dimeji Sabur Bankole.

"Yewande was born with HbSS Sickle cell disease. She was a radiant girl who struggled with the disease. We originally managed her condition at a Lagos hospital but later transferred to a London hospital. Sadly we lost her at 10.30pm on Wednesday October 1st, 2014. Her remains will be buried according to Islamic rites. We wish to thank you for your prayers and support at this very trying time.”

4 OCTOBER 2014

Review

A pastoral narrative T

Emeka Egwuda he plot of Fire in the Centre was partially borrowed from the Jewish history as recorded in chapter eight of First Samuel in the Holy Bible. The people of Amudo had been existing in peace under the priestly administration of Okwuoha, who was the intermediary between the community and their invisible dictators; their long-gone ancestors cum gods, until a king was imposed on them.

But while the Jews asked for a king, Amodo got its own king by divine imposition. And, like King Saul who disobeyed God’s command and was rejected, Eze Onwuka was soon to betray the trust reposed on him, as he began his kingly assignment with a show of terror and total disrespect to elders of the land.

The story, which is set in a seemingly contemporary Igbo community, is a maiden attempt of the author, John Osumune. If it is one removed from the potpourri of literary hogwash on contemporary politics and the laughable idiosyncrasies of greedy politicians, it did not offer us much hope that the African traditional system of governance was better off. Osumune’s first novel reminds us of theking-can-do-no-wrong attitude of some of the so-called royal fathers—whom fate has callously imposed on some African societies.

Whether the story is contemporary or not, the book exposes to us the same harsh reality of innocent people suffering cruel fate because of the follies of leadership. The book reiterates the known truth that when the unjust hold the reins of power, the just pay the most price. The reader may be persuaded, by the development of the plot, to think that the author derives some measure of pleasure in sadism. But, here, we are face to face with what can be called "divine inequity", where things happen but not in even order.

Just as God created the world with words, the creative (or imaginative) writer is a god in his own right, creating an imaginary world with words. With a power to create, and to kill, the destinies of his characters are exclusively decided by him and for his purpose or pleasure. So, we seldom query the choice of the author to kill such a nice character as Ifeanyi, nor do we ask why he has apportioned the cruellest of fate unto the best in the land.

The author doubtless mishandled some parts of his plot, but situations in the novel present us with a deep sense of nostalgic remorse as we are once again offered the opportunity to relive our forgotten past and the attendant irrecoverable sense of originality.

Hardly has any author since Achebe treated the Igbo culture with such meticulous clarity.

From the traditional foods and drinks of the Igbo culture to their occupations, from deaths and burials, past times and pleasures, the

crude mannerisms of old and young rural folks, even to the sentimental claptraps of nameless infants, nothing is inconsequential in the curious eyes of the author. This, really, is part of the mission of the novel: to explore the depths and the heights and the widths of existence without reservations; to create sub-themes and sub-plots without missing the punch line; to cajole the inanimate inventions, referred to as characters, and make them look as if they live here in our society; to entertain, caricature, inform, teach, and record history, if need be. Of a truth, literature encroaches into other fields with arrogant impunity.

The author doubtless mishandled some parts of his plot, but situations in the novel present us with a deep sense of nostalgic remorse

Leaving loved ones behind rising early: Wives, children and aging elderly, Left behind to hopelessness, All at the mercy of conflicts of

Characterization Osumune, it seems, is not well-acquainted with the monarchical system. This is very evident judging by his erroneous depiction of Eze Onwuka. The author had set out to make a villain out of this character whom he overtly designed to fit into the shoes of a devil, but, unwittingly, he made him the undeniable protagonist of the book.

But for the king all the characters in Osumune’s book are well created, introduced and represented. There is hardly any other misrepresentation in the array of characters that peopled the book. From the chief priest, Okwuoha, his wife, Ojiugo, their ill-fated son, Ifeanyi to the elders and peasants of the land, the author offers a generous presentation of his characters in a picturesque clarity that, if it were possible for them to reanimate and walk on the street, the reader would recognize them at first sight.

A paragon of wisdom, Okwuoha is an imitable sage that every reader of this book, whether they are literary student or not, would benefit from his pool of wisdom. He is the final arbiter in any matter between individuals or couples, and the last hope for the entire Amudo people in times of distress. His altruistic devotion to the good of his people and equanimity of soul in a time of irreparable anguish is a spiritual antidote that will stabilize any troubled soul. Indeed, Okwuoha is an excellent character; almost infallible if not omniscient in the knowledge and understanding of the mind of the invis-

35

ible guides of his people. A devotee and high priest of no mean sort, the entire land depends on him both for interpretation of omens, and solutions as well.

Ojiugo, the wife of the chief priest, is a woman of inestimable virtue; perhaps the very last of that generation of the African mothers whose virtues and values have been replaced by the empty sophistication of the so-called modern woman; a malady that has piteously left the black world without its values or its once-envied rich cultural heritage.

Like most first editions, Osumune’s novel has its credits and flaws. His propensity for highfalutin phrases, sometimes, obscures his meanings, or pegs them at the borderline of ambiguity. Besides this, his incessant infusion of Igbo words and phrases may likely bore non-Igbo readers. (At an average of three Igbo words per page, the 331page novel contains about one thousand Igbo words; it, then, cannot be gainsaid that the book is written in Engligbo.) He also wasted space and time compiling several hundreds of names, most of whom are quite unnecessary, at the acknowledgement page.

It is obvious that these errors occurred as a result of self-publishing. Of course, two or more assessors saw the manuscript, including this reviewer, but characteristic of first-time self-publishing authors, most of the suggestions of professional assessors are discarded on the road to the press.

Where the flaws in diction and syntax make a case against the book, the author’s attention to detail and his skill in capturing every scene and giving life to his characters, will happily sustain the interest of the reader.

Osumune stoops to conquer. There is hope, judging by his tenacity, that if he clings to his self-styled avant-gardism, and remains a consistent literary practitioner, and not a one-book author, the flower of his creativity will surely bloom and his fledgling narrative style will not only be unique, it will become his strong edge. The visible flaws in his first book notwithstanding, the author, if he persists, can overcome the juvenilia effect to write his name among the world’s literary giants like George Orwell and Miguel de Cervantes whose earlier works were unsuccessful owing to the juvenilia effect, but not only did they become fine writers in the course of time, they were celebrated among the greats in the same field where they had been written off.

As a parody, Orwell’s Animal Farm ranks next to no other book in its satirical presentation of greed, corruption and voracity of power by political leaders. It is in Orwell’s book we knew that the so-called human rights activists and those who call themselves ‘the opposition’ are no better than the government they oppose its policies. It is in Animal Farm we knew that PDP is a party that has determined to underdevelop the people of Nigeria. It is still in Animal Farm we were warned not to cast our hope on the ephemeral redemption song of the APC, for in their midst are the Snowballs and the Bulldogs, and their likes. And, like Cervantes’ long and pleasurable story, Don Quixote, our hope for political redemption is hardly more realistic than the quixotic illusions of Don Quixote. Fire in the Centre corroborates these facts, one way or another.

Mediterranean of Death

REFLECTION Daily they converge at her coast Determined to sail to Europe at all cost Young African men in their primes Fleeing from native wars and conflicts in their climes.

The Arts

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

Struggling to make it where they can, Assorted dreams lying in state with the dreamers They jostle and cram together in open boats!

Escaping the conflicts of men they can see, And fate upon the coffins of hundreds, has Their dreams tied around their cloaks Hurrying into the belly of the expansive sea, They dare the unseen fury of the blue sea! dealt the hammers.

Hoping for a better life beyond the horizon. Cut in nature's windy arms and storms, The Mediterranean their death beds becomes! Never to rise again!

Or even ever be seen again, Escaping the African jungles, The Mediterranean, remorseless, swallows Washed away! Maybe washed ashore!

Ravaged by selfish squabbles, Shameful Africa's spectacle of horror. up ambitions of Africans Pauperised by greedy leaders; senselessness.

Notorious Africa's commonwealth plunderers.

StartUps SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

36

4 OCTOBER, 2014

‘Bead-making can help in solving Nigeria’s unemployment problem’

Shakiru Raji, the proprietor of Alfa Block Ventures, a block-moulding outfit, tells BLESSING ORUCHE that the vocation is an endeavour that requires strength for success to be achieved.

Since becoming a commercial beadmaker in 1994, Michael Okafor’s modest start-up has recorded immense success almost beyond his expectation. The Anambra State-born entrepreneur who owns a shop in Irepodun market, Ikotun, Lagos, tells Durojaiye Ayorinde how making beads helped fulfil his dream and how it could create job opportunities.

Could you give a brief description of the business?

Block manufacturing is the combination of essential elements or materials to produce a large solid material with flat surface.

What are the things required to commerce this type of business?

There are basic things required in establishing this type of business. You need to undergo training. You need to learn the art of block making very well in other to be able to work without supervision because there are different shapes and sizes involved. You need to have the exact tools and machines for the job, such as shovels, cements, you need to have a big space, a borehole, reason being that water must be in excess supply whenever you are working.

We don’t manage water. Then of course, the engine that will bring out the shape of the block, and most importantly capital. In fact that is even the first thing you need to consider. You also need labour, it is not a one man’s job.

For the transportation aspect you need a truck. You can have a personal truck, or hire whenever you need to convey good that your customers have bought and want you to bring to their working sites. An important thing to take into consideration is that there are different types of expensive machines that are involved in the making of varieties of concrete blocks, bricks and paving blocks.

Some are high capacity for big construction companies, and such can produce up to 100,000 to 165,000 in a nine-hour production. Then you have the medium machines and the small capacity machines for start-up business like ours which can produce between 5,000 to 17,000 blocks. But that notwithstanding, if you don’t have the money to buy the machines from inception, it is very possible to use what we call moulds. They are customised and are of different shapes to bring out the exact type of block you want. So, this should serve as an encouragement to interested persons.

How long have you been in operation?

I have been around for almost eight years now.

What are challenges confronting entrepreneurs in the business?

Well the major thing I can say is rain. Though it takes about four days for a moulded block to be ready. If the rain is falling at the time of production, it will make

What is the name of your business?

My business name is Mikchiz Investment Company and its location is Irepodun Market, Ikotun, Alimosho, Lagos State.

Raji

‘An apprentice would need no less than 6 months to learn block-moulding’ our job difficult. But if you mould it and it comes in contact with the rain, let’s say in the night it will make it strong. Another thing is animals such as goats, cows. They can destroy blocks that are not up to four days if they step on them.

This is because most of our businesses are done outside where you cannot protect everything at a go. Our business needs a lot of strength and stamina. Some time you will come across workers that are not ready to work, all they do is to complain. I take my job serious that is why I get recommended.

People call me from different parts of the country. Even though the job is challenging, you need to be in the right frame of mind when working. Some people will say instead of them to venture into the job they rather do something else. Come to think of it, it is not everybody that has the brain to study medicine or pharmacy, some people will even move on to join the military. If there are no block-moulding companies how can people build houses? So everything is related.

How much is required from a trainee to acquire skill for the busi-

Apprentice needs to look beyond money, when they are new in the business because at that stage, what is needed is to really impress customers

ness?

I charge N30, 000. But I charge this amount because I just want to help people.

What is the duration of time required for training?

You need at least six months training. Some people are fast learners, such people can learn for six months but if otherwise you will need one year training.

How much is required for a wouldbe entrepreneur to commence this business, after training?

You will need between N500,000 to a N1million.

Does the business require constant training?

I am an experienced person in the business, so there is no need for constant training but whenever there is a new design of blocks, the most important thing you we need is the engine that will bring out the shapes. But an in experienced person can learn a new design in order to know the right quantity of cement, sand and water to add.

What advice can you give to the prospective entrepreneur?

People should try and encourage themselves rather than complaining all the time about government. They should practice so that they can become perfect. There is no short cut to success, except hard work especially if you are a man.

Apprentice needs to look beyond money, when they are new in the business because at that stage, what is needed is to really impress customers. I hope to see the day Nigeria will beat its chest and say yes we have done it.

How would you describe your business?

Well, in beads and accessories you have native beads, already made beads, and there is the raw one. So whatever our customers need, we make it for them.

Do you have other branches that you manage also?

Yes, I have branches in Lagos and in the East where I sell beads. Also, in my other branches, I design and make shoes, which is really a lucrative business.

20 years down the line, what have been the challenges?

There have been a lot of challenges in running this business: financial problems, like people ordering for beads and not paying on delivery. There have also been economic problems affecting us. For instance, when there is inflation, people would not normally patronise beadmakers. It has not been easy, but I give God the glory and adoration. We are hoping the government would create empowerment programmes and seminars about bead-making, where people can see the income and employment opportunities of the business. The government can also help us financially by granting soft loans to us and creating a department that oversees creative work in the country.

relationship between us and our customers.

Is there an age limit for persons seeking to set up such business?

Even people in primary school are being taught, but I think anyone who intends to have a career in bead-making should be 18 years and above because you need to be mature and selfdisciplined.

How viable is this business with regard to job creation for the youth?

This business can actually create job opportunities for youths.

Given how exposed our youths have become and the fact that they are mostly computer literate, anyone who invests in this business will need them. If the government creates awareness in every part, then Nigeria’s unemployment rate should decrease.

Where do you see yourself and this business in the next five years?

The business is growing every day because all this skills and empowerment programme the Lagos State government has carried out is making the business well known. In the next five years, I see this business as a major economic boost in the country.

What is your advice to the youths out there who are considering going into this business?

My advice to them is that if they are truly willingly and determined to start a beadmaking venture, they should always be hon

What was your initial capital when you started?

Apart from the money spent on leasing the shop, furnishing and others, I started with a one hundred and fifty thousand Naira.

What steps have you taken towards creating of awareness for your business?

I have not taken any step, but I’m willing to do some publicity as I was introduced to adverts in print and online.

Do you have a website where people can visit for purchase?

No, we don’t have a website now, but we are planning to open one to foster business

Okafor

Heineken unveils ‘Cities of the World’ campaign

p.38

Ideas & Brands SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER 2014

TRANSITION FROM JOURNALISM TO ADVERTISING I was a freelance correspondent with The Guardian and I was writing for the newspaper when I was still in the university. So, when I finished service it was quite natural that I went back there. I was very privileged to have had an encounter with Dr. Stanley Macebuh and Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi who saw me as a chap to be nurtured. I’ve a great respect for journalism. The transition required a bit of discipline because what you used to write as a print person is different from what you write as an advertising person. It requires a lot more discipline. You need brevity in terms of delivery of specifics and so on, otherwise the transition wasn’t that too long for me because I was able to adapt very quickly.

I’d love to own a Volkswagen Beetle and Peugeot 404 Tunji Olugbodi sits atop the Verdant Zeal Group, a leading marketing communications company, where he nurtures young executives into great minds and proffers solutions to organisations’ needs. In this interview with LANRE ODUKOYA and WALE ABIODUN, he discusses the challenges of the industry, family and leisure.

BIRTHING VERDANT ZEAL GROUP It started just as an idea of somebody who was clearly intent on adding his little quota. This was in March 2006 and by July of that year we had already got the organisation registered, but we started formally in March 2007. Basically, it was because we believed that we have got new values to bring to the table and would do things as well as we know they should be done different from what was obtainable in most places. It stands us out in terms of differentiation. We knew there was no ready market or client anywhere, so, we’ve had to be very organic in our growth and our goal.

What that means is that it helped us to develop capacity and capability for hard work because there is no free lunch anywhere.

ON TURNING 50 It’s a cliché to look at things from what gains and pains one had made this past 50 years. For me, I’d like to look at things from a spiritual perspective that one has a reason to thank God for everything. I can’t look back and say that I have a regret of not doing this or having done that because for everything I have not done, there are other things that God has led me to do. I believe that I’ve been favoured by God for where I am now and to that extent, I don’t have regrets.

ON MULTINATIONALS CARRYING OUT ADVERTISING JOBS I don’t think it’s a necessity; but I think those things are given birth to unfortunately by the industry helping and aiding them.

And that’s unfortunate because I know that quite a number of very good hands from the marketing communication industry end up on the clients’ side. And this is because they have better condition of service, better appreciation of the value that they bring to the table and, much more importantly, maintaining work-life balance.

Unfortunately, that has not even done enough in the marketing communication industry to develop career paths that is consistent and sustainable for people. So, you find out that people remain in the marketing communication industry with the intent that their needs

37

find something on someone and you find it on me too by accident but I’m clear in my mind that it’s not for the reason of joining the band wagon. Whatever I wear is regulated by a great deal of decorum and sense of decency.

Style is about your essence, who you are and what people are seeing without you saying so.

FASCINATION FOR WORKS OF ART I actually collect quite a number of art works from different people not only the ones you see where we are seated now. I love works of art even at home.

I also love anything that has a very practical way of looking at life and living. The kind of expression that you see are what people can relate with in an art work and it thrills me. I’m not really one into abstracts.

PAMPERING SELF From when I was a little boy, I always loved automobiles, travels, writing, reading and I used to watch movies a lot.

I don’t find a lot of time to do that again anyway. In terms of leisure, those are the things that I do. And I also love photography and I love to relax with it. I’m planning to go and learn photography formally sometime soon.

Olugbodi

be met and when they have a little doubt, they will exit. This explains why we have the proliferation of fake in-house agencies. The second reason they’d say to you is that it’s just to cut cost and all that. But in practical terms, that’s not really the situation because it’s not their area of core competence.

It’s just like as an agency saying, ‘okay, since we do a lot of printing, I have to go and put a printing press there’. It’s going to cause a lot of distraction because there’s a lot of specialisation that goes into printing including managing all the economies of scale that goes into printing.

EARLIEST INFLUENCES I had people like Prince Kehinde Adeosun who used to be the chairman of one of the places I was privileged to work. He was one of those who influenced me in those days. We have people like Uncle Ted Mukoro who used to be and still is an extremely creative person in Lyntas in those days.

From his background in acting, that really influenced me a great deal. I also have some global icons who influenced the ways I look at advertising. There was a gentleman called Mike Walsh who used

to be part of WPP. He was one of those very quiet but effective and efficient managers of men. Later on, I looked at the experiences of people like Chief Biodun Sobanjo and what he’d done for the industry, I looked at Steve Omojafor, Martin Sawyer and so on.

These are people who have done big things in the industry and they’re the kinds of icons that I should want to inspire me.

We believed that we have got new values to bring to the table and would do things as well as we know they should be done

MY DEFINITION OF STYLE Style to me is comfort. Style to me is convenience. It’s being natural and having a practical orientation of what fits you as an individual with what shape God has given you. I will never wear something I’m not comfortable with. I will never wear something just because it’s a label. I will wear because I feel comfortable in it and it can accentuate something about me that I want people to see. I will wear it because I like to be understated, yet elegant. For me that’s style. It doesn’t have to jump at you and that means you look beyond the skin and see that this is not bad at all. I won’t wear things because other people are wearing it. Sometimes you might

MY KIND OF CARS I just like automobiles. I don’t have favourite brands because it’s one thing to love and it’s another to be able to afford it. Like I always say to people, ”dream is free”. Of course, there are cars I’d love to own. For instance, those who are close to me when I go out and about know how fascinated I am with the Morris Cooper. I love that car a great deal. Right now, the two cars I’d love to own are the old Vokswagen Beetle and Peugeot 404. I’m seriously looking out to get them and if I get a good auto-mechanic that can get for me. For me, it’s not just about buying new cars; it’s more about things that are iconic. If I had known, I would have bought and kept these cars very well over a period of time.

My dad used to have that Peugeot 404 with the hand gear and I love it. Like they say, “there’s no killing the Beetle.” I love it with all the discomfort. When you drive it in a traffic, it keeps you really alert.

FAMILY LIFE Well, I believe that the nature of my job makes me spend quite some time away from my family but, I’m someone driven and inspired by family. Family is everything. Ultimately, the reason you work and your whole existence is for family. I always say to myself that if the Prime Minister of Britain can find time to take his children to school two or three times a week, there’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to do that no matter what happens. And that’s not an area I’ve scored very well but family is extremely important for everyone.

38

IDEAS & BRANDS

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

Utere family wins Maltina Dance All Season 8 Stories by Kingsley Ogbonna

T

he Utere family from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has emerged winners of the 2014 edition of family dance TV show, Maltina Dance All 8. After weeks of suspense, drama and excitement which kept millions of Nigerians glued to their television screens, the Utere’s gallantly went home with the star prize of a whopping N10 million after securing the largest number of votes in the keenly contested competition.

The show which seeks to promote family values, bonding and happiness is sponsored by Maltina, a malt drink from the stable of Nigerian Breweries Plc. This year’s finals took place at the Eko Hotels & Suites Victoria Island, Lagos. Apart from the grand prize of N10 million, the family also earned the title of Nigeria’s number one dance family while the Uzodinma family who claimed second position went home with N3m. The Odigie family who came third were rewarded with N1m.

Ten families were initially admitted into the Maltina Dance Academy after which they were subsequently pruned to the four families – Utere, Uzodinma, Odigie and Unanka - that took part in the grand finale.

The four families that made it to the grand finale competed in two dance styles – Rhythm of Naija and hip-hop.

The families first competed in the “Rhythm of Naija” dance style. The Utere family, who were first on stage, set the tone for an awesome night with a dazzling performance to Shake Bodi by Skales much to the delight of the audience. The Unanka family who were next also impressed with their performance to Mavin’s Dorobucci hit song. Their performance was followed by that of the Uzodima family who danced to Lil Kesh’s Shoki and Odigie family who performed last, danced to Ukwu by Timaya.

The next dance style performed by the families was the hip-hop style. The order of performance saw the Uzodinma family perform first while Utere, Unanka and Odigie followed suit respectively.

At the end of the showcase by the families, tension in the hall was palpable as the final votes

were awaited. After the voting process ended and the results certified authentic, Utere family was announced winner as voted

by Nigerians while the Uzodima and Odigie families came second and third respectively.

Speaking at the event, Maltina’s senior brand manager, Mr. Adewole Adedeji, stated that the Maltina Dance All platform has been very effective in audience engagement. He said, “the MDA platform has been sustained over the past 8 years because we are a consumer-centric organisation.

We will continue to invest in the things that create positive experiences for consumers to connect with each other and also with our brand. The reason why we have sustained it this far is majorly because it connects with consumers”.

He also described this year’s MDA as the best ever and revealed that next year’s edition would be more exciting.

Wilfred Utere, the representative of the first prize winners, expressed his excitement for winning this year’s MDA competition. “My family and I are short of words to describe how we feel now. It is so overwhelming to be crowned winners tonight. We have really worked hard to be here today. I want to thank all those who have supported us all the way. I want to also thank Maltina for giving us a platform to showcase our talents and to also be rewarded with this huge amount of money,” he said.

On what the family plans to do with the N10 million, Wilfred stated that amongst other things, he would open a dance studio as well as further his education abroad.

First grand prize winner emerges in “33” Export Friendship Promotion

M

r. Taiwo Adigun, an artisan, has emerged the first grand prize winner in the ongoing “33” Export Lager Beer “Celebrate Friendship” consumer promotion.

Adigun, who hails from Ibadan, Oyo State, will have the opportunity to enjoy an all-expenses paid trip to South Africa with two of his friends. The National Consumer Promotion which celebrates friendship, officially kicked off on September 1.

The two-month promotion which ended on October 31 provided an opportunity for three

groups of three friends to celebrate their friendship in South Africa where they will also visit exciting locations. Besides this, since the start of the Promotion, winners have emerged in other prize categories for mobile phones, Home theatres, digital cameras and several instant mobile phone air time on all participating networks.

Head of marketing at Consolidated Breweries Plc, Mr. Prashant Patwardhan, noted that going by its antecedent, “33” Export Lager promo is always a consumers delight as the mechanics for the grand prize supports the theme of “cel-

ebrating friendship”.

“The brand has gained popularity across all the regions in the country and has also expanded its distribution footprint to drive product availability around the country,” he said.

Adigun, the elated Grand Prize winner, who described “33” Export as his favourite beer, said he had long desired to travel abroad and experience other countries but never imagined getting a sponsored holiday trip abroad. He said he will ever be grateful to “33” Export which is about to transform his dream into a reality.

L-R: Area Sales Manager, Consolidated Breweries Plc, Mr. Olusegun Dairo, Grand Prize Winner, Mr. Taiwo Adigun with a friend, Mr. Akin Fakeye, at an event unveiling the grand prize winner, in the ongoing “33” Export Friendship Promotion, in Ibadan, Oyo State…at the weekend

Heineken unveils ‘Cities of the World’ campaign

H

eineken, one of the world’s leading international premium lager beer has unveiled its latest global campaign, “Cities of the World”, conceived to inspire men to experience new adventures by unlocking the secrets of their cities. The fully integrated campaign includes a two-minute TVC, online activation and special edition Heineken bottles.

The latest TVC, “The City”, is the seventh film in “The Legends” series featuring Men of the World who are pushed to discover their limits and go beyond them. Created by Heineken, in partnership with Wieden + Kennedy Amster-

dam, its main character embarks on an adventure by following a set of business cards lost by a beautiful woman, Eve, with each card uncovering surprising and hidden venues in his city. The TVC is a reminder to Men of the World that every great city offers an endless adventure within its sky-scraping towers and neon lit streets. It reinforces the notion that men should never stop exploring their own urban backyard.

“Men of the World want to make the most out of their time in the city, because they know life only gives them one shot. So they

really live their city by seeking out new experiences and adventures and they have an underlying fear of missing out on the best ones,” Mrs. Ngozi Nkwoji, Heineken’s senior brand manager, explained.

She added: “Heineken is always looking for innovative ways to interact with our Men of the World.

Knowing that they fear missing out, Heineken is there to help by giving them the inspiration they need to become legends in their city. Our Men of the World know the usual hotspots in their cities, and they are seeking new experiences.”

On the rationale behind the campaign, she said that the Cities of the World campaign “aims to inspire and motivate them to get out of their comfort zones, to embrace the unusual and embark on worldly adventures in their own cities”.

The brand will also be running an in-bar promotion where consumers can buy 33cl special edition bottles to win prizes.

Heineken produced the specially designed limited-edition bottles, each featuring a print of one of six cities: Lagos, New York, Shanghai, Amsterdam, London and Rio de Janeiro on the bottles.

IL Bagno renovates bathroom facilities at University of Lagos A

s part of its social corporate responsibility initiatives, a bathroom solutions provider, IL Bagno, has completed the renovation of bathroom facilities at the University of Lagos.

Speaking at the ceremony, the managing director of the company, Mr. Michael Owolabi, said the partners they exclusively represent are the biggest brands in the industry and are mainly from Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

“In 2013, we won the award of best Product in Nigeria in the

2013 Interior Designers Excellence Awards (IDEA). At the maiden edition in 2012, we won best Bathroom Company in Nigeria. Our bathroom solutions are for discerning minds with exacting standard,” he said.

Also, he revealed that IL Bagno believes in giving back to the society. “In this case, we are giving back exactly what we sell - the gift of usable and functional bathrooms. We might not be able to solve all bathroom issues in Nigeria but we believe we can touch one or-

ganization at a time. We have previously gifted bathrooms to organizations like the Red Cross Orphanage, Onike Baptist Primary School, Archbishop Taylor Primary and Ikoyi Club (Golf Section).

“We picked the University of Lagos not only because both our principal directors were students here at some point but because we believe the school stands for excellence in every area of education in Nigeria. We are proud to be associated with the University of Lagos in any

small way. We want this bathroom to reflect what UNILAG is known for nationwide - excellence in learning and character.

Values we have tried to stand for in our 10 years of existence,” he said.

Owolabi however urged that maintenance be imbibed, adding that maintenance starts with proper usage and cleaning of the facility. “We cannot over emphasize this but also trust that the competent leadership of this great institution will not rest on its oars in this regard,”

he noted.

The institution’s deputy vice-chancellor in charge of management services, Professor Duro Oni, commended IL Bagno for deeming it fit to extend the good gesture to the school. “We the management of the University of Lagos really appreciate this, especially in the era of Ebola where there have been so much emphasizes on keeping good hygiene. We are indeed looking forward to doing other things with the company,” he said.

SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER 2014

Travel &Tourism 39

Chef's Corner

Francis Tossou ‘You need to have the spirit of serving people’

Travel Personality

OLUGBENGA ONITILO: International airlines are practically becoming domestic carriers p.41

Destination

Getting prepped for Akwaaba 2014 p.42

HS Continental Blue Ribbon Hotel Modest but remarkable strides HOSPITALITY HSSL Global is a frontline Nigerian hotel management and consultancy outfit and with HS Continental Blue Ribbon Hotel, the group is living its dream of offering high quality and standard service, writes ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA who was at the hotel recently.

O Focus

pened in 1995, the Ikeja, Lagos–based HS Continental Blue Ribbon Hotel is a mid-range hospitality outfit run by HSSL Global Limited, one of Nigeria's leading hotel management and consultancy groups. According to one of its executive directors, Oladele Coker, it is a full service business hotel. ‘‘The hotel is what we call a business hotel and we cater mainly for the business clientele, short stay and travellers from The Diaspora and we run a basic operation, food and beverage, 24 hours services,’’ revealed the executive director who is one of the brains behind HSSL Global Limited.

The hotel is somewhat signature brand for the group, which decades ago pioneered indigenous hotel management and went ahead to set a standard that many acknowledged was at par with international brands.

This is evident in the fact that since opening, the hotel has been the toast of many patrons of the hospitality outfit. ‘‘This hotel is one of the ribbons, we have used the ribbons to denote our HS Continental brand,’’ Coker said.

Facilities The hotel has 30 rooms made up of business suite, executive and standard, all en suite, barring the business suite which has a standard living room and

The hotel's business suite (Inset: Guests at the reception)

bedroom as well as a dining set attached to the living room.

They are all furnished to taste and boast high level of luxury with such amenities as Wi-Fi, a queensized bed, flat screen TV, fridge, air conditioner, bath, tea/coffee set and a mini bar on request.

There is also a meeting room for business meetings and conferences and accommodates between 20 – 50 people, it is complemented by a business centre offering secretarial services for the hotel’s clients. There is also a restaurant and a bar with good and inviting ambience as well as ample parking space. The hotel also boasts twenty-four hour electricity supply and remarkable security.

Services Coker emphasised that the high premium placed on service delivery is one of the unique and outstanding elements of the hospitality home. ‘‘People know our hotels for consistency; when you see HS Continental logo you know what to expect. There is a uniform, warm, friendly atmosphere, attention to details and prompt service delivery,’’ he pointed out.

"The tradition of service and attention to detail is our watchword, we do believe in a decent, clean, functional and effective room and this we believe is a constant and it is not easy to

maintain such. We believe that a decent environment is extremely important and more importantly service, which has always been our own philosophy, anticipating guest needs, you don’t wait for them to ask but you just meet them at the point of their needs."

Friendly rates and inconclusive service ‘‘Extremely friendly rates,’’ is how he describes the going rates of the premium product and service offered by the hotel. ‘‘If you notice, many of the hotels that we have run have always been the middle type.

We have deliberately tried to make our hotels inconclusive so that majority of Nigerians can use them. ‘‘For 24 years we run what we call inconclusive hotels because we want Nigerians to be able to experience hospitality that is Nigerian hospitality, have a decent room, a decent price with decent service and you don’t break the bank doing so.’’

Good management system What Blue Ribbon has going for it is the fact that it enjoys a good management system being operated by the HSSL Global, a system which Coker said is a model by the group and should be adopted by others to ensure effective service delivery and transparency. ‘‘You ought to have a good man-

agement, a management that has a system or a consultant that has a system. Physical management by many of the hotel owners doesn’t work. When you run a hotel with a system and even when you are not there you would understand if things go wrong,’’ he say, adding that ‘‘Blue Ribbon runs with a system and that is what we want hotel owners to introduce now and not physical presence.’’

Restructuring for good yields For the group which has currently embarked on a restructuring, Coker said that is the way to go in order to remain relevant and add value to their products. Once the ongoing restructuring is completed, he said Blue Ribbon and other properties within the group and the industry would be better for it. ‘‘The industry is dynamic and evolving, we have to move with the times and evolve with the industry so that we remain on the cutting edge and where we are most relevant in the industry. We don’t just want to multiply hotels for the sake of multiplying hotels.

But where we would be of most relevance to the industry at every given time and that is what we have tried to do in the last 24 years and by the grace of God we have been successful so far and we need to keep on evolving and making sure that it remains that way.’’

NEW TELEGRAPH PARTNER HOTELS BENEFITS There are lots of benefits to derive as one of our partner hotels. For FESTAC, LAGOS

enquiries and details on how

ABA LAGOS

to join the programme, please contact Andrew Iro Okungbowa: 08023152195 (sms only), e-mail: iroandy@ymail.com or Chinyere

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Opara: 08063768131 (sms only) ABA

e-mail angela_curtis-2@live.com

40

Travel & Tourism

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

CHEF’S CORNER

‘You need to have the spirit of serving people’ Francois Xavier Tossou, executive chef of Banex Hotel and Suites, Maryland, Lagos, speaks with ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA on his commitment to promoting African cuisine at the world stage.

Tossou says he could go hungry for all day while cooking for others

S

oft-spoken and affable, Francois Xavier Tossou is quite unassuming for his status and could, in fact, easily be mistaken for one of the kitchen hands at Banex Hotel and Suites. But he is actually at the top of the pecking order, as he is the executive chef of the newly opened Maryland, Lagos–based hotel.

Here, he dictates the pace and does so without airs. Apparently, the centre of attraction should be the food - not the individual that oversees the kitchen. He tells you that the most important person to him in this business is the guest and so, the guest’s satisfaction is a priority as compromising it not only spells doom for him but ruins his day. ‘‘Our food is of standard recipe; we work with time and precision as the customer’s satisfaction is our target,’’ he says, as he acknowledges the reporter's presence, which at the time seemed a distraction because he had his guests’ lunch to look after.

All the same, he felt obliged to respond to the reporter's queries. ‘‘What makes a happy chef is when your food is eaten satisfactorily. My happiness is serving the people and making them happy because when people eat my food and are satisfied then I am happy."

Another maxim for him is keeping his kitchen spick and span.

Maintaining a culture of hygiene starts from the kitchen because once your kitchen is standard and in order as well as maintained regularly that too would be translated to the food and restaurant, he explained.

All these put together make for a perfect finish, which is the only way of attracting the guest to your food, he noted, adding that his mission at Banex Hotel and Suite is to run one of the most popular and successful restaurants in the city.

"This place will grow to be one of the top-rated hotels because it is the food that makes you popular and not the rooms." The hotel servers both buffet and a la carte, offering Nigerian, Continental, Italian, Chinese, Asian, vegetarian and African dishes.

resume Tossou, a Beninoise, began his journey in the culinary world back in his university days at the University of d’Abomey Calavie, Benin Republic, where he represented the university at a cooking competition. He emerged third and was later sponsored for a training abroad by his country’ government. Ever since arriving on the scene as a professional cook, Tossou’s ambition is to strut the world stage and also to teach others to follow his footsteps.

Before heading for Nigeria four years ago, he had a stint at Sheraton Hotel and A.G. Hotel in Cotonou while in Nigeria he was at various times at Park ‘n’ Shop, Abuja, Mainland Hotel, Ebutte Metta, Lagos, Golden Berd Hotel and Suites, Lekki, and now he calls the shots at Banex Hotel and Suites.

Apart from Nigerian dishes, he offers cuisine from Ghana, Togo and Benin Republic. As a chef, his dream is to popularise African cuisine and promote it to world standard just in the same manner as Italian, Chinese, Indian and Asian.

When next you visit his hotel, please check out his chef signature, which is where Chef Tossou's genius is evident because here he can entirely experiment and come out with something that is uniquely his.

And here is where he puts to effect his preachment on promoting African cuisine to world standard as he daily offers variety of his creations from his vast and rich repertoire. Here is one such signature’s offerings: Chicken plantain sauce, which he derives from Cote d’Ivoire. The recipes are carrot, cabbage, ranen beans, potatoes, plantain, tomatoes, green pepper, tatashe and chicken.

According to him, it is eaten with steam or special rice and accompanied by white wine. For

dessert, he offers what he calls couscous dessert made from fresh yogurt with ice cube and sugar and couscous. Besides his signature offerings and the regular standard meals, Sunday brunch is a delightsome affair at the hotel, as it is a family day out with array of meals tailored made for both the adults and children.

As Tossou settles into his world, he hopes to someday treat guests of the hotel and walk – in guests within the neighourhood and visitors to the city to daily themed offers, which according to him, would be a trip round the world of gastronomy in seven days.

Cooking is a passion For Tossou, cooking is a passion.

"I love cooking and I have a lot of passion for it because I can go hungry for a whole day while cooking for others because I just love it and it makes me happy. As a chef I am quite happy and fulfilled and my dream is to develop and promote African kitchen to the world.

"The profession is a very good one but you need to have the spirit of serving people because when you have that spirit then you can meet up with their demands. As a chef you are not cooking for yourself, you are there to cook for others and satisfy people and this you must do with joy and the right spirit.

Every profession has its own spirit and in ours, you have to be very creative and know how to improvise."

Nigerians are good cooks but few are in the profession "I encourage the youths and my brothers, Nigerians, to face the profession seriously, as we have Nigerians who are good cooks but very few are in the profession."

French have disciplined food culture than English Another thing is that when it comes to food, French are more disciplined than Nigerians or Anglophone countries.

TRAVEL BEATS

Worldhotels enters Sub-Saharan market

Starwood Hotels to launch SPG Pro STARWOOD Hotel has again set industry’s standard and record as it prepares to launch a far–reaching rewards for its SPG customer loyalty programme, called SPG Pro, a comprehensive loyalty programme for meeting and travel professionals.

Scheduled for this month, this new programme offers meeting and travel professionals SPG elite status, upgrades and star points for B2B business booked at any of Starwood’s nearly 1,200 properties around the world.

Also, any SPG member who books a group stay, event or corporate business meeting, regardless of if they are a travel professional or not, earns Star points and status for the business they broker.

According to the president and CEO, Frits van Paasschen, the new reward system is ‘‘designed to leverage the strength of SPG, which today drives more than 50 percent of the company’s occupancy and continues to shift consumer business to Starwood hotels.

“The work that we’ve done to make SPG the richest elite program in the industry has proven that we can create true and lasting loyalty with our most profitable guests and shift share of wallet to our hotels,” he said, adding that ‘‘with SPG Pro, we’re focusing our powerful loyalty lens on B2B to cultivate ever stronger and more personal relationships with our global customers who deliver guests to our hotels”.

Novotel Hotel, Dakar, Senegal, is one of Accor brands

Accor commits to African network With presence in 17 countries translating to 93 hotels and almost 16 000 rooms, Accor group announced expansion to Ethiopia, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo, signaling its commitment to the de-

velopment of hospitality in Africa.

This new resolve was revealed at the Africa Hotel Investment Forum holding in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Currently all of Accor’s brands are in the African market, these include Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis, Ibis Styles and Ibis Budget. This year alone, the group signed 11 new contracts in Africa

The hospitality market in Sub–Saharan Africa has welcomed a new Worldhotels announces partnership with the Azalaï Hotels Group, reputed to be Africa's first private hotel chain in West Africa. As part of the agreement, six Azalaï Hotels in Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali and Guinea-Bissau have joined Worldhotels’ global network of almost 500 hotels worldwide. Other hotels in the pipelines are expected to join the new alliance on completion in 2015 and 2016.

This is one great move by Worldhotels to join the league of international brands In 2014, Accor has signed 11 new contracts in Africa, representing some 1700 new rooms in three hotels. Accor leads the pack globally with 470,000 rooms in 3,600 hotels across 14 trusted brands in 92 countries and employs 170,000 work force and runs one of the most prestigious training school in the industry - the Accor Académie.

already making waves in the continent.

The choice of strategic partnership with the hotel group according to the founder and CEO of Azalai Hotels, is based among others on its distinctive range of business offerings, which are tailored to meet the needs of private hotel operators whilst allowing full operational freedom.

“Azalaï Hotels stand for authentic African hospitality and we are genuinely proud to join forces with this locally and internationally recognised group,” said the CEO of Worldhotels, Kristin Intress, adding that “our strategic partnership is an important milestone, enabling us to accelerate our mutual growth and strengthen our brand positioning. We are particularly glad to expand the Worldhotels network to new destinations in the aspiring sub-Saharan market, offering our guests a greater selection of authentic hotels worldwide.”

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

TRAVEL PERSONALITY

O

Background lugbenga Onitilo is an aviation consultant with core competency in airline management, aviation consultancy, tourism and destination marketing. Onitilo years back had a stint with the former Le Meridien Eko Hotel now Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos, and later worked in the telecommunications sector from where he plotted his way back to travel and tourism, specifically the aviation sector where he was one of the pioneering staff of former Virgin Nigeria.

Moving into this new territory, he says was an opportunity to take on a new challenge. “Basically, it was a new challenge when I first got the opportunity. Virgin Nigeria was starting from scratch, I was part of the pioneering staff, the virgin brand and being a stakeholder in the company further cemented the drive and the willingness.”

He was one of the young men of his generation who were sold on the rising profile of Richard Branson and the new business model he brought to the corporate world. “From the few things that I know about Richard Branson, everything that he puts his hands into are always profitable, they always work and the working culture within the organisation was the main attraction,” he says of pitching tent with his idol’s company then.

Though the dream of exploring the world of Branson was aborted before it could even take a proper root as Virgin Nigeria is no more and same for its successor company, Air Nigeria. But he says he has no regrets as he has learnt a lot from the journey to last him a life time and thankfully, he is building a career and livelihood from it.

“I thought it was another sector to explore. I don’t have regrets joining aviation till date. It is the best place to be because I believe that it is a most regulated industry in the world because the key thing about aviation is safety and because of that the standard of operation is very high.

“You develop a lot of thoroughness, you develop a lot of cerebral skills, and you get to be very analytical and very detail. For people that work in that sector if they get into any other sector, they are key drivers of any industry. If you put them anywhere they help organise the place, they are people that follow processes and procedures. It is quite regulated and that is what keeps me excited about working in that kind of sector,” he says.

Virgin Nigeria was the best thing to have happened to Nigeria With tempered nostalgic feeling, Onitilo reflects on his days at Virgin Nigeria, describing it as the best that could have ever happened to the aviation sector in Nigeria.

“Virgin Nigeria was the greatest thing that ever happened to this sector,” he says with justification.

According to him, the coming of Virgin Nigeria opened up the sector, engendered healthy competition, introduced a new corporate governance culture in the sector, led to capacity building and opportunities for Nigerians to be engaged and partake of a global venture with eyes on the top.

Travel & Tourism

41

OLUGBENGA ONITILO International airlines are practically becoming domestic carriers Olugbenga Onitilo, an aviation consultant, is the general manager of Skybridge Aviation Limited, a Lagos-based aviation company. With years of experience in the travel and tourism industry, he speaks with ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA on developmental issues in the industry.

It (aviation) is the best place to be because I believe that it is a most regulated industry in the world because the key thing about aviation is safety and because of that the standard of operation is very high

“They took safety very seriously and they took schedule adherence and integrity very seriously and the people that worked for the airline were professional. You can’t say the same about the other domestic carriers operating in Nigeria; they set a high standard, which is still missing in the industry. The competition that they brought is still missing because our own airlines can’t compete effectively in terms of service delivery, in terms of the capacity that they have, in terms of focus on safety, in terms of employees’ welfare, a whole lot of them are still way behind,” recounts Onitilo.

Milestones in aviation Despite the gloomy picture painted by him, he says the sector has recorded a number of milestones over the years. Top on the list, he reveals is the Category Three certification of Nigeria by American federal aviation authority, which was recently renewed. This, he explains, has opened a new vistas and opportunities for development.

Stunted growth However, the aviation consultant and tourism destination management expert says it is not yet Eldorado as he recounts myriad of problems bedevilling aviation development. One of such, is the lopsided nature of the ‘open skies’ protocol where foreign airlines and countries are the one benefiting with Nigeria at the losing end.

For him, this is one reason why growth in the sector is stunted, “that is why our domestic airlines are struggling,” he says, decrying the absence of local content in the sector and the inability of Nigeria to play its role effectively in the open skies regime.

“That is why they will never be able to effectively operate maximally. Apart from other issues, this is one key issue which will never allow them to operate to maximum capacity when you have international airlines flying into Abuja, Kano, Enugu, Port Harcourt and everywhere,” he says while also fingering the domestic airlines’ inability to develop the necessary ca-

Onitilo

pacity, a situation, which he says may have given birth to this sorry state of affairs.

He also raises questions on the existing regulation of the sector’s operation, the set up and ownership structure of airlines as well as corporate governance and business development plan of the airlines. According to him, Nigeria is perhaps the only country in the world where airlines are owned by individuals whereas elsewhere they are owned by combination of national government, key institutional investors and individual shareholders.

“There is nowhere in the world where the DG of NCAA will be telly guided by the Ministry of Aviation because they are different entities. So, it must have autonomy because if you don’t have which means you can’t make decisions on regulations and checkmate the operations of the domestic airlines, he says.

The inability of the Nigerian government and the regulators of the sector to rein in operators and insist on the right policies and actions is greatly responsible for the latitude being enjoyed by the international airlines, a situation, which according to him, “is why the international airlines are practically becoming the domestic carriers,” adding that this limits the capacity of the local operators to develop.

Stakeholders and technocrats to the rescue To get out of this debilitating situation and set the aviation sector on the right path, he calls for professional and real technocrats who understand the intricacies and the delicate nature of the business to be employed as the regulators and enforcers of the policies.

Also, he wants key stakeholders and associations in the sector to form alliances and pressure groups that can canvass the issues and mount pressures on the government to adopt the right policy and international best practices in the management of aviation.

Tourism development While admitting that tourism is supposed to be the major driver for the aviation sector, he however laments the poor state of the country’s tourism, a development he blames on the obvious lack of what tourism is about by the people who run it and the lack of coordination in the system.

“I think the challenge with tourism is that there has not been an effective coordination among the various arms. So who drives these things? There must be a synergy among all the bodies because elsewhere in the world you see all of them working together. It is still not properly defined. What is the regulator doing, the airport is not well structured.

“Until we are able to build that kind of synergy I don’t think we are going to achieve much in tourism. There must a key stakeholder forum, which is be driven by the NTDC, they have to be the driver of that working together with the key stakeholders. The state governments also have to be involved, they have to see tourism as a high earner of revenue,” he submits.

The future is building collaboration with key stakeholders Well, my own goal and my own drive for the future are to build collaboration with the key stakeholders in the country. Our goal and drive is to ensure that we are able to build a sector where we put proper governance in place, have proper manpower, proper capacity and work with key stakeholders in the industry to ensure that we are able to position our aviation to operate with the best practice and uphold best global standards.

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Travel & Tourism

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

DESTINATION With just a few days to Akwaaba, ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA previews the expo which is fast becoming the premier platform where the world connects with leading destinations and tour operators in Africa.

I

t’s about the time of the year when Nigeria and African tourism come alive as Akwaaba - Africa Travel Market, an annual travel and tourism exhibition launched a decade ago plays host to the who's who in the world's travel and tourism industry.

It is scheduled to hold between October 26 and 28 at its traditional home, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. The majestic and purpose built Expo Hall would be the playground for the three-day event.

Besides the usual exhibition, networking and talk shows, it would also feature travel awards which has overtime become the travel industry’s touchstone.

With just a few weeks to the opening of the 10th edition of the travel fiesta, the organisers say painstaking care has been taken to make the event a milestone in the annals of travel exhibitions in the country and across the continent. With the successes it has notched over the years and its rising profile as the continent’s leading travel exhibition, it should be an occasion not to miss out on as it sure holds promises for the industry.

For the organisers of Akwaaba, Africa Travel Quarterly (ATQ), the journey has not be an easy one. Despite its slow start, the rough patches were soon smoothened out, with the travel exhibition growing in just under 10 years to become a leading platform for West Africa and Africa to showcase its destinations, products and services to the world and attract the required market.

Essentially, the organisers say that having been exposed to the global trend where travel exhibitions across the world serve as the major platform for promoting destinations and creating a lasting platform for networking, the need to replicate same in West Africa became expedient.

It was against this backdrop that the first ever travel trade exhibition in Lagos was put together. Eko Hotel and Suites was the choice venue for the debut gathering.

The excitement didn’t quite catch on as expected as only a few individuals and companies showed up at the travel event.

But undaunted by this slow start, the following year the event held again and attendance appreciated somewhat. Ever since, the organisers say they have never looked back as the platform began to make its mark, attracting major tourism countries and players, especially from the West African coast. The Gambia and Ghana have more or less adopted the expo, beating every other country to it, including Nigeria, the host, in terms of the enthusiasm displayed and number of people and companies attending. Of course, tourism figures in those countries have jumped.

The message soon spread on with major travel buyers and sellers, national tourism boards and administrators, hospitality outfits, destinations, tourism consultants and experts, airlines and various players and stakeholders from across the West Coast and Africa. They began to see the platform as a veritable avenue for the continent to bring the world back to its feet.

As revealed by Mrs. Rita Ikechi Uko of Akwaaba, this year’s event holds a lot of promises, especially with the introduction of new events, improvement in the existing ones and signing of new entrants as well as

Exhibition stands at a previous event

Getting prepped for Akwaaba 2014 the coming back of some of exhibitors who had signed off along the way.

She explained that Akwaaba remains the celebration of the best of the continent.

This tradition would be maintained again this year as the standard of organisation would be higher while all the exhibitors from across 20 countries are also expected to give it their best shots, she said.

With the level of successes and accolades that Akwaaba has garnered over the years, she is confident that the organisers would not disappoint and would not compromise on the ethos which have made the exhibition a huge success. She promised a perfect finish for the event attracting over 15, 000 participants across the continent.

Exhibitors According to her, the list of exhibitors for this year is growing by the day with all the regular exhibitors signing for the expo while a few new entrants have also come on board.

‘‘Virgin Atlantic Airline, a leading European carrier known for its core values of fun and innovation will be coming back to exhibit at Akwaaba after a nine-year absence. Virgin as it is known was at the inaugural edition of Akwaaba and is returning to Akwaaba just as the airline re-engineers for greater success,’’ Mrs. Ikerchi Uko said.

On the list of the debutant exhibitors, she said: "Swiss Hotel is a new hotel chain in West Africa expected to open over 30 hotels in the coming months. Akwaaba offers them an opportunity to connect with the audience. De Edge Hotel is a brand new boutique hotel in the oil city of Port Harcourt. Recently opened, it is managed by South African owned LAC management consultants. It offers travellers to the oil rich Niger Delta an opportunity to sample personalized care."

With its renewed tourism drive, the tourism board of Magical Kenya, as it is called, is hoping to use the forum to relaunch into the Nigeria market and Africa

The Gambia's ambassador to Nigeria, Mrs. Angela Iheme, with other dignitaries at the formal opening ceremony of Akwaaba in 2011

as well. Years back, Kenya was the toast of many Nigerians until South Africa and Dubai, and recently The Gambia and Ghana, pulled the rug off their feet and now they are coming back with stronger force to contend for the market that once put them ahead of others in Africa.

Also looking to make a huge impression at the expo as a new entrant is Uganda, regarded as one of Africa’s emerging destinations with a lot of promises. Figures from Central Bank of Uganda show that tourism which is the East African country's main export, earned over $1.4 billion in the 2013/2014 financial year. This new reach is attributed to intensified marketing drive by the country hence it is poised to use the Akwaaba platform to further reach out to the world.

However, it has to contend with the regular faces which includes The Gambia, Ethiopia and Nigeria. Mrs. Ikechi Uko pointed out that the presence of these heavyweights in African tourism is an indication of the premium that major tourism countries and stakeholders placed on the expo.

“The participation of top destinations at Akwaaba, shows Akwaaba relevance within the region. These are countries whose economies thrive on tourism and are experienced at marketing and promotion of tourism because they have been doing this for a long time. We are expecting more tourism stakeholders to key into this by not just participating at Akwaaba but also to network and learn from these tourism boards,” she revealed.

Events at the expo One of the showpieces of the expo this year is the hospitality day event, which is slated for the last day of the three-day marketing forum. With the array of hotels and personalities in the sector, which have already indicated interest in not only exhibiting at the forum but standing up to be counted, it might just be a befitting climax

4 OCTOBER 2014

for this year’s gathering and in years to come be the place to be.

To show that the hospitality day’s event is being positioned as a box office affair, the organisers have advertised the area manager of Starwood Hotels, Nigeria, Mr. Barry Curran as the person to chair the day’s session while other big names in the hospitality are expected to feature.

Curran, who is also the general manager of Lagos Sheraton Hotel, is widely experienced and is expected to bring this to bear on the panel discussion and direction of the event. The day, according to the organisers, will be dedicated to discussing how hotels can stay ahead of competition, using the latest technology to drive sales and retain clients.

The workshop entitled, “Hotel Innovation: Being one step ahead,” would feature experts from Israel, Dubai, UK, Germany and Nigeria with a panel made up of general managers of top international and regional hotel chains in Nigeria will headline the hospitality day event. There will also be a Keynote speech on “investing in the hospitality business - between the known and the unknown".

Mrs. Uko said the workshop aims at raising hotels' standards in West Africa and will have in attendance over 100 hotel managers, hotel management companies in Nigeria and Africa as well as hotel investors and other stakeholders. Some of the issues slated for discussion at the forum include the use of social media, software for hotels hardware/amenities, services, data Mining (Big Data) and the latest hotel apps.

Also debuting on the same day is a programme tagged wine-tasting extravaganza featuring major wine manufacturers and distributors across the world. It offers them a rare opportunity to showcase their corkage chest to the delight of the public.

While another major event to savour include seminar to be anchored by the Africa Business Travel Association (ABTA), raffle draws and

Travel & Tourism

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

43

‘We are bringing the world to Africa’ Mr. Ikechi Uko, head of the organising team at Akwaaba, speaks on the expo which is set to open in a few days time.

On the state of preparation We are preparing as we know best in a very difficult and challenging environment. The Ebola epidemic is more challenging than we expected it to be.

Former director-general of Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Segun Runsewe, former president Olusegun Obasanjo, former president Sir Dawda Kairabu of The Gambia and Danny Jordan of South Africa at the 2010 edition of Akwaaba

side attractions. Country day celebrations and various forms of cultural displays.

Travel awards A major feature of the event is the Africa Travel Awards, a platform that is used by the organisers to recognise organisations and individuals that have made immense contributions to the industry and have also promoted excellence in product and service delivery.

This year's recipients feature an impressive roll call: Captain Irene Koki Mutungi of Kenya Airways. She is the first female pilot produced by Kenya Airways, the first woman to fly an all female crew member craft and also the first woman to fly the biggest and most prestigious craft on air, the Boeing B787, Dreamliner.

The Women in Aviation (Nigeria) International – Glowing Wings chapter is collaborating with Akwaaba to honour this lady who some years ago was also honoured by Akwaaba for her feat in aviation. Also to be honoured alongside Mutungi is the Rwandan first female pilot, Esther Mwange.

Another female recipient is Mrs.

Dorcas Aketch who until recently was with Rwandair. She is one name and face in Africa aviation that has contributed immensely to the growth of the industry right from her days at Kenya Airways, Virgin Nigeria, Air Nigeria and Rwandair, her last stop.

Ebola and its challenges Within the west coast of Africa and Africa itself, Ebola is a factor that is exerting a heavy toll on the travel and tourism industry with countries affected by it battling to curtail its spread and eliminate it. Nigeria has succeeded in containing the virus.

Aware of this development, the organisers said they are putting in place best health practices as prescribed by the federal ministry of health, the World Health Organisation, the World Travel Organisation (UNWTO) and Lagos State government and assured all the exhibitors and the public of their safety.

In solidarity with other countries that are still battling with its effect and the travel world, the organisers said every exhibitor and visitor to the threeday event would be expected to wear a black arm band.

Expectations for this year Last year we introduced the partnership with ABTA for business travel workshop. We learnt from it and will be improving on that. We are organising a bigger hospitality day event this year with more speakers and panellists. We will be introducing the wine-tasting segment which will be an annual event now as part of the show.

Outline of events Day One, which is a Sunday, will see the opening ceremony and exhibition starting at 3pm. The Africa Travel Award dinner will hold from 5pm to 7pm. Day Two will have the business travel workshop from 10am. The workshop will hold on the Mezzanine floor while the exhibition will be on the ground floor. Day 3 starts with exhibition and the hospitality day event. Exhibitions start from 10am to 5pm on Monday and Tuesday. There are planned country day celebrations which will be announced later.

Benefits of the expo For most of the exhibitors, Akwaaba is the major face to face marketing platform in West Africa and is the only opportunity for players to meet and interact. For Nigeria, it offers an opportunity to also play among the big destinations by drawing visitors to Nigeria. Hotels get booked, tourism income is earned. For us, Akwaaba is an opportunity to bring international tourism and travel practice and business to Nigeria. You don't have to go to London’s World Travel Market (WTM) to meet players. We are bringing the world to Africa.

Akwaaba - African Travel Market, has put Nigeria on the global tourism calendar. It is the only such event in West Africa.

On expected attendance With Ebola we are not sure who is coming and who will not be coming. Every day we are getting queries on Ebola; so we wait and see who comes and who doesn't come.

New entrants to the expo This year Virgin Atlantic is coming back, Uganda and magical Kenya were supposed to make their first appearance at Akwaaba. We have new hotels like Swiss Hotel and De Edge hotels coming in.

Exhibitors at Akwaaba

Mr. Ikechi Uko of Akwaaba flanked by some entertainers

A cultural troupe from Ghana entertaining during Akwaaba

A Rwandese troupe performing at last year's Akwaaba

Uko

My Weekend SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER, 2014

44

I go to parties to work and meet people – Kekere-Ekun Savvy Saheed Kekere-Ekun, the president of Saheeto International Limited, a wholly indigenous Nigerian outfit with speciality in quick foods. He tells SEGUN EDWARDS, in this interview that he explores opportunities provided by his business outside the country to latch on the best of relaxations.

H

is name speaks volume of his boldness and daring strides in business. Although not huge in frame, Kekere-Ekun says he is living his dreams with his self-acclaimed appellation, “King of Small Chops.”

His strides in the quick foods business, he says, have lately seen him plying his trade in some locations outside the country.

He says, “Although it’s not been easy because first of all you are confronted with the issue of logistics, how to get equipment there, getting staff to work with you and so on. We have been able to showcase our potential, we’ve done something in places like the UK, Spain, Mabel, Ghana. We’ve done in the U.S, parts of Asia and other places. lt has been a worthwhile experience because we try to showcase what Africa and the Saheeto quick foods brand can offer. We also try to create our own niche, make a difference, which I will say has been quite an eventful experience.”

Kekere-Ekun says he derives relaxation through his business as he says, “I derive a lot of relaxation while I’m working because incidentally my business has to do with entertainment and offering refreshment. I’m present at parties a lot of times, not to go drinking. I go to parties to work and meet people. While meeting people, you chat with them over drinks at times, not in all cases, may be once in 10 events and for me such engagements are lots of relaxation.”

He adds, “This kind of talks gets me relaxed. It also endears me to breaking new grounds in terms of getting new clients as well as initiating new business connections.

This to me is a form of relaxation. Also on some weekends, when there are football matches to be played in the English Premier League or other major ones, I take time to watch them on cable TV.” Kekere-Ekun says he derives a lot of pleasure watching football, adding, “I’ve always been a goalkeeper and about five months back I demonstrated my skill in Chicago, U.S, where I had gone to set up another arm of my business. I was in goal in an informal soccer game with some friends and I made a lot of great saves. I’m also a fan of the most successful English football club, Manchester United Football Club (MUFC).

Although I love basketball, soccer is my first love in sport.”

Although he watched the team live in the U.S during their pre-season tour, KekereEkun says he is yet to watch them at the “Theatre of Dreams,” the Old Trafford as the club’s stadium is popularly known.

But he is quick to add, “I believe I’m going to visit the Old Trafford, probably in the next two months because I plan to visit the UK. But apart from that, I’ve been to the Emirates Stadium to watch the team play against their opponents like Arsenal and I like them.”

His love for MUFC knows no bound as he admits that has collections of the club’s souvenir, jerseys of various colours and designs.

Kekere-Eun, who attributes his flourishing quick foods business to his initiative which dates back to over two and half decades, says his business is a ready platform of relaxation for his weekends, which commences on Thursday.

He says, “My weekend starts from Thursday because one social event or the other starts probably on Thursday, Friday or Saturday and Sunday. Weekend for me is usually a busy period. I have to face it, my Monday could be lighter but from Thurs-

day, things get busy for me. Nevertheless, I derive a lot of relaxation from this.”

He equally admits that he embraces socialisation religiously as he belongs to a handful social platform, which he explores to advantage in terms of his business. “I socialise a great deal. I am a great member of the Ikoyi Club, a member of the prestigious Island Club and some other clubs. I’m equally an honorary member of the Rotary Club, member of the Army Officers’ Mess Club at Onikan, Lagos, and many other clubs.

“I create time to visit clubs no matter how busy I am. At times, I go to club socialising with friends and at other times my visit to the club creates opportunity to do business with other members, share useful thoughts over drinks and some menus, it is usually eventful times.

“I ensure I bond with my family. You have to find time to bond with them and that is what I do, I create time for my family.

I believe nobody has free time but the family should be precious to everybody. I create time for my family, stay with them to share some valuable time.

On the way he likes to dress on weekends he say, “On most of my weekends, I love white a lot. Most of the time I clad myself in white kaftan made from white fabric, probably genuine brocade and in most cases.

I like to be smart, I love dressing smart in my native attires.”

According to him, he likes small chops such as poff-poff, Mosa, prawns and noodles,

I believe nobody has free time but the family should be precious to everybody. I create time for my family, stay with them to share some valuable time

adding that he takes Amala (yam flour) once in a while at social functions.

To him, if he is to choose a particular location within Nigeria, where he will like to spend his weekend, Kekere-Ekun says, though he had been to Obudu Ranch before, the place will still readily come to mind.

Talking about his choice of a similar opportunity outside the country he enthused: “I love the U.S. I try to visit all the states in the US, but I’ve done about 28 states. It’s fun, but it is interesting. I don’t need to know anybody, I just book and check into the hotel.

It’s been fantastic experience so far. I’ve been to Arizona where I drove to the mountains. It was scary but interesting, they call the place ‘’No man’s land,’” Kekere-Ekun likes listening to two Nigerian musicians, King Sunny Ade and late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, whose lyrics he describe as soothing balm for stressful moments as well source of inspirations in his down moments.

“I love the music of Sunny Ade. I have been a fan of the great musician since my childhood days. I equally love the music of the late Afrobeat music star, Fela AnikulapoKuti, both musicians’ lyrics gives me a lot of relaxation and soul lifting inspirations from stress and uplift me when I’m down. I love listening to their music everywhere and anytime,” he says.

Speaking on how he starts his business, he says, “We created Saheeto small chops in 1987, from 87, we try to stabilse. Saheeto started as a waiter, from there, we worked with some Chinese to acquire the needed skill, and from there Saheeto came to being in 1989/91.”

Saheeto, as he is popularly known is from the Kekere-Ekun family of Lagos.

He was born and grew up in Lagos. He attended St. David Primary School, St. George’s and St. Gregory’s College for his secondary school education, all on Lagos Island. He later attended Lagos City Computer College and at present, he is an undergraduate of the University of Lagos.

SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER 2014

Politics 45

Interview

Attempt to enthrone rule of law made me suffer – Aondoakaa p.46

FaceOff

The Peoples Democratic Party and All Progressives Congress in Ekiti trade blame over the judiciary crisis arising from the plot to scuttle the governor-elect’s inauguration p.48 & 49

Features

I don’t know what impact national honour will have on me – Pa Akinkunmi p.50

Falae: Obasanjo administration opened floodgate of corruption Former Secretary to Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, speaks with BABATOPE OKEOWO on how Nigeria got to her sorry state after independence, why the governments of Shehu Shagari and Olusegun Obasanjo should be blamed for corruption, among other sundry issues.

Do you think Nigeria should roll out drums for the celebration of the independence?

We thank God that we still exist as a nation but there is no basis for celebration, there is nothing to celebrate. We don’t celebrate failure, we don’t celebrate tragedy because what is happening is tragic; over 200 girls were adopted about six months ago and we don’t know where they are. We read that one of them was already pregnant. I don’t know where we are heading and I only hope God will intervene and change the direction we are heading. © Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

But our leaders say we are still making prog-

ress We must admit as honest people that some progress have been made, quantitative growth has taken place since 1960. We have built more roads since 1960, the population has grown ten-fold, more universities have been built and the numbers of graduates have increased tremendously. But qualitatively where do we stand? Many roads have been built but what is the quality of the roads? In some areas, progress has been made in others disaster. It will be dishonest to say it is all disaster yet it is not rosy like the rest of life, it is a mixed bag. But our worry is that there are more negatives than positives in terms of quality and safety of lives

and in terms of opportunity to get employment and to actualise their potential. As an undergraduate about to graduate, I had three offers, I was a federal scholar and the Federal Government offered me a job, I got a job from WABC, Ibadan and from Shell Company. I had three offers, I had to choose one, but today you graduate two, three years you are still struggling. In that area, it is a complete disaster.

Progress has been made in certain areas and retrogression in others.

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How has life been since leaving office as the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Nigeria?

I am a rice farmer from Benue State. I mill rice. I am one of the major players in indigenous rice processing plants in the country.

I do understand that you are the biggest rice farmer for now in the North Central. How true is this?

No, I am not! I wouldn’t know whether I am the biggest, but I know that I have a rice – processing facility providing local rice, which can process at the 7.5 tonnes per hour, which is quite big for Nigerian market. When you take 7.5 tonnes per hour and you are running three shifts and per shift is eight hours and your running of three shifts is much close to 60,000 metric tonnes annually. That is my modest contribution, and that will translate to almost between N22 billion and N24 billion annual production. So, that has been my modest contribution since I left office. And what has been my motivating factor is that Nigerians who have opportunities serving in public office, should also show example in the private sector, because that is what we preached when we were in the public service. So, when you get opportunities, you should show by examples that you are not just leading, but you are a leader that leads by example. That has been my reason for going into agriculture. Of course, my father had been a farmer even though he was a traditional ruler. Basically, his income was coming from farming. I have been a farmer all my life. So, that has been the reason that I felt that going into agriculture was one factor that would make me a fulfilled person.

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Attempt to enthrone rule of law made me suffer – Aondoakaa Michael Aondoakaa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation, is a very successful rice farmer and miller, and is currently eyeing the gubernatorial seat in Benue State for 2015, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He speaks with CLEM KHENA-OGBENA on some issues of national interest.

Apart from farming, is there any other thing you are doing?

I am a lawyer; I still go to court once in a while. Basically, I am a lawyer, but farming takes most of my time. I am a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

So, I go to court. Recently, about two months ago, I was at the Federal High Court for a case involving my state constituencies.

How have you been able to reconcile these two different areas, law and farming; is one not conflicting with the other?

There is nothing conflicting; they are not conflicting with each other, because if you look at our constitution, farming is the only job that is allowed along with public office. That is the only job you can do together with public service job; you should not have any other job when you are holding a public office at the level of a minister other than farming. It’s there in the constitution. The constitution has taken farming not to be in conflict with anything. My going to court does not conflict with my farming activities.

Since you veered into farming, what are the lacunas you have experienced?

Like I said, sometime, earlier to one of your colleagues, a journalist, when I started the farm, I don’t want to talk much about the lacunas. We are trying to pull people into what we believe can change Nigeria. Every time we are preaching lacuna is like we are frightening the people. I keep telling people that there is huge market and there is huge opportunity to create wealth for our people in farming. So, those of us who are enlightened let us go into farming, so that we can motivate our local farmers and also turn farmers from being subsistence farmers to wealth creation farmers. I don’t talk much about the challenges; I know the

Aondoakaa

challenges were there. The challenges of the electricity are there. There are challenges everywhere, in all the sectors. So, I do not want to keep talking about the challenges, challenges to this and challenges to that, because if we, at our level, are talking about challenges, what do you want the local farmers to talk? They get frightened and chickened out and refuse to participate. But what has been the motive is to create wealth, assist the farmers to create wealth for themselves. I give you an example: If I put my profit ratio in my production at 10 percent -I don’t think anybody can expect profit more than 10 percent in agriculture -that is after all costs, the bulk of my turnover goes to the farmers directly. What I am talking about here requires close to N10 billion, N10 billion worth of purchase of produce from local farmers in a year, for me to mill up to the full capacity. This N10 billion you have to recycle it for you to achieve or meet the full capacity.

To what exactly is the money deployed?

That money is going to the farm-

I don’t think any president has done more than President Jonathan, including the late President Yar’ Adua

ers. I mean if I am to mill to full capacity, I must buy the rice from the local farmers. If I am to mill and make an income of about N22 billion annually, it means almost N20billion will go to the farmers, because the profits will have to come to them. If N20billion goes to the farmers every year, there will be smile on everybody’s face.

Nobody will be a beggar; nobody will even think of politics, because for now the main source of income in Benue is politics. Everybody is following politicians, whether you are elected or not, you don’t have peace. But when there are economic activities going on, when every activity like farming goes on, there will be less attention to politics.

Farming is not just farming, but creating value chains. For instance, rice has a value chain and if the value chain is complete, you could see economic activities going on, nobody has time; the farmers are there busy. People are there to evacuate the farm rice or produce and bring them to the mills, the loaders are there, you could see a lot of chains, there are boys who carry the bags to the waiting trucks, while the local women are standing by to buy a

few and cook by the roadside. So, a lot of jobs are created. It is because there are no active activities in farming. The active activities in farming that constitute 60 percent are still being done for the purpose of subsistence, survival.

That is why I said that the present government of President Jonathan has done or taken care of this. It has turned this thing right; it is trying to put this 60 percent farming for subsistence into wealth creation. Make farm and make money, not that you just feed yourself only. Wealth creation entails that there should be higher yield per hectare. For instance, somebody farms in my local community now and you give him one and half tones. That is not enough, but if you give him the support, you give him the fertilisers and insecticides, you discover that in the next six months he will make big progress for that year. If a farmer produces 60 bags and sells each at N7000, he is a big man already.

Did you say that President Goodluck Jonathan has done satisfactorily by sustaining or continuing with his predecessor’s, the late President Musa Yar’Adua’s economic policies and programmes?

I don’t think any president has done more than President Jonathan, including the late President Yar’ Adua. No president has done agriculture more than President Jonathan. I am being realistic. Yes, the late President Yar’ Adua started agriculture and created awareness in agriculture, but the person that really brought agriculture to the level and expanded it is President Jonathan, and no other person has done that. The dynamic Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has created wonders; he is trying to create a miracle, in spite of the obstacles. If these obstacles were not there, nobody could have imagined where President Jonathan would have taken agriculture to. But we will still overcome those challenges.

There has been effective terrain management that protects the local agric products. That policy on agriculture is one of the most outstanding policies of Jonathan’s administration. Agriculture takes 60 percent of the population of Nigerians. So, it means 60 percent of people are supposed to be backing him if they are reasoning the way I am reasoning.

Who would you blame for the preponderance of importation of goods into the country despite the transformation you talked about?

First, it is the businessmen whose intention is not to support our economy but to make their money out of the weakness of our economy; they are there, so you can’t blame them, and then the inefficient terrain management is another major factor. What the local rice millers are saying is this. We are not even saying that stop whatever business you want to do on rice. But if we can be protected by efficient terrain management and anybody that brings rice pays duty, then, it means that Nigerians could have a choice to save their money and buy the local

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Aondoakaa

rice at cheaper prices or go and buy the so-called imported rice at higher prices.

But when duty is evaded and they are not coming to sell at the same price with us or lower than us, considering the cost of production, that is where the problem lies.

How do you see the role of the Nigerian Customs in this regard?

They are doing a lot, but they have to do more. After all, they are Nigerians, because they should have that ego, the nationalistic feeling in them that they are protecting the local farmers in our respective communities. What they should think of is that this is a national call. We are trying to protect our farmers and create wealth for them. If they should look at it from that realistic point of view in the manner in which President Jonathan is looking at it, they will do a lot of good for this country.

They have to be encouraged to do more on effective terrain management. We have an overstretched and insecure boundaries. In other areas, you can’t even blame the Customs. Can you expect the customs officers to go towards Barma area? They can’t go there, because there is a war going on there. Having said that, I still want them to double their effort. The little they can do let them continue to do.

Why do you want to aspire to be the governor of Benue State?

All that I have been saying is what has motivated me or the reason for the gubernatorial ambition. My state is an agricultural state and if I come into government, I will set up an agricultural state and the key things that can support agriculture.

In fact, the key things that can support agriculture: one is security. If I give them security, the farmers will go to farm. If I protect my people, I make sure that any disaster, what you call unnatural death, becomes the problem of the government.

It is the ordinary responsibility of government to protect the lives and property of the people. Therefore, if a sudden death occurs and the governor intervenes to find out the reason, the reason is to prevent a recurrence. I will be doing a lot for the farmers, because I will not allow the Benue farmers to go into the farm and not come back. I will create a robust environment that will support the agricultural sector, I will open up the roads for them, I will liberalise the state, lower the taxes. I will make sure that instead of them carrying their goods to Kano, people from Kano will come and buy from them in Benue and shift the risks away from Benue people so that they can be secured and maximise their profits. We have done that for our oranges. Most of our oranges now, nobody goes to Kano with them. The buyers come themselves and go right into the villages to buy and pluck the oranges themselves.

Time will come that if we create the right security and lower taxes, you will see more people coming in to buy. My dream is to make Benue State Agriculture Free Trade Zone, make the people trade basically in agriculture, open up Benue and make it the hub of agricultural training in Nigeria and in West African sub-region. From anywhere, people are coming to Benue to buy goods and ship them away.

On which political platform do you intend to pursue this ambition?

PDP, of course, for the reason that PDP brought me to where I am today. I am a person that when I follow, I don’t change.

So, PDP brought me to where I am today, so I cannot change overnight. PDP that made me what I am and it is the same PDP I will serve. If there is going to be a reform in PDP, it will do better. PDP governors should create models, competition among themselves in terms of development. That can improve the quality of PDP that we want to see. It is not only politics.

In fact, if I become the governor under the PDP, I should be thinking of peer group assessment. The team should comprise organisations to assess us and every year.

The African Peers Review has done a lot; we could also have PDP Governors Peers Review. So, at the end of the year, you will know what you have done and what you have not done under the PDP. This can make us to work.

Rule of law was a mantra during your term. How would you assess this?

I enthrone the rule of law. I said that I have seen the sufferings of President Jonathan. Those sufferings are basically as a result of the fact that he is a minority.

These are the same kind of suffering I went through when I started to enthrone the rule of law, because that was good for the country. I was not supposed to suffer for it, but I suffered for it because I had nobody to fight for me. I see him go through a lot, bringing Foreign Direct Investment to the country, I see him do a lot because of the inflow of foreign capital into the country. But all these things are overlooked. Nobody sees the positive side of them, rather they see more of the negative aspects because there is no way you manage something that the negative aspect will not spring up.

Emphasis is on the negative aspects. They are not thinking about the positive things even as Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa. Even when it came up at the World Bank, they tried to doubt it. The growth of agriculture, refocusing agriculture and the launching of MSMEs are targeted at stimulating the economy and nobody is talking about it. Of course, rule of law started when I was the minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation. That is the problem.

underdevelopment?

My humble opinion is that we inherited a constitution malformation, an unbalanced federation which was not designed for success and as soon as the British left the instability began; emergency declared, rigging of elections, coups, civil war and all that. We got it wrong from the very beginning. The second point is that because of the ethnic, religious and cultural composition of Nigeria, there are deep suspicions within the ruling elite and those in government quite often only take care of themselves; they hardly think of Nigeria as a country. I am yet to see a civilian president or governor who is passionate about developing Nigeria as Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

When Chief Awolowo was planning his free education, I leant that every minister in his cabinet has to go home to go and supervise the construction of schools in towns and villages in his area. It was as if the life of government depended on the actualisation of that programme. Where is that zeal and commitment today?

Do you see Nigeria surviving as a nation considering the clamour for independence by various ethnic nationalities at the conference?

Since the collapse of international communism the dominant issue in international politics today is self-determination.

In my book, ‘The Way Out For Nigeria’, I cited the example of Czechoslovakia which broke to Czech Republic and Slovenia Republic, the example of Yugoslavia which was held together by Marshal Tito and the moment Tito died, the centrifugal forces were set in motion. Of course, efforts were made to prevent them but after 10 years of civil war, Yugoslavia disintegrated to Bosnia, Herzegovina, Macedonia and serbia etc. There is nothing you can do about it, people want to be who they are. Two weeks ago in the United Kingdom, Scotland voted in a memorandum – not to have their government as they already have that for years – to be totally independent of United Kingdom, they lost but there would be another day. If a homogenous community has to do that and one regional country is trying to be totally independent, you should not be surprised if such tendencies exist in Nigeria.

Many people say Nigeria is a baby at 54, there is joblessness, poverty and underdevelopment, where did our leaders get it wrong?

I entered the civil service in 1963 after I graduated from the university. I spent few years as a senior civil servant before the military came in January 1966. During that period, there was order; there was healthy

Falae

competition among the regions for development. There was accountability. If a minister travelled and took touring advance, within 48 hours of returning to his ministry, he must give account of how he spent the money with receipts. If there is no receipt, there must be honour certificate signed by him. But once the military came in, they introduced their own culture, the tendency is to give orders and to ride roughshod over regulations which they regarded as bureaucratic and with the commencement of civil war, things got worse. During the war, there were lots of confusion; people who were messengers became army officers and got married to graduates and after the war all kinds of crisis ensued.

There was status war, a colonel during the war now came back to become a sergeant after the war. All these created a lot of confusion and helped to destroy the order and stability that we had. When the military left in 1979 and Shagari government came in, I was in the civil service and saw what happened. That was when matters started to get worse, there was less control of the ministers, minister of commerce was issuing import licences. The breakdown of law and order started during the Shagari regime. When he left and Muhammadu Buhari came in, he introduced stringent conditions, the level of corruption was minimal. But in 1999, when Obasanjo took over, that opened the floodgate of corruption. President Obasanjo was the first president to pass anti-corruption law but when he did so, I made a statement, congratulated him for having the courage to pass that law. But I was sure that he was not in position to implement it because his party and ministers were beneficiaries of corruption. If he wanted to fight corruption sincerely, he would be undermining himself as a government and therefore what he did was just window dressing. What happened was that everybody was helping himself, you started to hear about stealing of billions of naira, that was when contract for electricity supply was awarded and there was nothing to show for it. Turnaround maintenance of refineries was awarded and nothing to show for it. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as you remember was busy pursuing those regarded as Obasanjo’s political enemies, it was a very selective war and that was how the rot started. Civil servants were taking money, they were giving money to parliamentarians before budgets were passed, some ministers were arrested and up till today their cases were not concluded. The bureaucracts who was assisting these political officers was also helping themselves. Obasanjo was not out to fight corruption but to fight his political opponents.

There are more negatives than positives in terms of quality and safety of lives and in terms of opportunity to get employment and to actualise their potential

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Judicial action is part of electoral process – Awe Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Chief Jide Awe, tells our correspondent, ADESINA WAHAB, in this interview that those who went to court to challenge the eligibility of Mr. Ayo Fayose to contest the governorship election have such right under the constitution.

There has been uneasy calm in the state in the last few days, what do you think accounts for this?

There were some suits being heard by a high court here in Ado-Ekiti. The suits were filed by some stakeholders in the state and they have nothing to do with our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). At least, any member of the society who feels strongly about any issue has the constitutional right to seek redress in the court, since we are not in a Banana Republic. The matters were being heard before a court of competent jurisdiction, when some political hoodlums and thugs swooped on the court room and disrupted the proceedings.

The development was strange to us in Ekiti State. There has never been such a sacrilegious attack on the hallowed chamber of justice before in the history of the state.

The condemnable act was followed few days later with attack on another judge. That one happened when Ayo Fayose and some members of the Peoples Democratic Party besieged the High Court complex and assaulted Justice Adeyeye and to stop a descent to anarchy on the judiciary, the Chief Judge of the state directed that all courts be shut down till the safety of lives and properties of judicial officers and litigants is guaranteed.

not jump the gun, but they must allow security agents to do their job.

Why was your party secretariat attacked by rioters in the aftermath of the death of Aderiye?

We don’t know and it is very embarrassing for anybody to link our party with the death of Aderiye.

We have no hand in the incident.

For some hoodlums to descend on our party office and set it on fire is very unfortunate. The people also vandalised the campaign office of Governor Kayode Fayemi. They also attacked and vandalised the properties of some of our members.

It is ridiculous for anybody to say our members knew anything about the killing of the man. The attack on our members and properties is senseless. Let the security agents do a thorough job and do that impartially too.

But the PDP denied being involved in the incidents at the High Court complex They can tell that to people without discerning mind. They are the ones who went to the place with hordes of political thugs and disrupted proceedings and did those terrible things. The judge whose court was invaded had to be spirited to safety by policemen.

They did this because they are crude and do not believe in the rule of law.

They believe in brawn and not brain.

They did that because they are trying to run away from their shadows and their ugly past is trailing them.

For the Thursday’s incident, it was a further assault on the judiciary and more show of shame by the PDP. That same week, a PDP leader, Chief Omolafe Aderiye, was killed and the PDP fingered your party, what is your take on this?

We have nothing to do with the murder of that man. He was never in our party. We had nothing to do with him. His death was unfortunate and we are surprised that the PDP is making politics out of the death of a human being. We are calling on security agencies to thoroughly investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators to book. It is ridiculous to link our party with that incident. The PDP should

Awe

If the legal aspect of the electoral process is not important, there would not have been any need to set up election petitions tribunals in the first instance.

The PDP is saying your party wants to take back door to snatch its electoral victory, what is your comment on this accusation?

What do they mean by that? If they are referring to the suits filed by the E-11 and the Citizens Popular Party challenging the eligibility of their candidate, then they don’t know what they are saying and they have missed it. Those who went to court are stakeholders in issues relating to Ekiti State just like them or any other party or person. Those who went to court have the constitutional rights to do so. They have behaved in a more civilised manner than the PDP people who embarked on self-help and brigandage.

I believe that the PDP people are ignorant of what the electoral process is. Victory in the poll is not the end of the electoral process. This is because the victory could be tainted one way or the other. Even pre-election matters could render victory in the poll useless eventually. Judicial or legal action whether pre or postelection is also part of the electoral process and the process may not be complete without that. So, let them be duly educated and informed.

If the legal aspect of the electoral process is not important, there would not have been any need to set up election petitions tribunals in the first instance.

So, if the PDP people are sure of themselves, let them allow the judicial process to take its course.

Why the panic? The other time it took us over three years, but justice was done in the end, we are ready to pursue this also to a logical conclusion.

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There has been uneasy calm in the state in the last few days, what accounts for this?

Those whose evil actions led to the current crisis in the state are members of the E-11 who are being used by leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC). These people have not done anything tangible for the development of Ekiti State. They had a field day during the administration of Chief Segun Oni and they continued under Kayode Fayemi. They are predominantly APC members who go about thriving on government patronage. They are the ones currently managing The Fountain Hotel built during the first term of Governor Ayo Fayose and Oni tried without success to ensure they make returns to government purse but to no avail and under the outgoing administration, they are just doing what they like, frittering away Ekiti’s commonwealth.

Now that it has dawned on them that they are losing grip of their source of income.

They went to court to talk about what is irrelevant to what they are doing. And they commissioned a judge to do the dirty job for them and the judge, going against all what the rule of law stands for, wanted to give them back door judgment. Remember what happened in the days of Salami and we said this cannot happen to us again. That was the beginning of the problem and at the end of the day, the judge tried to give them what they could not achieve on the field. At the end of the day, the electorate who gave us their mandate said that would not happen because they gave us their mandate through Dr. Ayo Fayose and they said they would protect the mandate. That was the beginning of the problem.

Imagine a judge who says he is going to hear an objection in the court today, he assumes jurisdiction on a case today and that he will hear and conclude the substantive matter today. This is even when a countermotion was given our lawyer in the court that same day! He did not give our lawyer the time to study the counter-motion to know the issues raised therein. This is against the rule of law and there is no way that can be allowed to stand.

APC is accusing your party of sending hoodlums to disrupt court proceedings, what’s your reaction?

As the state chairman of the party for instance, how many people can I send to the court to disrupt anything? How many people can the PDP send? Have they forgotten that contrary to what they are thinking that the voting on June 21 was aided by ‘photochromic’ or whatever they called it, those who voted for our party and candidate are still alive. They are defending their votes come rain or sunshine.

The people are always ready to defend their votes and will not allow Fayemi or the APC to take this mandate from those they gave it to like it happened in the past.

Your party is accusing the APC of klling Omolafe Aderiye, is it because your party feels APC is behind those pre-elec-

Ogundipe

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APC can’t come in again through the back door – Ogundipe The Ekiti State chairman of the PDP, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, has accused the APC of using a group, E-11, to scuttle the mandate given to Mr. Ayo Fayose by the people of the state. He speaks with ADESINA WAHAB.

tion cases?

I don’t want to politicise the death of a human being like somebody who did not deem it fit to make a categorical statement on the matter, but was concerned with cases in court. Chief Omolafe Aderiye was a former chairman of a union in the state, the National Union of Road Transport Workers. He was popular among his men and if he could be shot dead like that, it is unfortunate. If you know the running battle he had with the outgoing government of the APC, you won’t have any reason to doubt where the dastardly act could have been perpetrated.

The APC government disrupted his business for nearly three years, they ousted him from his position as the union chairman, they revoked his licence to operate as a private transporter even when they disallowed him to operate in Ekiti State. So, it was a long-planned programme by them to get rid of Aderiye.

We were in

Imagine a judge who says he is going to hear an objection in the court today, he assumes jurisdiction on a case today and seeks to hear and conclude the substantive matter today

court on Thursday and he had some altercations with some opposition members, it is not far-fetched to finger the APC. What is your take on the accusation by the APC that your members burnt down APC members’ properties after Aderiye was killed?

Whenever they bring up the issue of rioting, I want to exonerate PDP. This is not the first time APC will kill a member of the PDP. They killed Chief Awolumate, Ayo Jeje, Madam Adewumi and not less than seven other PDP members in the last four years. When all these killings took place, how many times have PDP members gone out to riot? The issue is that the E-11 and their sponsors should be held responsible for any riot that took place. They were the ones who want to rubbish the collective will of the people of the state.

Your party apparently believes the APC wants to take its mandate through the back door. Is that really the case?

Because they don’t have people to win election for their party. In 2010, they came through the back door courtesy of Salami, in 2014, they want to use E-11. We know their antecedents. They have no people to man their party and nobody will vote for them. Imagine a sitting governor being defeated in all the 16 local government areas of the state. Our candidate, who has been out of government for nearly eight years, defeated their sitting governor flatly. It is a clear indication that the APC has been rejected by the people of the state and there is no way they are going to come back. We are not going to allow them to rubbish the mandate given our man and our party. Even look at the state executive they formed few days ago, they do not have people to be there, check the list of their state executive members, almost everybody there are people we sent out of PDP one way or the other for various reasons. The back door that they think they can take to come in has been securely locked by us. Once beaten, twice shy, there is no way the APC can come in again through the back door.

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I don’t know what impact national honour will have on me –Pa Akinkunmi

“I

am very excited about the award given to my daddy by the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. I give thanks to God because He is the one that has made it possible at last. It is what we have been looking out for since about 20 years ago. We thank God that He has made it a reality when baba is alive and not when he is dead. We return all glory to God.” These were the appreciative words of 27-year-old Omolola Akinkunmi, one of the four children of Pa Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi, the Nigerian septuagenarian who designed the Nigerian flag ahead of her independence, 54 years ago.

Pa Akinkunmi was on Monday conferred with the honour of “Officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” (OFR) by President Jonathan, along with many other eminent Nigerians in Abuja.

Born on May 10, 1936 in Ibadan to Owu, Ogun State-born father, Pa Akinkunmi (78) was equally appointed Special Assistant to the President and would be collecting salary, the report said.

The father of four (two males and two females), retired many years ago as Principal Agricultural Superintendent in the Ministry of Agriculture, Oyo State, but had not been living deserving life style as a pensioner until this week’s national award was conferred on him at Abuja.

Asked to compare the Nigeria of the pre-independence era and early independence period with Nigeria of today, Pa Akinkunmi, who was met at his Samadex Street, Old Ayanmo Bakery area of Ayepe in Ibadan, Oyo State capital on Wednesday, could only remember that there was a kind of government in existence before independence and that, “After independence, the government changed hand to the Nigerian government. Things had been running one way or the other. Everybody is going about his business; being up and doing. I was working in the Oyo State Ministry till I retired as Principal Agricultural Superintendent. That is all I know,” he recollected.

Asked whether he knows that the Nigeria of his early period had changed for the worse now, particularly in the area of entrenchment of corruption, which has eaten very deep into the fabric of the nation, Pa Akinkunmi just muttered some words of uncertainty.

He said, “Once someone is up and coming in his business, that is it,” he briefly said.

The septuagenarian who was accompanied to Abuja by two of his children: Omolola and Akinwumi (last male child), nevertheless expressed appreciation to President Goodluck Jonathan for recognising him and honouring him, saying, “Of course, yes! I appreciate the award. I did thank him and I will continue to appreciate him.”

Pa Akinkunmi was however blank with regard to what impact the award and appointment will have on his life, at least financially when he said, “I don’t know. That

Pa Taiwo Akinkunmi, the man who designed the Nigerian flag, and his children praised the speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly and other lawmakers for initiating the move that made President Goodluck Jonathan honour him. Our correspondent, SOLA ADEYEMO, who visited the Akinkunmis, writes that the septuagenarian can barely recollect events of pre-independence Nigeria due to the effects of old age.

Belated honour...Pa Akinkunmi and a bust of him below

Of course yes! I appreciate the award. I did thank him and I will continue to appreciate him

was the utterance made to us at Abuja. I don’t know what they want to do.”

Omolola, an HND graduate of Banking and Finance from the Kwara State Polytechnic and Akinwumi, a potential Building and Technology HND student, also claimed that they did not know anything about what would be done for their father as regards the Special Assistant appointment given him by President Jonathan.

“We don’t know anything about the issue of salary for our daddy.

They did not tell us anything about it in Abuja. Maybe the state gov-

ernment will work that out with the Federal Government. We are not informed as at now,” Akinwumi said.

Appreciating the Federal Government further, nonetheless, Omolola told Saturday New Telegraph that, “I also appreciate President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, because we had got many successive governments that had ruled but did not do anything for our daddy. We appreciate him for the grace and opportunity he gave to Baba to be honoured when he is still alive. This is contrary to the popular saying that Nigerians re-

member their heroes when they are dead. This is not supposed to be so in the real sense of it. So, I am happy that baba’s honour came when he is alive. We thank God. “We want to use this medium to also appreciate Madam Speaker, Hon. Monsurat Sunmonu of the Oyo State House of Assembly, because we were there when she made the recommendation and took the step that same day. They set up a committee saddled with facilitating this project.

“Many people would have made proposal but would not follow it up and the effort would just die off. The Oyo State House of Assembly took the step and followed it up. We thank them and the government for making it a success”, she said.

Similarly, the youngest child, Akinwumi, thanked President Jonathan for the laudable gesture, saying however that the honour could have been done their father much earlier.

“But since this is the time God has appointed for it, we thank Him for making it possible. We thank the President, the Federal Government, the Oyo State Government and all the state House of Assembly members who are behind this success. They were the agents that discussed baba’s matter on the floor of the House and recommended to the state government that he should be recognised. The governor wrote to the Presidency where the proposal was accepted.

“A member of the House of Assembly, Hon. Ibrahim Bolomope, came here and presented baba’s case to the House. When the government approved it and they asked us to come to Abuja, so we went. I am very happy that the award was given to him while he is alive”, he said.

It was apparent that Pa Akinkunmi has gradually lost part of his memory because he could not answer many of the questions posed to him. Asked what the Federal Government intended to do to him to rehabilitate his health, he said, “I don’t know!”

His son, Akinwumi (25), however revealed that the issue of his father’s health was settled. He explained that, “The CMD of the University College Hospital (UCH), Professor Temitope Alonge, has given baba free health services. Anytime he needs medical attention, they do come here to take him away and later bring him back.”

When New Telegraph asked for clarification on how the house being occupied at Ayepe was come about since Pa Akinkunmi had lived several years at Ekotedo area of Queen Cinema, Ibadan, before relocating few years ago, Omolola said, “Daddy is just fortunate to be apple of God’s eyes. God just loves him so much that He has kept him till today.

He left Ekotedo after he won a raffle in the “Who Deserves to Be a Millionaire.” The reward was N5m and so we used part of the money to buy this house and renovated it.

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

Perspectives

Leadership, values and moral bankruptcy

W

hen there is something wrong with a fish, examine the head. That’s what our elders say. The saying is one I link with Professor Stephen Addai‘s cause and effect premise at Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA): Prof Addai says: “leadership is cause, everything else is effect!” Translation: The person at the head or the top is to be held responsible when things are not going the way they should. Any other excuse is unfounded and incontrovertible. That is why leaders in all spheres of life have to make it a habit to take responsibility for everything on their watch: the good, the bad and the ugly. So business leaders have no business using the economy as an excuse, religious leaders cannot complain of an unruly following or enemies to their faith, neither can political leaders say they had no time, resources or peace to carry out their agenda or that there was sabotage.

I have tremendous respect for the United States Marine Corps. Watching them during drills at the Muson Centre in Onikan in Lagos some time back made me wish we had something like that in Nigeria. These honourable soldiers are trained in combat to defend the liberties of America by land, air or sea, wherever their services are needed. The US Marine Corps has a code of honor that serves as a guide to them at all times. God and country appear prominently in this code. They dare not do anything that runs contrary to their code; when and if they do, the consequences are known to them. According to Principles and Values, on www.marines. com, Semper Fidelis distinguishes the Marine Corps bond from any other. It goes beyond teamwork—it is a brotherhood that can always be counted on. Latin for “always faithful,” Semper Fidelis became the Marine Corps motto in 1883. It guides Marines to remain faithful to the mission at hand, to each other, to the Corps and to country, no matter what!

A

ll of a sudden every actor, musician and script writer is a potential politician. In the midst of Ebola and church collapse, we find ourselves assaulted by barely literate Nollywood and entertainment practitioners declaring their intention to vie for one elective post or the other.

No one wants to deny them their constitutional rights, but when we begin to see these kind of actions then we begin to very reluctantly agree that our democracy is now a big joke. I don’t blame them sha, what with the kind of comedy we are seeing in the run up to 2015, why won’t comedians enter the arena.

Judges being beaten up, pastors moving dollars, Boko Haram running riot, church buildings with no permit collapsing and the proprietor receiving the president and governor instead of facing a panel of enquiry to answer questions; why won’t barely literate Nollywood royalty with fading fame decide to join the charade? After all, who can crack a joke better than Julius Agwu in the Senate or who can sing better than 9ice in the National Assembly? Or is Abike Dabiri a better actress than Kate Henshaw.

Every Nigerian has a right to vote and be voted for, so all those who have declared are within their rights. But what you get is a declaration usually in a soft sell magazine and nice pho-

BUSINESS SENSE ALEX OGUNDADEGBE alexogundadegbe@gmail.com

If there is no urgent need for arms and ammunition why would such sums of money end up in South Africa in such an arrangement?

Nigeria as a country is fast declining in the area of values. Good leadership is being denied the nation in many respects. The acronym CRIES is a concept often used at our seminars to define what the universal core values of major organizations should be: Communication, Respect, Integrity, Excellence and Service! All forms of business activity within the Nigeria nation should be subject to these values. If this was enforced through the rank and file of our own military then perhaps there would be no crisis of confidence with the Nigerian public. The war against the insurgency in North East Nigeria has focused the spot light of the discerning public on the activities of the military in that part of the country. Soldiers claim they are ill-equipped to prosecute the war against Boko Haram. The military high command denies this. And then we

hear that a civilian aircraft ends up being impounded in the Republic of South Africa with millions of dollars on board allegedly intended for the purchase of arms. If there is no urgent need for arms and ammunition why would such sums of money end up in South Africa in such an arrangement? From this action alone we can deduce that that there is a need for ammunition for the army in Nigeria.

The United States has further criticized our military for gross human rights abuses during the war against insurgency. Perhaps additional values are needed to guide our military too! We understand that covert and clandestine operations are sometimes required to pursue military capability, but even in war there are rules of engagement.

Often times the external environment of a business, an organization, or a group can negatively influence its activity. The leader would find an excuse in the politics, economics, social disposition, technology, law and perhaps the larger environment which encapsulates the weather and natural disasters. Although these factors are beyond his control, the management acumen of leadership demands that the leader use the resources at his disposal to overwhelm what ever restrictions rear their heads.

It’s like playing a scratched record to say that Nigeria is blessed with abun-

51

dant human and natural resources, so why in over fifty years of nationhood have we not been able to turn the country around? Why do we keep facing the same problems in the past twenty years: Election malpractices, leadership challenges, petroleum problems, electricity instability? It seems that we are going round in circles. The answer can be found in our lack of values. The internal environment of a country, company or business always has resources that can be used to pursue goals and objectives.

We should never get trapped in a mind set that says there is no way out.

Whenever we find ourselves in a quandary, some of the steps that can be taken using our values as a guide include: first, measure our options; second what are our needs? Third, reevaluate our environment; four, ask ourselves what makes the situation positive and five what are our tools and assets?

There are always tools and assets that we can use to solve our problems in the environment where we find ourselves; all we have to do is look for them.

When we find those tools and assets one more important thing to do is to look at what strengths we have and what our competitive advantages are. Strategy is the linchpin of modern warfare. Whether its football, business or traditional warfare where people are put in harms way, major moves to achieve conquests have to be planned and executed into detail, using the strengths and opportunities available. Nigeria’s greatest strengths are her numbers and natural resources.

We appear to have misused all of these over the years. As a student I watched Professor Wole Soyinka win the Nobel Prize for Literature and later proclaim that this generation is wasted. Years after watching the cyclic phenomenon of leadership in almost all facets riddled with moral bankruptcy, I am tempted to agree with him.

Nollywood and politics EDGAR’S WORLD JOSEPH EDGAR josephsamsponedgar@gmail.com

tographs and that is all. No vision, no strategy, no programmes and, in some cases, no political platform and after the initial brouhaha they fizzle out into political oblivion. And in one case they even come out to say it was a joke.

How have we come to this level?

When did our democracy become such a mockery? We are now such a laughing stock that we are now laughing at ourselves. Stomach infrastructure, jungle justice, Asari Dokubo, that one that calls himself minister of state for education, Taraba State, cross-carpeting and recross-carpeting and what you get is not Banana Republic but Agbalumo Republic.

So far, Julius Agwu, Kate Henshaw, Desmond Elliot and 9ice have all come out. I am waiting for the second batch.

Nollywood in their normal follow follow manner will soon be all totally distracted and when Aki and Paw Paw and Psquare

When you follow the politics of the Actors Guild, you will begin to see why they should all vie for the governorship of Ekiti State. The bitterness can only be imagined join the fray then it’s time for me to crosscarpet out of the country. All we need is for one person to win an election even if it’s local government council you will now see the floodgate open and our hallowed halls of assembly will be filled with bad speaking, bleached represen-

tatives talking about script writing and editing instead of debating fiscal policies.

When you follow the politics of the Actors Guild, you will begin to see why they should all vie for the governorship of Ekiti State. The bitterness can only be imagined. When an ageless Clarion Chukwura decided to contest to run the guild, she started abusing the living daylight out of the incumbent, calling her an ex-convict and being not one to flee from a fight, she gave it back to her. Segun Arinze’s tenor was madness in its entirety.

The various guilds also have their own share and once you lose an election you break away and go form your own guild. Nollywood politics at its best. The back-biting is world class, the lack of understanding simple issues like health scheme for members is legendary and the resort to trivial and mundane issues rather than major policy discussions are usually the order of the day.

No wonder the feeling is that once you succeed there, then Ekiti is a joke; Ngige’s Anambra is a walk in the park.

Well, sha, me I would vote for Ras Kimono, Majek Fashek, Dede Mabiaku whenever they decide to declare their intentions, not these fine people who know nothing else after the name of the cream they are using.

I’m in hiding o.

Companies & Stock SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

52

4 OCTOBER, 2014

Will Skye Bank’s profit still dip to rising credit losses, falling earnings?

S

kye Bank saw a sizable growth in profit last year even without improving revenue. But it doesn’t seem there’s a likely repeat of that scenario this year. That is because revenue weakness may still persist for the bank and gross income likely not expected to be reasonably better than what it earned in 2012. Cost moderation shielded profit from the revenue weakness last year. This year, loan loss provisioning has doubled and eroded profit margin, leaving high prospects for profit to drop to a three-year low.

The outlook however seems to obscure significant progress that management has made on cost control. The Timothy Oguntayo led managent of the bank, has succeeded in putting key operating costs in check. Only the loan loss expense appears to remain out of his control for now. The problem is that the surge in provisioning is reinforced by disappointments in all the key revenue lines of the bank.

Second quarter operations ended with gross earnings of N63.88 billion, which is a drop of 10.2 per cent from the corresponding figure last year. Both interest and fee-based earnings went down during the period with investment and other operating income leading the drop at 13.8 per cent to N12.62 billion. Its investment portfolio has declined by 11.7 per cent to N198.12 billion from the closing figure last year.

Based on the growth rate in the second quarter, gross income is projected at N128.5 billion for Skye Bank at the end of 2014. That will be a flat growth over the full year revenue figure of N127.34 billion the bank posted in 2013. This indicates that the bank isn’t likely to improve revenue for the second year running from the N127.73 billion it reported in 2012.

The bank earned an after tax profit of N5.18 billion at the end of the second quarter, which is a drop of 31.1 per cent from the corresponding figure in 2013.

Based on the current growth rate, the bank is expected to close the current year with an after tax profit of N11.9 billion, the lowest in three years. This will be a drop of 25.7 per cent from the peak profit of N16.02 billion the bank reported in 2013.

Such a significant drop in profit is not expected from any other listed bank this year.

Despite a general slowdown in earnings growth in the banking sector this year, banks are not expected to suffer profit declines.

A drop in profit will break the profit recovery/growth move that Skye Bank has made in the past two years. The bank’s profit had dropped by nearly one-half in 2011 while a strong recovery followed in 2012.

Profit weakness is driven by the doubling of loan loss expense at N5.01 billion during the review period. It claimed 7.8 per cent of

Nigerian Naira, Kenyan Shilling, Zambian Kwacha listed on JSE

N

igeria’s currency, the Naira, Kenyan Shilling and the Zambian Kwacha Friday made their début on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the largest and most liquid in Africa.

The South African bourse listed the three African currencies on a new Foreign exchange Futures platform where they will be quoted against the South African rand.

Analysts say the JSE has for years tried unsuccessfully to market itself as an entry point into African capital markets with sub-Saharan African companies preferring to list in London Stock Exchange against Johannesburg’s, because the former is seen as a more prestigious market.

With the listing of the three currencies, JSE said it is offering exposure to African economies in a relatively risk-free manner for foreign and local investors, companies and

fund managers doing businesses in the continent.

“The message is simply: hedge your foreign exchange risk on the JSE and go and do your business,” Reuters quotes Andrew Gillespie, head of futures at Tradition Futures, which partnered with the JSE and Barclays bank to launch the platform.

“You have fire insurance, theft insurance, insurance against water damage. This is a place to buy FX insurance,” he added.

JSE said the currencies will fall under its currency derivatives unit, incepted in 2007, allowing them to be traded with G-10 currencies of developed economies, including the U.S. dollar, euro and British pound.

The platform will also allow participants to trade anonymously, with the JSE assuming the role of credit counterparty to all transactions.

Dangote to invest more in Dubai’s Sovereign Wealth Fund

D

Oguntayo..Skye Bank CEO

Skye Bank’s 2013 audited results 2013

2012

Change

Gross earnings

N127.34 billion

N127.73 billion

-0.3%

Profit/loss before tax

N17.13 billion

N16.51 billion

3.8%

Taxation

(N1,113) million

(N3,114) million

64.3%

Profit/loss after tax

N16.02 billion

N12.64 billion

26.7%

gross earnings at the end of June against 3.5 per cent in the second quarter of last year. Other main expense lines are virtually under control. Interest cost dropped ahead of interest income by almost 24 per cent to N20.73 billion, leading to an improvement of 4.3 per cent in net interest income.

This is against a flat growth in deposit liabilities, indicating the lowering of average cost of funds for the bank this year.

Operating cost was flat at N30.88 billion at the end of the second quarter, which is a feat ac-

complished in a rising cost environment. Against the drop in gross earnings however, operating cost margin has increased from 43.4 per cent last year to 48.3 per cent at the end of the second quarter.

The bank earned 44 kobo per share at the end of the second quarter, down from 64 kobo in the same period last year. Earnings per share is projected at 90 kobo for Skye Bank at full year. This will be a drop from N1.21 at the end of 2013 from which the bank gave shareholders a dividend of 30 kobo per share.

angote Group is poised for yet another batch of financial injection from Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD). Last month, it acquired a 1.4 percent shareholding in subsidiary, Dangote Cement, for $300 million, it has emerged.

Mohammed al-Shaibani, the CEO of ICD, the Emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, said they found what they were looking for in Dangote after searching for investment opportunities in Africa for a while.

“We are looking to do more business with Mr (Aliko) Dangote and we have some things that we are exploring at the moment together,” Reuters quoted Shaibani as saying.

Shaibani, speaking at an Africa-focused investment summit in Dubai this week, added: “We are looking to do more business with Mr (Aliko) Dangote and we have some things that we are exploring

at the moment together.”

Shaibani told the summit, which was also attended by Dangote, Africa’s richest businessman, that the ICD would be paying more attention to investing in agriculture and infrastructure projects that the Dangote Group is involved in.

It is understood that Gulf firms were gradually paying more attention at investing in Africa because the continent had become an attractive investment destination.

Many African countries are seeing high levels of economic growth as oil and gas are discovered in many countries on the continent.

In August this year, Qatar National Bank (QNB) acquired a 23.5 percent stake in pan-Africa bank, Ecobank, in two separate batches.

It is believed this was QNB’s second acquisition in Africa in the past two years.

Ekocorp looks good for outstanding profit growth in 2014

H

ealth care listed company, Ekocorp Plc, looks headed for outstanding growth in profit in the current year with its impressive first quarter outing.

The company has maintained stable growth in turnover and profit over the years and an accelerated growth looks likely for it this year.

The improved profit outlook follows accelerating growth in revenue and a major gain in profit margin.

The company’s management shows a trend of consistently growing wealth for shareholders with a stable record of improving profit and earnings per share. It looks confident of taking the company’s earnings quality to a new peak at the end of 2014.

The company closed first quarter operations with a net profit of N58 million, which is a rise of 61.1 per cent year-on-year. Based on the

Ekocorp’s 2013 audited results 2013

2012

Change

Turnover

N1.21 billion

N1.12 billion

8.1%

Profit/loss before tax

N189.32 million

N155.02 million

22.1%

Profit/loss after tax

N152.76 million

N130.74 million

16.8%

first quarter growth rate, after tax profit is projected at N241.5 million for Ekocorp at full year. This will be an increase of 58 per cent over the full year net profit figure of N153 million the company posted at the end of 2013. It will be an accelerated growth from the improvement of 17 per cent in profit recorded in 2013.

The company has maintained stable growth in profit over the past five years. The strength in profit performance is built on sustaining growth in turnover and a continuing improvement in profit margin – indicators of a growth company.

Turnover amounted to N305.5 million for the company at the end of the first quarter, which 10.2 per cent up from the corresponding figure last year. Based on the first quarter growth rate, turnover is projected at N1.41 billion for Ekocorp in the current financial year.

This will be an increase of 16.5 per cent over the full year revenue figure of N1.22 billion the company generated in 2013.

Revenue is therefore expected to grow twice as fast as the 8.1 per cent improvement recorded in the preceding year. The company has maintained a continuing growth in

revenue over the past five years.

Accelerating growth in revenue is accompanied by a continuing improvement in profit margin.

The company is therefore showing strength in converting assets into revenue and in converting revenue into profit. At 19 per cent in the first quarter, net profit margin has attained a new peak from 13 per cent in the corresponding period last year. It represents a major improvement also from the net profit margin of 12.6 per cent recorded at the end of 2013.

The gain in profit margin in the first quarter came exclusively from moderation of cost of sales. Against the 10.2 per cent increase in turnover, cost of sales declined marginally, which lifted gross profit by 32 per cent to N121 million. The cost saving here more than compensated for the 12.6 per cent increase in total operating expenses.

4 OCTOBER 2014

Security tightened ahead of Eid-el-Kabir c o n t i n u e d f r o m pag e 5

Kalu added that religious tolerance and mutual respect among all tribes and religion is key to peaceful coexistence and unity of Nigeria.

“We must continue to show love, brotherhood and togetherness in the interest of our dear country,” he declared.

He stated further: “I salute our religious and spiritual leaders who have continued to champion peaceful co existence among all religions.”

Kalu, while wishing the Muslim ummah a hitch-free celebration, called on them to extend the goodwill of the season to friends in other religions.

The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, also called on Nigerians to show greater sense of unity in order to move the nation forward.

He emphasised that “only peaceful co-existence, selflessness service to the nation, and total obedience to God, as it was demonstrated by Prophet Ibrahim could take the nation to the Promised Land.”

The politician said: “Self-centredness and greed are the nutrients that nurture corruption and compromise national development.”

Speaking also, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, congratulated Muslims on the occasion.

“It is that spirit of love and brotherliness reflected in Sallah that Nigerians both Muslims and non Muslims alike should cultivate and display always to ensure a peaceful and progressive nation for us all,” Ihedioha stated.

On his part, Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State congratulated the Muslim community in Nigeria as they join their counterparts the world over to mark this year’s Eid-el-Kabir.

According to a statement signed by Mr. Peter Okhiria, his Chief Press Secretary, the governor said: “I rejoice with our Muslim brothers and sisters on this year’s Eid-el-Kabir celebration. On this occasion, I urge the Muslim faithful to remember that obedience to Allah and uprightness are some of the virtues of a true worshipper.”

A former Minister of Sports and Special Duties, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, said: “I congratulate all Muslims and Nigerians as a whole, on the celebration of this year’s Eid-elKabir, believing that it will be celebrated with a sense of obedience and sacrifice to God. Hoping also that the teaching of sacrifice as

News Extra

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

demonstrated by Prophet Ibrahim will be uplifted with fervent prayers for the progress and development of the nation.”

A former governor of Oyo State, Adebayo AlaoAkala, urged Muslims to pray for the progress and development of the nation as they celebrate Eid-elKabir.

Alao-Akala in the statement signed by his Media Aide, Mr Abraham Ojo, urged Nigerians to pray for a total victory over the state of insecurity and the success of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in the country.

In his Sallah message, Makinde maintained that “there is hope for tomorrow”, in spite of the series of vicissitudes bedeviling the nation.

In the statement signed by his media aide, Akeem Azeez, Makinde, who expressed believe in the ability of President Goodluck Jonathan to move the country forward, urged for support and cooperation of all, noting that “all Nigerians, irrespective of language, tribe, religion or political leaning must see the task of building a great Nigeria as a joint task.”

Ekiti State governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, urged Muslim faithful as well as Nigerians of other faiths to seize this period of Eid-elKabir to embrace brotherliness and allow peace to reign in the country.

The charge was contained in the governorelect’s charge to Nigerians in commemoration of Sallah celebration, released to the media by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Elder Idowu Adelusi, on Friday.

According to him, such a practice would “strengthen our brotherliness and allow peace to reign supreme in our dear nation.”

President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has urged Nigerians to use the opportunity of the festival to pray for the nation at this time so that peace and security could prevail.

Dangote in a statement in Lagos, said his belief in the country remained unshaken because there is no challenge that can defy God pointing out all Nigerians need is to continue to pray to God and cooperate with the government to jointly solve the nation’s problem.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged Nigerians to use this year’s Eid El- Kabir to reflect on the virtue of faith and total submission to the will of the Almighty God as exemplified by Prophet Ibrahim who was willing to sacrifice his only son, Ishmael in obedience to God’s command.

IKWERE KEFFI SURE-P recruits 83 physically Group backs Ogoni challenged persons leadership forum

NEWS IN BRIE F

The Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) said it had recruited 83 physically-challenged persons in Nasarawa State as part of its empowerment scheme.

The Chairman of SURE-P Committee in the state, Mr. Joseph Ishekpa, stated this on Friday in Keffi, while briefing House of Representatives Committee on Rural Development on its activities in the state.

Ishekpa told officials of Absolute Security and Consultancy Services Limited, which represented the committee that the physically-challenged persons were part of 3,000 people recruited by SUREP in the state from June, 2013 to date.

60

The number of Ebola virus case that occurred in Gabon in 1996.

Source: Who.int

A group, Ikwerre/ Etche Peoples’ Forum, which is made up of two ethnic nationalities in Rivers State, has backed the recent decision of Ogoni Leadership Forum (OLF) to only support political parties that feature Ogoni candidates.

At a rally yesterday in Port Harcourt, the group lauded OLF for directing that no Ogoni man would vote for any political party without any Ogoni man as candidate.

The President General of the group, Emmanuel Amadi, said: “Our objective is to support Ogoni candidates in 2015, it is ideal to look for constituencies or a place where the people have not tasted the leadership of Rivers State.

53

FCT Ahmed inaugurates c’ttee on creation of LCDAs

Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, has inaugurated a-14 man committee to actualise the plans of his administration to create local council development authority (LCDAs) in the state.

At the ceremony, Ahmed, who gave the committee eight weeks to turn –in its report, expressed concern that several of the existing 16-local government structures in the state were created as far back as 1976 without any amendment to them.

He added that the desire to create more local government areas had been hampered by the cumbersome constitutional process attached to it.

2,755

The number of pending asylum seekers of Republic of Ireland at the beginning of 2010.

Source: Blatantworld.com

€52.1m

The amount realized from match day revenues by Liverpool in the 2012-2013 season.

Source: Goal.com

First Lady, NPAN, others mourn Remi Oyo TRIBUTE The death of a former Managing Director of NAN, Mrs. Oluremi Oyo, continues to generate reactions.

Temitope Ogunbanke

T

with agency reports

he First Lady, Dame Patience Faka Jonathan, has described the death of the former managing director of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mrs Remi Oyo, as a great

loss to journalism profession and Nigerian women.

Also, the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) has commiserated with the Nigerian Guild of Editors’ (NGE) over the death of Oyo. The first lady in a statement signed by her Media Assistant, Mr Ayo Adewuyi, on Friday in Abuja, recalled the professional way in which Oyo handled her assignment as the Special Adviser on Media to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Jonathan also recalled how the deceased turned around the fortune of NAN as its first female managing

director.

In a statement addressed to NGE President, Mr. Femi Adesina, said it received the death of Oyo with great shock.

NPAN stated that: “Her passage came as the media community, and indeed the nation, is still trying to come to terms with the grisly exit of another very active member of the Guild and Vice-Chairman of the Sun Newspapers, Mr. Dimgba Igwe.

“The exit of our adorable Remi, (as fondly called by friends and colleagues), through cancer, underscores how far this silent

killer has eaten deep into the fabric of our national healthcare system.”

Meanwhile, a former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has described the late Oyo as an amazon of Nigerian journalism.

Daniel in his condolence message said: “It is with a great shock that I received the news of the death of Remi Oyo who has served the country at nearly all levels in the media industry.”

Similarly, the Akran of Badagry, Aholu Menu-Toyi 1, on Friday described Oyo as an “irreplacable icon” in the media industry.

Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Benin Zonal Commander, Mr. Charles Akpabio (right) and Anambra State Sector Commander, Mr. Sunday Ajayi, during Akpabio's visit to Anambra State Command, in Awka…recently

Group trains youths on entrepreneur skills Olushola Ricketts

A

s part of the Independence Day celebration, a youth-led group, The Publicist, has empowered no fewer than 300 Nigerians

Speaking at the event which saw also free medical treatment and donation of writing materials to school children, the convener of the programme, Pastor Paul Omolade, said the desire was borne out of the

passion to bring a lasting change to poor Nigerians.

Omolade, who is also the cleric in charge of Christ Apostolic Church, FreedomLand, said bringing positive changes to Nigeria demands collab-

orative effort and must not be viewed as a role for the government alone.

He stressed that until all citizens assume full responsibility for national integration the nation might not move forward.

54 Sport Extra

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

New NFF boss resumes Wednesday

Danagogo, Maigari charged for contempt of court

Adekunle Salami

Abuja

Comfort Chukwu

N

ewly-elected President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, will resume at the secretariat of the football ruling body on Wednesday in Abuja.

Assistant director communications at the NFF, Ademola Olajire, told our correspondent that Pinnick would be at the secretariat after the Sallah holidays.

Olajire stressed that the new NFF boss had started work already but not yet at the secretariat in Abuja.

“He is not expected to be here every time but I am sure he will resume on Wednesday. So far, he is already working because there are various programmes on our hands,” he said.

On Thursday and Friday at the Glass House in Abuja, journalists waited endlessly for the arrival of Pinnick but he did not show up.

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Nigeria’s Uche Nwofor (left) competing for the ball with a Congolese player

Eagles will qualify for Nations Cup -Pinnick

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Adekunle Salami

Pinnick

Extra Joss Football Competition: Winners emerge in Ikorodu centre

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ollytum Football Club defeated MFI Sports International Football Club to become the champions of Ikorodu centre of the Extra Joss Football Competition, Season 3 on Wednesday.

Sollytum defeated their opponents 5-4 on penalties after the regulation time had ended in barren draw in a match played at the Police Barracks playground, Igbogbo Road, Ikorodu.

Ogunade Babes completed the number of clubs from Ikorodu Divisional Football Association that qualified for the round of 16 after defeating Gafar Babes 2- 1 , in the losers’ match.

he President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has promised to motivate the Super Eagles to victory in the forthcoming home and away games against Sudan.

Nigeria is billed to play Sudan on October 11 in Omdurman and October 15 in Abuja.

With only one point from the available six so far in the two games played, the Eagles will need maximum points in the two matches to bounce back into reckoning in the race to be in Morocco 2015 Nations Cup. Pinnick said he would work with his board members to bring Eagles back into winning ways and to make Nigerians happy with results.

He said; “We won the last edition of the Nations Cup and we have to be at the next one in Morocco. The situation is not out of hand yet, we are going to qualify.

“The match against Sudan is particularly important to the team and the new board.

Messi faces tax evasion trial

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arcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi is to face trial for alleged tax evasion, a Spanish judge has ruled.

The judge rejected a prosecution recommendation to drop the charges on the grounds the player’s father was responsible for his finances.

Messi and his father Jorge are accused of defrauding the authorities of more than 4m euros

here is no respite yet in the crisis rocking the Nigerian football as Sports Minister Tammy Danagogo; immediate past President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Aminu Maigari, and General Secretary of the NFF, Musa Amadu were on Friday charged for contempt of court.

The trio alongside Plateau Football Association were charged for disobeying a Jos High Court order restraining them from holding an Emergency and Elective Congresses of NFF. The two congresses were held in Warri, Delta State and produced Amaju Pinnick as the new President of federation.

Chris Giwa-led faction of NFF had approached the court to stop the congresses and got their prayers granted by Federal High Court, Jos. However, a bailiff from the Jos court arrived at the Secretariat of NFF in Abuja Friday afternoon and pasted the notice on the wall of the Glass House.

The court document which is titled: ‘Notice to show why order of committal to prison for contempt of the order of this court should not be made against you’, informed the defendants to appear at the court on October 8.

We want to start on a winning note and place the team back on the track to achieve more heartwarming results.”

On the contract talks with Stephen Keshi or any other coach, Pinnick said the issue would be resolved soon.

“It is one issue we have to

address soon because it is dicey and of huge importance to all stakeholders. We are going to take a decision to enable us to move on,” he said.

Pinnick only on Tuesday in Warri, Delta State, emerged the NFF President after the Elective Congress of the football body.

Danagogo

Serena to have scan after China Open injury withdrawal

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orld number one Serena Williams will fly to Europe for a scan on the knee injury that forced her out of the China Open ahead of her quarter-final.

It is the second tournament in a row the 33-yearold has pulled out of, after she fell ill in her first set at the Wuhan Open in China last week.

“It throbs just sitting, standing. I feel it mostly serving because I’m landing on my left knee,” she said.

“I haven’t had time for an MRI but I’ll do that and see what the problem is.”

Her last-eight opponent Sam Stosur will now go

Serena

straight into the semifinals in Beijing.

Williams won her 18th Grand Slam at the US Open last month, putting her jointfourth in the all-time list of major winners, alongside Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert.

But last week, in her first tournament since Flushing Meadows - the inaugural Wuhan Open - she had to be helped from the court during her match against Alize Cornet.

At this year’s Wimbledon, the world number one withdrew from the doubles tournament with sister Venus because of a viral illness.

GAMES/CROSS WORD PUZZLE Some insects

(£3.1m; $5m).

KEY WORDS The pair, who deny BEE ANT FLEA wrongdoing, have five LOCUST days to appeal against the LAYBIRD WASP ruling.

BUG It is alleged that they M H M O withheld the money be- T C T L O E O O tween 2007 and 2009.

T D B C The income related to I R U U Messi’s image rights, in- U I T S cluding contracts with Q B T T Banco Sabadell, Danone, O Y E E Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Proc- M A R W Y L F E tor and Gamble, and the E B L B Kuwait Food Company.

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Aluminum symbol Rum-flavoured dessert Hand-sized measure Seed case Grass with edible seed Town in Osun state Mineral water resort Relating to Satan worship

DOWN Place in context

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See solution on page 34

SATURDAY NEW TELEGRAPH

4 OCTOBER 2014

55

HOSPITALITY

HS Continental Blue Ribbon Hotel : Modest but remarkable strides

P.39

SPORT

w ww. n ew te l e g r ap h on l i n e . c om

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth – Buddha

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2014

N150

My kids won’t play for Nigeria – Udoka

P.31

NYSC, N4,000 and the criminal exploitation of the vulnerable T o paraphrase the immortal words of the oath of the ancient musketeers: this world is an uncertain realm filled with danger. Honour is undermined by the pursuit of rotten lucre. In today’s Nigeria, the prize for being vulnerable, weak and helpless are oppression, deprivation, extortion and deliberate trampling by the powerful, the rich and the politically connected.

But there are those who oppose these powerful forces; those who dedicate their lives to truth, honour and freedom. I am proud to come from this constituency of brave and forthright citizens who will not stand silent whilst the powerless are degraded, exploited and ultimately crushed.

On March 15, 2014, a particular strain of scandal married to tragedy erupted over the employment test for recruitment into the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) conducted across the country. The Immigration service is a government department under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The narrative of the scandal is simple but devastating. About 6.5 million jobless young Nigerians had been made to pay an application fee of N1,000 each for only 4,000 vacancies. The tragedy followed a pattern that has become a typical Nigerian signature. Tens of thousands of jobseekers turned up at designated centres in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Minna, Gombe and Benin.

There were stampedes at the National Stadium, Abuja, Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt, and in Minna. About 16 innocent, hungry, tired but hopeful young Nigerian souls perished. Scores were injured.

The culpable criminals got away with it because they are rich and politically connected. The brutalised and traumatised youth leaked their wounds, out of pocket and still out of work. It stinks but our noses have become stuffed with indifference.

A couple of years ago, the Nigerian people were informed by news reports that a staggering amount of N33 billion had been stolen from the Police Pensions Fund. A comical series of investigations, hearings and committees to analyse and report on the investigations and hearings ensued. Somewhere down the line, this joke that parades in Nigeria as a legal process swung, or, rather, limped into action. Some nonentity was convicted and offered the option of paying a fine in the breathtaking sum of N250,000.

Another mega-nonentity deployed dozens of armed policemen as a shield against police investigations into the embezzlement of funds meant to aid their erstwhile colleagues as they languished on the breadline waiting for the cold embrace of the grave.

The raucous noise that emanated from civil society soon died down. The oppression of the vulnerable continued unhindered in many other sectors of society.

These examples typify the horror that awaits you if you ever find yourself in any of the vulnerable constituencies in the Nigerian

BROADSIDE EMMANUEL ONWE agubata@aol.com

Brig.Gen. JB Olawumi... NYSC director-general

republic. Everyone hired and paid from public funds to protect your interests, defend your rights, and guarantee your wretched subsistence will deploy the full powers of his office to oppress you, cheat you, steal from you and finally shuffle your bones into a premature grave.

A few days ago, it came to public notice that another vulnerable constituency, the Nigerian youth, are being stolen from, being cheated, being oppressed and their painful existence being exacerbated. The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) remains a beacon of national unity – yes, with grave but certainly surmountable challenges. Our sons and daughters have continued to pay a terrible prize, sometimes in blood, in the line of duty to the Corps. But the patriotism of the youth has once again been rewarded with wicked exploitation and total lack of compassion.

The Director, Corps Mobilisation, Anthony Ani, disclosed in a radio programme recently that corps members will now pay N4, 000 to download their call-up letters online.

This is an outrage! N4,000 to travel, at cost, to

Nigerians should stand up and call this nonsense out for what it is – a bald faced criminal extortion of our jobless young an internet cafe, log into some website and download a letter informing you that you are obligated to render a full year’s service, possibly in a very dangerous environment, while subsisting on a paltry stipend, to your country? Our public servants not only appear to thrive on wickedness, they appear to be a select band of sadistic psychopaths, utterly bereft of any form of consideration for the circumstances of others.

Now, consider this: the mischief for which the imposition of the fee of N4,000 was meant to cure, according to Mr. Ani’s explanation, was that “the N4, 000 online registration fee was introduced so as to stop fresh graduates from travelling back to their various schools to pick up the letters.” As far as explanations go, this one takes the trophy for galactic stupidity.

Simple email, the administration cost of which should already be captured in the organisation’s budget, is a perfect solution.

Domestic text messages cost N4 and, for students domiciled abroad, it will cost no more than N15 for the call-up notification. This is not a study or a thesis on the efficient run-

ning of the NYSC to avoid imposing unacceptable measures and costs on the hapless corps members. But you get my drift – a tiny measure of quickness of mind will deliver the required service at insignificant cost to the Corps.

Nigerians should stand up and call this nonsense out for what it is – a bald faced criminal extortion of our jobless young.

The current system which compels graduates to collect their call-up letters from their alma mater is bereft of imagination. But what is truly depressing about the entire deplorable affair is that the initiators and executors of the scam know it to be such – an imagination-free scheme designed to defraud but pursued, nonetheless, with the full knowledge that the vulnerable in Nigeria are too easily and profitably exploited and adverse consequences seldom, if ever, follow.

“The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power” – William Shakespeare. In other words, Nigerians in positions of authority abuse and pervert their power when they separate it from compassion and decency.

If the Nigerian youth were the products of the harsh conditions of existence bequeathed and enforced upon them, they would today be grease-soaked rags strewn on the roadsides – useless, inconvenient eyesores. But they are not. They thrive and soldier on in spite of the indignities, carelessness and disregard which stand as their only inheritance. Where Nigerian senior citizens are the villains, the youth are the heroes.

If you inquired carefully into the status and background of the decision makers who derive pleasure in enacting punitive policies against young people, you will find that they belong to the generation that enjoyed free education, had jobs, accommodation and cars thrust on them upon graduation from universities. They are now marshalling the resources and capacities of a Nigeria that was so good to them to undermine and destroy the generation that will take all our hopes and aspirations as a nation forward. The younger generation are poorly educated not because of their inherent inadequacies but because of the grossly inadequate system of education that the privileged generation has put in place.

Today, the graduates who paid their own way through university education outnumber by far those who relied on contributions from any other source. There are no jobs for our young because the older generation has delivered two devastating blows to the system; one is by stealing all that can be stolen from the common coffers and the other is a tragic lack of a sense of intergenerational altruism. Having stolen everything, they have now devised a means of sinking their paws directly into the pockets of young people. Let’s amputate those goddamn greasy paws.

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