1st November 2016

NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER NO 16,623 TUESDAY, 1 NOVEMBER, 2016

TODAY'S SPECIAL

Five rules to set yourself up for success IF you want to succeed, you need to set goals.

Without goals, you lack focus and direction.

Goal setting not only allows you to take control of your life’s direction; it also provides you a benchmark for determining whether you are actually succeeding.

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Nigerian Tribune

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Amosun dismisses NLC chairman, 15 others —P2

•19 NUT officers face suspension

TribuneOnline

Nigerian Tribune

N150

Buhari orders investigations into alleged sexual abuse in IDP camps —P4

CCT may try arrested judges Continues pg3

Anguish as 4 FGGC Oyo students die in •Lawyers protest in Abuja, condemn calls —P2,4 auto crash on judges to step aside —P7

PDP elders to FG: Save Ondo from repeat of —P31 1983 anarchy Skye Bank exits 50 employees, outsourced —P12 staff

Lawyers defending the integrity of the judiciary in a protest, in Abuja, on Monday. PHOTO: SUNDAY OSUNRAYI.

Boko Haram kills 5 soldiers, injures 19 in Damboa —P35

2 news

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Amosun dismisses NLC chairman, 15 others

•Recommends suspension for 19 NUT officers • It’s executive recklessness —Sacked chairman Olayinka Olukoya -Abeokuta

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GUN State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has approved the dismissal of the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC), Comrade Akeem Ambali; deputy chairman and state chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Dare Ilekoya and 14 others.

This was the position of government, as contained in a document signed by the Head of Service, Elder Sola Adeyemi, following the recommendations of a panel of inquiry set up to investigate the alleged misconduct of executive members of the NUT on the 2016 World Teachers Day celebration, held on October 5 at the NUT Hall, Kuto, Abeokuta.

Also, 16 officials of the union were suspended for their roles during the

celebration.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that the state government set up an administrative panel of inquiry to look into complaints received from concerned members of the public against the affected officers for their alleged involvement in various acts of misconduct and contravention of extant regulations during the celebration.

The NLC chairman, who was until his dismissal a deputy director, Community and Social Development, Sagamu Local Government Area of the state, was alleged to have been the brain behind the political campaign rally during the celebration.

He was accused to have made scandalous remarks against the state government, which could cause breach of peace in the state.

They were dismissed from service, having been found guilty of contravening the Public Service Rules 04401, 04421(c&d) and 04406(a).

Those dismissed were A.O Oshin, Nola Balogun, Eniola Atiku, Solaru O., Adebanjo T., Akinola A.S, Oyolola S.A, Obafemi O.B, Ogunsola Peter, Akinlade S.A, Christopher T.A, Ogunrombi A.A, Azeez K.I and Taiwo A.O. Those suspended were Odusanya S.A, Comrade Akapo, Adegbesan J.O, Adelami S.I, Obadara O, Ogunnuga O.A, Ayokambi T.A, Tijani A.A, Adegbesan

J.O, Idowu A.O, Olaifa O.A, Bayo Lasore, Ahmodu S.A, Oludotun Oliyide, Tijani Y.A, Awode I.A, Dada O.A and Adesanya Abiola.

The state government thereby directed appropriate agencies of the state to implement recommendations with immediate effect.

Reacting, Ambali, in a statement, described his dismissal and that of 15

others as “mere executive recklessness and abuse of statutory laws.”

He said at no point in time was he invited to appear before any panel, adding that his purported dismissal and that of others was received through a telephone call.

“We are calling on our committed workers to remain calm, stay at home and not be intimidated by this action that was against

all norms of democracy and fair hearing. I have never been summoned by any panel. This is how deceitful the government could be.

“Our cause for this strike is legitimate, just and right.

They have only shown their true colours and this new approach is unprecedented in the history of this country.

No state government has done what they are doing to us in Ogun,” he said.

New minimum wage: FG meets Labour today Soji-Eze Fagbemi -Abuja

THE Federal Government and the organised Labour, led by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), will meet today to work out modalities to negotiate the new minimum wage proposal submitted by Labour.

The NLC and TUC had, on May 1, jointly proposed N56,000 as new national minimum wage, since the existing wage was due for review on the basis of the extant Labour law.

The Federal Government had also resolved to set up a joint government, labour committee to begin negotiation.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja, on Monday, the NLC president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, described the meeting as “a right step in the right direction,” saying the negotiation was long overdue.

“We have submitted that demand; as I speak with you, the negotiation committee has not even taken off, but what I was informed two days ago, since I had discussion with various people driving the process from the side of government, is that there will be meeting tomorrow (today),” Wabba said.

He, however, explained that delay in negotiation and inaugurating the minimum wage committee was caused by the palliative committee promised by the government to cushion the effect of fuel price increase.

“I think they said because

of the issue of the minimum wage and palliative put together, it took time to do certain things and the committee members are supposed to arrive today and even meet tomorrow (today); three of my deputies are there.

“They said they want to hand over everything so that the committee can then be approved, including the palliative, by the Federal Government, because it is a technical committee headed by some ministers and our Labour centres. What I was informed is that the report is supposed to be submitted within the week because the Labour side would be meeting today (Monday).

“They will then meet with government side tomorrow (today). They want to tidy up the report, including the membership of the team that is supposed to negotiate the minimum wage,” he said.

According to Wabba, it was unfortunate that the sitting of the committee had been dragged for too long, saying a lot of time had been lost which had also compounded the situation.

“Workers are on a daily basis being exposed and the purchasing power is going down, especially the issue of the exchange rate.

“They will be meeting tomorrow (today), and they are also trying to round up because they said they want the report to go to the Presidency for formal approval because, at the end of the day, the president must be involved. I want to assure you that we have not relented,” Wabba added.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transport, Senator Olugbenga Ashafa (second left); Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Land Transport, Honourable Aminu Sani (left) and committee members, displaying their train ticket for boarding at Idu Train Station, during an oversight visit by the Joint National Assembly Committee on Land Transport to the train station, in Abuja, on Monday. PHOTO: NAN.

CCT may try arrested judges Lanre Adewole -Lagos

THE Federal Government may have concluded plans to prosecute the judges arrested by the Department of Security Service (DSS) for alleged corruption at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Nigerian Tribune has learnt.

The tribunal, a quasi-

judicial body, is part of the Presidency.

The Senate has, however, amended the Act setting up the tribunal, wresting its control away from the Presidency.

The amendment will come into effect with either presidential assent or the National Assembly overriding the president’s

veto.

Nigerian Tribune was privy to one of the arrested judges seeking to engage the services of a senior lawyer when the news was broken to him that the tribunal would now prosecute them.

It was learnt that the prosecution had reportedly decided to focus on the alleged multi-billion assets

NBA inaugurates task force on Niger Delta, North-East crisis Sunday Ejike -Abuja

THE Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), on Monday, inaugurated two different task forces on the reconstruction of the NorthEast and resolution of the crisis in the Niger Delta region of the country.

The NBA noted that the twin challenges of insurgency and militancy facing the North East and Niger Delta respectively were threat to national security.

Speaking before inaugurating the task force, the national president of the Bar, Abubakar Mahmoud, noted that Nigeria had been experiencing a high level of insecurity as a result of the activities of insurgents and militants.

“Let me also commend the commitment and political will exhibited by the Buhariled administration in the

fight against insurgency in the North-East.

“We have in the last year and a half seen the liberation of most of the areas previously held by the insurgents and the restoration, to a large extent, of normalcy in the region.

“Earlier this month, Nigerians were delighted to receive the heart-warming news of the release of 21 out of the 219 Chibok schoolgirls held in captivity for more than two years,” he said.

The Bar also commended the military and security agencies for the success achieved.

It lamented that insurgency in the North-East had affected the independence of the legal profession and the welfare of members, adding that legal practice in North-East had been largely disrupted as a result of the insurgency in the region.

Members of the task force for the North-East are Professor Mohammed M. Tabiu, chairman; Professor Ayo Atsenuwa, alternate chair; Professor Isa Hayatu Chiroma, Rakiya Mukhtar Tofa, Altine Ibrahim, Hafsatu Mohammed and Hassan Maidoki.

Others are Lauretta Adaeze, Hauwa Shekarau, Amina Ibrahim, Ronke Ige, Alfa Ibrahim, Isa Muhammad Nurudeen and Kunle Adegoke.

Members of the task force on Niger Delta are Albert Akpomudge, chairman; Ledum Mitee, alternate chairman; Mia Essien; Mba Ukweni, Q. E. B. Offiong, Charles Ajuwa and Sosoprieye Long Williams.

Others are Kelvin Ejelonu, Muyiwa Olowokure, Sagir Gazawa, Mrs Lillian Ene Ogar, Nkiruka Maduekwe and Alex Mouka as secretary.

traced to the judges.

By taking them to the tribunal, the burden of proof would now shift to the judges, unlike the corruption allegations which would require the prosecution to prove.

Beyond ease of prosecution, it was gathered that the main consideration for moving away from the regular court was the likely procedural obstacle of the prosecution being asked by the trial judge to first get the National Judicial Council (NJC) to suspend the serving judges before returning for prosecution.

NJC is constitutionally charged to sanction erring judges and must be petitioned by the DSS before the affected judges could be placed on suspension.

All the affected judges, including the two belonging to the Supreme Court, had excused themselves from sitting on cases, except Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Nigerian Tribune was told that at the trial, the said judges would be asked to defend assets and huge cash allegedly linked to them, in relation to their earnings.

Their asset declaration contents would also likely be put against the cash and assets allegedly traced to them, to see if the latter were declared or not.

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Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Five rules to set yourself up for success Continued from front page

To accomplish your goals, however, you need to know how to set them. You can’t simply say, “I want” and expect it to happen.

Goal setting is a process that starts with careful consideration of what you want to achieve, and ends with a lot of hard work to actually do it. In between there are some very well-defined steps that transcend the specifics of each goal. Knowing these steps will allow you to formulate goals that you can accomplish.

Here are our five golden rules of goal setting: 1. Set goals that motivate you When you set goals for yourself, it is important that they motivate you: this means making sure that they are important to you, and that there is value in achieving them.

If you have little interest in the outcome, or they are irrelevant given the larger picture, then the chances of you putting in the work to make them happen are slim. Motivation is key to achieving goals.

Set goals that relate to the high priorities in your life. Without this type of focus, you can end up with far too many goals, leaving you too little time to devote to each one. Goal achievement requires commitment, so to

maximiSe the likelihood of success, you need to feel a sense of urgency and have an “I must do this” attitude. When you don’t have this, you risk putting off what you need to do to make the goal a reality. This in turn leaves you feeling disappointed and frustrated with yourself, both of which are de-motivating.

And you can end up in a very destructive “I can’t do anything or be successful at anything” frame of mind.

2. Set SMART goals You have probably heard of SMART goals already. But do you always apply the rule? The simple fact is that for goals to be powerful, they should be designed to be SMART. There are many variations of what SMART stands for, but the essence is this – goals should be: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Bound.

Set Specific Goals Your goal must be clear and well defined.

Vague or generaliSed goals are unhelpful because they don’t provide sufficient direction. Remember, you need goals to show you the way.

Set Measurable Goals Include precise amounts, dates, and so on in your goals so you can measure your degree of success. If your goal is simply defined as

“To reduce expenses” how will you know when you have been successful?

Set Attainable Goals Make sure it’s possible to achieve the goals you set. If you set a goal that you have no hope of achieving, you will only demoralise yourself and erode your confidence.

Set Relevant Goals Goals should be relevant to the direction you want your life and career to take. By keeping goals aligned with this, you’ll develop the focus you need to get ahead and do what you want.

Set Time-Bound Goals Your goals must have a deadline. Again, this means that you know when you can celebrate success. When you are working on a deadline, your sense of urgency increases and achievement will come that much quicker.

3. Set goals in writing The physical act of writing down a goal makes it real and tangible. You have no excuse for forgetting about it. As you write, use the word “will” instead of “would like to” or “might.” For example, “I will reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year,” not “I would like to reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year.” The first goal statement has power and you can “see”

yourself reducing expenses, the second lacks passion and gives you an excuse if you get sidetracked.

Post your goals in visible places to remind yourself every day of what it is you intend to do. Put them on your walls, desk, computer monitor, bathroom mirror or refrigerator as a constant reminder.

4. Make an action plan This step is often missed in the process of goal setting. You get so focused on the outcome that you forget to plan all of the steps that are needed along the way. By writing out the individual steps, and then crossing each one off as you complete it, you’ll realise that you are making progress towards your ultimate goal. This is especially important if your goal is big and demanding, or long-term.

5. Stick with it!

Remember, goal setting is an ongoing activity not just a means to an end. Build in reminders to keep yourself on track, and make regular time-slots available to review your goals. Your end destination may remain quite similar over the long term, but the action plan you set for yourself along the way can change significantly. Make sure the relevance, value, and necessity remain high.

Courtesy: www.mindtools.com

Recession: British Deputy High Commissioner optimistic about Nigeria’s recovery Kolawole Daniel -Abuja

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HE British Deputy High Commissioner, Ahmed Bashir, at the weekend, expressed optimism that despite Nigeria’s current economic challenges, the country has sufficient energy and resilience to recover.

The deputy high commissioner, who received the Group Managing Director of TL First Group, Dr Olu Olasode, during a courtesy visit to the British High Commission office, stated that although, this was a difficult time for the nation, Nigeria had remarkable opportunities for investment and growth.

Dr Olasode, while recognising the mission’s work on international collaboration,

trade and investment, proposed partnering with the British High Commission in designing and implementing strategic programmes that would promote economic relations and strengthen bilateral associations between the United Kingdom (UK) and the Nigerian governments.

According to Dr Olasode, institutional readiness and participatory governance was key to improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

He advocated a platform for interaction, idea exchange, networking and partnerships between investors, economic and industrial leaders in the UK and Nigeria, stating that this would boost economic relationship between both countries and facilitate

business alliances.

He opined that the proposed partnership would guarantee promotion

COMMITTEE for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) has called on civil society actors in the country to urgently demand the drafting of a bill to be known as Recovered Loot Trust Fund for the purposes of tracking the recovered looted funds and to compel government and anti-craft agencies to make full disclosure of such recovered loot and their sources.

CDHR made the call in the communiqué issued at the end of its meeting in Lagos, which had in attendance speakers, including the Osun State governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola; a Lagos lawyer, Mr Femi

Falana; a former Attorney General of Edo State, Mr Osagie Obayuwana; Mr Gbenga Awosode, Mr Femi Aborishade, Mr Luke Aghanenu and Mr Sunny Enenuvwedia.

This was just as the group opposed the proposed plan by the President Muhammadu Buhari- led government to borrow $30 million (about N11 trillion), demanding instead the full and explicit disclosure on the state of the economy, including the reason for the fresh bid to plunge Nigeria into debt.

According to the group, in the communiqué signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Rasheed Raji Ropo, this measure was

of businesses, governments and community groups.

This collaboration will also empower small and

medium enterprises and promote modern knowledge exchange, research and learning development.

Why we can’t pay workers’ salaries —Benue gov Clement Idoko -Abuja

BENUE State governor, Mr Samuel Ortom, has disclosed that he is unable to pay salaries of workers for about four months now because the state is broke.

He also said the state suspended the conduct of local government elections and appointed caretaker committees because of lack of fund.

Ortom spoke while fielding questions from State House correspondents shortly after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at

CDHR demands bill on recovered loot trust fund Opposes borrowing of $30m by FG Bola Badmus -Lagos

of leadership learning, capacity development and peer review across various economic leadership levels

aimed at preventing the “mismanagement of the recovered loot; and/or forestall the re-looting of recovered loot by the political elite and for the purposes of putting recovered loot to uses that benefit the people, as well as financing programmes that address poverty and create wealth.”

The group, while urging the federal and state governments to take urgent steps to address socio-economic problems confronting Nigerians in all ramifications, also tasked both governments to urgently address the issue of unpaid workers’ salaries which had accumulated for between six and 12 months in some cases.

the Presidential Villa on Monday.

He revealed that since August 2015, allocation from the Federal Government to the state had been on the average of N4 billion while the wage bill for a month is N7.8 billion.

He said: “We will conduct elections as soon as we have the resources. The point is: we were given a bill of N1 billion to conduct elections when I cannot pay salaries.

“I’m down by four months.

My wage bill for a month is N7.8 billion. Since August of last year, we have been receiving an average of N4 billion, so how do I cope? Every month, I have a deficit of N3.8 billion to pay workers and then run the government. It is a big challenge.

“My Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is N250 million. So it is a big challenge. As soon as the resources are there, I will conduct election. I’m a product of a democratic process, I don’t see why I will truncate it at the local government level,” he said.

The governor recalled that he was a local government chairman democratically elected on the platform of Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1991 and would have no reason to truncate that process.

He maintained that he had consulted with the stakeholders of Benue State and they gave him the go-ahead to appoint the caretaker committees

pending when resources would be available.

Ortom disclosed that he was at the Aso Rock to confer with President Buhari on happenings in the state.

On the issue of security challenges in the state, especially sporadic attacks

by Fulani herdsmen on some communities, the governor said he thanked God, saying with the collaboration of some security agencies in the state and the support of the president, Benue was relatively calm.

He explained that the herdsmen/farmers clashes were escalated because of the criminality involved, saying through dialogue, stakeholders had agreed to work together in a manner that there would be winwin.

He said: “Yes, the herdsmen have their rights to live, but the farmers too have their rights to live and do their farming activities. The herdsmen too must find ways of relating with the farmers and not encroaching on people’s farms.

“We have told our people that we need one another, life is complementary and we need one another. We must complement one another by ensuring that anyone who has a chosen career must be supported to pursue it. And so, today, the state is relatively calm.

“There were other issues bordering on economy.

Today, we are talking about

diversifying the economy and we have comparative advantage in Agriculture, that is what we are promoting, we are expecting multiple harvests this year.

“Our people yielded to advice to go back to farm because food first before any other thing. We also appreciate the investors who are coming into the state, coming to process our primary products. So it is important that once in a while, I brief Mr President about the development in my state,” he said.

“We are proposing ranching as the final and lasting solution to these issues of herdsmen and farmers clashes. But is something that cannot be done over night.

“We need the collaboration of the states and the federation to agree on a formula, one for the nomads. In Nigeria, we must find a way of educating them, give them a new orientation on how to live better by ensuring that we establish ranching and government must come in to provide the infrastructure and support that is needed to do this.

“So this is where the Federal Government and states must come together to work out this. The final solution I tell you the truth is about ranching because the line that used to exist in the 50s where cattle routes and grazing areas were designated are no longer there,” he said.

4 news

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

DSS invasion: Lawyers protest in Abuja, condemn calls on judges to step aside Sunday Ejike -Abuja

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AWYERS under the auspices of Lawyers in Defence of Democracy, on Monday, protested on the streets of Abuja, over the arrest of judges by operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) few weeks ago.

In their protest letter, the lawyers, in partnership with Citizens for Good Governance (CGG), called on the governments of the United Nations, United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK) the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Amnesty International and the international community, to call President Muhammadu Buhari to order and save the nation’s democracy from drifting into anarchy.

The groups equally called on the National Judicial Council (NJC)]and the

Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to direct all judges in the country not to hear any

applications from the DSS and other agencies, except bail applications until there

was obedience to all pending orders against them.

The DSS had, between

October 7 and 8, 2016, arrested Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and John Okoro of

Wife of the president, Hajiya Aisha Buhari (right); Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State (middle) and the women leader, All Progressives Congress (APC) in Borno State, Aisha Kakanna (left), presenting some items to beneficiaries, at the inauguration of the wife of the President’s “Get Involved Initiative” in Borno State, on Monday. PHOTO: NAN.

Buhari orders investigation into alleged sexual abuse in IDP camps Clement Idoko -Abuja

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has Expressed worry and shock by the recentlyreleased Human Rights Watch (HRW) report which alleges sexual abuse and exploitation of women and girls in camps for those displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency.

He has accordingly ordered the InspectorGeneral of Police (IGP) and other relevant security agencies to immediately commence investigations into the issue.

Buhari, who gave the directive on Monday, said “the welfare of these most vulnerable of Nigerian citizens has been a priority of his government.”

Human Rights Watch, on Monday, accused Nigerian officials of sexually exploiting women and girls living in IDP camps in the restive North-East.

HRW said it had, in July, documented 43 cases of women and girls in seven IDP camps in Maiduguri, the epicentre of the sevenyear Islamist insurgency, who had been abused by camp leaders, vigilante groups, policemen and soldiers.

But President Buhari, in a statement issued in Abuja, by his Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said Nigerians and the international community could be rest assured that the allegations raised in the HRW were not being taken lightly.

The statement said: “President Buhari has instructed the Inspector General of Police and the state governors of the affected states to

immediately commence investigations into the issue.

“Their findings will determine the next course of action for the government and define an appropriate response.

“While the Nigerian military continues to work hard so that these unfortunate victims of Boko Haram terrorism can soon return safely to their homes, the government will do its best to ensure their protection and welfare in the temporary

IDP camps,” the statement said.

According to the report by the HRW, four of the victims said they were drugged and raped, while 37 were coerced into sex through false marriage promises and material and financial assistance.

Mr Mausi Segun, senior Nigeria researcher at HRW, in the report, said: “It is bad enough that these women and girls are not getting the much-needed support for the horrific trauma they

suffered at the hands of Boko Haram.

“It is disgraceful and outrageous that people who should protect these women and girls are attacking and abusing them.

“Many of those coerced into sex said they were abandoned if they became pregnant. They and their children have suffered discrimination, abuse and stigmatisation from other camp residents,” the global rights body said.

The report further

indicated that the HRW spoke to one 17-yearold girl who was raped and made pregnant by a policeman.

“One day, he demanded to have sex with me,” she said.

“I refused but he forced me.

It happened just that one time, but soon, I realised I was pregnant.

“When I informed him about my condition, he threatened to shoot and kill me if I told anyone else. So I was too afraid to report him.”

Kukah visits Fani-Kayode, Obanikoro, Abati, others in EFCC cells THE Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Reverend Mathew Kukah, on Monday, visited the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja.

According to a statement by the commission’s spokesman, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, Kukah met with Femi Fani-Kayode, Musiliu Obanikoro and a former presidential spokesperson, Reuben Abati, among others.

He said Kukah was reportedly conducted round the EFCC’s detention facilities by the acting chairman of the commission, Mr Ibrahim Magu.

Uwujaren said Kukah expressed delight that the detainees were in high spirits despite the discomfort of temporary restriction.

“I discussed with some detained suspects like Femi Fani-Kayode, Musiliu Obanikoro and Reuben Abati, and I am quite pleased they are looking cheerful.

“I was also happy with the humility of the acting chairman who took me round

and the way he interacted with the detainees.

“This is what is important for our country so that nobody takes these kinds of things personal. I am happy I came,” the statement quoted him as saying.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Kukah said wellmeaning Nigerians like himself were staff of the EFCC to the extent that they

wanted a better country and were doing what was needed to be done.

“We’ll continue to pray that God guides you, keeps you safe and ensure that we build a country that we all will be proud of.

“This country has suffered so much, but we hope and pray that we can bring the suffering and trauma to an end as we collectively fight corruption,” he said.

He said Kukah commended the commission over the state of its detention facilities in Abuja, describing them as “clean and orderly”.

Magu, the statement said, assured the detainees that their incarceration was not personal.

“It is not personal; this is all about Nigeria and making it better. And I think there is a consensus around this,” he said.

Adekunle Ajasin varsity clears air on suspended lecturers

By Laolu Harolds

THE management of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State, has said the recent suspension of some lecturers in the institution is not an attack on the leadership of any union or a group of persons, but a routine administrative procedure aimed at restoring sanity and order.

A statement by the registrar of the university, Mr Michael Ayeerun, explained that the suspended lecturers were disciplined because they went round the campus

disrupting normal academic activities, and preventing others from carrying out their assigned academic and administrative duties, and not because they were mostly executives of the local chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as being insinuated in some quarters.

The statement read in part: “The affected lecturers were suspended in line with the extant laws of the university after a head of department and a dean wrote to management alleging physical and verbal assaults on them

and disruption of their departmental and faculty board meetings by the suspended lecturers.

“It should be noted that this unfortunate incident happened less than a week after the ASUU AAUA branch called off its over threemonth strike and the senate of the university directed departments and faculties to submit all students’ outstanding results.

“The campaign of calumny on the social and mass media alleging victimisation and vendetta on the part of management is far from the truth.”

the Supreme Court; Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja, and Justice Muazu Pindiga of the Federal High Court, Gombe Division.

Another Judge of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba’s residence was also searched, but was not arrested.

The aggrieved lawyers further called on the judges whose homes were invaded by the DSS not to step aside as doing so would amount to victory and gradual return to Kokoma democracy.

Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission(NHRC), Professor Ben Angwe, said the commission would not take side or take orders in handling the arrest and alleged clampdown of some judges over corruption.

The commission said it was waiting for petitions from the public on the alleged arrest of the judges and violation of the human rights.

Addressing the protesters at the commission, Angwe said the petition by the group, would enable the commission to move into action, adding that the commission would be fair to all parties.

A statement by the joint convener of the groups, Ikenga Ugochinyere, faulted the clampdown of judges, noting that the independence and integrity of the bench could not be sacrificed under the guise of anti- corruption crusade.

“That is why we view the call by the president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Abubakar Mahmoud, after a private visit to the presidential villa as prejudicial to the innocence of the judges and contrary to the 1014 Revised Judicial Discipline Regulations formulated by the NJC, pursuant to Section 160 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended]).

“The unilateral call by Abubakar Mahmoud asking judges to step aside without weighing the limitations and the possibility of an overbearing executive using same loophole to get at other judges not willing to dance to their tune is unacceptable, hasty and counter-productive.

We still stand on the initial declaration of emergency in the judiciary by the NBA and reject the call for judges to step aside.”

The group passed a vote of confidence on the NJC and their decision taken that the arrested judges should not resign till proper investigation and proof of evidence shown to establish prima facie case of corruption.

The protesters marched from Merit House to the NHRC, the Federal High Court, the Federal Ministry of Justice and the National Assembly.

5 news

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Lagos State deputy governor, Dr Idiat Oluranti Adebule, inaugurating the two-storey school building donated by Kazuma Shipping Company to Ladi Lak Primary School, Apapa, on Monday. With her are the donor and chairman/CEO, Kazuma Shipping Company, Mr Chahid Raffoul (left) and All Progressives Congress (APC) leader in Apapa, Tunde Balogun.

How Rickey Tarfa shielded wanted fraud suspects, witness tells court Ayomide Owonibi Odekanyin -Lagos

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prosecution witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Monday, gave a detailed account of how a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Rickey Tarfa, shielded two wanted fraud suspects from being arrested by operatives of the commission.

Mr Sulaiman Salaudeen Abiola, a legal practitioner, told an Ikeja High Court how Tarfa allegedly obstructed the course of justice by hiding the wanted men in his car for over four hours.

It will be recalled that the EFCC had dragged Tarfa before the court for allegedly preventing its officers from arresting some suspects, Nadir Odeste and Gnanhoue of Rane Prestige Nig. Ltd and Hair Prestige Nig. Ltd, on the premises of the state High Court, Igbosere.

Abiola, who was led in evidence-in-chief by a lawyer of the EFCC, Mr G. A. Lakanmi, told Justice Aishat Opesanwo that he witnessed the entire over six hours drama that ensued between the EFCC operatives and Mr Tarfa, alongside his clients who were billed to be arrested by the EFCC over pending criminal charges.

According to Abiola, the incident happened at the Lagos division of the state High Court, Igbosere, on

February 5, moments after the conclusion of a case before Justice Adebiyi, where the suspects appeared.

He said the senior lawyer restrained the commission when the operatives approached the suspects (Nadir Odeste and Gnanhoue) in court, inviting them to the EFCC office.

“After the court proceedings at about 11.00 a.m., the EFCC operatives, led by Mr Moses Awolusi, were at the court’s car park to arrest the suspects (Nadir Odeste and Gnanhoue).

“The operatives approached Mr Tarfa and informed him of the plan to arrest his clients, but Mr Tarfa asked for his identification and warrant, which he produced.

“Mr Tarfa later asked the clients to enter his car and instructed his driver to wind up the glass of the car and keep the engine running.

“Thereafter, he started making calls which I didn’t know anything about, it continued like that until about 5.00 p.m. and Mr Moses Awolusi now placed a call to his office and asked for reinforcement.

“It was about 5.00 p.m. that the fuel in the car was about going down when the defendant (Tarfa) came down and his clients (suspects) came down from the car in order to refuel it.

“At that point, the operatives of the EFCC now

Edo sets up 19-member transition committee EDO State government has set up a 19-member transition committee to ensure a smooth handover from the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-led administration to the Godwin Obaseki-led administration on November 12.

A statement by Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Peter Okhiria, named Professor Julius Ihonvbere as chairman of the transition committee.

Other members, according to the statement, were

Mr Henry Idahagbon, Mr Osarodion Ogie, Mr John Inegbedion, Dr Aihanuwa Eregie and Prince Joe Okojie.

Also in the committee were Mr Igbinidu Inneh, Mr Joseph Eboigbe, Mr Taiwo Akerele, Senator Domingo Obende, Dr Aisosa Amadasun, Reverend Emmanuel Egharevba, Elder Pius Omofuma, Mr Theo Okoh, Mr Ben Ogbebor, Mrs Magdalene Ogbebulu, Mrs Benedicta Attoh, Mr Osaze Ojo and Mr Ahmed Mamudu.

arrested the suspects and Mr Rickey Tarfa,” he said.

Earlier, the court had admitted the key and Mercedes car with registration No KJA 700 CG in which Mr Tarfa allegedly hid the suspects as an exhibits.

Admitting the car as an exhibit, Justice Opesanwo said “the car key is before the court as an exhibit, if I have the key, I have the car, but the commission should retain the custody of the car for safekeeping.”

Further hearing in the case was adjourned till January 17.

Kano prosecutes 11 women for drinking, romancing men, smoking hemp THE Faggae outpost of the Kano State Hisbah Board (Sharia Police), on Monday, said it had commenced the prosecution of 11 women for allegedly engaging in social vices.

Salisu Umar, the commander, Special Services of the board, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano that the suspects were apprehended around the Sabongari area in the metropolis.

He said they were arrested during a special patrol conducted by the Fagge Local Government office of the board.

Mr Umar said the suspects were found drinking alcohol, smoking cannabis and romancing with men other than their husbands or close relations, contrary to the Sharia legal system.

He said the state had been practising the Islamic legal code that prohibited such illicit attitudes, stressing that the board would intensify its efforts to patrol identified flash points.

“The suspects are between the ages of 21 and 24 and were apprehended around midnight at beer parlours in Faringida and Abedie Road in Sabongari,’’ Umar said.

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Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Metro...

crime, security, court

Robbers invade Ughelli bank at midnight, cart away N25m Ebenezer Adurokiya - Warri

S

USPECTED armed robbers, between Friday night and Saturday morning invaded an only branch of an old generation bank in Ughelli, Delta State, making away with about N25 million.

A staff of the bank, who craved anonymity, told Metro Sunday afternoon in Warri, that the rampaging robbers invaded the strong room and vault of the bank with jigsaw, drilling machine, welding machine and other tools.

The bank source said dynamites were also used to blow up the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) from inside of the bank, but left the ATM machine outside untouched.

The robbers were said to have clinically carried out the midnight operation in military camouflage with no resistance.

The source said after gaining access to the premises of the bank, the security men on duty were

rounded up and tied in order not to pose any threat.

Another source informed Metro that it was believed the daredevils would have made away with not less

than N25 million because the bank usually left behind such amount in the vault at weekends.

Although the Police Public Relations Officer

(PPRO), Delta State Command, Celestina Kalu, could not be reached as of the time of filing this report, Metro gathered that some senior officials

of the bank, as well as the security men on duty who were arrested and taken to police headquarters after the incident were released on Sunday.

Imo State Police Command arresting a soldier serving with the 26 Tax Force Brigade, Borno State and a corps member serving in Oyo State for robbery alongside 25 other criminal suspects in Owerri, on Monday. PHOTO: NAN

Police kill 2 illegal miners in Niger Adelowo Oladipo - Minna

OPERATIVES of the Niger State Police Command have allegedly killed two suspected illegal miners Saturday evening in Kafin-Koro, Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger State, though identity of the miners killed could not be ascertained as of the time of filing this report.

The incident, Metro gathered to have taken place when the miners, in their multitude, decided to attack policemen deployed to the mining site after the death of seven illegal miners at the site, who were buried in the hole they dug.

Metro also learnt from a source close to the village that the illegal miners, who have defied every warning from both the state government and security agents in the state to desist from their illegal activities,

mobilised themselves and waylaid the policemen.

The source, who pleaded for anonymity, stated that the miners, armed with some dangerous weapons, attacked the policemen, injuring one of them in the head in the process and the policemen were said to have opened fire, killing two of the miners on the spot.

Illegal mining activities had become rampant in various parts of the state in recent times and this had become a source of concern to the state government.

The state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello recently expressed concern over illegal mining of solid minerals resources in the state, with particular reference to Shikira village in Kagara, Rafi Local Government Area of the state, where many lives, mostly minors, were lost to Lead

poison from illegal mining of gold by the locals.

The governor had warned that “it is high time our people desisted from engaging in illegal mining, as its devastating effect on their health, environment and economy is unquantifiable.”

He added that the irony of this activity was that our people were being exploited, abused and at the end, many lives were put on the line due to health hazards associated with mining and at the longrun, our human capital was being depleted and our environment exposed to danger.

Governor Bello said efforts were on to standardise mining activities in the state, in collaboration with the Federal Government, so that miners and environment were protected and proceeds from exploitation well-coordinated.

Nigerian Tribune

Confirming the development, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Niger State Police Command, DSP Bala Elkana, said the police had sealed off the mining site.

He, however, warned all those involved in the illegal mining activities across the state to desist from such illegal acts, because if caught, they would be made to face the full weight of the law.

Man docked for allegedly defiling friend’s underage daughter FOR allegedly defiling his friend’s 10-year-old daughter, Godwin Itta, was on Monday docked at an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Itta, a factory worker who resides at Balogun Street, Orile Agege, a suburb of Lagos, is facing a charge of defilement.

The prosecutor, Sergeant Rafael Donny, told the court that Itta committed the offence on October 22 at Jibowu Street, Orile Agege, during a visit to his friend’s house.

“The victim, a 10-year-old girl, was the only person the accused met at home.

“The accused pulled the girl on to the floor and defiled her,” he said.

The offence, he said contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011, to which the accused entered a non-guilty plea.

The chief magistrate, Mrs Badejo Okusanya, granted the accused bail of N500, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

She adjourned the case till December 12 for mention.

Okada operators attack Task Force operatives in Apapa •Injure driver, damage agency’s operational vehicles Bola Badmus - Lagos

COMMERCIAL motorcycle operators popularly called okada riders plying restricted routes around Apapa, Lagos State during the last Environmental Sanitation Day exercise in the state attacked operatives of Lagos State Task Force on Environmental Sanitation (Task Force) with stones, matchets, broken bottles and woods.

In the ensuing melee, Metro gathered that a driver of the agency was injured on the head, while windscreens and front lights of four trucks belonging to the agency were vandalised with two other hilux vehicles destroyed. Consequently, the agency said it successfully arrested five of the okada operators who were mainly Chadians and Nigeriens and impounded 27 okadas.

Chairman of the Task Force, Olayinka Egbeyemi, disclosed in a statement made available to newsmen by spokesman of the agency, Mr Taofiq Adebayo, saying okada operators were sighted plying restricted routes in Apapa, picking and dropping passengers without any regard to the Lagos State Environmental during the Sanitation Day. According to Egbeyemi, the motorcycle operators later mobilised themselves in hundreds and attacked task force officials with stones, matchets, broken bottles and woods.

He disclosed that the Lagos State government had since directed that the entire Apapa area be thoroughly rid of miscreants and hoodlums, including motorcycle operators plying restricted routes for a safer and a cleaner environment.

He, therefore, urged all residents living in all nooks and crannies of Apapa and its environs to please give maximum cooperation and support to the agency during the operation ‘Total Enforcement on Environmental Sanitation Execercise’ around Apapa.

7

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

Edited By Oluwatoyin Malik

08116954633, 08078891950 e-mail: tribunecrimedesk@gmail.com

4 FGGC Oyo students die in accident

By Tunde Ogunesan

T

EARS flowed freely as the remains of four students of the Federal Government Girls College, Oyo—two senior secondary school students, one in JSS 1 and the other in JSS 3, who died in a motor accident Sunday afternoon on their way to school from mid-term break at Sabo Market, Oyo, were interred.

Metro learnt that the students, from various destinations, had arrived in Oyo, according to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the school, Mr Akin Olumide Omitade, boarded a bus at Owode motor park en route the school before the unfortunate incident.

The driver of the commercial bus conveying the students, Metro gathered died on the spot.

The affected students, according to Omitade were John Olubukola, SSS3, Giwa Taibat SSS3, Ladipo Mojisola SSS 1 and Ibirogba Maryam JSS 3.

All of them were buried at the public Muslim cemetery and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) cemetery in Oyo, on Monday.

Giving a vivid account of the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Adekunle Ajisebutu, informed Metro that “A DAF truck loaded with garri fell on a Suzuki commercial mini bus conveying the students of the Federal Government College, Oyo.

“As a result, four of the students and the bus driver died, while five others were injured and taken to Peamark Hospital, Oyo for medical treatment.

They are responding to treatment and investigation had since commenced.”

Ajisebutu further informed that the erring driver of the truck had been arrested by the police for further investigation.

The market was also closed for business on Monday when Metro visited the place.

Also, the image maker of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Oyo State, Oluwaseun Onijala, gave the registration number of the affected vehicles as Toyota Hiace bus Oyo BDJ183 XA and a Mercedes Benz with registration number Lagos 911 EPE139 XJ. Onijala further said that the accident which occurred

RRS arrests teenage robbers at hideouts in Lagos Olalekan Olabulo - Lagos

Scene of the accident which claimed FGGC students’

around 4.00 p.m, was as a result of dangerous driving.

Monday morning, the staff, students, parents and family members of the affected students were in a mourning mood as the school management went about perfecting the process of their burial.

As parents and deceased’s classmates were waiting, teachers were also not left out, as they betrayed emotion.

The school’s PRO corroborated the fact that the students were returning from mid-term break and boarded the famous “Korope” com-

mercial bus in Oyo town from Owode, with a parent, who sat in front of the bus.

He revealed that the deceased were trapped at the back seat of bus, a situation which denied them access to rescue operation because people around could not get a towing vehicle to lift the truck on time.

Omitade further added that the school management first contacted the affected parents families, sought their permission, as well as police report before their remains were interred Monday afternoon.

2 siblings, 5 others die in Osun auto crash Oluwole Ige - Osogbo

TRAGEDY struck in Osun State Sunday evening when seven lost their lives in an auto crash on Ibadan/Ife Expressway, just as 11 others sustained injuries.

The accident, which occurred at Gbongan around 5.30 p.m. was said to have claimed the lives of two siblings who were travelling outside Osun State.

Metro gathered the accident occurred when an 18-seater passenger bus lost one of its tyres, swerved off its lane and rammed into Toyota Sienna space bus.

Eyewitness informed Metro that in a desperate bid to control the vehicle,

the driver of the passengers left its lane and collided with the bus which was on its way to Osogbo end of the road.

As a result of the heavy impact of the accident, Metro learnt that the commercial bus, conveying 16 passengers, immediately went in flames.

One of the people, who rescued the victims said “we managed to remove some of the passengers from the commercial bus, but about six people who were trapped in the vehicle got burnt.

“In the other private vehicle involved, one person died on the spot and the other occupant was brought out of the wreckage alive. I

can’t confirm what later happened, but those who were injured were taken to Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH), Ile-Ife for treatment.

“From what we were told when the corpses were being evacuated, two children of same mother died in the commercial vehicle. The mother was travelling in another vehicle. She eventually met their bodies when she arrived at the scene of the crash,” he added.

When contacted, Osun State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Umar Ibrahim, confirmed that seven lost their lives to the crash.

RAHMAN (surname withheld) and six other teenage robbers--Sadiq (15); Timilehin (14); Moyinoluwa (18); Toheeb (19) and Sodiq (17) (surnames withheld) were, at the weekend arrested by the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) during a raid on criminal hideouts in Oshodi, Lagos State.

The 18-year-old robber had blamed his involvement in crimes on the separation of his parents.

“I have been sleeping under Oshodi Bridge since 2013. I work as conductor and whenever I do not, I am with my peers to rob and snatch valuables in Oshodi.

“We were three when we stole a Microsoft phone from a lady’s bag. We pretended to be helping the lady to get a bus, meanwhile, our target was her phone.”

The teenage robber also said “I have been committed to 13-month rehabilitation by the Lagos State Task Force, but my home is at Oshodi Under Bridge .

“We are over 50 boys. We are always in Oshodi Oke from morning till late at night. Some of us genuinely help people to carry their loads, while a lot of us are there to snatch handbags, phones and other valuables from people.

“Most times, we work in groups. While the one of us is helping out, another person is stealing the victim’s valuables either from bag or pocket.

“There are some other guys who forcibly dispossess passersby of their belongings. These gangs operate early in the morning and late at night when their victims are helpless,” he pointed out.

A source at the RRS stated that the weekend raid was part of the efforts of the police to ensure a hitch-free Yuletide season.

He stated that the raid would also take place in other black spots across the state.

The suspects who were brought in batches to the RRS office in Alausa, Ikeja were all apprehended the same day in Oshodi, while brazenly dispossessing commuters of their belongings.

Another suspect, Sadiq, who was allegedly in company with two other boys

while stealing an iPhone and a phantom Tecno phone from a car, said “Osas and Janbele stole the two phones in my presence.

“We have sold the two phones alongside seven other phones to Tuwo in Idi Oro, Mushin. They gave me N7,000 from the proceeds,” he added.

The image maker in charge of the state police command, Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the the arrest of the suspects to the Metro and added that they had been transferred to the Special Task Force on the Environment and Other Related Offences for prosecution.

Kano Assembly passes life imprisonment bill for kidnappers THE Kano State House of Assembly, on Monday, in Kano, passed into law the bill seeking life imprisonment for kidnappers in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the Majority Leader of the Assembly, Alhaji Yusuf Atta, read the Kidnapping, Abduction and Forced Labour Amendment Bill 2016 before the assembly.

Speaking shortly after the plenary, Atta said the committee of the whole House passed the bill after considering the amendment of the bill.

“The law has been in existence since 1963, but did not provide serious punishment for kidnappers, therefore, we have to amend it to suit the current situation,” he said.

Atta, who is a member representing Fagge Constituency, explained that any person found guilty of kidnapping would face life imprisonment without an option of fine.

According to him, anyone found guilty of raping or forced labour will also be sentenced to 15 years without an option of fine.

Also, in an interview with newsmen after the passage of the bill, chairman of the House Committee on Information, Alhaji Salisu Riruwe, said the amendment was a welcome development.

8

news

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

How Buhari is changing leadership perception in Nigeria, Africa —Osinbajo

•Details how N/East would be rebuilt

V

ICE-PRESIDENT Yemi Osinbajo has said President Muhammadu Buhari is beginning to change the narrative and perception of leadership in Nigeria and Africa, because of his widely acclaimed uprightness and honesty.

Osinbajo stated this while delivering a public lecture, entitled: “The Unravelling of Boko Haram and the Rebuilding of the North-East of Nigeria,” at the Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, on Thursday.

Before he spoke, the vice president had been received in the school by the Harvard University Marshall, Ms Jackie O’Neil and Professor Jacob Olupona of the Divinity School, among other top Harvard officials and professors.

Osinbajo said the Buhari presidency offered Nigeria and, indeed, Africa the best opportunity to convince the entire world about leadership perception in the country and the continent.

According to Professor Osinbajo, “the commitment that the Federal Government has made is to be consistent and there is no distrust for the political leadership in Nigeria today, and for good reason, this has promoted the easy embrace of dissenters of all shades by the people.”

According to him, “Nigeria has a great opportunity to change the perception of leadership as being corrupt and unreliable, with President Buhari who is widely acknowledged as being forthright and honest, Mai gaskiya (the truthful one, as he is known in the North).

“Transparency in government, social investments, provision of education and healthcare could improve the government’s image as being responsive.”

Osinbajo, who spoke on some of the causes of Nigeria’s security, social, political and economic challenges, noted that governance failure in the past culminated in the myriad of problems that manifested in the form of terrorism, kidnapping, general insecurity and many others that predated the Buhari government.

On the Boko Haram insurgency, Professor Osinbajo said the inability of previous governments to implement programmes and policies that had direct impact on poor Nigerians, alongside endemic corruption, led to a degeneration of the situation in the North-East.

He, however, expressed optimism that the Buhari government’s posture and actions had changed the narrative for the better, stress-

ing that the international community and Nigerians, including a few skeptics, now believed in the government’s abilities to change things.

“Clearly, one of the strongest reasons for President

Buhari’s victory in the March 2015 presidential election was the expectation that going by his reputation as a nononsense soldier, he would defeat Boko Haram and restore peace to the North-

East.

“He moved quickly to realise this objective, announcing a relocation of the command and control headquarters to Maiduguri right at the heart of the in-

surgency.

“With more effective leadership, command and control, improved logistics and intelligence, better equipment and motivation of the troops, the tide soon turned,”

300 million children live with toxic air —UNICEF

By Bodunrin Kayode with Agency Reports THE United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), on Monday, said about 300 million children live in areas with severe air pollution, about six times higher than international limits.

UNICEF noted in a newlyreleased report that air pollution, both outdoor and indoor, is a major contributing factor in the deaths of about

600,000 children under five years old every year.

The air pollution also threatens the health, lives and futures of millions more.

“Children are uniquely vulnerable to air pollution, breathing faster than adults on average and taking in more air relative to their body weight,” UNICEF said.

According to the agency, children’s lungs, brains and immune systems are still developing, which make them

more susceptible to polluted air that could cause lifetime harm.

“South Asia has 620 million children, the largest number worldwide, living in areas where outdoor air pollution exceeds minimum air quality guidelines set by the World Health Organisation,” UNICEF noted.

It added that indoor pollution is commonly caused by use of fuels like coal and wood for cooking and heat-

35-yr-old SS1 IDP, 299 others receive Catholic School scholarship Soji-Eze Fagbemi-Abuja

A 35-year old Senior Secondary School Internally Displaced Person (IDP), Mr Usman Adamu, has been awarded full scholarship along with other 299 children of IDPs in the 14 camps located in Abuja and Nasarawa states.

Adamu, who was excited at the fortunes bestowed on him, when the Praxix Catholic e-School, Abuja, visited their camp in Abuja, on Monday, to unveil the package for 300 IDP children, said the kind gesture and the scholarship award would afford him the opportunity to return to school.

As part of its Social Corporate Responsibility, the Praxix Catholic e-School, Abuja awarded three years scholarship to the children of IDPs in the 14 camps located in Abuja and Nasarawa states.

Speaking with newsmen at Kunchigoro IDP camp, Games Village in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Onwudinjo said the scholarship given to the children which covers only Junior Secondary (1) and Senior Secondary (1) is geared towards rebuilding the NorthEast.

He also explained that during the holidays, the students would be taught self-reliance skills, and would also be given start-up funds at the end for those who may wish to be self-employed, adding that others would be assisted to further their studies.

Onwudinjo said the school had contacted President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yomi Osibanjo as well as the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma and other

stakeholders on its readiness to engage the children in the next three years.

“Local officials of the 14 IDP camps located in Abuja and Nasarawa states have made available a list of 300 brilliant but indigent children (JS1 and SS1) from Yobe, Adamawa and Borno states to enable us to admit them on scholarship for three years in our school, which we shall pass on to Mr President and the Presidential Commitee on North-East initiative for

their information,” he said.

According to him, the beneficiaries who must be indigeens of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, are to resume at the school from December 9, 2016.

He added that on completion of studies, they would return to the region as special ambassadors to facilitate the rebuilding of the states.

He also said the school had made arrangements for full boarding, books, clothing, medicals, classes/tuition and part of their feeding.

ing, which mostly affects children in low-income and rural areas.

UNICEF said in the report that measures should be taken by all countries to monitor and reduce air pollution, minimise children’s exposure to air pollution and increase their access to healthcare.

The report titled: “Clear the air for children”, was released ahead of the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 22).

The meeting, slated for November 7 to 18 in Morocco’s Marrakesh, is aimed at urging all countries to take actions to cut air pollution soon.

ADEBIMPE

I, formerly Adebimpe Abiodun Adekola now ADEBIMPE ABIODUN MUQTAR. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

BELLO

I, formerly Bello Taiwo Tope now BELLO TAYE TOPE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

he said.

The vice president told his audience that the Federal Government remained committed to rebuilding the devastated North-East region through a comprehensive plan that is also transparent.

According to Professor Osinbajo, “the overall objective of the Buhari plan is to develop a structure and process capable of providing leadership, coordination and synergy in achieving its targeted goals.”

He said the goals are to “restore peace, stability and civil authority in the North-East; coordinate the mobilisation of targeted resources to respond to the humanitarian crisis and jumpstart the region’s economies, while strategically repositioning the region for long-term prosperity.

He stressed the need for stakeholders to partner with government at all levels to counter the ideology of the insurgents as one of the measures of addressing the menace of terrorism.

FATIMA

ADDITION OF NAME: I, formerly Mrs. Fatima Hussaini now MRS. FATIMA HUSSAINI MOHAMMED. All documents bearing these names remain valid. Banks and general public take note.

ADEJO

I, formerly Miss Adejo Ojone Ajara now MRS ABDULLAHI OJONE AJARA. All former documents remain. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

9

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

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Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

11

businessnews

Tuesday, 1 Novermber, 2016

Oil and gas: Nigeria earned N70trn in 14yrs —Report •NNPC identifies N51bn investment potential in gas sector From Ademola Adegbite and Olatunde Dodondawa

E

FFORTS to trace part of the N70 trillion generated by the Federal Government through the oil and gas but which was diverted into private pocket, began on Monday, at the consultative workshop on development of roadmap on beneficial ownership in the sector.

At the well attended ceremony organised by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), held at Apo Apartments in Abuja, the stakeholders stressed the need for the Federal Government to recover all the funds stolen by individuals.

Delivering his welcome address, the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr. Waziri Adio, said Nigerians, especially stakeholders in the sector must ask questions about where the money went.

According to him, “at a time when most resourceintensive countries are in financial turmoil on account of fall in commodity prices, it is tempting to rain on the openness parade, especially with a country that made more than N70 trillion from oil and gas between 1999 and 2014 to slump into economic recession in the second quarter of 2016. By all means, we should ask the N70 trillion question: where did all the money go?

“But we should never give up on transparency.

At a time like this, we need more openness, not less. NEITI will continue to push the envelope on transparency and accountability. We are already going beyond revenue transparency, we are already on the bandwagon of ownership transparency, and we will do more work on expenditure transparency.

In his keynote address, the Minister of Mines and Steel development, who is also the Chairman, NSWG of NEITI, Dr Kayode Fay-

emi, enumerated the task before the stakeholders which was to determine the appropriate and most effective framework for beneficial ownership disclosure.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, on Monday said the Federal Government would give more attention to the development of gas as a major revenue earner for Nigeria.

Kachikwu, who stated this in Abuja at the 10th Nigerian Gas Association Interna-

tional Conference, said that the country was determined to reverse its over-dependence on oil as benchmark for the economy.

The theme of the conference is “Nigerian Gas Roadmap and Its Potential for Regional and Global Influence: Its Implementation, Challenges, Opportunities and New Way Forward.”

“I must say that over the years there has been a blatant neglect of this sector.

We really haven’t focused on gas; all had been on oil production.

A leading indigenous oil and gas company, Oando Plc, has posted a loss of N54.35billion for the third quarter 2016.

This is contained in an unaudited results dated 30 September, 2016, and made available on its website.

Having recoded a sales revenue of N227.8billion for the period, which represented 69.1 per cent increase when compared

the event, said “there exists over $51billion investment in gas processing/transmission and general infrastructural development in the country.”

He stressed further that $16 billion investment opportunity still exists in pipeline milling and fabrication yards, FTZ infrastructure development and concession, port infrastructure, central processing facilities, gas transmission pipelines, as well as LPG plants and real estate development.

From left, MD/CEO, IBEDC, Mr John Doonache; Mr Ade Ayileka, Chief Technical Officer; Capt Gbenga Ajagbe, Chief Asset Protection Officer; Mr Ola Ayodeji, Chief Revenue OptimisatIon Officer and Mr John Ayodele, Deputy MD, IBEDC, at a press conference at Eleyele, IBEDC depot, Ibadan, on Monday. PHOTO: TOMMY ADEGBITE

Electricity infrastructure: IBEDC spends N4.5bn in 10 months

By Ruth Olurounbi

The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has spent N4.5 billion in providing electricity infrastructure in the last 10 months.

Company’s Managing Director, John Donnachie, who made this known on Monday, added that IBEDC has just taken delivery N1 billion worth of equipment to help facilitate network development

and stabilisation, in an effort to meet its customers’ electricity needs.

Donnachie, who played host to some journalists at the company’s Eleyele Injection Substation, where he, along with the management team conducted the journalists on a tour of the facility, said this was in tandem with the company’s strategy improved customer service delivery.

Donnachie said the company has just recently in-

Oando records N54.35bn loss in Q3 results Olatunde DodondawaLagos

“With regard to the recession today, it is clear to us that if we develop a two window of economic earnings, a lot of emphasis will move to gas.

“We are going to be introducing new technical resources, restructuring existing departments and assigning new managers to the existing departments.

These reforms are clearly articulated in the proposed national gas policy,” he said.

The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr Baru Maikanti, also speaking at

with same result of September 2015 when it recorded N134.7 billion as revenue.

It also recorded N87.5 bil However, the company gained N33billion in income tax credit which reduced its losses to N54,35bn.

The tax credit represented 415per cent rise when compared with N37.72billion loss it recorded in September 2015.

Oando Plc has struggled recently, especially after the landmark acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ assets

worth $1.5billion in 2014.

The company, which is listed both in the Nigeria Stock Exchange and Johannesburg Stock Exchange, closed at N5.20 per share and R40 per share as at Friday.

vested more than N1 billion in the purchase of some equipment in an attempt to facilitate network development and stabilisation.

The MD said the company is focusing on improved and enhanced customer service delivery and is developing proper metering plans, and as such it has “spent about N4.5 billion on metering so far this year.”

According to him, the company has just taken a delivery of over N1 billion equipment that would help “facilitate enhanced customer service, network stabilisation, network development.”

Donnachie, who said the company was working to fix some of the old problems in terms of estimated

Corrigendum

In our story with headline “Alleged N200bn insurance scam: Reps summon Customs DG, others,” on Monday, we inadvertently refer to Customs CG as Customs DG. The error is regretted.

Editor

billing, said the new billing system is up and running and appeal to company’s customers to pay their bills.

It will be recalled that the company recently launched a new billing system, tagged Electricity Management System (EMS), which allows customers to pay their electricity bills without physically being at payment points.

Donnachie, therefore, appealed to customers to pay their bills in order to help the company invest in more infrastructures that will boost electricity distribution.

“We are asking our customers to please pay us because if they don’t pay us, we cannot get money to pay for these investments.

We can’t give better service or better electricity if don’t have money to invest. I can tell you we are currently collecting N3.5 billion but we should be collecting N4.5 billion and that because majority of our customers are not paying their bill. A minimum of 56% of our people are not paying,” he said.

Nigerian Tribune

EFCC wades into $56m NPA Calabar dredging scandal Tola Adenubi-Lagos

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority NPA; Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman has revealed that the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) have waded into the controversial $56M Calabar dredging contract.

This is even as findings have revealed that former Directors of the NPA have started running from pillar to post while some are already planning to leave the country.

Disclosing this at a recent joint meeting of both committees of the Senate and House of Representatives on Maritime Transport and National Council on Privatization, Hadiza Bala Usman said that she was not sure if the dredging was actually carried out on the port channel.

According to her, “There is an EFCC investigation on the Calabar Port channel dredging project, just as the Ministry of Transport has also directed the management of the NPA to carry out its own internal findings.

“The Calabar Port channel dredging has become very controversial; there is a need to tread carefully on the matter.”

The NPA boss also revealed that the management had met with the Calabar Channel Management (CCM) Company demanding the hydrographic report and a full data on the status of the contract.

She also hinted that the NPA will also have to wait for the outcome of both the EFCC and NPA’s internal investigation before any payment can be made, or any progress can be made on the project.

“Besides, NPA owns 60 per cent of the joint venture company known as the Calabar Channel Management Limited. We will not make any further payment until we are sure that dredging work was actually carried out.

“Internally, we will ensure that everything that has to do with the Calabar dredging was done following due process”, she added.

Meanwhile, following the revelation that the EFCC is already investigating the controversial dredging contract, some past Directors of the NPA may have already started looking for ways to evade arrest.

12

businessnews

Why NNPC is not pumping petroleum products through system 2B network —NUPENG

T

he Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) on Monday gave reasons for non-pumping of petroleum products through System 2B Pipelines Network by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The South-West Chairman of NUPENG, Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that NNPC was recording a huge financial loss when pumping fuel through the network due to the activities of vandals.

NAN reports that System 2B Pipelines Network is the pumping of petroleum products from Atlas Cove in Lagos Island to Ejigbo to Mosinmi in Ogun to Ibadan to Ore in Ondo State and Ilorin in Kwara.

Since April, the corporation had stopped pumping petroleum products through the network thereby making use of private depots in Apapa to distribute its products.

“NNPC said that for so many years it has been pumping fuel through the network, it has not made any profit.

“If NNPC pumps five million litres of petrol in the night, it will be accosted on its way to its depots before getting to their destination.

“They called on all the Area Managers in all their NNPC depots to sign bond that they will account for all litres of fuel pump into their depots but they said no.

“So, in the alternative, NNPC now have made arrangements with private tank farm owners in Apapa,” Korodo said.

According to him, with this new arrangements, NNPC now brings its vessels to private tank farm owners, drops the products

in their care and collect money after selling.

He said that now that the corporation (NNPC) had made these arrangements, it had led to no vandalism of pipelines because there was nothing to vandalise.

“The exact quantities given to tank farms are the

work because if the corporation pumps five million litres, it will be accosted on the road,” Korodo said.

The NUPENG chairman advised the Federal Government to sell the pipelines network, adding that retaining the asset without being used, was a big loss.

Skye Bank exits 50 employees, outsourced staff Although the numbers of the affected non-core staff were not stated since they are not direct employees of the bank, the reasons for the exit we gathered ranged from performance,

FirstBank attains ISO 9001:2015 quality management systems certification First Bank of Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc and Nigeria’s most valuable bank brand, has achieved the Quality Management Systems certification from the International Standards Organisation (ISO). This certification also known as the ISO 9001:2015 is the latest version of ISO quality standards and FirstBank is the first in the financial services sector in Nigeria to attain this feat.

This recent accomplishment sprouts from the ISO 10002:2004 certification in Customer Satisfaction and Complaints Handling, also obtained by the Bank in October 2015.

These certifications were achieved on the heels of the bank’s drive to improve its management controls and processes that deal with handling customers’ complaints more effectively and effi-

exact amount of money returned to NNPC. “So, government instead of losing as they used to do in the past, they are gaining now.

“Logically, I look at it and discovered that there are man-made blunders in the System 2B Pipelines Net-

From left, Retail Cluster Head, South-West 2 of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited, Mr. Victor Adejimola; Manager, Ado-Ekiti branch of the bank, Mr. Matthew Ofolue; the Lisa of Akureland, High Chief Raymond Olusoga; one of the winners at the third draws of the “FCMB Millionaire Promo Season 3”, Mrs. Mary Ikumapayi; Zonal Head, South-West 1 of FCMB, Mr. Alfred Amubioya and the Zonal Head, South-West 2, Mr. Olusola Abe, during the regional draws of the promo held on October 26, 2016 in Akure, Ondo State.

There are indications that about 50 staff members of Skye Bank and staff in outsourced and auxiliary functions have been exited from its employment.

ciently.

The ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems certification is proof of the Bank’s demonstrated ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer needs as well as applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

Receiving the award on behalf of the Bank, the MD/ CEO of FirstBank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, reiterated the Bank’s commitment to quality standards and the emphasis placed on ensuring customer satisfaction and prompt resolution of complaints that might arise with any of its services.

“The Bank’s attainment of this feat reassures our customers of the Bank’s resilience and continuous improvements in line with global best practice” he stated. Also speaking at the event, Vladimir Cherny, a representative of the British Standards Institution,

Nigerian Tribune

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

auditors of the certification, extolled FirstBank’s focus on continually improving services rendered to customers and imbibing global best practice in customer relationship management.

disciplinary issues as well as right sizing. Most of the affected staff are Staff in Outsourced Functions (SOF) comprising tellers, drivers and internal security guards.

The management of the bank it was learnt has also approved payment of entitlement and severance packages to those affected as contained in their engagement letter and as agreed with the workers union.

It will be recalled that part of the mandate of Skye Bank’s re-constituted board is to run a lean

and efficient organisation; control cost; aggressively recover debts owed by debtors and grow deposit liabilities and shore the liquidity position of the Bank.

Skye Bank, designated

by CBN as one of Nigeria’s eight Systemically Important Bank (SIB), is one of Nigeria’s leading retail and commercial banks with over 373 branches and cash centers across Nigeria offering premium financial services, with subsidiaries in the West Coast of Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Guinea.

Ex-CBN chief backs FG’s plan to borrow $29.9bn DR Titus Okunronmu, a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Director, on Monday commended the Federal Government for its plan to borrow $29.9 billion to finance infrastructure development in the country.

Okunronmu, an ex-staff of the CBN’s Budgetary Department, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ota, Ogun, that borrowing to revamp infrastructural deficit was a welcome idea.

NAN reports that President Muhammad Buhari had on Oct. 25 written to the National Assembly seeking approval to borrow $29.9 billion to finance the nation’s infrastructure development from 2016 to 2019.

President Buhari’s letter said it had become necessary to resort to prudent external borrowing to bridge the financial gap.

He added that the monies would be applied to key infrastructure projects including power, railway and road project amongst others.

Okunronmu said: “If the Federal Government borrows for development, it is good and realistic, but borrowing for consumption is counter-productive to the economy”.

He said that borrowing for investment, not for consumption, would have positive impact on the economy and boost economic growth.

The ex-CBN director said that the expected revenue in 2016 budget was not enough to cover the recurrent expenditure, so the government had to resort to depending on domestic and external borrowing.

He urged the federal government not to borrow from the nation’s banking sector because borrowing from local banks would put more money in circulation, causing inflation.

UBA takes banking saving literacy to rural students

By Tunde Ogunesan

AS part of its efforts to encourage savings among people living outside the state capitals, United Bank for Africa (UBA) on Monday organised savings literacy education to students of Olivet Baptist High school, Oyo, Oyo state.

The team, headed by the Executive Director, Lagos and West banks, Ayoku Adeoye Liadi, while speaking with newsmen yesterday said the aim of the campaign is to encourage savings among upcoming generation in the country.

Over 400 students and teachers from the school were taken through over 30 minutes educative talk on advantage of saving in baking sector, especially at younger age.

According to Liadi, “Banking is what people think is a high activity but it is not, everybody should have an account in a bank.

The students here do not even think that they should have an account in a bank, but with this, I think they will tell their friends and others about having an account in a bank. It’s what if we do it a lot in rural areas

make things better.

“It is important we inculcate the savings culture when people are young.

When you start at a relatively young age, you will grow with it, we are also talking to them but they are been neglected in the past.

We don’t want a situation when you get to university or working that you start saving. When we catch them young like this, and I think the right thought and message is for many people to be bankable.

“This is going to help the system. There are a lot of money outside the bank-

ing system. The number of students we talk to here are about 400 today. This programme is expected to create awareness among the people outside the state capital for savings and financial literacy, most importantly. It is just to encourage people that they need to keep their money in banks for safety purposes to avoid theft.

“That is why Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is trying to implore many commercial banks to go there to tell people that there is need for them to save in a formal institution,” Liadi said.

13

editorial The exit of African countries from ICC

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

T

HE International Criminal Court (ICC) is definitely not in a good position now as Africa, the only continent whose sovereign states submitted to its jurisdiction en-masse, has started to have a rethink.

Indeed, three states, namely Burundi, South Africa and The Gambia, took steps few days ago to oust the jurisdiction of the court over their territories and citizens. South Africa’s decision is particularly astonishing because it is a beneficiary of the firm international stand against apartheid. Thus, its seeming amnesia about the international community’s role in its attainment of freedom is rather astounding.

Ironically, the ICC initially seemed to be the bride of many African countries when they referred cases of opposition figures and rebels to it. But when it became glaring that the court would brook no sacred cows, including the officials of sitting governments, in its investigation of the cases referred to it, the story began to change. Criticism of the court became sharp, and cooperation and support for it began to wane. There are indications that some African countries will soon serve notices of their exit to the United Nations Secretary-General so that, in a matter of one year, they would have effectively withdrawn from the ICC in deference to the provisions of the Rome treaty which birthed it. The foundation for this move was laid at the African Union’s extra-ordinary meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2013 where the leaders decided that the ICC was interfering in the internal affairs of member states. At the said meeting, they condemned the ICC’s investigation of political mass violence against Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto which they claimed violated Kenya’s sovereignty.

Having been ratified by 124 member countries, the ICC is arguably the most potent instrument of global criminal jurisdiction, despite the United States’ reluctance to ratify the Rome treaty it signed. The United States’ seeming halfhearted support for the court and its criticism by African leaders are some of the challenges that it has had to grapple with. The current disposition of African leaders including those who are serving notices of withdrawal from the ICC is predicated on alleged bias in the court’s execution of its core mandate of prosecuting genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It is alleged that there are about 30 Western countries which committed heinous crimes since the inauguration of the ICC, but that not one Western war criminal has been indicted.

Nigerian Tribune

Though this allegation has yet to be substantiated, the fact that no citizen from the West has been indicted for crimes against humanity is not a sufficient ground to sustain the accusation of bias without considering the relative number and merit of the cases referred to the court from each continent. Again, no one should pretend that the very strong judicial systems and legal structures in many of the western countries being cited are incapable of dealing decisively and dispassionately with heinous crimes. But the same can hardly be said of African countries.

Yet, the impression continues to be created in the official circles that the ICC targets African citizens, especially their leaders, for persecution and humiliation. This is rather doubtful. Even though the six cases so far tried were African matters, these cases were referred to the ICC by the affected African states in the first place. Paradoxically, the most vociferous critics of the court today are countries and Heads of State that have referred matters to it for adjudication, prompting insinuations in some quarters that the court is being carped because it has refused to serve the selfish interests of the leaders. We enjoin African leaders to focus more on issues around the fairness and justness of the verdicts of the court on those that have been tried, and not on colour. Obviously, the people of Africa need the ICC more than their counterparts in other continents.

And given the tendency of many African leaders to be fascistic, the current criticism of the ICC and the decision of three of them to withdraw their membership portend danger. The court’s existence has helped to caution many African leaders in power and outside of it. They know that there would be consequences ultimately for their actions.

This has been quite helpful in climes where leadership recruitments in particular are seen as a do-or-die affair with ordinary citizens being used as cannon folder. Perhaps it is this potential repercussion that has triggered the exit clamour by the leaders. For instance, it is instructive to note the nexus between the investigation of pre- and postelection violence that attended the Burundian leader, Pierre Nkurunziza’s third term of office and the country’s exit from the ICC. Nonetheless, we urge the ICC to look into the grievances of critics and demonstrate clearly that it is not biased.

But it should resist the temptation to spare criminals in the corridors of power just because they are critical of its activities.

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Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

LETTERS TO THE

editor

Letters to the editor should be sent to letterstribune@yahoo.com or by sms to 08054005323. It MUST be accompanied by the full name and address of the writer.

How to make the naira stronger

M

ANY people may be blaming the current fall in the price of crude oil for the fall in the value of naira against the dollar, but as an economist, I would say that the demand for dollars is the major reason our local currency is falling.

The United States dollars is the major currency used in global trade, and the demand for the currency by importers is what determines the exchange rate.

In Nigeria, we import everything, from petroleum products, to used cars, building materials, electronic products, agricultural produce, among others. It is so unfortunate that we also import table water and tooth picks.

With all these, the demand for dollars by importers is usually high, and when the demand is high, price goes up.

Apart from importers who demand for dollars, Nigerian students who are studying abroad also demand for dollars to pay their tuition, as well as for their daily expenses abroad. It was once reported that Nigerian students pay over $1billion as tuition annually to foreign universities.

However, if we are to reduce our demand for the US greenback, then we need to produce more in the country so that we wouldn’t need to import again. Nigerians also need to have faith in our education system. If our children can’t gain admission into the government tertiary institutions, there are private universities that are as good as those in Europe and America. It is so shocking that Nigerian students have now flooded universities in Ghana, Togo and Benin, when they can eas-

ily study back at home.

In the area of trade, Nigeria is the country that imports the largest number of bags of rice in the world; we ‘ship’ our hard earned dollars to these Asian rice farmers when we can actually develop our agricultural sector.

In the areas of the importation of cars, we can make the automotive policy, which was made popular during the last administration work by producing more ‘Made in Nigeria’ cars, and then making the banks loan Nigerians money to acquire brand new cars, instead of the used cars we import from Europe.

We can do this for everything that we import, including petroleum products, which we can actually refine at home. When all these are in place, the demand for dollars will reduce, and then the fall

of the naira will stabilise. I must, however, say that this is not a day’s job, as it requires long-term planning.

We should, therefore, start working towards becoming an export-oriented country, instead of an import-dependent one. However, the decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria

(CBN) to license International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) will not help reduce the burden on the naira. Already, Travelex and other financial firms have been licensed to sell forex to Bureau De Change (BDCs), but as long as we keep importing everything into the country, our forex

demand will continue to outweigh the supply by Travelex and other finance firms.

We, therefore, only need to produce more locally instead of importing those things we can produce in the country.

•Yetunde Soares, Lagos.

Of corps members and military training I recently read an opinion article online stating that those doing their youth service should be made to undergo military training, especially in gun handling, and when there is an insurgency or war in the country, such youths should be drafted to fight alongside the regular soldiers. The believe of the writer is that ‘graduate’ reservists will be more tactical on the war front, and as a result, there will be less loss of lives as

we experienced while the Boko haram insurgency was at its peak.

The writer of the article cited the case of Israel, where there are regular soldiers, as well as reservists, who are civilians but have had military training, and whenever there is war, they are called up for military service. Apart from Israel, there are also other Western countries practising this military system.

However, I totally want to disagree with the writer of this article that this cannot work in Nigeria for certain reasons.

First, the countries that have reservists are countries with small populations, and when there is a huge war on their hands, they call-up their reservists to join the war. Nigeria has a huge population, and as such, we can maintain a huge military, so there is no need to call up reserve soldiers during war.

Secondly, those countries that use this type of military arrangement have good economies; in the last Israeli war against the Palestinians, I was surprised that some of the reservists were medical doctors, teachers, nurses, and even businessmen, and after the war, they return to their civilian life.

This cannot be said about Nigeria where there is huge unemployment crisis; at the moment, highlyeducated unemployed youths are responsible for more than half of the crimes being perpetrated in the country.

So if our youths are now trained to handle guns like soldiers, then it would make it easier for them to start armed robbery ‘business’ as soon as they finish their service year and could not get jobs.

•Festus Idoko, festy_idoko737@yahoo.ca

Economy: FG, learn from Saudi Arabia THE Nigerian government and other oil producing nations are seriously feeling the impact of the slump in oil prices, and all the countries have devised ways through which they could survive the tough times.

In the Gulf states, the governments have already removed subsidies which the citizens enjoyed before now, while also introducing tax. It may surprise Nigerians that the majority of the citizens of these states, before the current economic crisis, did not pay taxes.

In Saudi Arabia, political office holders and members of the royal family have taken a 20 per cent

pay-cut, which has, therefore, been diverted to other purposes to assist the economy bounce back to the pre-recession era.

Therefore, our political office holders should take a pay reduction as it was done in Saudi Arabia. Our politicians earn so much that it baffles me that a struggling economy like Nigeria can continue to service the pay of those in government. While Saudi Arabia’s political office holders took a 20 per cent pay cut, those in Nigeria should take a 40 per cent reduction in pay.

•Hakim Jabar, Abuja.

15

opinion

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Silence, the fuel of injustice

with Vera Onana

A

BOUT seven decades ago, while speaking to the representatives of the Confessing Church in Frankfurt, Martin Niemöller dropped a ‘seed’ that has gained immortality, as mortals will definitely quote parts of his speech for decades to come.

For me, one of the most powerful phrases interred in Niemöller’s speech is this: ‘ I remained silent, I did not speak up.’

Lately, I have come to doubt the totalitarian veracity of the saying: ‘silence is golden’ because by silence, kingdoms were lost to usurpers, true heirs became lifetime slaves, the unbesmirched wallowed in dungeons for centuries and by silence, justice was repeatedly denied.

King Solomon, in all his splendor, wrote the book of Ecclesiastes in his old age and begun the first verse of the third chapter saying “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…” He was the wisest mortal to have walked the face of the earth and till this day, his wisdom, while it remains a conundrum, remains unrivalled. Yet, this wise man, insisted that for everything under the heavens, is a time. I concur and I make bold to say that there is a time to speak and a time to be silent, but often times, mortals in all their mythical infallibility, fail to recognise and distinguish the times.

Your silence, in as much that it could be golden, may be your undoing if you fail to properly interpret the times.

Allow me to buttress this with an incident I was alerted of recently. One, which I hope would be didactic. The victim, a young lady in her late 20s, lives on the topmost floor of a 10 room apartment in one of the South West states.

It was a hot Sunday afternoon and she had just returned from church to find to her uttermost surprise that the electricity distributors of the region, on a terribly hot Sunday, were magnanimous enough to grace her area, a place notorious for electricity black out. An euphoric lady, took a quick cold shower and decided to nap under the soothing

veracity veraonana@gmail.com 08054680688

breeze of her occasionally creaking ceiling fan. Seconds after she drifted to sleep, the silence of the room and the beads of precipitation on her forehead woke her from her reverie. Thinking the electricity distributors had used up their Sunday benevolence, she decided to go out for some fresh air, but there in the middle of the compound was a rancor. Neighbors from the other apartments held a certain man hostage and there was a huge pandemonium. She later gathered on getting close to the berserk crowd that the power cut was as a result of the captive tampering with electricity wires, and he was being held hostage until he fixed it.

True, after severe yelling from occupants, the man touched some wires and electricity was restored in their

respective apartments, save for this young woman. The crowd simply dissipated, but left with no choice, she approached the handy man and demanded an explanation.

With irritation, he told her off, saying he had nothing to do with the black out in her apartment, as he made for the gate.

That was the instant the music changed, earlier, an angry mob of occupants held him, but this time, it was a single woman, raising her voice for justice. She shut the gates and insisted he was going nowhere till power came back on in her apartment. He thought it was some bluff, the inconsequential ranting of a woman, he assumed, but for two hours, she rattled him. He gave a litany of excuses but eventually, he got a ladder and after three hours, her power came back on. No other occupant joined her…they all went into their apartments, content because their power had been restored. What if she had kept quiet? Would justice have been served?

Niemöller closed his speech saying: ‘Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me…’ When caught between the rock and the hard place and there is no one to plead your cause, will you be silent? Who said a closed mouth is a dead destiny?

RE: ‘I MAY BELONG TO THE KITCHEN IF…’ Unfortunately, we (women) are making noise over nothing. I would rather belong in the kitchen and the other room with all my qualifications and experience, why?

Those are the places where the power of change and getting of things done lie. Many men are more amiable and willing to give after a satisfactory time in both rooms. Perhaps Aisha Buhari doesn’t get this because if she does, getting rid of the cabal in Aso Rock will be child’s play. +234818044****

Tackling corruption together

By Tunji Aworinde

CORRUPTION has, apparently, become everyday byword in our society so much so that we have, in a way, become desensitised to the cancer that corruption is. A kind of octopus with tentacles with national and global reach. The press and especially, Transparency International Daily Corruption News paint a picture of a global menace and a ‘cancer at the heart of so many of our world’s problems’ and more important, presumably, to security of nations than terrorism!

What is corruption? How has corruption become the cancer at the heart of worlds’ problems? Why had attempts by nations and global institutions and law enforcement failed to arrest escalation of corruption in society?

While battling their own corruption problems, the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, the commonwealth, the African Union, all have anti-corruption conventions. The most recent anti-corruption effort on a global scale was the gathering of world leaders, institutions and NGOs in London in the spring of 2016 for the ‘Tackling Corruption Together’ conference and summit. Why should the world hope in this gathering as panacea to all of our corruption problems where others have failed?

This article is aimed, primarily, at contributing to discussion and debates on anti-corruption agenda in Nigeria and in the context of the ‘Tackling Corruption Together’ conference and summit and the country’s commitment document; at reminding Nigerian political leaders of the ‘nation’s commitment’ document signed by President M Buhari to tackling corruption in the country and that non- implementation of the commitments in full would deepen further, despair and distrust of the government by the governed. It is also aimed at exploring possible corruption causation, history and assumed solutions.

The conference and summit brought together forty three countries from around the world together with representatives from the UN, NGOs and civil organisations, for a grand anti-corruption event with the now familiar theme ‘Tackling Corruption Together’. A joint anti-corruption declaration was signed and 600 specific country commitments made.

But what is corruption? The word may be subject to different interpretations depending on situation and context. The Oxford English Dictionary defines corruption as dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery; the process by which a word or expression is changed from its original state to one

regarded as erroneous or debased. In computing, corruption may mean the deliberate modification of data on a computer and rendering it useless.

Transparency International (TI) defines corruption broadly and used in the context of this article, as ‘the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It can be classified as grand, petty and political, depending on the amounts of money lost and the sector where it occurs. Political corruption is a manipulation of policies, institutions and rules of procedure in the allocation of resources and financing by political decision makers, who abuse their positions to sustain their power, status and wealth’.

What is the human behaviour motivating corruption? Dr D Cressey, an eminent American Criminologist and Sociologist explores, in ‘Other People’s Money’, motives, adapted for this article, for financial fraud (corruption) as including financial pressure; peer pressure, lust for wealth and fame; greed; family and or community expectations etc. His work provides us with some insights into financial criminal behaviour but short on explaining why some individuals in a group of people, in similar occupation with similar remuneration, in the same country, choose to ‘steal’ and some do not!

Speakers at the London conference on corruption failed to define ‘Tackling Corruption Together’. The presumption, one would imagine, was that we all understood those three words! A definition proposed for the purpose of this article, is ‘the coming together of international community, waking up to the ‘cancer’ that corruption is, especially, to the poor, and coming together to propose a ‘cure’ for the cancer’.

The global collaboration proposed and promoted by the conference and summit was, especially, apt, with the conference taking place in the backdrop of the ‘Panama Papers’. The data leak in April 2016, by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, laying bare the extent to which corruption, tax evasion, and other

criminality is made possible by the global offshore industry.

The thrust of the conference and summit was assumed to engraving anti-corruption ‘ammunition’ at the heart of governments, international institutions and organisations by means of corruption preventing measures: building integrity; ending impunity and upholding the rule of law by punishing culprits and protecting and empowering citizens and businesses reporting corruption. Tools and policies promoted for realising these objectives were centrally and publicly availability of ownership of company registers; beneficial ownership transparency in property ownership and purchasing; transparency in public procurement, contracting and open data and transparency in the extractives sector and the protection of whistleblowers.

Statements by government leaders before, during and post conference may go down, one assumes, as some of the strongest anti-corruption and impunity fighting talk. These were aimed; it appears, at pressing home destructive impact of corruption and impunity. Mr. John Kerry, the US Secretary of State ranked the fight against corruption as more important to future security of nations than terrorism, while Mr. David Cameron, the former British Prime Minister attributed corruption to ‘the cancer at the heart of so many of the world’s problems… It destroys jobs, traps the poorest in poverty, and weakens security…..’

The cancer is prevalent perhaps, in Africa more than any other continent. The Rev Susanne Matale, (General Secretary of the Council of Churches in Zambia) appears to reflect on this in her contribution to the conference’s ‘leaders anti-corruption manifesto’; suggesting that ‘corruption isn’t just about the individuals that benefit; the crooked politicians, the officials that look the other way, the businessman that offers bribes or the lawyer that provides the cover.

Corruption isn’t just about the individuals that suffer; the teacher that goes unpaid, the small businesswoman that loses out on a contract, the worker crushed in the collapse of a sub-standard building or the child that dies from hunger. These are certainly important stories and they need to be exposed. Corruption harms African countries and robs our people of their livelihoods and dignity. It is estimated that over 30per cent of African wealth is held offshore while over $50 Billion is estimated to leave Africa illicitly every year.’

One good news is that Nigeria stands to benefit not only on global collaboration platform afforded by the conference and summit, but more importantly by implementing to the letter, its nations commitment paper.

•Aworinde is a Chartered and Forensic Accountant.

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Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

agriculture ‘How we plan to use youths to reposition agric sector’ Obiora Anthonia, a director at Indexpro Solution Limited and Executive Director, Young Africans Empowerment an NGO that specialised on youth empowerment, spoke with COLLINS NNABUIFE on how to engage youths in agriculture.

W

HAT are the activities of your or-

ganisation?

Young Africans Empowerment and Development Initiative (YAEDI) as the name implies is an organisation that engages in entrepreneurship training and youth development projects that promote development and sustainability of Africa as a whole. Our slogan is “Africa Must Survive.” We focus mainly on the informal sector of the economy as we all know that for any nation to attain high level of development and sustainability, the informal sector would have been seriously looked into and taken very paramount.

Basically we provide weekly, monthly or more part time jobs for our trained marketers, sales representatives, brand promoters/ exhibitors, run way models, ICT trained members and many other fields.

We recently unveiled our project in Agriculture called “Food Tank Nigeria” which hopes to exist in all states of Nigeria and engage youth in ending food scarcity, creating job and promoting food storage using recent technology and different methodology.

What is Food Tank Nigeria all about?

African economic history has often focused on explanations of poverty and obscures other aspects such as the achievements of African farmers, traders and states, including improvements in food security, and episodes of economic growth In Nigeria, according to the National Bureau of Statistics in its 2012 national youth survey report; youths of working age, in the age bracket of 15 to 35 years are nearly 70 million persons in a population of 166 million Nigerians and of these youths 54 per cent are unemployed That is why our project is apt. We have five clusters in the Food Tank Nigeria which are basically farm products that are also raw materials for many other companies and also finished produces, ready for consumption. These clusters in-

clude, tomato farmers cluster, cassava farmers cluster, livestock farmers cluster, fish farmers cluster and vegetable farmers cluster Our aims and objective are basically solving the inherent problems in our communities and country at large. And we are engaging 2000 youths in each state in agriculture and food production which combats the unemployment problems and widens the informal sector which on the long run boost the generated revenue of the state.

What are the categories of people are you engaging?

The level of unemployment in Nigeria is very high and alarming, our organisation has therefore created an umbrella to cover 1million Africans that are unemployed , low income earners in categories of vulnerable youths, young men and women, children. They are automatic members and at the end of the day, they will be productively active, gainfully employed as the case may be towards the achievement of financial freedom, mentors to many, community builders, well nurtured future leaders,

and many more proficient outputs in the society.

How many youths have benefited from your programmes?

Here in the FCT, about 200 out of 250 members have benefited while we have 1000 youths that is the Tech farmers already on

standby to commence the programme in our 40 hectares land located in Benue State and the FCT. What do you mean by tech farmers?

Ok, this is hydroponics farming. Hydroponic is the act of growing plants without the use of soil, but

just water as medium and liquid nutrients. The term Hydroponics was coined from Greek words-HYDRO, which means water, and PONIC, which means work.

It is an age-long technology which dates back to the hanging gardens of Babylon.

The commercial purpose of which is feeding livestock.

This wonderful technology started in the1960s in Australia and has spread to the rest of the world. Our farming system is quite new, technology and modern day driven. Not just the mechanised farming that we know but the SOIL LESS farming that has been in existence since 1960 and yet to have less or no people engage in them here in Nigeria. Our tomato, Cabbage, lettuce, betruse, and many imported fruits will be Greenhouse grown with soil less farming system.

How do you generate funds and intend to empower those that undergone the programme financially?

For now we are being supported financially by well-meaning Nigerians within and in the diaspora who believe in our visions and objectives. We don’t assist our members financially, we believe in teaching them how to fish than giving them fish. Financial assistance only goes to members

that are already entrepreneurs and face challenges along the line, we intervene and such members can access our loan facility.

We implore relevant agencies and more individuals who believe in Africa to support us in achieving our goals.

Since all attention is turning toward Agriculture now do you think you will fit in with your mission?

The new African food system should be built around the idea that agriculture is about more than producing calories; it is about changing society. Its five components should be valuing the smallholder farmer, empowering women, focusing on the quality as well as the quantity of food, creating a thriving rural economy, and protecting the environment,” writer Kofi Annan and Sam Dryden in the preface. We must dare to think big and change our mind set. Soon it will be AFRICA’s turn to help feed the world!

We intent to campaign tirelessly to our youth to embrace agriculture as a means of livelihood and also availability of food to immediate family and society.

Many graduates in Nigeria consider farming as a layman’s business or uneducated people’s business, which is a wrong intuition.

NgSHC-South: Improving farmers’ prosperity through integrated approach As researchers propose new approaches to soil fertility, management

By Ruth Olurounbi FOLLOWING soil management challenges faced by Nigerian farmers, the Nigerian Soil Health Consortium South (NgSHC-South) has proposed a solution in Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM).

The ISFM, the consortium says is a strategy that helps low resource endowed farmers mitigate many problems and the characteristics of poverty and food insecurity by improving the quantity and quality of food, income and resilience of soil productive capacity.

In a policy and research meeting supported by the IITA, WASHC and AGRA and held at the Institute of

Agricultural Research and Training last week, Project Coordinator, NgSHCSouth, Dr Olufunmilayo Ande, said several solutions developed for soil management have not yielded desired results, thus the development of a new strategy that would increase farmer’s yields and consequently, their prosperity.

Delivering her paper, Need to Boost Agricultural productivity and Food Security Using Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM), Ande said trends in soil fertility management showed over the years that poor inherent soil fertility common in the Nigerian soils results in very low yields of arable crops especially with the small scale farmers and

consequently pushed the production frontier into the more marginal lands.

The attendant result, according to her, has put smallholder and marginalised farmers at risk of crop failure and hunger.

She lamented that mineral fertiliser introduced to boost production could not alleviate poverty within the farming community due to its scarcity and lack of affordability by farmers. Moreso, she said average fertiliser used ranged between 15 and 17kg/ha “which is far below Abuja declaration of 50kg / ha of fertiliser.”

Moreover, she added, “the level of soil degradation makes use of mineral fertilizers alone is insufficient which

necessitate use of organic fertilisers.”

Commenting on the ineffectiveness of organic fertilisers, she said although organic fertilisers have capability to improve soil physical, chemical and biological qualities, but because it those fertilisers have low nutrient reserve and this necessitates use of high quantity to meet crop requirements.

“These limitations including poor quality have prompted research into combined use of organic and inorganic which has resulted to significant increase in crop yield and reduced rates of both fertilisers,” she said.

These challenges, she said, necessitated a development of

an integrated approach in soil fertility and management.

“The increasing agricultural productivity thus needs holistic approach coupled with issues of climatic variability and various local adaptations such as soil variability, moisture stress, slope etc.

Hence, the need for Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) to improve soil fertility and increase per unit crop production within the smallholder farmers cropping systems in the region,” she added.

The ISFM, she said, could increase the availability of organic resources within farms, mainly from crop residues and/or farmyard manure, will reduce the dependence of farmers

17

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

For enquiries, contact:

08116954637, 08039521408

FAO raises the alarm over severe malnutrition, food insecurity in 16 states Collins Nnabuife - Abuja

T

HE Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations have the raised alarm over the low food consumption level and malnutrition in 16 states of the country.

Dr Louise Setshwaelo, the Country Representative of the organisation, stated this in Abuja at a stakeholder’s workshop to analyse the 2016 food and uutrition security situation in the nations 16 states.

Represented by Dr Rabe Isa-Mani, the Assistant FAO Representative in Nigeria, Setshwaelo said urgent assistance and intervention were needed from policy makers to tackle the problems.

The country representative noted that the situation would grow worse if nothing was done to address it within the next few years.

She listed the states affected to include Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Kebbi States.

While others are Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara, Niger and Plateau States.

Vibrant banana market in Nigeria: IITA helps improve livelihoods and increase employment. PHOTO BY IITA The country representative said the situation was reflected in the data gathered during a study conducted in the states between September 2015 and 2016.

Setshwaelo appealed to the Federal Government to address the plights of citizens in those states and make provisions for them in the 2017 budget.

“We started the study last year. We are able to do a focused one for the North East and now we have expanded the coverage to other eight states.

“We have moved from the extreme northern states to the middle belt.

We are beginning to insti-

tutionalise the data collection and the analysis.

“The analysis gives you different levels of the vulnerability and to help policy makers make knowledge-based decisions.

“In addition to the food insecurity issue that was

caused by insurgency, there are other food insecurity issues in the other parts of the country,” he said.

Dr Hanadan Mahalnoondon, the Coordinator, Permanent Inter-state Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), said

UCH set to diversify into agribusiness, partners Harvest Plus for food fortification Collins Nnabuife - Abuja THE University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan has announced its move to diversify into agribusiness from routine medical operations and partners Harvest Plus for food fortification.

This was stated by the Chief

Medical Director, UCH, Professor Temetope Alonge, during his visit to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh.

Alonge said that the Oyo State Ministry of Agriculture has agreed to give the hospital 20 acres of land to meet the various groups operating

Experts call for mechanisation of cassava production on inorganic fertiliser and pave way for availability of exportable organic crops to countries that have well embraced organic produce; and consequently increase the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

For the adoption of this new strategy, Ande said there is a need for training and capacity building of stakeholders including researchers, policy makers, agro-input dealers, farmers and extension agents; development of relevant knowledge products for ISFM dissemination, integration of ISFM practices and advocacy for inclusion of ISFM into all agricultural development projects/ programmes, among others.

Olayinka Olukoya - Abeokuta

IN order to increase cassava value chain from staple crop to an industrial one, experts have called its mechanisation production.

The experts who converged on Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, at a workshop organized by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the African Agricultural Technology Foundation in conjunction with the state government for growers of Cassava in the state.

The theme workshop is “Economically sustainable approaches to the provision of field mechanization services for cassava farmers in

that the 16 states assessed were affected by insurgency.

CILSS, an international organisation consisting of ECOWAS member states, conducted the study in collaboration with the FAO and other international organisations.

Nigeria.”

The Deputy Director, Agricultural Development, Bills and Melinda Gates Foundation, Enock Chikava, said that the mechanisation of cassava production would lead to revolution and industrial growth if properly harnessed.

“Cassava is a very important crop, it is a important food, an important staple crop with almost 3.5m hectares of land.

“We need to be coming up with newer and better varieties of cassava that will give you a much needed bigger yield potential.”

The Director, Technical Operations, African Agricultural Technology

Foundation, Dr Emmanuel Okogbenin, said the workshop aimed at finding a way to make mechanisation accessible to farmers.

He explained: “Mechanisation is very important, mechanisation is not just for planting, it is also for processing and for transfer of cassava roots to the factories in earnest.

“Mechanisation makes it efficient, it helps you to run your operations at a very good cost and levels, so that you can expand on your profit margin and it also helps you to become a successful entrepreneur that can take up additional ideals that boost the cassava industry.”

under, University College Hospital Agriculture Initiative, UCHAI. “With a workforce of almost 6,000 serving staff and increasing number of retirees of over 2,000, the management of the University College Hospital, UCH, has deemed it necessary to expand the University College Hospital Agriculture Initiative, UCHAI, Ventures to accommodate retirees some who are still agile enough and willing to make a living through agriculture.

“The Oyo State Ministry has agreed to increase the present allocation of 20 acres of land to meet the various groups operating under UCHAI. We have also established a working relationship with Harvest Plus, an international organisation situate in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA. “This relationship has two prong approaches. One of which is the sourcing for raw material in the various value chains in agriculture and the second has to do with the science of nutrition and healthy living which is premised on fortification of foods,” he said.

IITA cited for its efforts in improving food and nutrition security FOR its sustained efforts in undertaking groundbreaking research and development that continues to positively affect the lives of millions on the African continent, IITA has been recognized with the 2016 Al-Sumait Prize for Food Security.

IITA shares the prize with sister center, International Potato Center (CIP), which was cited for its work on orange-fleshed sweet potato to address Vitamin A deficiency. The two CGIAR centers are the first laureates for food security.

The award was announced by the Al-Sumait board of Trustees in Kuwait on 17 October, and will be officially conferred by the Amir of the State of Kuwait and the President of Equatorial Guinea during a ceremony at the Fourth Arab African Summit in Equatorial Guinea on 22 November.

IITA was specifically recognized by the Al-Sumait board of Trustees for its work in improving the yields and nutritional quality of major staple food crops, such as cassava, banana, and maize.

IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga, when asked for a comment said: “We are proud of this award and we thank the Al-Sumait Prize for recognizing the efforts of IITA and our partners in helping African farmers and communities improve their livelihoods and enhance food and nutrition security through research and development on major food staples.”

The prize highlights IITA’s work on key areas that have contributed to food security for millions of Africans, including Striga resistant maize and drought-tolerant maize; Vitamin A maize with the first released orange maize varieties coming from IITA; soybean varietal enhancement and deployment across Africa; cowpea germplasm/varieties from IITA’s genebank cowpea to income increase in northern Nigeria; cassava breeding work; plantain and banana varietal improvement; and 10 years of systems research in a project called Consortium for Improving Agriculture-based Livelihoods in Central Africa (CIALCA).

18

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016 With Tommy Adegbite 0811 695 4631 tommyabijo@yahoo.com

The Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale (left) and Prince Ayoade Lawal, at a wedding in Lagos, recently.

PHOTO: TOMMY ADEGBITE.

From left, national president, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Dr Ayoola Oduntan; chairman, PAN Lagos chapter, Mr Adetoyi Olabode; chairman on the occasion, Chief Tunde Badmus and other executive members of PAN Lagos chapter, during the 2016 poultry show and exhibition, organised by PAN Lagos chapter, recently.

Lagos State Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Hyginus Omeje (second right); Zone RS2 Coordinator of Special Marshals, Mr Toyin Kadiku (second left); newly elected state coordinator of Special Marshal, Mr Sola Olojede (right), and other executive members, after their election, recently.

From left, Honourable Diran Alabi, Mr Lere Adigun and Alhaji Aderemi Adeleke, at the skills acquisition programme of Honourable Alabi, held at Celestial Church High School, Joyce B Road, Ibadan, last week. PHOTO: PETER OYEBAMIJI

From left, Managing Director, Durabil Construction Company, Mr Abass Hammoud; Managing Director, BAL Engineering Ltd, Mr Bashiry Atunde Lawal and the Executive Secretary, BAL Engineering Ltd, Nike Arokoyo at the kick-off of construction of Geri-Alimi Split Diamond Interchange by the Kwara State govenror, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed, recently.

Chairman, management committee, SPED International Secondary School, Oyo, Mr Abiodun Atolagbe, flanked by other committee members, P.T.A executive members, staff and students of the school, during the presentation of classroom furniture worth N4 million, donated by the PTA.

From left, Mr Aluko Ojo; Mrs Eunice Dairo; the couple, Mr and Mrs Gbenga Rotimi Dairo; Mrs Abosede Sodunke and Mr Waheed Olunloyo, during the wedding of Mr and Mrs Dairo, at Oke Itunu, Ibadan. PHOTO: PETER OYEBANJI

From left, guest speaker, Dr Babatunde Isreal Ekundayo; chairman on the occasion, Professor A.E. Akinla; acting Director-General, Nigeria Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Professor Victor Abimbola Adeyeye and Professor F.O. Roberts, during seminar series of NISER,held at the conference hall, Ojoo, Ibadan. PHOTO: YEMI FUNSO-

Forbookings, bookings,contact contact’Laolu ’LaoluAfolabi Afolabion on08054681741 08054681741 or or Tommy TommyAdegbite Adegbiteon on08116954631 08116954631 For

19

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Tunde Busari 08127593530 Yejide Gbenga - Ogundare 08116706853 Tunde Ogunesan 08116954634

Nigerian Tribune

The

South-West Editor Kehinde Oyetimi 08074626431

Got news for us; contact: southwesttribune@yahoo.co.uk or southwesttribune@gmail.com

Tribal marks

Art caught between tradition and modernity

Whether it’s two lines drawn vertically on each cheek, or a series of lines, sometimes numbering seven or more for each cheek, tribal marks for indigenes of the South-West serve various purposes, including, identification, beautification, and protection. For those so marked, they hold by those lines a rich heritage of history and sometimes, are an illustration with mysterious implications. KEHINDE OYETIMI examines the intricacies surrounding the seemingly fading age-long tradition of the Yoruba tribal marks practice.

G

OMBO, Abaja, Pele, Owu, Jamgbadi, Mande, Bamu, Ture, among others, constitute the various kinds of tribal marks existing for indigenes of the South-West. Tribal marks, popularly known as ila in Yoruba language is a part of Yoruba culture. Dating back to over 200 years ago, the practice of marking people according to tribe has its worth in the rich history and tradition of the Yorubas.

Some early accounts hold that tribal marks became popular after Sango’s wife asked that an adulterous slave be beaten and given scars on her face, especially because she was beautiful. However, according to the account, the scars only made the slave more beautiful and as such, tribal marks became popular. Another account states that tribal marks became popular during the slave trade as means of identification of

people from various tribes.

Tribal marks vary according to ethnicity. According to enroute.ng, there are various kinds of tribal marks according to area.

Gombo The Ogbomosos people in Oyo state have a quite interesting pattern. It usually comes with six lines from the middle of the head to the jaw on both sides and one across from under the jaw bone, another one right across the nose ridge. It consists of multiple straight and curved lines about a half of an inch apart inscribed on the cheeks on both sides of the mouth.

Inside

Tita riro la’n ko’la; T’oba jina tan, adi oge (The process of having tribal marks can be a gruesome, dreaded experience; but when it heals, it becomes beautiful)

Oja Oba: Here, royalty meets commerce

Abaja People from Ibadan have four or three horizontal lines on both cheeks straight to the boundaries of the ears, often thicker than that of Ogbomoso’s. Abaja can be both basic and also complex in style. In its basic form, it is either three or four horizontal stripes on the cheeks. This tribal mark is unique to the indigenes of Oyo, Nigeria.

Pele The Pele style is three longitudinal lines, inscribed on the cheeks. Pele have different variants. The variants include: Continues on pg21

‘At Lagos Country Club, we don’t compromise family values’

20 thesouth-west

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

ICON

Adisa Osiefa: The making of a social commentator One of the notable indigenes the ancient town of Epe can always put forward, in terms of exploits in academics, commerce as well as social is Otunba Adisa Osiefa, the 75-year-old whose voice on national issues are difficult to ignore. TUNDE BUSARI writes on what has made him tick over the years.

O

TUNBA Adisa Osiefa’s contribution to public issue of interest on popular radio stations in Lagos and newspapers are quite invaluable that reporters and editors always keep his phone numbers permanently in their diaries.

To him, sharing his views on government policies is his passion and his own input into the governance once he has chosen to stay away from partisan politics.

Although he is blessed with enough resources needed to be a big politics player, even at national level, he believes everybody should not be in politics, especially in a society where political might is elevated over political right.

However, he does not have anything against the players. Indeed, a good number of his bossom friends are active members of different political parties and they all enjoy their mutual respect for one another.

His politician-friends know and appreciate him for whom he is as regards party politics and that has always been the strong point of their relationship, for they are always together, especially at social gatherings like club houses and parties.

“We cannot all be politicians. Some of us take the backseat in order to have an objective view of the issues and offer advice where and when necessary. In developed countries, this role is as important as being

in the mainstream,” he explained.

Osiefa, in the same vein, could pass for a social critic, though he scarcely flaunts this moniker. Even if a government policy favours him, he is not blindfolded to see the flip side of the policy with a view to drawing government’s attention to it. For instance, he was one of the few beneficiaries after whom Lagos streets are named.

While he expressed his gratitude to the government for the honour, he, however, frowned upon government’s loose regime on the maintenance of the sign post on which his name is inscribed. In his reaction, he drew a comparison between a street in the United Kingdom and Lagos with a strong message that things needed to also be done right in Nigeria.

He said: “Street naming in Lagos State, Nigeria, yes, brilliant idea but very, very poorly implemented. We shall continue to express our mind to ensure things are done differently. If you call this a patriotic role, that is it. We have no other country than Nigeria.

It is particularly painful to see things being done right in UK and other countries.”

Osiefa hardly makes a comment on socialpolitical issues without a quick reference to the UK, an evidence of his strong attachment to the Queen’s land. A peep into his history would reveal a man who spent his early 20s overseas after he had completed his secondary school education at the popu-

lar Epe Grammar School and a stint at Ministry of Lagos Affair.

In the 60s, he was a student at Manchester Metropolitan University and Liverpool John Moore University, after which he returned home and joined Nigeria Flour Mills plc. He rose through the ranks and became

Osiefa

General Manager of the Western zone of the then flourishing company, a position that had made him a beautiful bride to entrepreneurs in the south west and beyond.

When he was expected to hang on to become the Managing Director of the company, Osiefa threw in the towel and started a new life with his private company. That was in 1984. The following year, he commissioned his Adidas Hotel located on the Badagry Expressway.

The occasion witnessed two music giantsKing Sunny Ade and the late Dr Sikiru Ayinde Barrister- in the company of Osiefa’s friends savouring the moment.

“The point is that while I was returning to Nigeria I had in mind to work for 10 years only. My plan was to have my own business because of my belief in my capacity to excel as a private entrepreneur. I have belief in becoming an employer of labour and this was what happened.

“You don’t empower people by giving them free money. You better give them job through which they make a decent living and also learn. After the hotel I went into oil business and had a fuel station at Badagry.

Today, I am the chairman Nigerian Petroleum Dealers Association of Nigeria Badagry Chapter,” he said.

Aside that position, Osiefa is the recipient of many chieftaincy titles across Yorubaland, including Badagry. Besides, for close to two decades, he was the president of Epe Grammar School Old Students Union just as he was also an elder of the Epe Club, a gathering of Epe’s first eleven including the governor of Lagos State, Akinwumi Ambode.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Itesiwaju: Embracing agriculture for IGR and job creation In recent times, agriculture has been identified as the way to go to lighten the burden of poverty and unemployment prevalent in the Nigerian society. In order to better the lots of its people and put Oyo State, as well as the South-West on a path of economic emancipation, the leadership of Itesiwaju Local Government has embarked on a series of developmental projects and massive agriculture. YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE reports.

ITESIWAJU Local Government Council area of Oyo state with headquarters at Otu town in the Oke Ogun region of the state was created 20 years ago. And like many other local councils, though it has 10 wards, it has not attained its full potential economically and in terms of infrastructure.

As big as the council is, there is no banking institution and the people in the towns that make up the council have a mental division that lets them see themselves as different communities rather than a unified community.

All these are, however, a thing of the past as the tide has turned for the communities in the council in the last seven months that the present caretaker chairman, Hon. Niyi Adeagbo was appointed. For him, it cannot be business as usual as he believes the council has all the ingredients of greatness.

Assessing the council in its 20 years of existence, Adeagbo believes that it can be better than it is at present. “I will say successive governments have tried their best over the years and have put some things in place but we are we not where we should be and there is much to be done. It is not good that as big

as we are, there is no financial institution in this council; this cripples the economy of the people and narrows their business transaction opportunities. But we are working to bring micro finance institutions here and we are talking to some commercial banks too,” he told Nigerian Tribune.

At present, activities at the council are geared towards four cardinal points; unity of purpose that will allow everyone to see themselves as one so that whatever facility is brought into the council will not be seen as belonging to the area which it is domiciled, but to all the communities within the local government area, human capital, which involves empowering the people to move beyond working for feeding alone, but to also

Hon. Adeagbo

explore their potential and reasoning to also be decision makers and an income generating society, economic development and infrastructural development to encourage investors.

“We have to develop our infrastructure, especially in the hospitality sector. If you need to bring people here, there must be a conducive environment to sleep, power especially at night and some other little things that will make their stay comfortable and encourage them to invest. We are working on this and all our activities are centered on improving the council,” Adeagbo said.

The chairman believes that it is time to focus on development of the council and its people to present a united front and work together for the development of the local government.

“The Itesiwaju of our dream is one where the towns in this council will be united, agriculture will be a big venture, not only for community consumption, but as an income generating vessel, the economy will be transformed and there will be infrastructural development.

“We want to create employment opportunities for our youths through the various sectors of agriculture so they won’t all be commercial motorcycle riders that only live to get money for food and nothing more,” the caretaker chairman said.

Adeagbo, as the youngest chairman in the state, has a lot of challenges but he is not overwhelmed. “I am not the youngest in Oyo State. I am the youngest caretaker chairman in Oke Ogun and the second youngest in the state. This just makes it imperative for me to perform and perform well. I belong to a group that has been clamouring to be included in the decision making process.

“I have been given the opportunity and if I fail, I would have let down my generation

and also given the older people a chance to say we tried them and they didn’t measure up. So I cannot afford to fail, there is so much at stake and my community is also looking up to me.

“I believe it is a challenge but by the grace of God, we will succeed because at the end, it is not about age but about delivering and doing the right thing for the people”.

According to him, the opportunity to serve his people is a rare one that he will always be grateful for. “This opportunity is a privilege and one that I had always wanted; to serve my people and prove that as youths, we can make a difference in peoples lives and in our society. I use this opportunity to thank our dear father and leader, Governor Abiola Ajimobi, for his support, trust, fatherly advice and rear privilege given to me to serve my people, the only appreciation I can show is to put the best of my abilities to work and to deliver, in real terms, the dividends of democracy to my constituency to justify the trust placed on me is not misguided.”

He reiterated that Itesiwaju local government will not be on the back burner when issues of agriculture are being discussed and he has gone beyond cultivating farms only on paper. To be a part of the agricultural revolution in the state, the council had as required made available 10, 000 hectares for the first phase of AgricOyo project and had gone beyond that to actually plant 200 hectares of cassava.

He is not a chairman that sits in the office when others have gone to the farm as he is always a part of all activities of the AgricItesiwaju project which has adopted many youths and trained them for the job ahead.

Indeed, for the people of Itesiwaju Local Government, the dawn of a new era in development is here.

21 thesouth-west

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Tribal marks: Struggling agelong aesthetic expression

Continued from pg19 Pele Ife, a three longitudinal line inscribed on the cheek. It is peculiar to the Ile Ife people.

Pele Ijebu and Pele Ijesha are other variants of Pele. Both variants are similar to the Pele Ife, but shorter.

Owu Owu tribal marks consist of six incisions on each side of the cheeks and peculiar to the indigenes of Owu, a historical city in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, Nigeria.

Other Yoruba tribal marks include Ture, Mande, Bamu and Jamgbadi.

My tribal marks are my identity –Obasanjo “Not many people know that I have three identity cards. The first is the international passport; the second is the national identity card and the third is my tribal marks.”

The above were the reported words of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in

November 2014, as he collected his electronic national identity card from the National Identity Card Commission (NIMC).

The former president has six lines on each side of his cheeks, marks peculiar to Owu indigenes of the Ogun State capital, Abeokuta.

Like Obasanjo, facial stripes for many indigenes of the South-West play the primary role of identification. They are one of the easiest means to tell a person’s tribe or origin. Some traditionalists have suggested that tribal marks helped to prevent wars, narrow down identification of criminals. Beyond the identification, tribal marks can sometimes have spiritual undertones.

Getting a tribal mark according to people that have gone under the blade is a very painful experience and the wound if not well taken care of, can get infected and lead to serious health conditions.

They added that one cannot determine how soon the sound heals as it depends on how deep it is, the hygiene level of the individual

and skin condition of the person involved.

My marks forewarn me of danger – Adeyeye, businessman Mr Eniola Adeyeye, a businessman, in an interaction with Nigerian Tribune, noted that his markings were for protection. According to him, “interestingly, in our lineage, we have more sons. In fact, for some of my relatives, we usually had only sons. If any of us had a girl, then we had to be doubly sure that such a child was our blood and there were ways we found out. According to what I was told, many members of the family were usually conscripted into war and the facial markings were to protect us. Even as civilisation took over and many of us moved into urban areas, we still carried on the tradition of facial markings. Beyond the identification as members of the Adeyeye generation, they served to ward off evil spirits.

That’s why you see that the markings point towards the centre of the head. Sometimes,

‘Despite civilization, we still do tribal mark for patrons’ Alhaji Asiru Alagbe, 87, was born into the family of those who dress human cheeks with tribal marks. He has spent his last 70 years in the trade. In this interview by TUNDE BUSARI in his family compound in Iwo, Osun State, he shares his experience. Excerpts: FOR how long have you been in the art of carving marks on peoples’ cheeks?

Let me say it is our heritage. It is inheritance. The whole town knows that there is no other compound where circumcision is done except here. It is the job of my forefathers which is passed on to different generations.

I met my father doing it and I took over from them. Our panegyric is derived from the trade.

What is the importance of tribal marks?

It is so important in that it reveals the identity of the bearer. Tribal marks distinguish one person from another. It tells which family or town you come from because different towns have their peculiar marks. If you see an Ogbomoso man or woman, the marks on his or her cheeks confirm this. Same goes to somebody from Owu and other towns. It is a means of identification which is well recognised across Yorubaland.

isation is not good but we should not allow it to erode our own. The influence is not on our tribal marks alone, it affects our other ways of life.

Does it mean you no longer have patronage?

It has not got to that level. I am only saying that it has reduced. Even few hours before you arrived, I performed one on a baby. We still have some families who cannot compromise it for any foreign influence.

You just called out one of your children whom I observed has no mark.

Can you defend this sir?

It is true but my older children of 40 years and above have marks. I was persuaded to leave the younger ones when my brother returned from abroad and told us the new

Aside from identification value, what other purpose does it serve?

It adds to the beauty of the bearer. Even if your family is not carrying mark because of beauty you would want to come to us to have it.

You said the trade is hereditary, does that mean you don’t train outsiders?

We don’t train outsiders. You made me to recall one Nupe man who came to train. He was so serious that he was ready to do anything to be trained. Because we don’t do it, I turned down his request. I could not go against the tradition.

How did a Nupe man get to know you?

I travel to as far as Niger State to do the job.

From Mokwa to Bida, they know me. I no longer go but one of my children still goes till date.

Is there a peculiar thing about tribal marks?

There is no other thing apart from the fact that those of us in the vocation don’t tell lies.

It is forbidden we tell lies. Go and find out.

We have our extended family across Yorubaland. We are respected for always telling the truth.

Can you tell me more about your family which only occupation is making tribal marks and circumcision?

We are not known for any other job. In fact, in 1945, I was an apprentice of some Baptist Church white officials who taught me carpentry. I was with them till 1949 after which I returned to making tribal marks.

Is that claim still valid today?

Unfortunately, things are changing. People don’t want to have marks again.

What do you think is responsible for this change?

It is essentially the influence of Western civilisation. And it is unfortunate because of the fact that we are unable to hold on to what belongs to us. I am not saying Western civil-

trend in the world. He did not force us but appealed that we should not be left behind in the modern world.

Pa Alagbe

Are female members of your family into it?

They are not because it is not a job for them.

Nigerian Tribune

if I want to embark on a certain trip, and such would not be successful, my marks have a way of forewarning me; whether through dreams or a certain itch.”

When asked if there were consequences for flouting the marks, Adeyeye simply laughed and said, “with what I’ve seen of those who claimed to be too civilised for the marks, I would rather play safe. I know it could be coincidence that these bad things happened to these people, and I won’t say I haven’t experienced downturn at some point in my life. However, since the marks do not bother me, I will gladly pass them on to my great great grandchildren.”

Between ancient tradition and modernity Through the years, civilisation gradually encroached on culture and consequently, tribal marks seem to have fallen out of fashion and has become a thing of the past among many.

But some have argued that the culture has not waned like many believe, as no matter the level of civilisation, it is the tradition in some families and a must that some of their children have the identification of the family. According to Nigerian Tribune findings, there are still many communities, even in this age, in which tribal marks are not an option.

To them, the shame and insults passed by peers on their children will not stop them from following tradition as they believe that there are weightier issues to tradition than avoiding shame as many do not even believe that traditional marks are things to be ashamed of.

Speaking to Nigerian Tribune, 35-yearold Toyin Olugbemi from Ogbomoso, Oyo State, stated that in her family, every first child, irrespective of the sex, is compulsorily given tribal marks though she doesn’t know if there will be a fallout if anyone flouts the tradition.

“In my family, every first child gets the tribal mark; I was given this mark because I am the first child of my parents. I know in some families, only the first son gets it but for us, whether you are male or female, you get the tribal mark once you are your parents’ first child.

“I don’t know if there is a repercussion for flouting the tradition or what will happen to anyone that refuses, but I know there is compliance among the people at home. There’s a family member saddled with this responsibility. She is also the one that circumcises the male children in the family and she does it for outsiders too,” she said.

‘Whoever wants to get rid of them doesn’t deserve the good they bring’ Scar removal creams, use of makeup, mini surgery, skin laser treatment, and even bleaching creams are various means that have been suggested to get rid of tribal marks. However, for Dr Ayo Ogunleye, a lecturer, removal of tribal marks as a result of shame has its root in a person’s complex.

“The problem with us is that we are in too much hurry to copy the West and as such, discard our own. I have tribal marks, and I can tell you that it has brought me more good than shame. When I travel out for academic conferences, foreigners are sometimes fascinated by them. It stands me out from the crowd and there’s nothing more fulfilling than having a unique identity.”

Even with the argument that tribal marks are gradually fading off, considering the signifier of the rich cultural heritage they represent, and the fact that the population of those who have gradually shed the practice does not in any significant way outweigh those who still swear by tribal marks, ila and the various meanings they hold, especially for natives of the South-West, will stick around for decades to come.

22 thesouth-west

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

PLACES

Oja Oba: Here, royalty meets commerce

In the Yoruba community of South West Nigeria, farming and commercial activities have been a major source of sustenance since the ancient times and there exists a variety of local markets but for them, the community is not complete without a market near the palace. YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE explores the cultural, economic and religious reasons for this. Her report.

T

HE market institution has been an integral part of the Yoruba community and custom since time immemorial; even before the advent of money, when trading was done through

barter and goods were sold on the path to the farm or in front of houses because there were no spaces set aside for marketing activities aside pathways and other sites that are thoroughfare for the people in the settlements.

Since this period, markets bacame mainstay of the Yoruba community as majority were farmers who could not eat their produce alone and had to exchange some for other commodities and services. And with

Non-existence of Oba’s market is cultural oversight and traditional minus —Dr Bayo Adebowale, founder of African Heritage Research Library

and Cultural Centre (AHRLCC) WHY do Yoruba people site markets near the palace?

They do so for various reasons; to enlist the interest and support of the paramount ruler and to secure his blessing for abundant profit in business transactions in the market, to get regular patronage of the Oba’s subjects and his numerous visitors, from far and near, who daily throng to the palace on a daily basis, for social-cultural engagements and to secure the cooperation and protection of the gods whom the people perceive are very close to the Oba, the accredited representative of the divinity on earth (Igbakeji Orisa).

What significance do palaces have culturally, religiously and economically on the markets?

In the religious sense, palaces constitute the melting pot and the epicenter for reli-

gious activities (Islam, Christianity) but most importantly for traditional religionist who choose the venue of the palace to propitiate to the Divinity and the gods at intervals for business gains. It is people’s belief that cultural festivals held at the venue of the Oba’s palace regularly attract the attention and participation of both the community people as well as supernatural beings who are known to possess the power to bring good luck to the market people and consequently boost their economic and commercial activities.

Also, war strategies were usually hatched at the palace as well as on the premises of the Oba’s market during the inter-tribal wars of the early 18th century in Yoruba land. For instance, during the Jalumi, Ijaye, Ekiti Parapo, Remo and Kiriji wars, where famous warlords like Ogunmola, Kurunmi, Ogboriefon, Adeyipo, Olugbode, Fijabi and Aare Latoosa prominently featured as important dramatis personae.

Is it a taboo for a palace not to have a market near it?

There is virtually no city/town ruled by a frontline Oba in Yorubaland which does not have an Oba’s Market (Oja Oba) Oba’s market carries along a lot of prestige which nobody can ignore, among the rank and file of the Yoruba people. But it is not a taboo for a palace not to have a market near it. It is only that the non-existence of an Oba’s market is always regarded by most people in Yoruba land as cultural oversight and a traditional minus.

Dr Bayo Adebowale

Do such markets have any significance in these modern times?

Our cultural heritage and traditional be-

liefs are getting more and more eroded and encroached upon by the so-called Western civilisation (religion education etc) so much that not many people nowadays seem to care much about the age-old glory which the Obas market (Oja Oba) had enjoyed in the days of our forefathers. People in this modern times are generally unwilling to discuss the relevance, the importance and the significance of the Oba’s market to the society.

Are there any spiritual connotations?

Yes, there are. And these spiritual connotations are essentially an integral part of the Yoruba traditional religion. It is common in Yoruba myths and legend and also in Yoruba traditional religion that supernatural beings pitch their abode in the market; ghosts, spirits, demons, witches and wizards are known to participate in buying and selling activities during market transactions in Yoruba land.

The people as a matter of fact look for their dead relatives and loved ones who pitch abode in market places. Some have gone to the extent of claiming to have seen the faces of their dead husbands, wives, children, relatives, friends and colleagues in markets haggling and negotiating prices of commodities.

But maintaining also that upon identification by earthly people, they change their physical appearance, in a twinkle of an eye or disappear completely into thin air, to avoid recognition.

Can there be any negative fallout if there is no market near the palace?

There may not be any noticeable fallout but there is indirect fallout which might, somewhat somehow, reduce the prestige, the confidence and public acceptability of the Oba himself by the people he seeks to govern.

the introduction of money into the economy and creation of permanent sites for marketing activities, the markets became more integral to every community.

The markets were not only the economic sustenance tools but they became the centre for information dissemination, town meetings, religious and political gatherings as well as social engagements. And consequently, specific days were set aside for market functions, making the periodic market the first to evolve within the Yoruba society; though the exact period it started cannot be easily traced in history.

History states that the periodic markets started when exchange of goods required a mutually convenient time and place and parties had to travel to a common place to trade and the importance of traders and consumers knowing where to meet became pronounced. Also, at this period, the periodic markets were sited very near the palace, which is the seat of power, or in front of it and this act is said to be very symbolic in the Yoruba community to the extent that every palace in Yoruba town has a market near it called Oja Oba meaning the king’s market.

This is based on popular belief that the king is the overseer of the economic activities of his people and consequently the market which is the mainstay of the community. After a while, daily markets sprouted up and now, the Yoruba people have diverse types of markets; the daily markets which the Oja Oba is a part of and is found in urban areas and larger towns, the night market, the rural night market, special markets and the rural periodic day markets.

Daily markets can run both at day and in the night and are scattered across towns and cities, periodic markets are mostly rural and run on specific days of the week or at regular days interval, the rural periodic is one where people come from various settlements on stipulated days interval and does not exist outside these days, special markets often take place at annual festivals and not after such events while night markets usually hold at the daily market sites but run from dusk to almost midnight.

The distribution of market from one locaContinues on pg24

23 thesouth-west

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

PARTIES, CLUBS AND ASSOCIATIONS

At Lagos Country Club,

we don’t compromise family values —Otunba Wale Okesola

The cloudless sky coupled with the well-lit environment of the Lagos Country Club on this particular evening beckons one to relaxation as the members relate with each other without tension.

Security is another thing they need not worry about as every visitor to the club, myself inclusive, was strictly scrutinised before gaining entrance. With bars well stocked up and choice of food and snacks, what to eat and drink is no problem. Founded August 3, 1949, the Lagos Country Club boasts of about 13million members with over 10 different sections of games and other recreational sections to cater for members and families’ needs.

Otunba Wale Okesola; an entrepreneur and employer of labour, who is also the Chairman of the Table Tennis Section of the club, in this interview with MONICA TAIWO, speaks on the various facilities offered by the club, membership criteria and the importance of recreation. Excerpts.

Y

OU must be very good at table tennis before you can think of leading the section I have a passion for the game, I play it and I play it well.

What does it take to be the chairman of the Table Tennis section?

By the rules and by laws of the section, you must be a member of the Lagos Country Club.

What does the membership of the Lagos Country Club entail?

It takes a good social standing, you must be a man or woman of impeccable character.

I have not seen many women here since you stated that the club is for both men and women?

Today is Monday, if you want to see our women the best day for that will be Saturday or Sunday including our children.

Our club is actually a family club; if you want to join, you must do so with your wife and children.

Our children are an integral part of the club, because as they grow, or should I say when they become of age; 21, they automatically upgrade to become members of the club.

Apart from the table tennis section, how many other sections do you have in the entire club?

We have 10 sections in all; tennis, snooker/billiards, swimming, table tennis, darts, scrabble, taekwondo/aerobics; this is where you find most of our women. Then we have squash and other games. The other games section is for members who due to age or other health reasons cannot engage in physical activities, while those who enjoy working out and burning fats also enjoy doing so with the facilities in different sections available to suit different needs.

Let me stress here that table tennis is one of the several sections of the club and unarguably the best and the most active section. Apart from those who are just learning the game, a lot of our members have developed passion for the game and they have the opportunity to play it under the very best environment.

For the leadership; all you need is to offer yourself. Leadership everywhere is a sacrifice. You don’t get nominated for it.

Your willingness to serve is all that is required. You also must

have been a member of the Lagos Country Club for five years.

How would you rate an average Nigerian’s mentality to recreation?

Our orientation in this part of the world is all about work and no play. Recreation is important and we must take out time to go on holidays, to relax and recreate; this should be part of our day to day plan. In other parts of the world, people plan for holidays, but we don’t get to do that here.

It is important for us to make out time for ourselves after running around all day to make money. What is the essence of the money you make when eventually you won’t be able to enjoy it? This situation can come up if you don’t relax. This is why we at the Lagos Country Club take time to relax with our friends at the club, sociailise and do a little bit of networking if necessary.

Like I mentioned earlier, we have two categories of members, those who want to play games and burn fats and those who just come around to socialise. The Lagos Country Club membership is about 13million and we have capacity and facilities to cater for all; even our invited friends.

take things easy. Carrying the whole burden on your shoulder will not solve anything. If you relax, recreate and fellowship with others, solutions will surely come. Those who say two heads are better than one means business.

The Yuletide is here, does your club have any programmes lined up?

Christmas is a season we all look forward to. In about a week or two from now, the whole place including the table tennis section of the club will wear a new look, with Christmas tree and decorations everywhere. Both Christians and Muslims in the club celebrate this season together, just as we celebrate other festivals.

Socially, we have many events lined up; one of such is the table tennis competition that I recently declared opened; the Chairman’s Table Tennis Tournament. Other sections of the club have their own activities too.

We however, have our grand finale celebration with our annual dance which comes up on the last Friday in January. We always have King Sunny Ade at the band. It is always a day set aside to honour all those who have served in the club at certain times.

If you are to advise the average man on the advantages of recreation, what would that be?

It has been proven medically that our body is not an engine and should not be taken and treated as one. We need to exercise daily and take care of ourselves to keep our body going.

People should take exercises seriously. When you exercise your limbs, hands, legs and other parts of your body, you keep toxins out of your system. Accumulated toxins is dangerous for our system, by sweating out, we get all these out of our system. Other diseases like high blood pressure, stroke will be kicked out.

Do you know that a lot of walk about are like time that are ready to explode if we are able to see what carry about, you will advise without thinking twice that a man or woman should slow down?

Also in this austere times and recession, we must learn to relax and

people who bombs a n d w e

Otunba Okesola

24 thesouth-west

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

PLACES

Securing the community through palace markets in time past Continues from pg22

tion to another across towns and cities have been said to show little or no correlation to distribution of population or any other factor but experts and historians have stated that situating markets near the Palace in the Yoruba community of South-West Nigeria has more to do with security though the supervisory aspect by the king is not overridden.

According to them, since time immemorial, markets are situated near the palace so that the security of the king will easily extend to the people and also to protect them from attacks by other communities and vigilante or militant groups that use the porosity and relaxed aura of the market to perpetrate evil and steal at gun point.

Also, because wherever there are business activities and many people with diverse be-

cumstance that day and lucky Sango eventually secured the beautiful Oya’s love and loyalty. The idea of the Oba establishing a market near the palace is speculated to have originated from that Sango – Oya encounter as Akesan Market in Oyo (very close to the Oba’s Palace) later sprang up as the first OjaOba in Yoruba land,” Dr Adebowale said.

Also following this train of thought is the Baale Of Ekotedo, Dr Taiye Ayorinde, who though stated he has little information on the reason for palace markets, however said that history has it that it was for security purposes.

“I really can’t say much on why the Yorubas have their major markets near the palace but what I learnt is that it is for security; the Obas palace is always well protected and in that time when there is war, market days are usually the targets as people are more relaxed and because the palace is well protected, the security extends to the market as palace security wards off such attacks,” he stated Though it seems not to portray any taboo, situating markets by the palace among the Yoruba people is a culture that many believe cannot be eradicated in order for peace to reign within the community and for maintenance of culture and tradition.

And many Yoruba elders attest to the fact that a market must be near the King’s palace for the community to enjoy deep communion with the gods in issues of commerce and economy.

liefs gather together in a place, there is bound to be disagreements and the situation of the market near the palace makes it easy for dispute resolution as the king who oversees the community and adjudicate in cases is nearer to them.

Speaking with the South-West on the origin of markets and why they are placed near the palace, an academic and founder of African Heritage Research Library and Cultural Centre (AHRLCC), Dr Bayo Adebowale went down the memory lane of myths and legend.

“There are several myths and legend surrounding the origin of palace markets in Yoruba land. Some of the myths and legends date back to the history of Moremi’s encounter with the Ugbo warriors who invaded IleIfe. Others trace the history of Palace Markets to the Ibadan warlord – Iba Oluyole – in whose honour Oja Iba (Oja-Oba) in Ibadan was named. But the most popular origin of Palace Market has been traced to the Sango/ Oya love encounter at a market in Ibariba land in Tapa.

“The first Alaafin of Oyo – Sango – met his heart-throb, Oya, during a business transaction at a market in ancient Ibariba – Tapa land. Oya was wooed in a mysterious cir-

It is traditional to have markets very close to the palace —Chief Mabinuori Adegboyega Aare Latosa, Mogaji Aare Latosa family, Ibadan IT is traditional to have markets very close to the palace. Spiritual wise, whatever they are doing in the palace spiritually also benefits the market because in our culture, they need to do a lot of rituals; to wade away evil, to ensure there is peace and tranquility and such things. Social wise, people had the pride that they patronize the king’s palace (oja Oba), though others have markets in other places but they take delight in patronising and selling their wares in the king’s market and they boast of this, you hear statements like, we do not patronize corner stores, we go to the king’s market. That pride is there.

Another thing is this, security wise, people believe they are secure when they sell or buy at the Oba’s market because people will remind you if you want to make trouble that the king is at home and if you make unnecessary trouble, the Oba’s men will arrest you, so that’s security. Not only that, a lot of people prefer to shop within the vicinity of the Oba because in those days, the Oba is always around and you get to see the Oba and his family.

There is no Oba in Yorubaland that doesn’t have a market near his palace. In Oyo, we have Akesan market, just in front of the Alaafin palace, we have Oja Oba in Ibadan and in all the Yoruba speaking states, you always have the market near the palace.

With civilisation, are they still important economically and tradition wise?

It depends on the way you look at it, now, for instance, imagine what is going on in Bodija market that you don’t have a king there, everyday, they have series of issues especially from fraudsters. Recently, there was the news that fraudsters went there and defrauded the traders to the tune of over N4 million but if it was a market near the palace, even with civilisation, we will see someone that will move to the king’s

palace and there will be a solution, that is the security aspect of it. Then, you will notice that the frequent crisis they experience at Bodija market often, they do not have this at Oja Oba in spite of the various tribes that cohabit there. Another example is the Akesan market, they will quickly warn you if you want to start trouble that you cannot do that in front of the palace and disturb the king’s peace.

Then, in our tradition, when there is an event, you need to dance to the kings’ palace and other major places and once you get to the king’s palace, you will get to the market automatically, then you can boast that the town was aware of your event since the market is always a beehive of ac-

tivities and the nerve center of the town.

It also helps to maintain standard because in those days, you cannot sell your wares anyhow you like, exploit buyers or be rude to them like in other markets.

There’s a standard because you are near the seat of authority and they can report you. This helps till now

not, it is still a seat of power; the power is still there because there should be a representative there.

What of where kings don’t live in the palace?

That is what you know, a lot of people do not believe this, once a palace is there, the oba is there because there’s a representative of the Oba that informs him of what goes on and take necessary steps as guided by the king. Whether the king is there or

Chief Mabinuori Adegboyega

Traditional markets are still relevant

—Oloye Lekan Alabi, Agbaakin Olubadan of Ibadan land THE proximity of markets to palaces in Yorubaland is a tradition that started from time immemorial before the advent of colonialists.

Kings, otherwise called Obas or Baales were the spiritual, cultural, traditional monarchial representatives of their communities, re-

Oloye Lekan Alabi

member the appellation, Oba igbakeji orisa meaning second to God almighty and because kings are the custodian of their peoples’ tradition, culture, religion and economy. So that they were sharing boundaries and views as well as opinions with the baale’s and kings gave the people a sense of pride in their commercial activities and boosted the economy.

Since they were next door to the Oba’s palace, they have class because the aura of the Oba will naturally rub on the traders, their customers and even their wares. So you can see the attachment and the sensibility of the Yoruba people that the economy is important to the sustenance of the family and the society. So remember the hub which includes the traders, customers and the noise (ariwo oja) that we talk about keeps the palaces, the royal family and every other person alive.

And then the beauty of these traditional markets, unlike what we now have in modern day as complexes and malls where you wear uniforms that are not part of our culture. In traditional markets, people will come wearing their best dresses especially when you are going near the palace, you can’t take away the

glitz, minus the economy and sustenance of life Does this have any effect today?

The traditional markets still have their power and relevance but remember, civilisation and the so-called westernisation are plastic, hackneyed and mechanical, they are not natural. That is why once there is a breakdown in electricity supply particularly in this part of the world, the things become moribund and ordinary unlike in traditional markets where they are sold fresh. You can’t compare them with the western world where power supply is 24 hours and everything works, so we are trying to copy western world but we do not have the sustainability but if you still go hinterland, go to Oja Oba in Ibadan, go and see life in its natural form; honey sellers, meat sellers, vegetable sellers, mat sellers etc, the way they do their trade is our culture and if you go to some places in Europe and London, we have areas where street trading is still allowed on particular days, you still get the traditional market feelings.

25

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

ecoscope

with Doyin Adeoye

m:08038000394 e:doyinadeoye@tribuneonlineng.com t:@kreatif_ink

Ambode receives ‘Nigeria Goes Green’ Southwest Brand Ambassador award Sets 10 million tree planting target by 2020 Stories By Doyin Adeoye

I

N recognition of the Lagos State Government’s commitment to environmental regeneration and renewal, especially in the area of greening, Governor Akinwumi Ambode has been recognised with the Southwest Brand Ambassador award by ‘Nigeria Goes Green’ in recognition of his contribution to the preservation of green environment.

Speaking at a ceremony held at the State Ministry of the Environment, the Executive Secretary of the association, Otunba Taiwo Adenekan noted that while there is a global focus on climate change and global warming, little achievements have, however, been recorded in terms of the devastating effect of desert encroachment and desertification in Africa.

According to him, “The solution is tree planting, as the planet needs about 87 billon trees, which out of these, Lagos State alone through its green initiative has planted over six million trees.

“This is a very tremendous achievement. So our organisation, ‘Nigeria Goes Green’ is awarding the executive governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwumi Ambode, as the South West Brand Ambassador, in order to enhance its mission aimed at creating awareness for individuals and organisations to get involved in massive tree planting, instead of leaving the programme to government annual rituals and platitudes,” he said.

Receiving the award on behalf of the governor, the state Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Babatunde Samuel Adejare, commended the organisation for the award, while also assuring that the state will not relent in its effort to mitigate the impact of climate change and global warming, by setting a target of planting one million trees yearly in order to meet the 10 million target by the year 2020.

In his remarks, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, who was represented by Prince Ade Adewunmi, also praised the organisers of the event

for choosing Governor Ambode for the award, noting that it was a well-deserved

honour.

General Manager, Lagos State Parks and Gardens

Agency, Mrs Abimbola Jijoho-Ogun noted that “the award is another testimony

that the state is working under Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.”

Janitorial staff of the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited with the RecyclePoints’ crew.

Sokoto govt recruits 500 youths for refuse evacuation NO fewer than 500 youths have been employed by the Sokoto State Government for refuse evacuation.

Speaking at the end of the monthly environmental sanitation in Sokoto over the weekend, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Alhaji Aminu Dodo-Iya, stated that the youths had since been redeployed and they had swung into action.

“These youths will continuously operate to rid the city and its environs of filth.

They will be used for daily clearance and evacuation of

Gov Tambuwal

refuse in the city,” he said.

Dodo-Iya also said that the state government had purchased 30 specialised refuse evacuation tricycles, which are being deployed in hardto-reach areas of the city.

“This is to force the res-

idents to ensure personal and environmental hygiene to keep diseases at bay,” Dodo-Iya added.

Also, the Director-General of the Sokoto Central Market, Alhaji Abdullahi Bafarawa, said that the

management of the market had fully mobilised its personnel to actively participate in the exercise.

Bafarawa said that the gesture was to clear the market and its environs of the heaps of refuse.

1 in 7 of world’s children exposed to toxic air pollution —UNICEF ACCORDING to a new report by the United Nations’ Children’s Fund (UNICEF), one in seven of the world’s children is exposed to pollution levels six or more times higher than international standards set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The report which was released on Monday, a week ahead of the United Nations Climate Change conference in Marrakech, revealed that with this exposure, their growing bodies are most vulnerable to damage.

“Air pollution is a major contributing factor in the deaths of around 600,000 children under five every year. And it threatens the

Nigerian Tribune

lives and futures of millions more every day,” UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake said.

According to the report, some two billion children live in regions where outdoor air pollution exceeds WHO’s minimum air quality guidelines, with 620 million of those children living in South Asia, followed by

520 million children in Africa, and 450 million children in the East Asia and Pacific region.

UNICEF says young children are particularly susceptible to indoor and outdoor air pollution because their lungs, brains and immune systems are still developing and their respiratory tracts are more permeable.

Quote

If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down —Jack Handey

FCMB partners RecyclePoints on waste recycling FIRST City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited recently became one of RecyclePoints’ value chain partners, by subscribing to the company’s corporate recycling programme.

With business activities and operations aimed at encouraging diversity, adhering to health and safety standards, as well as reducing or totally avoiding where possible negative impact on the environment, the bank took this business initiative as part of its resolve to support its bold sustainability policy.

As part of the programme, which is aimed at motivating a behavioural change in waste disposal, the company trained the janitorial staff at the bank’s headquarters on identifying recyclables and waste recycling, as well as the social benefit aspect of waste management activities.

The mutually beneficial relationship is aimed at fostering a cleaner and safer environment for the staff and customers of the bank, as well as Nigeria at large.

Shippers to cut sulphur emissions by 2020 In a landmark decision for both the environment and human health, 1 January, 2020 has been set as the implementation date for a significant reduction in the sulphur content of the fuel oil used by ships.

The decision to implement a global sulphur cap of 0.5 per cent m/m (mass/mass) in 2020 was taken by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the regulatory authority for international shipping, during its Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), meeting for its 70th session in London.

It represents a significant cut from the 3.5 per cent m/m global limit currently in place and demonstrates a clear commitment by IMO to ensuring shipping meets its environmental obligations.

IMO Secretary-General, Kitack Lim welcomed the decision which he said reflected the organisation’s determination to ensure that international shipping remains the most environmentally sound mode of transport.

26

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

with Soji-Eze Fagbemi m:08179047919 e:sojiezek@yahoo.co.uk

FG, ILO, other Stakeholders meet to validate National Employment Policy Soji-Eze Fagbemi THE Federal Government, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and other stakeholders have met in Abuja to validate the much expected National Policy on Employment.

The Draft Employment validation meeting, which was organized by the Federal Government, in conjunction with the ILO is of particular significant for Nigeria to move forward.

According to the Director, ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Liaison Office for ECOWAS, Mr. Dennis Zulu, the meeting will determine whether the Nigerian Government and the stakeholders can collectively contribute towards taking concrete steps that will address unemployment and underemployment in a comprehensive, coherent and integrated way” Mr. Zulu said the stakeholders forum marks an important milestone in the process of preparing an employment policy for Nigeria which started in 2012. The objective,according to him is to prepare a policy that would promote full and productive employment by developing integrated employment, development and skills policies that will maximize the employment impact of economic growth, investment and development; and which are inclusive, gender sensitive, productive and sustainable.

The ILO director said extensive consultations involving a wide range of stakeholders across the length and breadth of the country have been held during the last four years.

He said: “The ILO wishes to note that the validation of the draft national employment policy is in line with the prescribed process of preparing national employment policies as articulated by ILO Employment Policy Convention No. 122 of 1964.

Ogun industrial dispute: NLC writes Amosun, pledges to offer platform for negotiation Warns it could snowball into major crisis between Labour, Govt

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HE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC, has warned Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, that the prevailing atmosphere of industrial dispute in the state could snowball into major industrial conflict between Labour and government if his government failed to step back and embrace meaningful dialogue to resolve the lingering issues with the unions.

To this end, the NLC headquarters, offered to be of assistance in making the engagement between the

unions and government, to amicably resolve the dispute possible, adding that the lingering major industrial conflict is very avoidable.

The NLC gave its position in a letter written to Governor Amosun, dated October 27, and titled: “Re: Political agitation by organized Labour in Ogun State: Request to call Labour politician to order.”

The congress letter to the governor was a reply to earlier letter written by Gov. Amosun to the NLC, in Abuja.

But the congress expressed surprise at the stance of the state government on genuine agitations of the workers in Ogun State.

The letter signed by the NLC General Secretary, Comrade Peter Ozo-Eson, stated that instead of the state government to create an avenue for dialogue and resolution of the crisis, it is engaging in name-calling which will only exacerbate the problem.

The letter read in part: “We are also surprised to hear that the Nigeria Po-

lice have cordoned-off the office of the Nigeria Labour Congress in Ogun State and have resorted to intimidating the Labour leaders in the state. We are also disturbed by attempts being made on the lives of the Labour Leaders in the state.

“The Nigeria Police are expected to be neutral in this matter and are not expected to harass or intimidate workers who are pursuing their legitimate demands recognized by Nigerian Laws.

“The present industrial

Middle is the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige; on his right is the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Clement Iloh, and the Director, ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Liaison Office for ECOWAS, Mr. Dennis Zulu at the Validation Workshop on the Reviewed National Employment Policy, organized by the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), in Abuja.

action embarked on by the workers arose because of the failure of government to fully implement the March, 2016 collective bargaining agreement which led to the suspension of the strike in March. It should also be noted that a valid notice of intention to resume the strike was served on government which failed to avail itself of the period of notice to resolve the issues.”

The NLC restated the premise on which the agitations of the workers are hinged, which include: •The illegal withholding of deductions from workers salary in the last one year. These include 72 months of unremitted deductions of contributory Pension, Cooperatives deductions and other bank repayment loans as well as 12 months union check-off dues; •Unpaid gratuities of retirees for the last 2 years; •Sixteen months of unpaid workers’ salaries of the state-owned Tai-Solarin College of Education; •The abolition of the Joint Account on Allocation Committee which has made salaries of Local government workers to be paid behind schedule.

The congress reminded Gov. Amosun that all attempts made by the unions in Ogun State to amicably resolve the issues through dialogue with the state government have not been successful.

... NCSU, NULGE back NLC, urge Buhari to call Amosun to order THE Nigeria Civil Service Union (NCSU) and the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) have back the position of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on the industrial crisis in Ogun State and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to call Governor Ibikunle Amosun to order.

President of NCSU Comrade Kiri Mohammed and the President of NULGE, Comrade Ibrahim Khaleel in a statement issued in Abuja threw their weight behind the action taken by Ogun State workers, saying

that the anti-labour practices in the state were unacceptable.

Both Kiri and Khaleel warned against national strike in solidarity with the workers if the governor fail to resolve the issues amicably.

Comrade Kiri, who is also the National Chairman of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, (JNPSNC), Trade Union side, said President Buhari should urgently call Governor Amosu to order for intimidating workers for upholding their rights.

He described the steps

taken by the state government as barbaric, inhuman and unlawful, stressing that it is better for the government to imbibe the culture of collective bargaining to resolve the impasse.

Kiri also called on other well meaning Nigerians to intervene with the view of restoring peace in work places in the state.

He said: “The council condemns the intimidation and harassment of labour leaders for fighting for the legitimate right of the workers.

The Governor of Ogun State is advise to imbibe the culture of collective bargaining

principle by dialoguing with organised labour for peaceful settlement of the impasse.

“The council also is in total support of the strike by Ogun State workers and urges the government to get the issues in dispute resolved and allow the existing industrial peace reign soonest to avoid being escalated across the country”.

Also reacting, the NULGE President, Comrade Khaleel declared support for Ogun State workers and said the union will back any national action by the NLC against the state government in solidarity with the workers.

While calling for a national action against the government of Ogun state, he pointed out that NULGE will mobilize its members across the country in solidarity protest and strike in Ogun State.

Comrade Khaleel regretted the response of the state government to the legitimate demands of the workers, adding that information at their disposal revealed that thugs allegedly used by government officials attacked the Labour leaders and some union members who gathered to prosecute the strike.

27

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

with Bode Adewumi m:08055001765 e:bodekafi@yahoo.com

Internet of Things: A catalyst for Nigeria’s Smart Cities —Vodacom Stories By Bode Adewumi

A

great deal of people believe that building the smart city will be extremely disruptive and that they have to tear down the towns of today to build smart cities, which will improve services and the quality of life for their inhabitants.

But Mr Lanre Kolade, Managing Director of Vodacom Business Ni-

.ng domain name will promote local content — NiRA The President, Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), Mr Sunday Folayan, has said that using the dotng (.ng) domain name would promote local content.

Folayan, in a statement, said that Nigeria had unique local content ranging from Nollywood, Kannywood, diverse languages and other heritage and tourist attractions, among others, which could be put online.

He said that without content, there would be no motivation for anyone to embrace the internet, hence, the need for local contents under the .ng domain names.

According to him, two major channels instrumental to the development and promotion of content on the internet are the Domain Name System (DNS) and Web Hosting.

“The DNS is integral to the internet, providing a way to match names (of websites) to numbers (IP Address of the websites), while web hosting provides connectivity to the internet and housing/computer storage space for the websites.

“I was privileged to be invited to an online forum of some Yoruba traditional rulers in Nigeria, who are committed to promoting the rich linguistic, artistic and cultural heritage of their people,” he said.

geria, explained at the recent Nigerian-South African Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting that by using the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, a host of intelligently connected services become possible.

According to Kolade, about 48 per cent of Nigerians are living in urban areas and this proportion will continue to grow as urbanisation continues. With the number of people living in urban areas around the world predicted to rise to 6.4 billion by 2050; cities like Lagos need to adopt IoT technology to meet the rising challenges of a mega city.

He maintained that governments have a central role to play in mak-

ing towns and cities run effectively but that with constrained budgets and a growing population; issues such as traffic, pollution, and public safety are becoming more difficult to manage. Authorities must adopt technologies that will improve sustainability, ease congestion, help citizens and attract new businesses to their towns and cities.

An IoT-enabled city can reroute traffic around congestion in real time, automatically schedule repairs for failed infrastructure like street lighting or bridges, and intelligently manage energy use and pollution right across the environment. It can also protect citizens and businesses from crime more

automatically; saving energy and reducing electricity costs.

Ogufere said that with IoT solutions, refuse collectors will need to make fewer journeys and use less fuel, and authorities can cut the number of refuse trucks they run.

He added that IoT tracking devices can be installed on trains or buses to pinpoint their location in real time. If services are running late, IoT systems can automatically update signage at bus stops and train stations, or alert travellers via text message. This ensures users always get the information they need when planning their journeys.

Besides keeping people informed, governments can use IoT data to schedule additional services, amend routes, resolve issues, and meet unexpected demand. With IoT technology, towns and cities in Nigeria can become Smart Cities, creating cleaner, safer and more effective environments for citizens.

Etisalat boosts SMEs growth with Market Access Forum

From left, Dr Ebun Sonaiya, Director, Nigeria South Africa Chamber of Commerce; Chief Mrs Opral Benson, Chief Executive Officer of Chic Afrique, Mr Lanre Kolade, Managing Director, Vodacom Business Nigeria and Mr Osayaba Giwa-Osagie, Director of Nigeria South Africa Chamber of Commerce during the Nigerian-South African Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting, held in Lagos, recently.

12-yr-old student develops mobile Tracking App A 12-year-old student, Tomisin Jasmin Ogunnubi of Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls Oregun, Lagos State, under the tutelage of an ICT partnership between Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls School and New Horizons Computer Learning Centre has developed an android mobile tracking application

tagged, “My Locator.”

The app helps a user to know his geographic location, view it on the map and get appropriately directed.

One of the other useful attributes of the app is that it is integrated with an alert button which when pressed in a distressed situation, calls the Lagos State emergency service number (767), and thereby gets

Global Brands Report: Huawei moves to number 72 Global smartphone company, Huawei, has ranked 72 on the Interbrand’s 2016 Best Global Brands report, moving up 16 spots from its ranking in 2015.

This is the second consecutive year Huawei has risen on Interbrand’s list since the company became the first mainland Chinese brand to be recognised as a Best Global Brand in 2014.

According to Interbrand, “Huawei is once again a highlight in the 2016 Best Global Brands report released by Interbrand. Its brand value increased by 18 per cent compared to a year ago.”

In Interbrand›s annual report, Huawei is also one of the fastest rising brands in the technology sector,

effectively, and safeguard vulnerable inhabitants in their homes, Kolade said.

In concluding the meeting, Mr Solomon Ogufere, Commercial Director of Vodacom Business Nigeria, said that Vodacom could help governments take control of their energy usage across multiple sites, and smart metres, installed in offices, factories and homes, can collect and report data on electricity, gas, and water use.

He also explained that IoTenabled lights can cut the need for regular engineer check-ups by alerting authorities before they fail. IoT lights can also detect when there is little or no traffic and turn off or dim individual lamps

climbing from 88 to 72 in ranking.

Huawei’s consumer business group has maintained steady global growth. Its flagship products, such as the P9, Mate 8 smartphones, as well as the MateBook, Huawei’s first 2-in-1 laptop, have all seen significant adoption by consumers around the world.

Huawei has become one of the top device brands in nearly 30 countries. The MateBook is now available in dozens of countries and Huawei shipped 108 million smartphones in 2015, surpassing the 100 million benchmark for the first time. Strong growth in shipment forecasts through 2021 is also reinforcing the company’s position as a leading global smart-

phone brand.

Commenting on the new development, Managing Director, Devices, Huawei Nigeria, Mr Leo Jiang said: “We are very proud of this achievement especially with our improved ranking because it shows us that people all around the world are recognising Huawei for being able to produce uniquely distinct and brilliant devices, and increases our zeal to continue innovating and providing customers with unmatched user experience.”

As a leading technology company, Huawei earmarks more than 10 per cent of its annual sales revenue to research and development efforts and has established 16 research centres around the world.

the chance of being rescued from such threatening emergencies or conditions.

The app is already uploaded online and readily available for free download in Google Store. The performance of the likes of Tomisin has confirmed that Nigeria is blessed with sharp and focused youths who in future, will emerge as Nigeria’s industry captains that will become tomorrow’s entrepreneurial giants like Bill Gates, Mack Zuckerberg, Google Boys, etc.

While presenting the app, the school executive director, Mrs Olufunke Fowler-Amba expressed her joy that Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls has been living to its billing as a top quality and front row IT-driven school for many years and that the achievement by Tomisin and many other students who have equally developed other IT solutions at different times are glaring testaments to the fact.

She reiterated her delight at the productive strategic international ICT partnership which her school established with New Horizons, a US-based, world largest international IT skills and certification training organisation that has presence in 80 Countries of the world.

In furtherance of its commitment to the Federal Government’s objective of promoting Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) as enablers of national socio-economic development, Etisalat Nigeria has again sponsored another session of the quarterly Market Access Forum in Lagos.

Market Access Forum is a quarterly business networking and empowerment platform that enables owners of SMEs to interact and share knowledge with players in large corporations thereby equipping startup businesses for sustainable growth. The forum is organised by the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Pan Atlantic University, Lagos in partnership with Etisalat Nigeria.

Two previous sessions of the forum have held in Abuja and Port Harcourt this year.

Speaking at the event, Head, Enterprise Marketing, Etisalat Nigeria, Chinelo Mbanefo, restated Etisalat’s commitment to continued support for startup and growing businesses in Nigeria through innovative solutions that will stimulate the growth of the sector.

“At Etisalat Nigeria, we are passionate about the growth of the SMEs as enablers of socio-economic development. As a supportive network for SMEs, we have and we will continue to create and support platforms that help startup and growing businesses to network, build relationships and create endless possibilities for them to grow in a sustainable manner. Market Access Forum is one of such platforms”, she said.

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communitynews

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Stop patronising unauthorised medicine shops, communities told abiodun jimoh-benin city

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HE Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has advised people in rural and urban communities to stop buying drugs from unauthorised pharmaceutical shops.

The Chairman, 2016 PSN Week Organising Committee, Edo State chapter, Dr. Francis Odigie, gave the advice while speaking with journalists in Benin City.

He noted that fake and substandard drugs were being sold in some unauthorised pharmaceutical shops, especially in local communities to unsuspecting people.

Dr. Odigie, who was the captain of the PSN football team when they played against the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Football team in a novelty match at the University of Benin sports complex, pleaded for the support and collaboration of the NUJ in their fight against fake and substan-

dard drugs to ensure that all these killer drugs were kicked out of circulation.

He said: “If we do not join hands to fight this menace now, anybody among us can be vulnerable to the nefarious act. As pharmacists, our slogan is ‘As men of honour, we join hands,’ We have been begging and charging

people in our communities not to buy drugs from unqualified drug sellers except at accredited pharmaceutical shops alone.

“You will find out that some people even buy drugs inside the buses which is not advisable. We are begging our mothers and brothers to desist from doing this.”

Christianna Foundation inaugurates library THE Christianna Foundation, established by Mrs Omonike Akinjide, has inaugurated a well-equipped library at Elekuro High School, Oke-Ogbere in OnaAra Local Government Area of Oyo State.

The foundation was established in 2012 with the aim of supporting public schools in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states

Community leader charges FG, state govts on Ijegu-Yala Dam anthony ubong-calabar

A community leader in Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State, Chief Cyprian Onah, has charged the federal and state governments to prevail on the Cross River Basin Development Authority to complete the Ijegu-Yala dam project which commenced in the 80s.

In a statement made available to the Nigerian Tribune in Calabar, Onah explained that survey plans, feasibility studies as well as environmental impact assessment have been concluded, awaiting the groundbreaking and earthwork.

Blaming the government for not being responsive to the plight of the people, the community leader charged President Muhammadu Buhari and the Cross River State governor, Professor Ben Ayade, to “make inquiries to ascertain factors responsible for the delay in implementing the project which could have changed the condition of the host community and neighboring ones.’’

He expressed optimism that the dam, when completed, would create employment, provide food, water, security and reduce ruralurban migration and youth restiveness in the area.

“There is something in this game that the Cross River Basin Authority has failed to come out clearly to tell the people,” he said.

He said that the entire Yala communities are yearning for the construction of the dam to uplift their agricultural potential and socio-economic activities, even as he hoped that the project would be included in the signature projects of the state government.

From left, Dr Jytte Oladapo, member of the Board of Directors of Christianna Foundation; Mr Abayomi Akinjide and Principal of Elekuro High School, Mr Adekunle Lawal, during the inauguration of a library donated by Mr Akinjide, in memory of his late mother, Mrs Elizabeth Akinjide.

‘NCC to include rural communities in telecoms services’ THE Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta, has said that the commission was designing programmes to provide telecommunication access in rural communities.

Danbatta made this dis-

closure while speaking on the sidelines of the 4th National Council on Communication Technology meeting in Kaduna.

He said that the council has special programmes targeting the unserved and underserved communities in the country.

The NCC boss said that the communities include rural communities and isolated population, where telecommunication services are not available and where commercial operators are reluctant to go.

“The commission recognises this important part

Courts convict 361 in Edo, Kwara over violation of sanitation laws About 361 people were convicted in Edo and Kwara states, at the weekend over violation of sanitation laws.

Two hundred and fortyfive people were convicted by two separate mobile courts, in Benin for violation of the state’s Sanitation and Pollution Management Law No 5 of 2010.

The two courts sat at Ramat Park and Sapele Road within Benin metropolis.

Senior State Counsel, Edo State Ministry of Justice, Mr Samson Erhaze and Head of Legal Services, Edo State Ministry of Environment, Mr Plus Oiwoh, gave the statistics to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin.

The counsels said while some of the offenders were convicted for violation of sanitation laws, others were convicted for wandering and obstructing sanitation officials from discharging their duties.

Erhaze said the court, sitting at Ramat Park, convicted 52 of the 58 persons arraigned while six of them were discharged.

“The accused were either sentenced to three days imprisonment or pay N2, 000 fines as option,” he said.

Oiwoh said that 193 of the 210 alleged offenders arraigned were convicted by the mobile court, which sat on Sapele Road in Benin.

NAN reported that compliance to the monthly sanitation exercise, which holds every last Saturday of the month, was low within the Benin metropolis.

It was observed that human and vehicular movements were heavy during the period of the exercise on major roads in the city.

But the Director of Edo Waste Management Board, Mr Ehon Geoffrey, described the exercise as a success.

“Offenders were prosecuted at mobile courts to serve as deterrent to others.

“We went round different markets and locations to ensure that people complied with the exercise.

“We also ensured that wastes from markets and other strategic locations in the city were properly disposed off,” he said.

In the same vein, 116 people were convicted for various sanitation offences by mobile courts, during the October sanitation exercise in Ilorin, Kwara State.

It was reported that the convicts were arrested and prosecuted for driving and loitering, among other offences, during the monthly sanitation contrary to the sanitation laws of the state.

They were convicted or asked to pay fines by mobile courts situated at strategic locations in Ilorin.

of the Nigerian population and we have designed programmes that are targeted specifically at these communities.

“We have recently identified 207 access gaps, which we are trying to block and these access gaps are depriving about 40 million Nigerians access to telecoms services.

“We have this on agenda and on the front burner of our regulative drive to ensure that these access gaps are blocked.

“We are deploying infrastructure that will allow these Nigerians to enjoy telecoms services, no matter where they are and no matter what their circumstances are,’’ he said.

Speaking on cyber crime, Danbatta said that the commission would not hesitate to protect the country’s cyber space by putting constant measures in place that would guarantee the privacy and security of Nigerians.

He called on policy makers to put corporate measures in place that would make cyber space safe.

“Policy makers must at the same time, while deploying the power of ICT to leverage on the required diversification of the economy, put measures in place that will make cyber space safe,” he said.

through the provision of teaching aids.

Speaking on the occasion, MR Abayomi Akinjide, the husband of the founder, who donated the library through the foundation, said he donated Elizabeth Akinjide Memorial Library, in memory of his mother, who died 10 years ago.

He promised to continue to equip the library with modern books and make it sustainable, so as to make it useful for the next generation.

He, however, urged government to place more emphasis on education and reading culture among youths in order to develop in the country.

In his remarks, the school principal, Mr Adekunle Lawal, stressed the importance of library in educational institutions, saying it would inculcate the reading culture in the students.

He applauded the philanthropic gesture of the Foundation, saying this will go a long way in promoting academic excellence in the school.

At the event, no fewer than 21 outstanding students were awarded with cash prizes and others, for their brilliance performance in the just concluded reading competition organised by the foundation among students in Egbeda/Ona-Ara Local Government areas.

One of the students of the school, Olawoyin Emmanuel, thanked the founder on behalf of other pupils for considering his school worthy of the gesture, saying the gesture would motivate students to perform more brilliantly in their studies.

Promote peaceful coexistence, traditional rulers told NIGER State governor, Abubakar Bello, has urged traditional rulers in the state to do more in promoting peaceful coexistence among their subjects, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has reported.

Bello made the call in Borgu at the presentation of staff of office to the new Emir of Borgu, Alhaji Muhammed Dantoro.

He said that peaceful atmosphere would enable government to concentrate in providing democracy dividends.

According to the governor, the state government will continue to initiate policies and programmes that will better the lot of the governed irrespective of political affiliation.

He, however, expressed concern over the rising influx of people to the state in search of greener pastures.

He urged royal fathers to be vigilant and security conscious by monitoring the conduct and behaviour of visitors coming into their domains.

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news

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Invest in mining for better GDP, stakeholders tell FG

Group condemns amendment of CCB/CCT Act Banji Aluko-Benin City

Sam Nwaoko-Ado Ekiti

STAKEHOLDERS in the solid minerals mining sector of the Nigerian economy have decried the non-implementation of the Nigerian Mineral and Mining Act of 2007.

They said for the true diversification of the nation’s economy to take effect, this sector must receive better investment.

Miners, officials of mining agencies, government agents and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) gave the charge in a communiqué, at the end of a one-day policy dialogue on the project: “Strengthening Civic Engagement and Advocacy for Effective Natural Resource Governance in Nigeria.”

The stakeholders had converged on Ekiti, for the programme organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD), with support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

The communique was signed by Mr Adu Adeyinka of the Ekiti State Mineral Resources Development Agency; Mr Olamide Ogunlade, New Initiative for Social Development (NISD), Ekiti State; Monday Osasah, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), Prince Adewale Adekunle of the Ijero/Alliance Gems Miners Association Ekiti State; Mr James Okothi, Felspar miners, IjeroEkiti; Oba Agbeleoba, the Elepe of Epe-Ekiti in Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State and Mrs Adefemi Bola, of the National Council of Women’s Societies (NCWS), Ekiti State.

The Bishop in charge, the Maranatha Chapel International, Bishop Samuel Olumakinde Alawode (left), receiving a copy of the maiden edition of Nigerian Tribune 1949, from the Chief Accountant, African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, Mrs Oluremi Olufisayo, during the cleric’s visit to the Tribune House, Imalefalafia, on Monday. PHOTO: ALOLADE GANIYU

Tribune, heritage builder —Clergyman •Tasks govt on solution to problems

By Joseph Ajayi

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HE founder of Maranatha Lord Cometh Ministry International, Ibadan, Bishop Samuel Alawode, has heaped praises on the Nigerian Tribune, describing it as heritage builder in a country where heritage is being destroyed, adding that the company stood strong in truth in its reportage of events.

Bishop Alawode, who gave the commendation during a visit to Tribune House at Imalefalafia, in company with some pastors and administrative members of the church, further praised the chairman and co-chairman of the company, Reverend (Mrs) Omotola Oyediran and Dr Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu respectively, for their wisdom and effective management of the company, saying they were worthy examples of women who could do well if given the leadership position in the country.

Bishop Alawode equally praised the current management of the company

for their prudence, payment of salaries tireless efforts to keep the company moving in the face of recession, adding that the management was, no doubt, above corruption.

The bishop seized the opportunity to tell Nigerian government at all levels, to start working and stop telling Nigerians there were problems, saying the leaders were voted in to solve problems and not complain further about problems. “Government from Federal to local level should try and solve the problems on ground now.

Their telling us we have

problems is not acceptable to the people. We knew we had problems, but we voted them in to solve our problems. They should give us answers,” he said.

While urging Nigerians to be patient and hopeful in the face of economic recession, he also advised on the need for people in the country to have multiple sources of income to cushion the effect of recession. “We should create jobs. The reality is that the government can’t pay salaries as and when due,” he said.

Welcoming them on behalf of the chairman and co-chairman as well as the

management of the company, the Chief Accountant, Mrs Oluremi Olufisayo, thanked the bishop and his entourage for recognising that Tribune reported truth and was informative, reporting the need of people, saying the church must have done proper investigation to have good knowledge of the company.

She included that Tribune had various brands now to satisfy its readers, especially in this time of economic crisis, saying the company had started spreading to other regions of the country, as it now had an office in Abuja.

FORMER Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Dimeji Bankole, has appealed to Nigerians to make the right sacrifices at this period of economic crisis, for a better and greater country in the future.

He added that it would

well implemented to yield results.

He made this statement on Sunday, while delivering the fifth anniversary lecture of a community magazine, Ijebu News Xtra, at Ijebu-Ode, on the theme: “Ogun State: Stimulating Youths Entrepreneurship Potentials in Recessive Economy,” which had in attendance the Group Managing Director, Odua Investments, Mr Adewale Raji; a former member of the House of Representatives, Wale Ogunbanjo; Mr Femi Omotayo and former member of the state House of Assembly, Tokunbo Oshin, in attendance.

He explained that any economic reform could not be executed within a fouryear term, submitting that President Muhammadu Buhari needed more time to fix the nation’s ailing economy.

Bankole said solution to the challenge would not be found in any econom-

ernment and be ready to make sacrifices.

The former speaker said: “I feel sorry for President Buhari, he can’t solve the problem in four years. He needs a second term. No economic reform or policy can be formulated and implemented to produce the expected results within four years; it will take at least seven years.

“He is doing a thankless job now, like the teachers.

No magic or miracle about this, we have to do the work and the government needs support. It is a long distance race.

“The question is: what are you prepared to sacrifice?

What risk are you going to take, to make Nigeria better? We must make sacrifices to make the country work.”

Bankole advised the nation’s youth to develop skills that would make them employers of labour, while enjoining well-meaning Nigerians to encourage them in establishing businesses.

Senate committee chairman tasks Recession: Nigerians must sacrifice —Bankole FG on take a period of seven years ics textbook, noting that it economic Olayinka Olukoyafor any economic reforms required the willingness of Abeokuta positively designed and Nigerians, to support gov- recession

Glo Campus Storm features music, dance, comedy, pageantry at Nekede poly THE campus community of the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, enjoyed a full dose of sublime entertainment, during the Glo Campus Storm music concert held on Friday, at the institution, located on the outskirts of Owerri, Imo State.

The show, which was the third in the 2016 edition of the music concert, was a potpourri of events designed to entertain the students, staff and other members of the campus community.

At the Federal Polytech-

nic Nekede concert, the fusion of music, dance, comedy and pageantry snowballed into an evening of classic entertainment.

Kenyan hip hop diva, Victoria Kimani set the ball rolling, when she appeared on stage wearing a netted hipster and tank-top. The singer engaged the awed crowd in a manner akin to the American hip hop star, Beyonce.

Omawumi’s sensational act with her live band jolted the crowd to their feet.

She rendered a blend of Afro-pop, soul and hip hop

A group, the Organisation For Global Youth Peace, Empowerment And Development Initiative (OGYPEDI), has condemned the amendment of the CCB and the CCT Acts of 2004 by the Nigerian Senate.

According to the group, “the amendment is illtimed, self serving and of no priority to the Nigerian masses.”

President of the group, Japhet Omene, in a statement on Monday, in Benin, called on the Nigerian Senate to apologise to Nigerians, for what he described as unnecessary and unwarranted amendement of the CCB and CCT act.

He said, “By this action, the Nigerian Senate has not only abused its constituted statutory responsibilities, powers and privileges, but has set the pace of retrogression for our nascent democracy as this action is capable of weakening the nation’s institutions.

“We believe that this amendment, which has now put the appointment of the CCT chairman and members under the control of the Senate, is nothing but a self-serving action, taken in responds to the ongoing trial of the President of the Nigerian Senate.”

in her tracks, “If you ask me,” “Belle,” “You must love me,” “As I dey” and “I go go.”

Emotions drew high when she gave out her shoes to one of her fans.

Eme Stephens, re-enactment of late Michael Jackson’s electrifying dance steps won him the best dancer prize, a contest he competed for with several other students. MC Gordons’s comic challenge of the winner caused a stir among the crowd who couldn’t stop laughing.

Isaac Shobayo-Jos

THE Chairman Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, Senator Tijjani Kaura, has tasked the Federal Government to be more steadfast, towards addressing and proffering solution to the economic recession in the country, saying the government must be frank and tell Nigerians the state of the economy.

Senator Kaura stated this in his opening remark at the three days Think Tank conference, on the current economic recession in Nigeria with the theme: From Recession to Recovery and Growth Policy Option for the Nigerian Economy organised by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Plateau State.

“Our government must be frank to tell Nigerians that the nation is in deep recession and stop playing around the issue because the performance of any economy is seen as a mirror to judge the leadership.”

30

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

PoliticsNews

Crisis rocks Lagos APC over Reps’ seat Bola Badmus - Lagos

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major crisis is brewing among stakeholders in the the Ifako-Ijaiye chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos state over the vacant House of Representatives seat from the area.

The stakeholders are spoiling for war with one of the contestants for the federal constituency, Alhaji Nurudeen Olaitan Akinwunmi following claims that he had been endorsed by the Osun State governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola.

Akinwunmi served as secretary first between 1999 and 2003 and later between 2008 and 2011 in the IfakoIjaiye Local Government Area.

Other contenders for the seat are Adekunle Olayinka, Banjo Omole, Tope Adewale, Adebayo Salvador, Honourable Josiah Abiola, Kayode Aremo, Ademola Doherty, Benjamin Olabimjo and Saka Fafunmi.

Akinwunmi met with

members of the Executive Committee of APC in IfakoIjaiye as part of his ongoing campaign for chairmanship with a number of other contestants reportedly agreeing to work with him.

But it was learnt that others have vowed to resist what they perceived as a grand plot by some influential party members to impose a candidate on the party.

They have threatened to

work for the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if APC leaders failed to gurantee a level-playing field during party primary.

Two principal officers

Kunle Oderemi kunleoderemi@gmail.com 08116954635

of APC in Ifako-Ijaiye and Ojokoro council areas reportedly shunned the said meeting called by those backing Akinwunmi.

One of the aspirants, who spoke on condition of ano-

From right, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State; chairman of Nsukka Local Government Area Transition Committee, Professor Rose Onah; and former Minister of Information, Chief Nnia Nwodo, during the governor’s meeting with stakeholders of Enugu North Senatorial district in Nsukka.

Osun 2018: APC threatens to sanction guber aspirants Oluwole Ige - Osogbo

The All Progressives Congress (APC), Osun State chapter has threatened to sanction any of its members jumping the gun ahead of the 2018 governorship race in the party.

It cautioned those intending to contest to bury the idea for now “because it is absolutely inappropriate at this juncture.”

The party, through a statement by the chairman in the state, Prince Adegboyega

Famodun, said it would not take kindly to any violation of the warning.

It explained that there were more important things to do in service delivery to the people of the state and which required the full cooperation of party members with the current administration.

“What is most important for the party now is for everyone to join hands with Governor Rauf Aregbesola to solve problems confronting the state.

“The governor of the state,

Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, is right in the middle of his second term, grappling with the difficulties of economic recession. This is not the proper time for any aspirant to divert attention from the serious business at hand.”

“We are calling on everybody with governorship aspiration to put it on hold until such a time that the party will consider appropriate. Only then will it make political sense for anyone to come out and talk about governorship aspiration,” it said.

The APC implored its members to concentrate efforts on helping the government “to do everything it can to mitigate difficulties that citizens of

Ondo 2016: We will explore gas to power South-West —Akeredolu Hakeem Gbadamosi - Akure

As the November 26 in Ondo Sate draws near, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, has promised to

Lalong, Jang clash again over 2019 elections Isaac Shobayo - Jos

Former governor of Plateau State now a senator representing Plateau North, Senator Jonah Jang has told his successor, Governor Simon Lalong, that he could start preparing his handover note in 2019.

Jang, now a senator representing Plateau North in the National Assembly, believes Lalong cannot secure a second mandate through the next general election.

But in a swift reaction, Governor Lalong said Jang’ was only trying to play God, hence he should be ignored by the people of the state.

“My second term is in the hands of God and the good people of Plateau State,” the governor said.

Jang spoke at a constituency outreach empowerment programme organized, by Honourable Istifanus Gyan, the member representing Riyom / Barkin Ladi federal constituency.

He said he was convinced that the people had made up their mind to vote PDP in the next general election because of the economic challenges facing the citizenry.

“The people of Plateau have decided to vote the PDP in 2019 and would vote against Governor Lalong if he decides to contest,” Jang said.

He called on the members of PDP to unite and work towards the victory of the party in 2019.

“During my first year in office, I did not travel for

once abroad; but as it is in Plateau now, your governor has travelled abroad so many times, all in the name of bringing in investors.

Where are the investors,” he queried.

Taking on Jang on his criticism, the governor through his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Dan Manjang, said the era of impunity was over, as the present administration in the state strongly believed in the rule of law and due process.

He said the former lacked the credential to determine who would the governor of Plateau in 2019. ”The year 2019 is in the hands of God and the people of Plateau State, not in the hands of any man. Senator Jang himself cannot go

Osun and other Nigerians are experiencing at this period of economic downturn.”

Again, Lalong, Jang quarrel over 2019 guber race

beyond 2019 as the senator representing Plateau North, because two years down the line, we have not heard anything from him as our representative.

“His voice is not heard; nobody knows what he is doing in the Senate. It is surprise to us that it was Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State that got Plateau State enlisted into the NorthEast Commission. Where is Senator Jang? Presently, we have more respect for Senator Kwankwaso than Jang.”

The spokesman said the prevailing peace on the Plateau as a result of the good work and governance by Lalong, having created a conducive atmosphere for business to strive.

use othe gas deposit in the state to power the SouthWest region.

Akeredolu, who stated this during his campaign in Epinmi, in Akoko South East local government area of the state, linked the infrastructural decay and collapse of industries in the state to incessant and erratic power supply.

He collaborate with the Federal government to develop the infrastructure and resuscitate all moribund industries in the state in order to open up employment opportunities to the youth and people of the state.

Akeredolu urged the people to vote for him, saying it would be easier for an APC governor in the state to bring about development.

He also asked them to take advantage of the APC government at the centre, just as he lamented the poor state of infrastructure in the area and the neglect being suffered by the people of Akokoland.

He said he would give priority to the development of rural communities to ensure massive infrastructural development.

nymity, said it was improper for any party leader from Alimosho local council to dictate to APC stakeholders in Ifako-Ijaiye and Ajekoro local government areas on the choice of chairmanship candidate, especially someone that not known to have contributed to emergence of incumbent Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

“We don’t know him, he only comes in any time there is an opportunity like this to hijack whatever is available, and thereafter you would not see him any more until there is another round of opportunity. He has not been attending ward meetings with us,” the aspirant said.

Another contestant queried: “Where was Akinwunmi when we were battling to rally support for Governor Ambode during the election. We are resolved to vote PDP if the move to impose Akinwunmi succeeds,” he threatened.

But reacting, Akinwunmi denied that he was being sponsored by Governor Aregbesola for the position, saying he would not have campaigned vigorously as he was doing currently; meeting all the stakeholders in the party and seeking their support for the coming primary The aspirant, who confirmed that he met with party EXCOs from Ifako- Ijaiye LCDA, said he would have preferred to sit at home doing nothing if he believed somebody was sponsoring him to have him imposed on others.

“I am preparing seriously for the primaries and when we get there, everybody would see me because I am prepared. Yesterday, I went to meet with the exco members in Ifako- Ijaiye.

We have also met with all the ward chairmen in IfakoIjaiye and Ojokoro.

“I have been able to meet with the Elder’s Forum in Ifako- Ijaye. I have gone to meet all the leaders in Ojokoro. You can confirm what I am saying.

“If anybody is supporting me, I don’t need to do that. All I am saying is that I am going to meet with our people to ask for their votes. If I believe I am being sponsored, I will not go and meet with them now.

I will not go, I will just sit down at home and be comfortable now.

“But I am preparing seriously for the party primary, please quote me. I am preparing seriously for it,” Akinwunmi said.

31

politicsnews PDP elders to FG: Save Ondo from repeat of 1983 anarchy Hakeem Gbadamosi - Akure

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EADERS of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State, on Monday, described the substitution of the governorship candidate of the party in the forthcoming election in the state, Mr Eyitayo Jegede, with the name of Mr Jimoh Ibrahim, as an invitation to anarchy.

“We want to sound a note of warning to the federal government led by APC not to allow history to repeat itself. There is no way we can run away from our experience in 1983.

“People who suffered in 1983 are still suffering today, many houses that were burnt have not been built and I think the society must take cognisance of this.

The leaders, who stated this in Akure, the state capital, during a press conference, rejected the choice of Ibrahim as the candidate of the party, alleging that Ibrahim emerged through the backdoor, benefitting from the unholy alliance between the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the APC led federal government.

Speaking on behalf of the leaders, a former Ambassador to Greece, Professor Olu Agbi, explained that Jegede emerged from a primary election conducted in the state, in a free and fair atmosphere where members of the party decided Jegede’s candidature through the delegates of the party.

He queried the rationale behind the conduct of a parallel primary by some fringe group in the party outside the state and described it as an unusual precedence in the political history of the country.

Agbi frowned over the injustice perpetrated by the judiciary to enforce Ibrahim on the party as the party’s flagbearer in the forthcoming election, saying it is the prerogative of all political parties contesting in an election to nominate or elect their candidate.

His words: “Generally, it is the prerogative of political parties to nominate their gubernatorial candidate.

We have not seen in the history of the country where the court will order political parties to accept court nominated candidate “Such a thing can also create an unusual precedence for us in this country. If tomorrow there’s presidential nomination and I decide to go to Cotonou in Benin Republic to conduct my own primary, and come back to say I want to be president and go to court and the court ratifies it, I am not so sure people will be comfortable with that. But we are

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

going and moving towards that direction with this Justice Abang decision.

“We have been monitoring events in the state following the substitution of the Party’s gubernatorial candidate of our party, Mr Eyitayo Jegede with Jimoh Ibrahim.

We have really witnessed the theater of absurd going on in Abuja between INEC and Federal High court of Justice Abang as a rape of democracy.”

The leaders noted that the state had been witnessing unprecedented developments in the last seven years through the peace being

enjoyed by the people and called on the Federal Government to nip the impending crisis in the bud.

“We see this as a deliberate attempt to destroy the peace, tranquility and progress that we have been enjoying in this state in last seven years because Ondo state has been very peaceful and we have witnessed a lot of progress in the state and we don’t want this peace to be truncated.

“In a society where there’s no justice, rule of law, and order, there can never be peace and stability. The first law of survival as a country

is justice, fairness, equity and this should be taken to consideration by our leaders, that once this injustice is addressed, there will be no crisis and chaos in this land.

“We believe that the judiciary should not make a mockery of itself. There’s no doubt now that people have lost a lot of confidence and faith in the judiciary because of corruption,” he said.

The leaders however appealed to the Federal Government to save the state from imminent chaos by respecting the will of the people of the state.

“We therefore appeal to the Federal Government to save Ondo State from imminent crisis by ensuring that the will of the people are respected and protected. Once this is done, we are sure that there will be guaranteed peace in the land,” the envoy said.

Some of the PDP leaders at the meeting included, Dr Lucas Gbakinro, Former Chairman of PDP in the state, Dr Tayo Dairo, Olu Ogidan, Bode Iwaloye, Idowu Ogunmade, Surffy Ugouji, Lawrence Ajetunmobi, Dele Awosika, Samuel Akinbobola, among others.

President Muhammadu Buhari receiving Plateau State governor, Mr Simon Lalong (right) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate for Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, at the State House, on Monday.

I will defeat Ibrahim, Jegede, says Akeredolu As he visits Buhari Clement Idoko - Abuja

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, has endorsed the candidature of Mr Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), as the standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Ondo State.

Plateau State governor and leader of APC campaign for the election, Simon Lalong, officially presented Akeredolu to the President at the Presidential Villa Abuja, on Monday.

Speaking with State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with the President, Lalong said though Buhari is the President of Nigeria, he is still the leader of the party and loyal party man who was also answerable to the party.

He said the President Buhari has confirmed that he has seen the candidate and was also praying for a successful election in the state.

Lalong disclosed that a few weeks ago, he was given the responsibility of leading the campaign on behalf of the National Executive of APC for the Ondo election.

He noted that since the emergence of Akeredolu as the party’s candidate at the primary, he had not been presented to Mr President in his capacity as the leader of the party.

He said: “So, today we came in with the candidate and to confirm to the president that APC has only one candidate unlike other parties that are fighting about who is their candidate. We have only one candidate and that candidate is Mr Akeredolu Rotimi (SAN),” he said.

On the chances of APC in winning the election, he said: “Well, that is not a problem to APC; since inception, you knew what happened in Kogi; you knew what happened in Edo; we won the elections; it was as if it was going to be very difficult for us, but we won the election.

“Today again, we are going into Ondo; all the mistakes we made in other states, we have corrected them. We are seeing a very smooth election, not only a smooth election but the credibility of the candidate itself is something worth selling,” he said.

Meanwhile, Governor Lalong has criticised the

Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, for running to President Buhari to seek help in resolving the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over who becomes the candidate of the party in the election.

He said it was wrong for Mimiko to run to the president over issues concerning PDP since Buhari was not a member of the opposition party.

He said: “Let me say that it was even wrong for them to start running to Mr President to help them solve the problem of PDP. Mr President is the President of Nigeria and he is not a member of PDP. Even when we have problems in APC, we don’t run to Mr President.

If he has a problem in his state, he is the governor, let him stay there and resolve the matter.

“It’s a matter between PDP and PDP and those matters are in court. So, why should you run to the President? Is Mr President the chief judge of Nigeria?

He is not the INEC chairman, either,” he said.

Also speaking, Akeredolu said he was confidence in winning the election by the grace of God, saying ei-

ther the Jimoh Ibrahim or Eyitayo Jegede would not pose any threat to him.

He denied any rift with the national leader of the party, Senator Bola Tinubu, who, according to him, has accepted the results of the primary and the party is moving on.

He said: “I don’t have any rift with him. Since the party primary, you have seen that as leader of the party; he has not said anything about it. He has accepted the primary and we are moving on; so, I don’t have any rift with him at all and we are moving on.

“What the party said in Ondo State is to call on the security apparatus of the state to be up and doing, so that they do not allow miscreants to take over the state.

“This is because, for instance, as a governor you encourage lawlessness, or people in the guise of protest because what the PDP has is a problem within the party. That should not lead to demonstration outside and you know that people are not demonstrating for any reason but because they have been more or less paid to come and do it.

Makarfi faction seizes Kwara PDP secretariat Biola Azeez - Ilorin

THE Makarfi-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State has taken over the state party secretariat of the party in Ilorin.

Speaking with journalists, when he led a crowd of party supporters to the party secretariat located along Asa dam road, Ilorin on Monday, amidst drumming and singing, the chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, said the reopening of the secretariat became necessary as preparations for council election in the state had commenced.

“Our mission here today is to take effective charge of the secretariat to ensure smooth running of activities of our party. For some time now, you will observe that the secretariat had been put under lock and key; this is not good enough and does not portray us in good light,” he said.

Fagbemi also said that his leadership had written to the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWASIEC) requesting for guidelines and time table for conduct of the local government poll, adding that he would soon commence visit to the 16 local government areas of the state to assess well-being of members.

The party leader, who restated support of the Kwara PDP for the Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee, said that, “we constitute more than 80 per cent of PDP membership in the state.

“I also thank every member present here and those that are unavoidably absent for your support given to me and my executives. I want to assure you that we will not disappoint you.”

Speaking on national issues, Fagbemi called for the reconstitution of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in view of the political development in Ondo State.

The PDP chairman described it as unfortunate, a situation where bonafide PDP governorship candidate, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) was replaced with Jimoh Ibrahim, by INEC in alleged disregard of an Akure High Court order restraining it from such act.

“Other sins of INEC as presently constituted include the governorship election in Edo state and many inconclusive elections. This INEC has, by its conduct in Edo and Ondo states, demonstrated its inability to be an unbiased umpire,” he said.

32

photonews

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Assembly appeals to Ambode over demolition of waterfront shanties Chukwuma Okparaocha Lagos

T From left, Hon. Busari. A. Kayode, Hon. Bukola Ajaja, Engr. Remi Olaniyan, Prince Dotun Oyelade, Prince Tunji Adeoye and Mr Remi Ayodele during the Accord, Oyo State chapter 2016 state congress held at Olubadan stadium complex, NTC Road, Iyaganku, Ibadan on Saturday. PHOTO: ALOLADE GANIYU

The representative, Ibadan North Federal Constituency, Hon. Abiodun Awoleye (fourth left), his wife Dorcas (second left) with their babies (triplets) during the children’s harvest and dedication of his babies held at St. Paul’s Anglican church, Yemetu, Ibadan, recently. PHOTO: ALOLADE GANIYU

From (right) Bukola Ogunbayo, Mrs Bola Ogunbayo and Mrs Funmi Ogunbayo during the burial ceremony of their father Mr Solomon Taiwo Abayomi Ogunbayo held at ST. John Anglican church Isara Remo recently. PHOTO: YEMI- FUNSO-OKE

From left, Pastor Tunde Adefolaju, the Son Mr Ifeoluwa Tolulayo Adefolaju and Pastor (Mrs) Abiola Adefolaju during faculty of pharmacy, Obafemi Awolowo University , Ile-Ife 2014/2015 graduating set professional induction ceremony held at Oduduwa Hall, O.A.U, Ile-Ife. recently. PHOTO: ALOLADE GANIYU

HE Lagos State House of Assembly, on Monday, advised the state government over the ongoing demolition of shanties in waterside communities in the state.

The lawmakers thereby appealed to the state Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, to reconsider his decision to demolish shanties and slums in the riverine areas across the state.

The House made the plea following the presentation of a report by the Assembly’s ad hoc committee on the matter led by the chairman, House Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Petitions, Mrs Adefunmilayo Tejuosho.

Tejuosho (APC-Mushin I), however, admitted that as observed during her committee’s visit to some of the slums, many of the shanties were already sinking.

“It is not conducive for them to continue to dwell there. However, I think we should crave the indulgence of the governor to actually relocate these persons instead of throwing them on

the street.

“If we allow this, they will go and congregate somewhere and the hazard to the health will not be easy to curtail,” she said.

The lawmaker, however, advised Ambode to make necessary arrangements to relocate the slum dwellers before the demolition.

The lawmakers took turns to express divergent views on the issue.

While some of the lawmakers supported the demolition, others suggested that the Governor should discuss with the residents and see how the matter could be resolved.

The Speaker, Honourable Muashiru Obasa, stated that the House would set up a committee to look into the matter thoroughly.

He urged the governor to give the House some time to know what to do on the matter.

Another lawmaker, Honourable David Setonji said the residents should be considered as they are Nigerians and human beings, adding that they would go somewhere else if they were sent away and constitute security risks.

The Majority Leader of the House, Honourable

Sanai Agunbiade said the matter should be properly considered, adding that the House should look into what the plan of the government is.

“We should look at the pros and cons of the matter. It is better we hear the government out to see what plan they have,” he stated.

Concluding the matter, the Speaker of the House, Honourable Obasa said it is all about the comfort put in place, and that the House could not close its eyes to fact that it is their responsibilities to do what is right.

“The emergence of these shanties and slums are not without the existence of the government. If the government at that time had done what was expected, there won’t be shanties and slums dwellers today.

“Demolishing the shanties and slums would only raise another shanties and slums. It is giving them an opportunity to go out and start it somewhere.

The Speaker then directed the Clerk of the House to write a letter to the Governor to engage the slum dwellers rather than demolishing their buildings, in order to give the residents a new lease of life.

33

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

news Kogi people solidly behind Buhari —Bello 34

Yinka Oladoyinbo Lokoja

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OGI State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, on Monday, dismissed as untrue, allegations in some quarters that the people of Kogi State were against the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said the people were in support of the anti-corruption initiative of the present administration led by President Buhari.

The governor, who spoke through his director General, Media and Publicity, Kingsley Fanwo, was reacting to a statement credited to the deputy speaker of the state house of assembly, Aliyu Akuh, on the state of the economy in the country.

According to him, the statement was a “personal observation” of the deputy speaker, but not the general view of the people of Kogi State.

He said, “The deputy speaker of the house of assembly, Honourable Aliyu Akuh, is a respected leader in the state. What he was credited to have said about the economy of the nation was his personal observation.

Though I don’t speak for the House, I am sure his views would best be described as a personal observation which no one can deprive him from expressing. He has the right to his speech.

“It is easy for many to view his observation from the political point of view, just because the deputy speaker

is of the Peoples Democratic Party. If you ask me if we are going through economic challenges, I will answer you with a ‘yes’, but if you ask me if the President is only giving excuses, I will answer you with a ‘no’.

“President Muhammadu Buhari knew what he was coming to inherit. He aspired to stop the rot that was almost consuming the nation. So he was abundantly

aware of the challenges before him.

“The blind stealing of the past is responsible for where we are today. Tough decisions would be taken, some have already been taken. Efforts are ongoing to arrest the situation, stabilise the condition and roll back the nation to a prosperous giant state.

“Kogi State is a microcosm of a bigger Nigeria. The past

few years saw the state in financial boom, but we are yet to see the impact on the people. The present administration of Alhaji Yahaya Bello has come in to take drastic steps to save Kogi State from total annihilation.

“With efforts at all levels to salvage the nation through agricultural revolution, which will be our pathfinder towards economic renaissance, politicising the situa-

tion will not help our revival.

Buhari will save us from the impact of the misrule of the past.”

Bello said the people of Kogi State believed in the capacity of the President to revive the nation’s economy within the shortest possible time, urging PDP leaders to join hands in rescuing the nation from cancerous corruption that has brought her to economic strains.

From left; Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi; World Bank Country Director, Mr Benmessaoud Rachid and the Lead Urban Specialist, Mr Sateh Chafic El-Arnaout, during the visit of the bank’s team to the Governor’s Office, Ibadan, on Monday. PHOTO: GOVERNOR’S OFFICE.

Ajimobi advocates transparency, reporting relationship with World Bank

By Wale Akinselure GOVERNOR Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has advocated improved transparency in reporting relationship with the World Bank for efficient and timely execution

of projects in the state.

Ajimobi, who made this call on Monday, upon receiving the World bank’s delegation, led by Country Director, World Bank, Benmessaoud Rachid, added that a restructuring and re-

positioning of the reporting relationship would prevent incidences of emergency projects sliding into long term projects.

Calling for speedy implementation of projects in the state, he expressed concern

World Bank supports 120 Ekiti schools with teaching aids THE World Bank has supported 120 public primary and secondary schools in Ekiti State with teaching materials running into millions of naira.

Speaking while distributing the items to the representatives of the affected schools in Ado-Ekiti, at the weekend, the state governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, said his administration would complement the effort by supplying the remaining schools with the items, saying no school would be left out in the exercise.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, on Sunday, he quoted the governor as saying governmentapproved private schools would also be considered.

The governor also said Open Day would now be observed in public schools for parents to go and assess the performance of their children and wards in schools, and not having to wait until the term runs out when the children would bring their academic re-

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

sults home.

“The level we have attained in the education sector must be improved upon.

We can’t afford to drop our guards. If we came first in NECO examinations this year, it must not be once in awhile achievement. We must maintain our enviable position. I am not in support of Fire Brigade Approach to policies, as that won’t help us as a state. We

must plan ahead and take necessary steps.

“For teachers, we can’t jettison them, as doing so is ignoring the future of our children. We will continue to encourage them and I appeal to our parents to show understanding too.

Teachers are human and they have personal challenges and must be encouraged to pay attention to our children. The instructional

materials won’t go on their own and stick themselves to students’ brains, it is the teachers that will use them to teach our wards and children,” he said.

Governor Fayose also harped on good hygiene by the students, teachers and parents, emphasising the need to adequately wash hands as many times as possible in a day to prevent contracting diseases.

Warri-Ajaokuta-Obaro-Abuja rail project to attract $30bn investment —Amaechi

MINISTER of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, said that Warri-AjaokutaObaro-Abuja central rail project was expected to attract a minimum of 30 billion dollars investment into the country.

Amaechi disclosed this while briefing the Joint Senate and House of Representatives’ Committee on Land Transport, on Monday, in Abuja.

He said that the Federal Government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China

Railway Construction Corporation in respect of the project on Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

According to him, the MoU also covers the construction and expansion of Warri Port and Harbour, construction of deep-sea port and construction of industrial park at Port Harcourt and Bonny Island.

Amaechi said the government had also signed the contract for the construction of Calabar to Port Harcourt rail line with extension from

Port Harcourt to Onne deep sea port.

He explained that the project was the segment one of the coastal railway projects, stemming from Lagos to Calabar with branch line Benin to Onitsha, including the Onitsha bridge rail station.

The minister also disclosed that the Lagos-Ibadan Segment 2 of the Lagos-Kano railway modernisation project would soon commence.

According to him, the line would also extend to the Apapa Ports from Ebute Metta.

at the slow pace of the World Bank’s intervention in addressing the 2011 flood disaster in the state.

Ajimobi bemoaned that the project was sliding from being treated as emergency into a long term project.

While appreciating the World Bank’s projects in the state over the years, Ajimobi prayed for investments in capacity building for teachers, out of school programmes, agriculture, infrastructural development, environment, sanitation and public health.

“Before we came in, they had programmes in health, agriculture. But, I must add when we came in, we were very unhappy about the level of deliverables in our relationship with the World Bank. I was particularly concerned about the slow rate of response on World Bank projects, especially, my experience when we had flooding disaster in August 2011.”

“And it was regarded as an emergency situation and we quickly rushed to the World Bank for support. Unfortunately, up till this moment, it is no longer treated by the World Bank as an emergency, it gradually slid into the regular long term project as against an urgent, life saving project.”

“Devaluation has affected the project, some of the facilities are beginning to deteriorate, and it wasn’t a project that I like the way it has been handled.”

FG to establish 3 hospitals to end Obstetric Fistula

THE Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, has said the Federal Government would establish three more obstetric fistula hospitals by 2017 to end the cases in the country.

Mrs Boade Akinola, Director Media and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health, said this in a statement made available to newsmen, on Monday, in Abuja.

According to the statement, Adewole said this at the sixth International Conference of International Society on Obstetric Fistula Surgeon (ISOFS) that took place in Abuja, recently.

Obstetric fistula (or vaginal fistula) is a medical condition in which a hole develops between either the rectum or vagina, or between the bladder and vagina after severe or failed childbirth, when adequate medical care is not available.

Dog Institute proprietor seeks accreditation from Veterinary Council Celestine Ihejirika, Umuahia AS step towards enhancing teaching and learning for Veterinary Scholars in the country, proprietor of a dog institute, Trust link Dogs and Guards Institute, Umuahia, Abia State, Dr Cyril Obi, has appealed to the Veterinary Council of Nigeria to consider accrediting the institute as research and learning centre.

The proprietor of the institute made the appeal after conducting the state Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), Walter Akubuiroh, round the dog training facilities.

Dr Obi, who disclosed the institute currently, has 105 dogs of various breeds, and not all are engaged in security services, “I know one day people will begin to understand the meaningfulness of dogs in providing security services.

“I am aspiring to be accredited for Veterinary Medicine to be coming here for training because we have all it takes; we intend to be more equipped than most governmentowned veterinary.”

He described Dog training as capital intensive; “we have our consultants who are retired Police Dog trainers, who have been conducting trainings for our dogs. We don’t train dogs for ourselves alone; we can still train dogs for others so that we can expand the training scope.”

35 news

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Boko Haram kills 5 soldiers, 4 civilians in Borno ambush Drug supplier arrested by troops Chris Agbambu - Abuja

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INE people, including five soldiers with Operation Lafiya Dole, carrying out clearance operations on suspected Boko Haram terrorists’ hideouts in Talala and Ajigin, southern part of Borno State, were killed by the terrorists, following an ambush at Ugundiri village, Damboa Local Government Area of the state, while returning to base after clearance operations on Sunday.

Apart from the soldiers, three vigilantes and one Civilian JTF also lost their lives during the ambush, while 19 soldiers and one Civilian JTF sustained various degrees of injuries.

Bodies of the late soldiers and civilians were evacuated to Maiduguri, while the injured are receiving commensurate medical care and in stable condition.

A statement from acting spokesman of the army, Colonel Sani Usman, said the troops destroyed the terrorists’ gun truck and recovered two anti-aircraft guns, two spare gun barrels, one general purpose machine gun, one rocket propelled grenade, one AK-47 rifle and 320 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition.

He said troops were mobilised into blocking positions to further neutralise fleeing Boko Haram terrorists.

The statement recalled that another set of troops had earlier cleared Zira, Abulam, Dusula, and Buk villages before returning to base in Bulabulin.

According to him and based on information received about gathering of some suspected Boko Haram terrorists around Bori village, which is 16 kilometres away from Mainok, outskirts of Maiduguri, troops swung into action and neutralised them.

The troops recovered three motorcycles, one handheld grenade, one round of 7.62mm ammunition, solar panel, a pair of Niger Republic military camouflage uniform, one Gionee mobile telephone handset, one wet cell battery and half bag of groundnut.

Meanwhile, troops on patrol from Bama to Pulka, intercepted suspected Boko Haram terrorists’ drugs and other logistics suppliers from Firgi and Zawan axis, Bama Local Governmnet Area of Borno

State, at suspected Boko Haram terrorists’ crossing point, trying to cross into Sambisa forest.

The troops pursued them but were only able to apprehend Kadiri Umate, 35 years, while others fled into the bush.

The patrol team recovered 35 packets of 500ml of Glucose Intravenous infusion (Drip), assorted analgesics and pain killer drugs, clothes, bathroom slippers, insecticides, salt, kolanuts and a bicycle.

Also, a suspected Boko

Haram terrorists’ logistics and fuel supplier, Fantoma Lasani, was arrested by troops in conjunction with Civilian JTF at Muna garage when he came to pick his wife to finally relocate out of Maiduguri.

The suspect, who hailed

from Flatari village, Bama Local Government Area, was believed to have been supplying Boko Haram terrorists with Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) and Automative Gas Oil in Bama, Gwoza and Sambisa general area.

Jailbreak: Prison authorities adopt proactive measures in Niger THE Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) in Niger State, on Monday, said it was taking proactive measures to prevent any attempt of jail break in the state.

The prisons in the state currently have 1,500 inmates.

Mr Baba Gana, the Comptroller of Prisons in the state, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Minna.

Gana said the prison service, along with other security agencies had put in place security measures against any unforeseen circumstance.

He said that well armed security personnel had been deployed to effectively manage the prisons at Kontagora, Bida, Minna old prisons, New Bussa, Agaiye, Lapai, Kagara and Minna new prisons.

Gana said that the prison command would continue to accord attention to health care needs of the inmates.

el-Rufai lauds ACF over security summit From left: Zonal Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Mohammed Kanar; Chairman, Humanitarian Support, Mr Bulama Mali-Oubio; Minister of State for Power, Works And Housing, Alhaji Mustapha Baba-Shehuri and a representative of the NorthEast senators, Senator Ali Ndume, during the minister’s visit to NEMA intervention store, in Maiduguri. PHOTO: NAN.

Suicide attacks: NSCDC trains 50 civilians on intelligence gathering, surveillance in Borno THE Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Borno Command, on Monday said it had started training 50 civilians on surveillance and intelligence gathering to curtail terrorism in the state.

Mr Ibrahim Abdullahi, NSCDC commander in the state, stated this during the graduation of participants of the training, organised by the Crime Prevention Campaign of Nigeria (CPCN), in Maiduguri.

Abdullahi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the participants were trained to provide surveillance at motor parks, shopping malls, market places, drinking spots, gambling centres and ghetto areas in the state capital.

He said the training was part of measures to avert occurrences of suicide bomb attacks on the town by the Boko Haram insurgents.

“The training is time-

ly, especially with the re-emergence of suicide bombers in their desperate attempt to cause havoc and instil fear in the minds of the people of the state.

“It is no longer news that terrorism and the strangulating insurgency have done a great harm in the country, especially the North Eastern region.

“All hands must be on deck to see that these bad elements do not resurface again,” said Abdullahi.

Also speaking, Brigadier-

General Jubril Muhammad, the Garrison Commander of 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, commended the NSCDC for the initiative.

According to him, the initiative will go a long way in curtailing terrorist activities.

Muhammad, therefore, charged the participants to always verify their information before passing it across to the relevant security agencies for necessary actions.

BBOG urges FG to hasten release of remaining Chibok girls MRS Fatima Kaka, a member of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) movement, has urged the Federal Government to hasten the process for the release of the remaining Chibok girls.

Kaka made the appeal on Monday, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Abuja.

She also urged government to hasten the release of other Nigerians kidnapped in the North East.

The Presidency on October 12 confirmed the re-

lease of 21 of 291 Chibok girls, kidnapped by the Boko Haram terrorists on April 14, 2014.

Kaka said: “We don’t know the number of people in captivity; we just know that a lot of people are in captivity.

“The number available to the public is not consistent; the government should double up its efforts for the release of abducted people in the North East.

“For the remaining 197

Chibok girls, the government has to do everything possible and whatever it takes to get the girls,” Kaka said.

She noted that the condition of the 21 girls so far released by the insurgents was not encouraging, adding, “The faster we recover everybody, the better.”

Kaka, however, commended the Federal Government for its efforts in securing the release of some of the girls, saying that their release in batch-

es was in order.

“When people are taken, another thing is the issue of negotiation; they have to come in batches; that is what happens all over the world.

“As long as they are coming out, we are okay, no matter the number at a time, but let it just be fasttracked,” said the BBOG member.

She appealed to the government not to jeopardise the prospects of the abducted girls to excel in life.

GOVERNOR Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State has commended Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) for its contributions toward addressing the security challenges experienced in the region through a Security Summit.

El-Rufai gave the commendation when he received a delegation from Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), which paid him a courtesy visit in Kaduna.

The governor said the ACF’s plan, to organise a summit in Kaduna, came at a time “the North is battling with insecurity, ranging from cattle rustling, kidnapping, rural banditry and reprisal attacks in different parts of the region.”

According to him, the summit would find solutions to the unfortunate circumstances the region was facing.

He assured the ACF delegation of the state government’s support toward the success of the summit, because of its importance.

The Deputy Chairman of ACF, Alhaji Liman Kwande, who led the delegation, told the governor that ACF as a socio-cultural group for all Northerners was worried by the rise in security challenges in the region.

He said the group had, therefore, seen the need to organise the Security Summit in Kaduna toward finding a solution to the security challenges in the region.

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news

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Orji Kalu rearraigned over alleged N2.7bn fraud AyomideOwonibiOdekanyi-Lagos

A

former Abia State governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, was on Monday, rearraigned before a Federal High Court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged fraud of N2.7 billion.

Kalu was re-arraigned along with two others on 34 counts of money laundering before Justice Mohammed Idris.

His co-defendants were Udeh Udeogu and Slok Nigeria Limited.

The re-arraignment of the accused on Monday, followed the transfer of their case from the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court to the Lagos division.

The accused had earlier been arraigned on September 27, 2016 before Justice Anwuri Chikere of the Abuja division of the court.

The 34 counts pressed against Kalu and others border on money laundering.

The EFCC, in the charges, alleged that while he was governor of Abia State, Kalu siphoned funds running into N2.7 billion from the state’s treasury.

Kalu was accused of diverting state funds into the account of Slok Nigeria Limited, a company, the EFCC claimed was owned by Kalu and his family members.

Kalu was said to have allegedly diverted the funds in tranches of N200 million, N50 million, N200 million, N300.8 million, N545 million, N429 million, N288.4 million, N190 million, N157 million, N152.8 million, N100 million, N84 million and N50 million between August 13, 2003 and January 12, 2005.

The offence is said to be contrary to Section 17 (c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2003 and punishable under Section 16

of the same Act. The EFCC accused Slok Nigeria Limited of conniving with Emeka Abone, said to be at large, to help Kalu retain the allegedly stolen funds in its accounts, when Slok Nigeria Limited knew or at least suspected the said Orji Uzor Kalu to have engaged in a criminal conduct.

The EFCC said the company is liable to punishment under Section 16 of

the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004.

The second defendant, Udeogu, was accused of helping Kalu to pay part of the allegedly stolen funds into the account of Slok Nigeria Limited with the defunct FinBank Plc. The offence is said to be contrary to Section 427 of the Criminal Code Cap 77 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them.

Consequently, the prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, Mr Adebisi Adeniyi, asked the court for a trial date.

However, Kalu’s lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome and counsel for the second defendant, Mr Solo Akuma, urged Justice Idris to allow their clients to con-

Former Abia State governor, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu and his counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome, during his appearance at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, in a money laundering case, on Monday. PHOTO: OVADJE ELLIOT

We are not owing FirstBank —Lister Oil THE Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, will, on Thursday, resume hearing in a suit brought by Lister Oil, challenging the decision by FirstBank Plc to take over its farm tank, over debt owed by a sister firm, Lister Flour Mills Limited.

Justice Saliu Saidu, in one of the suits between the two companies, is asked by Lister Oil to declare unlawful, FirstBank’s management and control of its farm tank,

for which the bank had appointed a receiver.

The bank’s move was predicated on a contested claim of indebtedness of Lister Flour Mills Limited to the bank.

The tank farm is built on a property at No. 21, Creek Road, Apapa, Lagos, on lease from Lister Flour Mills Limited.

Lister Oil Limited is challenging the action of the bank, claiming that the com-

pany was not in any way indebted to the bank.

It was also the contention of the plaintiff that Lister Flour Mills Limited and Lister Oil Limited are two different entities and neither has Lister Oil Limited nor any accredited member of its management consented to take over the liability of Lister Flour Mills, contrary to the claim by the bank, on which it predicated its actions against Lister Oil Lim-

Court stops UI from ejecting sacked lecturer from quarters

By Tunde Ogunesan THE National Industrial Court, Ibadan division, on Monday, restrained the University of Ibadan from ejecting, a sacked lecturer, Dr Adenike Ogunshe, from her official residence pending the determination of the suit.

Dr Ogunshe, a lecturer in the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science of the university, is challenging the institution and its council, over unlawful termination of her appointment.

The institution, which claimed that the lecturer's appointment was terminated over alleged misconduct, had also directed the claimant to vacate her quarters on the institution’s campus.

The counsel to the claimant, Mr Femi Aborisade, in

tinue on the existing bail granted to them, assuring the court that they would not jump bail.

In response, the prosecutor said he was not opposed to the application to allow the defendants to continue on their existing bail.

Justice Idris ordered the defendants to continue on their existing bail conditions.

a motion exparte urged the court to stop the University of Ibadan from carrying out the directive.

Justice Firstina KolaOlalere, granted the motion and instructed the University of Ibadan not to eject the claimant from her official residence.

The judge, however, ad-

journed till January 19 for hearing of the suit.

Aborisade had earlier told the court that the appointment of his client was wrongly terminated, adding that the institution did not follow due process.

He further said the termination of the appointment of his client was unconstitu-

tional, unlawful and a violation of her constitutionally guaranteed right to life, natural justice and fair hearing.

The counsel urged the court to set aside the purported termination of the appointment and reinstate the claimant to her position without any loss of earnings, salaries and allowances.

ited.

FirstBank Limited had, sometime in 2014, granted a credit facility to Lister Flours Limited, guaranteed by the chairman of Lister Group of Companies, the late Alhaji Abdulazeez Arisekola Alao, using the property described as No. 21, Creek Road, Apapa, Lagos, owned by Lister Flour Mills Limited, as collateral.

After the death of Alhaji Arisekola Alao, the bank reportedly claimed that Lister Flour Mills Limited had defaulted in the payment of the loan put at N6,189,280,000.

In the bid to enforce the repayment of the loan and also claiming that Lister Oil Limited also guaranteed it, FirstBank Limited, sequel to an ex parte order granted by the Federal High Court, appointed Kemi Balogun as receiver over the property of Lister Flour Mills Limited.

Township roads: Ogun gets tough on articulated truck drivers OlayinkaOlukoya--Abeokuta THE Ogun State government has warned drivers of articulated trucks carrying over 40 tonnes of goods to desist from plying asphalt roads within Abeokuta metropolis and other township roads, or face the full wrath of the law.

The state Commissioner for Works and Infrastruc-

ture, Mr Olamilekan Adegbite, stated this at a press conference, held on Tuesday, at the Governor's Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

Adegbite attributed the bad states of roads within the state capital to number of articulated trucks plying the internal roads with more than 30 tonnes of goods.

He noted that government had continued to use scarce

resources to maintain the roads for road users, saying the asphalt roads could carry more than 30 tonnes, hence, the need for them to ply designated routes.

“We have carefully observed that our regular townships maintenance are not lasting because of the number of overweight trucks plying on them. The asphalt roads are designed

specifically meant for 30 tonnes trucks only, Adegbite said."

He added that government is setting up units at some strategic borders with the support of the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE) and the state Police Command to ensure that truck drivers comply with government’s directive.

Lagos govt trains 500 local volunteers for emergency response THE Lagos State government said it has engaged over 500 residents as volunteers to further improve response during emergency and disasters, especially at the community level.

The state Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations, Mr Seye Oladejo, made this known on Monday, in Lagos, at the opening of a two-day training programme for Emergency Management Volunteers.

It was organised by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) for the volunteers.

Oladejo said the idea of engaging local emergency volunteers was to equip them with skills to report potential emergency situations, provide rescue efforts and the mitigation.

He said the capacity and capability of responders was a crucial factor in the success of mitigating disasters and emergency management.

3 arraigned for damaging Yinka Ayefele's vehicle Sam Nwaoko - Ado Ekiti

THREE persons namely Kolade Owolabi, 35; Tope Olorunfemi, 22 and Isiaka Yusuf, 20 and others said to be at large, have been arraigned in an Ado-Ekiti chief magistrates’ court for allegedly causing damage to a vehicle belonging to a popular Ibadan-based musician, Yinka Ayefele.

The police prosecutor, Sergeant Bankole Olasunkanmi, while arraigning the suspects on Monday, alleged that the accused committed the offence on October 27, at about 7:30 p.m, at the palace of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti in Ado Ekiti.

Olasunkanmi said the accused persons "conspired among themselves" and "unlawfully damaged the windscreen vehicle of one popular musician, Yinka Ayefele" during his visit to Ewi's palace in Ado-Ekiti, where he had performed.

According to him, the offence contravened section 451 of the Criminal Code, Cap C16 Vol 1, Laws of Ekiti.

The prosecutor applied for a short date of adjournment to enable him to study their case file and to help him assemble his witnesses.

The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges, while their counsel, Mr Gabriel Oladimeji prayed the court to grant them bail.

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Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

foreig naffairs

08116954632 with seyi gesinde foreignn ewseditor@gmail.com

2016 U.S. election to cost $6.6bn

Trump Clinton

T

HE total cost of the 2016 U.S. presidential election could reach 6.6 billion U.S. dollars, about 300 billion dollars higher than the last election, the Centre for Responsive Politics has said.

The Centre’s Executive Director, Ms Sheila Krumholz told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Washington, D.C. on the sidelines of the 2016 U.S. General Elections Embed programme.

The programme is being administered by the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) and sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Press Centres and U.S. Embassy Posts.

Krumholz explained that candidates in national races could spend as much as they wanted as the law permitted unlimited spending.

“In this cycle, we estimate that 6.6 billion dollars will be spent on federal elections in the United States and that is a bump up from the 6.3 billion dollars spent in the last cycle.

“And frankly, were it not for Trump’s reliance on his celebrity, which makes him

get news coverage without paying, it would have been far more than that.

“Candidates in national races can spend as much as they want; unlimited spending is allowed in U.S. elections,” she said.

Krumholz added that apart from unlimited spending by candidates, individuals and Political Action Committees could spend unlimited amounts for candidates.

“There are absolutely unlimited in how much individuals and Political Action Committees (PACs) can spend for a candidate

and political parties.

“Also, outside groups, that is, independent expenditure committees, superPACs and non-profits that spend to support or oppose candidates can raise and spend unlimited sums from unlimited sources.

“This is as long as they do so independently of the candidate,” she said.

She, however, said that there were limitation on how much individual supporters and political action committees could donate directly to candidates.

According to her, the re-

France ends military operation in Central African Republic FRANCE is ending its military mission in the Central African Republic (CAR), three years after it intervened to stop mass killing after a rebellion ousted former president Francois Bozize, the BBC reports.

The withdrawal of the 2,000 French troops comes as a fresh wave of killings has rocked CAR. France says Operation Sangaris succeeded in its mission to stop fighting in CAR.

DEMOCRATS kept up their attacks on FBI Director James Comey on Monday, accusing him of a double standard after he revealed his agency’s probe into more material that might relate to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

Reuters reports that Clinton’s Republican rival, Donald Trump, has seized on Comey’s announcement on Friday to press his longstanding charge that Clinton lacks integrity, hoping he can make an improbable late comeback and win

the November 8 election.

The Clinton campaign and its supporters furiously attacked Comey for releasing information that raised questions but provided no details so close to the election. Some party leaders said the agency was concealing damaging information about the Trump campaign.

The FBI spent a year investigating Clinton’s use of a private email server, instead of government systems, while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. Comey concluded in July that while Clinton

ing of his cabinet to discuss emergency reconstruction.

Mr Renzi said that Italy’s soul was unsettled.

It was an “enormous relief” that no-one had died this time, he added.

The earthquake struck on Sunday morning, destroying buildings or rendering them structurally unsafe in several towns and villages in the mountainous central region.

Many of those affected are living with relatives or friends, but the civil protec-

tion agency said it was providing assistance to 15,000, with 10,000 accommodated in tents and converted sports halls.

Cisse Dame’s family is among 200 people sheltering in a gym in Tolentino. PHOTO: BBC.

and her staff had been “extremely careless” in handling classified information there were no grounds for any charges.

But the issue resurfaced

Some 350 French soldiers will remain in the country to provide back up to Minusca, the UN mission in the country.

With the end of Operation Sangaris, Minusca will be left in sole charge of security in CAR. Minusca has more than 10,000 troops on the ground but it has failed to disarm militia groups and there have been fresh clashes in different parts of the country.

After 29 months deadlock, Lebanon elects new president MIchel Aoun

Democrats hit back at FBI head as Trump presses attacks on Clinton

Italy quake: More than 15,000 in temporary shelters ITALY’S most powerful earthquake since 1980 has left more than 15,000 people homeless, according to the country’s civil protection agency.

The BBC reported that noone was killed in Sunday’s quake but 20 people were injured and there is extensive damage in and around Norcia.

The 6.6-magnitude quake struck near the central region where nearly 300 people were killed by a quake in August.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is due to chair a meet-

straint against direct donations to candidates was to protect and prevent the candidates from corrupt influence by the donors if they win elections.

“Campaign donations (to candidates) are limited for individuals at 5,400 dollars in a typical election cycle; this is 2,700 for the primary and 2,700 dollars for the general election.

“Political Action Committees can give 10,000 dollars in a normal circle to a candidate and parties can also make coordinated expenditures for their candidates,” she said.

NAN reports that the U.S. presidential election of 2016, scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, would be the 58th four-year period U.S. presidential election.

There are six presidential candidates including Republican Donald Trump, Democratic Hillary Clinton, Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Jill Stein.

The winner of the election would become the 45th President and 48th Vice President of the U.S., who would be inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2017.

UN peacekeepers are struggling to stem violence in CAR.

unexpectedly on Friday when Comey sent a brief letter to members of Congress to tell them the agency was looking at new emails.

James Comey, FBI Chief.

MICHEL Aoun, the former Lebanese army chief, has been elected president of Lebanon, ending more than two years of deadlock surrounding the vacancy.

Aoun, 81, secured the presidency by winning the support of 83 MPs, well above the absolute majority of 65 needed to win, according to a tally of votes read out in a televised broadcast from parliament on Monday.

Fireworks echoed across Beirut as the tally showed Aoun the winner.

Aoun, an MP, was shown smiling in his seat. The Lebanese presidency is reserved for a Maronite Christian in the country’s sectarian power-sharing system.

Lebanon had been without a head of state for 29 months after Michel Suleiman stepped down as president at the end of his term in May 2014.

Since then, 45 sessions to elect a new leader have failed due to political infighting that led to of a lack of quorum.

Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, to step down June 2019 Bank of England governor Mark Carney says he will step down in June 2019.

It means he will serve one additional year beyond the five-year term he committed to when he took the post, but will still be two years short of the usual eight years governors serve.

He said the move “recognised the importance to the country of continuity” during Brexit negotiations.

The announcement comes after Prime Minister Theresa May said she was “supportive” of him continuing.

“This should help contribute to securing an orderly transition to the UK’s new relationship with Europe,” Mr Carney added.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said he welcomed Mr Carney’s decision to stay an additional year.

He said it would enable Mr Carney to continue his

“highly effective leadership of the Bank through a critical period for the British economy as we negotiate our exit from the European Union.”

Mark Carney PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

38

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016 Editor: Wale Emosu tribunesporteditor@yahoo.com 08111813054, 08055444383

ITTF Africa honours Quadri FOR being the first African table tennis player to make it to the quarterfinal stage of the men’s singles at the Olympic Games, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri has indeed raised the bar for upcoming players to aim at in their chosen career.

At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the 28-yearold Nigerian created history by becoming the first African to reach the last eight stage in the men’s singles.

The world number 25, Quadri was honoured on the final day of the justconcluded 2016 ITTF Africa Senior Championship in Agadir, Morocco, by the ITTF Africa with an award for outstanding performance.

The award was presented by the ITTF-Africa President, Khaled El-Salhy and vice president of ITTF, Cherif Hajem.

By Ganiyu Salman

S

EVEN-TIME Olympian, Segun Toriola has expressed joy over Nigeria’s victory in the men’s doubles of the just-ended ITTF Africa Senior Championships in Agadir, Morocco.

Last weekend in Morocco, the duo of Toriola and Aruna Quadri, against all odds, silenced the Egyptian duo of El-Sayed Lashin and Ahmed Saleh 4-2 to retain the title Nigeria won last year through the pair of Quadri and Kazeem Makanjuola.

“For us, winning this title is very good because I had said earlier that it is a must for us to win this doubles

A beach soccer action involving Nigeria and Senegal.

Toriola savours Nigeria’s victory in Morocco

title. But I must also tell you that it was not an easy match because the match was strange to us in all departments.

“Also our opponents are very experienced players

and clever, so we are so excited claiming the first gold medal for Nigeria in this competition,” an elated Toriola, who became the first African to participate in seven Olympics after his ap-

pearance at Rio 2016 told ITTF-Africa.com.

Quadri, however, lost in the final of the men’s singles decided on Sunday to Egyptian Omar Assar as the epic match ended in 10-12, 11-6,

11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-9.

Assar, who retained his African title said playing Quadri who became the first African to play in the quarter-final of the Olympics was always challenging.

NNL: Gateway protest against ABS ABS berate Gateway GATEWAY FC have protested their walkover by Abubakar Bukola Saraki (ABS) FC in a Nigeria National League (NNL) match scheduled to hold in Ilorin last Sunday.

A statement by the club’s Media Officer, Rotimi Oduniyi and made available to Tribunesport de-

Toriola.

tailed “the harassment, intimidation and insults the players, technical crew and other officials were subjected to at Ilorin Township Stadium.”

The statement said that the team who arrived at the stadium at 2.25pm were allegedly locked out and prevented by ABS officials and supporters from gaining entrance while ABS were allowed in with their players seen warming up.

It added that all entreaties failed as Gateway were only allowed into the stadium at exactly 3.55pm which was just five minutes to the start of the match.

It also alleged that on getting in, it was discovered that only 20 security personnel were present contrary to the 60 agreed on at the pre-match meeting.

Right there, the statement said Gateway gave a letter of protest to the match Commissioner, Mr

Eyah Ezra, from Niger State as statutory but he allegedly refused to take it with the N200,000 protest fee as stipulated by law.

Meanwhile, the management of ABS FC has berated its counterparts from Ogun state over the show of same they exhibited before, during and after the match

day 14 of the Nigeria National League (NNL) encounter last Sunday in Ilorin.

The management, in a statement signed by its Director of Football, Alloy Chukwuemeka, said Gateway United FC were accorded maximum respect according to the laws of the game.

Tinubu rallies support for Beach soccer AFCON DEJI Tinubu, chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission, has appealed to all involved in organising the CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations tournament to ensure its success for the benefit of youths.

Tinubu, who made the appeal on Monday in Lagos, said the organisers of the tournament should use it to further ensure that Lagos because the biggest sports hub in Africa.

He told NAN that the incumbent administration in the state was using sports to bring development to its citizens, especially the youth.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tournament, slated for Dec. 13 to Dec. 18, at the Eko Atlantic Beach is being organised by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and tournament’s Local Organising Committee (LOC).

Tinubu told NAN that engaging the masses in sports was a great tool in curbing societal ills and providing source of income for the teeming youths.

“We want Nigeria to look good and be successful, so, we will do the best we can by taking advantage of every opportunity to achieve greatness.

“We will work closely with the NFF and the LOC for the tournament to see the best of sports in Lagos.

“We are delighted that this administration is all out to support sports and we won’t restrict support to just a few but all sports.

“Lagos will give 100 per cent cooperation to the success of sports so that we can get the best out of it,” he said.

Bamgboye for Hungary trials FORMER Nigeria junior international, Funsho Bamgboye is set to undergo two trials in Hungary.

Bamgboye, a member of the Golden Eaglets squad which won the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile, who has been linked to several clubs in Europe, will finally be going to try out in Hungary.

He was sighted at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) office in Abuja alongside his London-based

agent.

“I feel so glad I am going to Hungary, I strongly believe in myself right from my formative years I have never for once doubted my talent,” said Bamgboye.

The fleet-footed forward blamed the Flying Eagles’ inability to qualify for next year’s U20 AFCON in Zambia for the low bargaining power of the Eaglets Class of 2015.

“The U20s missing out on the AFCON was the great-

est undoing of the team and that is why I, John Lazarus and others are going for trials,” he said.

“If we had qualified, our bargaining power and demand in market would have been better, but we still thank God that the bulk of the Flying Eagles were the FIFA U-17 World Cup-winning players. That was why we are drawing inspiration from each other for our careers as footballers.”

39 tribunesport

Tuesday, 1 November, 2016

Moses is a great surprise

Abubakar, 5 others get CAF appointments Salihu Abubakar, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the League Management Company (LMC) tops the list of five Nigerians appointed as instructors into the 2017-2019 cycle of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Club Licensing.

Abubakar and former Nigeria Football Federation’s first vice chairman, Amanze Uchegbulam were listed as instructors for the administrative, legal and financial criteria, the most critical aspect of Club Licensing regulation usually rated A and which meant requirements under these are compulsory.

Club Licensing was initiated in Nigeria by the LMC at the start of the 2013/14 season preparatory to the deadline of the 2014/15 season set b y C A F .

The NFF, at t h e December 2014 Annual General Meeting, ratified and adopted the Licensing Document which prepared the grounds for clubs in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) to meet CAF requirements for participation in CAF organised club tournaments.

It will be recalled that both FIFA and CAF had cause to commend the work done by the LMC in domesticating the global licensing requirement in the operations of the NPFL and recommended the model to other countries, especially in Asia and Africa. This followed presentations made by Abubakar at a FIFA/CAF Club Licensing summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia earlier this year.

By Oluwabunmi Ajayi

Moses evades a tackle from Southampton’s Charlie Austin

Falcons coach owed 8 months salary Less than a month before the start of the African Women’s Cup of Nations in Cameroon, it has emerged that Nigeria coach Florence Omagbemi has not been paid by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

The former international, who played in four FIFA Women’s World Cups, has now gone eight months without pay.

The NFF claims the situation will

More trouble over cash donation for Dream Team VI Both players and officials of the country’s team to the recent Olympics are up in arms over the sharing of the cash gift from Japanese surgeon with a claimed $22,000 bank charge another bone of contention.

Wealthy surgeon Katsuya Takasu donated $390,000 to Dream Team VI after they overcame several odds to win bronze medal at the Rio games.

However, some members of the backroom staff have complained they were paid $6,000, while some of their colleagues received as much as $14,000.

“This was not the agreement, the coach has gone back on his word that the money will be shared equally,” said a very disgruntled team official.

An alternate player to the Rio Olympics said: “I got $6,000. My brother I don’t want to feel hurt that is why I don’t want to know how much my fellow players who were registered for the Olympics

—Conte C

got.

“I know the money the registered players got was quite different from ours.”

Another official argued that players and officials officially registered for the Olympics were given priority in the sharing of the cash.

“The official squad of 18 players and seven officials were the priority (in sharing the money),” he reasoned.

“But since others also played some part in Rio, it was all decided not to leave them out.”

Independent investigations reveal that all 22 players – 18 registered and four alternate – were charged $1,000 each as “bank charges” even when about N1 m was actually charged by the bank for this transaction.

Defender Segun Oduduwa, who was injured in training before the Olympics, also got a share of the largesse, while some family members of a top official also smiled to the bank.

be resolved before the Super Falcons fly out to Cameroon to defend their African title.

The continental championship takes place from 19 November to 3 December with Nigeria in Group B alongside Mali, Ghana and Kenya.

“It’s been a challenging year for the federation financially but we’re working hard to resolve this before the team depart for Cameroon,” NFF official Chris Green told BBC Sport on Monday.

He added: “Omagbemi has been very calm about it and it has to be sorted out as soon as possible.”

The NFF, which appoints and pays national coaches, has also not paid outstanding bonuses to players as well as camp allowances.

“I’m working round the clock to ensure the coaches and players are paid what they are owed,” said Green.

It is not the first time Nigerian coaches have been caught in the web of unpaid salaries.

The list of coaches who have gone without pay includes football greats Samson Siasia, Sunday Oliseh and the late Stephen Keshi.

Esiti (left) and Algeria’s Yacine Brahimi of Porto

HELSEA manager, Antonio Conte, says though he has high regards for Victor Moses as a player, he is surprised the way the Nigerian has adapted to his coaching philosophy.

Chelsea lost only once in five consecutive games and that is because Conte rested Moses in an FA Cup fifth round game against West Ham at the Olympic stadium.

Moses has started in the past four league games and not only has Chelsea won all, the Blues are yet to concede a goal in a 3-5-3 formation.

“I think Mo-

s e s is a great surprise in this aspect because we know him as a winger, but I think he’s playing in a fantastic way,” Conte told Daily Mail after Moses shone once again in their victory against Southampton, overshadowed only by the resurgence of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, who both scored.

“I think that this role is very important in this system,” Conte added. “You must have good stamina and quality to play as a wing-back. I ask my wing-backs to do offensive and defensive duties.”

Moses is rapid, has seemingly endless reserves of stamina and is actually not bad at defending despite his relative inexperience. His ability to turn defending into a blistering attack by dribbling with the ball was evident several times against Southampton.

“I have not played there before,” Moses said on Sunday night.

“I have just got to listen to what the manager asks me to do in that position, and the way he wants me to do it.

“Every game we play I just want to keep on improving. The more games you play, the more experience you get in that position. I’m really relishing it at the moment and enjoying it.

“We want to make sure we don’t get caught sleeping in a game. Every day in training the manager is on top of us to make sure we are solid at the back. It’s looking good for us at the moment, but we have to keep our feet firmly on the floor.”

Esiti shocked by Eagles’ snub Belgium-based midfielder Anderson Esiti has admitted he was surprised he was not picked by Nigeria for a World Cup qualifier against Algeria, but vowed to work harder to return to the team.

Defensive midfielder

Esiti featured in the Eagles’ 2-1 win in Zambia earlier this month.

But he has been left out of the squad for the match against Algeria on November 12 in Uyo. “My not being invited came to me as surprise because I thought I did well in the last match when I came in, in Zambia to merit another invitation to the Super Eagles,” he said.

“Honestly speaking, I felt bad when a friend broke the news to me that I was not invited for the match against Algeria.

“Anyway I’ve moved on, and that can only make me to work harder at my club and give my best most especially if called upon again.”

The Gent midfielder made his Eagles debut in June 2015 against Chad and was recalled by new coach Gernot Rohr for the World Cup qualifier against Zambia in Ndola.

SIDELINES

Forty-three percent of Nigerian girls get pregnant before 18, a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has said. Who are the men causing this commotion? What are the future of the babies? What will happen to the baby-mothers?

NO 16,623

TUESDAY, 1 NOVEMBER, 2016

Ebuehi turns down Nigeria invitation

N150

ROAD TO RUSSIA:

Algeria name squad for Eagles today

NEW Nigeria call-up Tyronne Ebuehi has ruled himself out of a World Cup qualifier against Algeria, saying he prefers to focus on his Dutch club ADO Den Haag.

Ebuehi is a 20-yearold right fullback and has been given a first-ever call-up by Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr for a World Cup qualifier against Algeria on November 12 in Uyo. However, he has now told his club’s website he will not be flying out to Nigeria for the game because he wishes to concentrate on his club career after chalking up a good run in the first team.

“I see it as a great honour that I am noticed in my homeland,” Ebuehi told his club’s website.

“But at this moment ADO Den Haag require my full attention especially now that I have settled into the main team. Therefore it does not seem the right time to travel to Nigeria for the match.

“I want to focus completely on the club, but I certainly do not rule out that I could take up another call-up.”

This season, he has made six appearances in the league for his club and scored a goal.

Last year, he made a total of 14 appearances in the league.

By Wale Emosu

T

Ebuehi

HE new coach of the Algerian national football team will today release the list of players for the World Cup qualifier against Nigeria later this month in Uyo. Georges Leekens was named coach of the Desert Foxes last week and today he will make his first public appearance since he was named to replace Milovan Rajevac.

Reports from Algiers say the Belgian will make the announcement at the Olympic Complex conference hall, Algiers, at 11.am.

Regular team members such as Riyad Mahrez, Islam Slimani, Yacine Brahimi, Sofiane Feghouli and Adlene Guedioura are expected to be in the squad.

Leekens’ schedule for today also includes a press conference which will come immediately

after he has released the list of players.

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr, on Saturday released the list of players that will prosecute the match against the Algerians. All but one of the 24 players are foreignbased.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles play host to the Desert Foxes on November 12 in Uyo on match day 2 of the African Group B qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup to be hosted by Russia.

After the first round of matches, Nigeria sit atop the group on three points following a 2-1 victory over the Chipolopolo of Zambia.

Algeria and Cameroon have one point each after both sides shared the spoils in Algiers.

Zambia are fourth with no point.

Guardiola fires up City against Barca •Refuses to talk on Yaya Toure MANCHESTER CITY manager Pep Guardiola has warned his players that they must treat today’s Champions League game against Barcelona like a cup final and refused to answer question on future of Yaya Toure.

Having lost their Group C game at the Nou Camp 4-0 last week, City have some ground to make up after also drawing their other away game, 3-3 at Celtic.

Guardiola knows that his team really must take some-

thing from their rematch with his former club at the Etihad Stadium tonight.

Speaking at his lunchtime press conference yesterday, Guardiola said: ‘Every manager has his plan to try and beat Barcelona.

‘They know us and we know them. “Football is unpredictable. But for us this is a cup final and we have to play in that way.’

Guardiola, meanwhile, refused

to take questions on the future of out-of-favour Yaya Toure.

He said: ‘I will not answer. I will not answer.’

Tonight’s Champions League fixtures Besiktas vs Napoli

Carl Medjani, Algeria’s Captain

Atlético Madrid vs FC Rostov FC Basel

vs Paris SG

Ludogorets

vs Arsenal

Man. City

vs Barcelona

Mö’gladbach

vs Celtic

Printed and Published by the African Newspapers of Nigeria PLC, Imalefalafia Street, Oke-Ado, Ibadan. E mail: editornigeriantribune@yahoo.com Website: www.tribuneonlineng.com MANAGING DIRECTOR / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: EDWARD DICKSON. EDITOR: DEBO ABDULAI. All Correspondence to P.O. Box 78, Ibadan. ISSN 2712. ABC Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation. 1/11/2016.