3rd June 2016 by Nigerian Tribune

NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER NO 16,515

FRIDAY, 3 JUNE, 2016

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Varsities shouldn't conduct post-UTME —FG •Pegs pass mark at 180

—P6

Nigerian Tribune

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N150

11 states donate 55,000 hectares for grazing project

Ogoni clean-up, determination to right past wrongs —Buhari

—P38

—P6

N/Delta Avengers attack more oil installations —P38

•New militant group emerges, gives military 48 hours ultimatum to leave Ijaw communities

IBADANFLOOD: Scores rendered homeless, markets, farms washed away —P2,8

Bako-Omi Adio junction railway track affected by the flood.

A house destroyed at Gbekuba. PHOTOS: TUNDE OGUNESAN

Omi Adio market ravaged by the flood.

A car washed away.

features

Friday, 3 June, 2016

Flood scenes at Gbekuba and Omi-Adio area of Ibadan. PHOTOS: YEMI FUNSO-OKE

Ibadan rain of tears, anguish, devastation •5 people still missing

By Wale Olapade, Rotimi Ige and Tunde Ogunesan

f any seer had prophesied that there would be destruction of properties along the Omi Adio/Apata/Odo Ona axis on Wednesday evening, many residents of the area would have called him/her a liar. This was because the area had been, for years, relatively quiet and without events, that is until two days ago. The rainy season is always worrisome for residents of Omi Adio through Odo Ona. This is because, apart from bad connecting roads plaguing the area, the houses built near the narrow makeshift drainage channel had always experienced flooding. The worst hit occurred in 2011, when the channel overflowed its banks, wrecking havoc on everything in its path. On Wednesday, history repeated itself and this time with even more serious devastation. The rain started at about 7:00 pm and continued for about three hours, leaving destruction in its wake. According to Omi Adio residents, the rain had begun much earlier, flooding the area. They claimed that it stopped around 7:00 pm, same time when it began in Gbekuba/ Odo Ona/NIHORT community and around other parts in Ibadan. A respondent who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune, Alhaji Mojeed Akinola said, “The rain started in Omi Adio and moved here. The heavy mass of water from Omi Adio normally flows through Gbekuba/Odo Ona axis. So, when the rains started in Gbekuba, the water from Omi Adio met with the one over here and became uncontrollable. You can see

the extent of destruction around us. Some people also claim that a dam around Eleyele axis was opened also when it became full, thus adding to the water mass. People are missing and houses submerged by the flood. It is really sad.” The destruction caused by the flood was intense. Nigerian Tribune’s survey of the affected area was quite revealing. It was gathered that the House of Representatives member for Ido Local Government Area, Honourable Adekunle Olalere, which covers the Gbekuba/Apata axis, made efforts to dredge and widen the drainage channel two weeks ago, perhaps in anticipation of heavy rainfall. However, the dredging team faced challenges from some landowners in the area who refused them access to their property where the channel passed through. Residents claimed that the engineers left when the land owners around the Jesus Court/Peku junction allegedly refused access to their property. After the Wednesday rains however, it was clear that their refusal was their undoing. The flood, not only pulled down their fences, but also affected the poultry company who leased a part of the land, where workers claimed that they lost a lot of birds. Pa Bassey, a resident of Gbekuba, lost not only his fence, but valuables worth hundreds of thousands. The rain, according to him, at about 10 p.m, after pulling down his fence, submerged his home. All his valuables were seen outside his home spread out to dry in the sun yesterday morning. About 20 other houses, most of them along the drainage channel line, lost their fences, along other valuables.

As at press time, five people are said to be missing. A man referred to as Baba Ijebu, a woman, Iya Eleja and a family of three are all said to be currently missing. One Wednesday night, bystanders had watched helplessly as a woman’s car was washed away by the raging water. The woman was, however, saved.

An Okada rider was also alleged washed away around the Aba Alfa area. Another sad development occurred around the Agbofieti area when supposed rescue volunteers became instant robbers, making away with people’s valuables during ‘rescue’ attempts. Policemen and fire fighters who later stormed the scene however discouraged the hoodlums from the dastardly acts. Residents within the affected area have called on the state government to come to their aid by constructing a proper drainage channel through the area. Continued on pg8

Friday, 3 June, 2016

6 news Ogoni clean-up, determination to right past wrongs —Buhari Friday, 3 June, 2016

•Says no room for oil theft, illegal refining •Only environmental justice can sustain peace, development —Wike Dapo Falade -Port Harcourt

RESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has said his decision to start the process of implementation of the Ogoni cleanup was informed by his determination to right the past wrongs done to the people of the community. He said this while speaking at the formal flag-off of the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on the clean-up of Ogoniland and other oil-impacted communities in the Niger Delta, held at Bodo Town in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, on Thursday. The president, represented by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, also warned that oil theft and illegal oil refining would no longer be tolerated, adding that regulators of the oil industry must be alive to their responsibilities. Buhari went down the memory lane, as he said he was in Bodo in 1984, then as the Head of State, to commission a large fish pond and planted a tree as a sign for his regime’s concern for the environment. “Unfortunately, since then, the degradation of land, water and air has done huge damage to the fragile ecosystem of the Niger Delta, especially the Ogoniland. “Oil exploration and production have been going on in Nigeria for six decades. Oil has given a boost to the Nigerian economy, but the ecosystem of the Niger Delta has been severely damaged. Fishing and agriculture have been badly affected. “There were acts, enactment, laws, guidelines, regulations to govern the operators of the oil industry. However, either because of lack of will or wilful non-compliance with environmental laws, the environment was put in jeopardy. “The various communities in the Niger Delta region, noting the negative impact of oil production and lack of consideration for best practices, quite right commenced the struggle for justice and fair play in the conduct of business by the oil industry operators. “This, unfortunately, led to loss of lives and property. International concern was raised while past government were urged to take decisive steps to address issue. “The administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo engaged the UNEP to undertake a mission towards the clean-up of Ogoniland while recommendations were made for its implementation. “The report was submitted to my predecessor in office in 2011, but the implementation

was not accorded the necessary support it required. The people of Ogoniland continued to suffer from pollution of air, land and water. “On Thursday, the 8th of January, 2015, in the course of our presidential campaign, we made an unscheduled stop in Ogoniland. After listening to the address presented on behalf of the Ogoni people by Senator Magnus Abe, we made a solemn commitment that if given the opportunity, we shall implement the UNEP Report on Ogoniland. “Today, we are in Ogoniland, on the heart of the Niger Delta, to fulfil our promise to you and to bring justice and succour to our people,” he said.

The president, however, admonished that the cleanup exercise would require change on the path of all those who deal with the Niger Delta environment, particularly the oil companies, as well as the communities. “The tempo of this assignment increased when my cabinet was constituted. The Minister of Environment consulted all relevant ministries to actualise the UNEP Report. “We are, therefore, laying a solid foundation today, for the restoration of the fragile ecosystem of Ogoniland and the rest of the Niger Delta. This is an epoch-making event in the history of Nigeria,” Buhari said. The president warned that

the current oil theft and illegal refining would not be tolerated, adding that “the regulators of the oil industry must live up to expectations. They must ensure that oil companies carry out their operations in line with universal best practices.” Also speaking at the event, Rivers State governor, Mr Nyesom Wike, said peace and development could only be sustained where there was environmental justice. The governor also assured that his administration would provide the required platform for the successful cleanup of Ogoniland the implementation of the UNEP Report. Also speaking, Minister of Environment, Mrs Amina

Muhammed, said the full implementation of the UNEP Report would require trust, transparency, accountability and proper representation of the people of Ogoniland. “It will require the trust that we have lost over the decades; it will require transparency and accountability and it will require proper representation of the people in what we are doing in investing in their future. It will also require that we do things differently. That is why this administration called for change,” she said.

It’ll boost Ogoni economy —Amaechi

For the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, the implementation of the UNEP Report would impact positively on the socio-

economic life of the people of Ogoniland. The former Rivers State governor lauded President Buhari for taking the step to ensure the commencement of the implementation process, adding “he promised and he is keeping with that promise.”

We took great risk with the clean-up report —UNEP ED

Mr Achim Steiner, the Executive Director of UNEP, said compiling the report was a great risk taken by the UNEP team, but thanked Chief Obasanjo for taking the initiative to start the process of cleaning up the devastated Ogoni environment. He said the United Nations agency had done its job, disclosing that his job with the Ogoni clean-up ended with the flag-off, as he announced that his tenure as the UNEP Executive Director would come to an end in a few days.

History has been made —MOSOP President

From left, Minister of Environment, Mrs Amina Mohammed; Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Rivers State governor, Mr Nyesom Wike and the Imo State governor, Mr Rochas Okorocha, during the launch of the clean-up of Ogoniland, on Thursday.

President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Mr Legborsi Pyagbara, was not left out, as he said history had been made with the flag-off of the UNEP Report. He said the environmental restoration of Ogoniland remained the central plan of the Ogoni struggle, adding “to the Ogoni people, therefore, this day is a historic moment. “It is the beginning of our victory; our journey for justice has been recognised. Our strategy of non-violence had been vindicated with the flagoff of the clean-up initiative by the president today.”

Universities should not conduct Post-UTME — FG •Pegs pass mark at 180 Clement Idoko -Abuja

IGERIAN universities should not be conducting postUnified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (Post-UTME) as prerequisite for admissions. Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, said this at the 2016 Combined Policy meeting for admissions to tertiary institutions in Nigeria organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Thursday, in Abuja. Also, 180 had been set as cut-off marks across board for admissions into universities, colleges of education, polytechnics and other tertiary institutions in the country. He threatened to sanction institutions that defy the Federal Government’s directives on admission processes. He said it was wrong and shameful for universities to organise post-UTME and extorting money from candidates well over N5,000 each,

after sitting for UTME conducted by JAMB. Adamu, who got vote of confidence passed on JAMB by stakeholders at the event, wondered why institutions said they were satisfied with what JAMB was doing and still went ahead to conduct another examination after UTME. He put it to them, “do you have confidence in what JAMB is doing ?” and there was loud ‘yes’. He added that “if we have confidence, then why are the universities and other institutions conducting their own examinations. “It would be shameful if tertiary institutions are doing this to raise money for their institutions. It should not be at the expense of the students. What about students who sat for examinations in foreign countries, we must consider their distance,” he said. He said: “Our schools should not be conducting another entrance examina-

tion. If they have any complaint against JAMB, they should come to the ministry and we will look into it. If JAMB is qualified to conduct test and it is conducting the test, then there should be no need for students to sit for another examination to gain admission.” He, however, did not hide his aversion to the use of Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode in the conduct of UTME by JAMB, when he said openly that he hated it, but there was nothing to do. The decision to peg cutoff marks for admissions to all tertiary institutions appeared to generate some controversies when the Minister of Education left venue of the meeting, but the Registrar and the Chief Executive of JAMB, Professor ‘Dibu Ojerinde, said there was nothing he could do since it was the position of the government to harmonise the minimum benchmark for admissions into tertiary institutions in the country.

Stakeholders at the meeting included vice chancellors of universities, provosts of colleges of education and rectors of polytechnics and other chief executive officers of agencies under Federal Ministry of Education. Ojerinde, however, explained that universities or other institutions would be free to screen their candidates at no cost after JAMB would have given them admission. The harmonisation of the cut-off marks is seen as move by the Federal Government to gradually remove the entrenched dichotomy between universities’ degree and the Higher National Diploma (HND) certificate. The minister also stopped JAMB from issuance of admission letters to students, saying admission letters should be issued to students by respective institutions. He told JAMB to stop extra charges of candidates in terms of purchases of scratch cards for checking of results

and other changes they need to make in the admission processes. He advised JAMB to give candidates permanent number for accessing their online admission processes without additional charges. The minister advised all universities, polytechnics and colleges of education to conclude the 2016/2017 admission exercise before the 31st of November this year, also laying emphasis on 60 per cent to 40 per cent admission ratio in favour of the sciences and 70 per cent to 30 per cent admission ratio in favour of technical courses. He told the institutions to adhere strictly to the 2016 admission policy guidelines in order not to deprive eligible and qualified students seeking for admission to further their education. He also warned the institutions not to exceed their admission quotas, saying there would be sanction, while urging them to stop writing to JAMB to increase their quota.

Friday, 3 June, 2016

Lagosmetro Scenes of a fire incident at the old National Assembly Complex located at Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), on Thursday.

AGF’s office, Agric ministry burnt as fire guts TBS

HERE was pandemonium at the old National Assembly Complex at Tafawa Balewa area of Lagos State as fire ravaged one of the buildings. Properties worth millions of naira and office equipment were destroyed in the afternoon fire, which sent workers scampering into different directions for safety. The fire, which reportedly started around 3 o’ clock in the afternoon, raged on as a combined team of fire fighters from the Lagos State Fire Service, Julius Berger PLC and the National Emergency Management

Agency (NEMA) battled to put it out. The fire was still raging as of the time of filing this report with heavy smoke covering a large part of Tafawa Balewa Square. The fire affected the office of the National Poverty Alleviation Programme, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the office of the Accountant General. It was gathered that the fire was first noticed in one of the offices on the second floor and attempts by workers to put it out failed. The fire was said to have spread beyond the second floor and was spreading to the upper floor, when the fire fighters arrived at the scene.

Edited By

Lanre Adewole

olanreade@yahoo.com

0811 695 4647

Construction workers conspire with gunmen to abduct expatriate boss Opeyemi Owoaseye

Olalekan Olabulo

Nigerian Tribune

The spokesperson of NEMA, South West, Ibrahim Farinloye confirmed the incident to Lagos Metro. Farinloye also stated that

the fire spread to the sixth floor of the complex and that fire fighters had a very difficult time in battling with it.

POLICE in Lagos have picked up four staffers of a construction firm for allegedly participating in the abduction of their boss. The victim, a Chinese national, named Hang Kumming is the boss at GMC Construction Company, Ajah. He was reportedly abducted at 5:00 a.m., at Elemoro, Ajah, last Sunday, while on his way home. A gang of seven gunmen reportedly attacked him, beat up his driver and whisked him away in a car while returning from work. Operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), on Tuesday, arrested four of the workers - Amos Loko, Adebowale Johnson, Oluwadare Segun and Videgnonz Taiye. It was learnt that the Chinese was rescued on Wednesday in a hideout in the Igando area of Lagos State.

Loko, 26, who was a truck driver with the company, confessed that he gave the abductors information on the movement of his boss. “I started working with the company in 2015 as a truck driver. On Sunday, I gave the kidnappers information because I was with him. I told them to just wait for my call, that I would let them know when to strike. When they abducted him, they took him inside a bush at the back of my yard in Ajah. “One of the kidnappers, Michael, is my friend and he introduced me to the gang. I didn’t know the amount they planned to make from the kidnap and I didn’t ask them. They just said they would share the loot with me,” Loko said. The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the rescue of the Chinese boss. She said the police would soon get the gang members who are on the run.

Nigerian National Summit Group, Coalition of Lawyers, Women Arise and other Civil Society Group during a at Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island on Thursday. Photo: Sylvester Okoruwa.

Firm MD in trouble over stock scam Olufunmi Oseotan THE Managing Director of Bakis International Limited, Akinsanya Samuel has been accused by Zenith Bank Plc, Ogba branch of fraud and stealing. He was accused of fraudulently obtaining money from Zenith Bank under the pretext of using the money to procure stocks. During his trial, a witness identified as Chibugo Onyechi a staff of Zenith bank gave evidence against him. According to her, Samuel

was a customer of Zenith bank and was offered an overdraft facility of N200 million for the procurement of Zain airtime and stocks. He as the Managing Director of his company stood as the guarantor for business which later fell through. The accused was later arrested by the police after he wrote N5 million cheque which later bounced, The case was adjourned till September 21, for further hearing by the Magistrate Aje Afunwa of an Ikeja Magistrate Court.

NNSG, AYCF, CRAI, others storm US, Italy, German embassiess •Demand restructuring of Nigeria Bola Badmus A nationwide coalition of civil society groups, led by the Nigeria National Summit Group (NNSG) on Thursday in Lagos embarked on peaceful protests to Foreign Embassies and High Commissions in the country to seek their interventions

in urging the Federal Government to restructure the country and obey the rule of law. This was just as the groups said that for President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to save Nigeria from anarchy and failure, it was time for them to sincerely study the 2014 National Conference

Report with a view to urgently implementing many of the Resolutions that were passed by all the 482 delegates to the National Conference. The protesters, who were in their hundreds and drawn from other groups, including Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Constitutional

Rights Advocacy Initiative (CRAI), Youths Arise for Change (YAC) and the Joint Action Front (JAF), marched peacefully through streets of Lagos to the United States Embassy at the Walter Carrington Avenue, Victoria Island, chanting solidarity songs, as they displayed placards with various inscriptions.

8 news Flood destroys properties, valuables in Ibadan Continued from pg 2

Valuables worth millions of naira were destroyed by the flood in Agbebukola and Abidogun markets, the two markets at Omi Adio, in Ido Local Government Area of Oyo State. This was disclosed by the representative of Babaloja in Ibadan and chairman of Agbebukola market, Comrade Tajudeen Oladepo and the chairman of Rebuild

Forum, Omi-Adio, Alabede Waheed Emiola, in an interview with Nigerian Tribune, on Thursday. Parts of the markets affected by the flood included a fuel station, a rail line at Bako area, houses, shops and a magistrates’ court beside the market. Thursday morning, traders at Agbeloba market were seen spreading remnants of their goods to dry. Oladepo, who said he was

inside the market till around 12.00 a.m. on Thursday, made calls across to traders to inform them of the development. He said “most of the traders, mostly foodstuff sellers, lost almost all they had to the rain. As you can see, some of them are spread to dry. The disaster is painful. In fact, some of them who cannot withstand the loss collapsed and we resuscitated this morning (Thurs-

Glo sponsors 2016 LBS Alumni Dinner holding tomorrow PREPARATIONS are on top gear for the forthcoming annual Lagos Business School Alumni Association President’s dinner, sponsored by Globacom, scheduled to hold at the Convention Centre of Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos, on June 4. Globacom has partnered the association to mark this year’s edition of the event. The company said in a statement released from its headquarters in Lagos, on Thursday, that Globacom was proud and happy to be part of this year’s event, which was a congregation of top professionals in Nigeria. The annual President’s

dinner is the flagship social gathering of all alumni of the Lagos Business School which provides a platform for all members to reconnect with old classmates and friends. At the event, the president, Mr Wole Oshin, whose tenure elapses this year, will be handing over to Mrs Bola Adesola, who will preside over the alumni association for the next two years. Ace comedian, Gbenga Adeyinka, is expected to anchor the event, while BJ Sax is billed to thrill the live audience to melodious tunes. Major highlights of this year’s edition include the

alumni awards which are given in two categories: The Distinguished Alumni Award and The Best Class Award. The immediate past Minister of ICT, Dr Omobola Johnson, who attended the Advanced Management Programme 4, received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015. The LBS alumni association had been in existence since 1993 and have close to 5,000 members that support the aims of the association. This year’s event is the 22nd edition. The event is expected to have over 1000 guests in attendance and it is strictly by invitation.

Magu vows to fight corruption in IDP camps Saliu Gbadamosi -Abuja WITH complaints of corruption in internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) camps being made by international humanitarian organisations and other civil society organisations, the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Mustapha Magu, on Thursday, vowed to fight the menace in the camps. Expressing worry about the complaints by the organisations helping the distressed Boko Haram victims, Magu, who spoke at the newly-reopened zonal EFCC office in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, assured that the commission would ensure transparency and accountability in the use of the resources meant for IDPs in Maiduguri and elsewhere in the country. According to a statement made available to the Nigerian Tribune by head, Media and Publicity of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, the acting chairman stated that the commission was currently gathering intelligence on the issue, adding that those found culpable would be invited by EFCC. “We want to be sure that there is transparency, accountability and judicious use of the money allocated to

IDPs in Maiduguri and elsewhere. “What we are doing is gathering intelligence, but the culprits behind the sufferings in the IDP camps will be invited sooner or later by the EFCC,” Magu was quoted to have said. The EFCC boss further gave indication of plans to

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

mobilise women and civil society groups in Borno State to buy into the fight against corruption in the country. Magu added that the commission would organise a workshop for the women and groups for them to key into the war against corruption.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Osadebay Rechael Adunola am the same person as Akanni Rechael Adunola. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as OSADEBAY RECHAEL ADUNOLA. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

I, Nnanta Kenneth Uchenna am the same person as Nnanta Kenneth Kelvin. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as NNANTA KENNETH UCHENNA. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Anyanwu Chizoba Chiemela now MRS. OLINYA CHIZOBA CHIEMELA. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public take note.

I, formerly Nathaniel Akau Zamani now NATHANIEL AKAU. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc., and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Omidiwura Funso Timilehin am the same person as Omidiwura Oluwafunsho Tim, Omidiwura Olufunsho Timilehin, Omidiwura Funsho, Omidiwura Funso Timmy and Omidiwura Funsho Timmy. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as OMIDIWURA FUNSO TIMILEHIN. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Oyafemi Olajide Adekola now OLANREWAJU OLAJIDE ADEKOLA. All former documents remain valid. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and general public take note. and I, formerly Oyafemi Olayinka Adebayo now OLANREWAJU OLAYINKA ADEBAYO. All former documents remain valid. University of Lagos and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Mr. Babalola John Ola am the same person bearing Mr. Babalola John Olasunkanmi. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as MR. BABALOLA JOHN OLA. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

day). “When you sum up the rough estimate of losses here, it is over N1billion. The worst part of it is that, while some of the traders were trying to put calls through to their loan benefactorsSEAP, LAPO, among others, we learnt they told them to brace up, that only the dead are exempted from repaying the loan.” Oladepo further added that the flood was an annual experience, appealing to the state government to come to their aid by rebuilding the market and with financial assistance. In his comment, chairman of Rebuild Forum, Emiola, said the flood was as a result of blockage of passage of water of River Omi. Mr Emiola, who lamented the level of destruction, called on both the federal and state governments to come to do more dredging of the river, adding that the flood had become an annual occurrence. Also, around Gbekuba area of Apata, residents of some affected houses were busy drying their property outside while others were busy using pumping machine to free their households from flood.

Friday, 3 June, 2016

Chairman, Ido Local Government Area of the state, Honourable Oladejo, who was on an on-the-spot assessment, described the flood as a great disaster. He revealed that the local government had, just last week, dredged the Pecku river, which overflown its boundary around Gbekuba area. According to him, “this is beyond anybody’s imagination. It is a natural disaster.

Recently, the Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, directed that all rivers in the local government which were in critical state should be dredged and this was done last week, so this incident is surprising.” When asked of the extent of the damage, Oladejo said he was yet to brief the state governor and could not make a categorical statement until he assessed the situation.

Friday, 3 June, 2016

editorial The worsening unemployment situation Friday, 3 June, 2016

HE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has released new figures about the unemployment situation in Nigeria and the figures should invite concern among all Nigerians, particularly those in governments across the country, saddled with the task of managing the affairs of Nigerians for prosperity. This is because rather than the reported position of former President Olusegun Obasanjo that the country was sitting on a keg of gun powder because of the growing crisis of unemployment, it would seem that the envisaged explosion is almost here going by the new figures of unemployment coming from the official organ of government on statistics. The NBS stated that, whereas there were more than 22 million Nigerians unemployed at the end of 2014, almost two million others have been added to the number since the advent of the President Muhammadu Buhari government. The situation, to be sure, is a reflection of the economic crisis currently facing the country, which, in itself, is symptomatic of the global economic downturn and the attendant worldwide dislocations. However, the point has to be made that Nigeria is not just facing a crisis of unemployment, as the NBS stated that the number of Nigerians sacked, underemployed or unemployed has been on the increase every month for some time now. The country is facing a situation in which rather than having employment opportunities that are not enough for the teeming unemployed, the available opportunities have indeed been reducing due to the contracting of the national economy. The Nigerian economy is today characterised by stifling employment situation, as firms are daily disengaging staff and reducing wages. With companies themselves packing up and new ones becoming a rarity, it should be clear why the unemployment situation in the country has become dire. The consequences of the situation are more disturbing, given that there is evidence that the current situation is resulting in societal challenges and security threats. There are reports of a surge in general and property crime in the country coupled with increasing societal threat in the form of drug trafficking and usage. These are not simple issues that could be dismissed peremptorily. They touch at the core of societal stability and peace, as security is the first condition for societal continuity. It would be interesting to see how the increasing security challenge is itself further contributing to the problem of unemployment given that companies and individuals would find it difficult to continue to expand economic activities in the

Nigerian Tribune

face of increasing crime. We note in this regard reports about the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway being under the siege of armed robbers almost every day, with this being replicated across the country. The implication is that the country may be entering the cyclical situation of unemployment feeding insecurity, even as insecurity also exacerbates the unemployment situation. This would definitely usher in heightened crisis in the country. The government has to apprehend the full implication of the current worsening unemployment situation. Fortunately, it has talked about rejuvenating and reforming the economy in order to make it more productive and thus create many jobs. But this means that the government has to do more than talking and quickly get to grips with turning around the economy and ensuring that it starts to create employment opportunities sooner than later. The World Bank has recently stated that Nigeria would need to create between 2010 and 2030, an estimated 40 - 50 million additional jobs in order to cater to its growing population. Yet, rather than creating new jobs, the country has been experiencing reduction in job opportunities. This suggests that there is a need for enhanced attention to the issue of the economy, particularly in relation to employment creation and generation. We would expect the government, for the sake of staving off the implosion that normally accompanies unchecked unemployment growth, to give more attention to getting Nigerians engaged productively, as this is the only way to ensure a stable and growth/development oriented society. We note, of course, that part of the efforts needed to curb insecurity would be the need to further equip the police and other security forces. Still, we believe that the current surge in crime is not unrelated to the social situation of rising unemployment, such that the government should not just focus on a law-and-order approach alone in strengthening the police and other security agencies, but should, in addition, primarily help to reduce the unemployment figures in order to allow the police to have fewer number of crimes to cope with. The bottom line is that the crisis of unemployment is a dangerous and massive one that could damage the social fabric of any society. It is therefore in the interest of all for the government to quickly address the current growing threat of unemployment in the country by using all strategies to create employment and ensure the productive engagement of Nigerians.

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Friday, 3 June, 2016

editor

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Using science and technology to develop Africa

MONG the numerous reasons Africa remains underdeveloped and burdened with poverty and diseases is the shortage of skilled manpower. In contrast, Asian countries such as China, India, Singapore and Malaysia that were at par with Af-

rica in the 1960s have either since joined the club of developed nations or are nearly there. The continent’s manpower deficit has continued to blight efforts to move it in the right direction away from the era of doom and gloom. The following research findings will enable us to properly situate Africa vis-

a-vis other regions. While Africa has two per cent of doctors worldwide, it bears 24 per cent of the global burden of diseases. Yet, more than 10,000 medical graduates born or trained in Africa migrated to the United States as recently as 2011 to practice there. Similarly, there are 35 engineers per million peo-

Avengers: Equip our Navy now IT is so unfortunate that some people, under the guise of the Niger Delta Avengers (NGA), are bent on frustrating President Muhammadu Buhari’s government. Even before the 2015 presidential election, these set of people had been saying that they would make the country ungovernable if Dr Goodluck Jonathan did not win re-election. However, some have been saying that President Buhari should reach out to the militants, but I don’t think it is necessary; what they just want is to frustrate government’s efforts towards achieving a more prosperous Nigeria. The solution to this distraction is, therefore, for the Nigerian government

to equip our Navy so that they can respond to the activities of these terrorists. Apart from the acquisition of weapons, there is need for the Navy to send their instructors on overseas trainings so that they can master the art of modern warfare on water. Britain, our colonial master, has the most advanced Navy in the world, and I hope President Buhari can use his newfound popularity among world leaders to secure a partnership with the British Navy for our naval officers to train on how to tackle the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers. We cannot continue to call those who are bent on destroying the country to round-table discussions everytime there is upris-

Gov Ajimobi, come to our aid at Old Ife Road I want to use this opportunity to bring to the attention of the Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, the condition of the Old Ife Road, Ibadan, which is almost becoming impassable because of the many big potholes on the road, and this cause severe traffic gridlock to motorists and road users all the time of the day. Of particular concern is a portion on this road in front of Chief Akinleye’s building; this portion is so bad that if nothing is done urgently, it will break into two, thereby, preventing people from passing to and fro on the road. Another portion that is an eyesore is under the overhead bridge at Oni-

pepeye area of the road; this portion is a constant source of headache to road users alike. This is not to mention other big craters that dot the road up to the Bola Ige International market, Gbagi and upward, which cause different sorts of troubles for road users. I have waited just like hundreds of people for this road to be fixed but had to resort to this medium to solicit the governor’s help for the repair of this very important road that leads to the Ibadan Airport, as well as the Bola Ige International market, and a gateway for many travellers. •Bode Martins, Ibadan.

ing. If this is the case, then there is no reason for us to have a military, whose major duty is to protect the country from internal and external attacks. I, therefore, hope that the Federal Government will continue to invest in procuring modern equipment for our military. •Nelson Ekwale, Benin, Edo State.

ple in Africa compared to 168 per million in Brazil, 2,457 for the European Union and 4,103 for the US. Also, African universities still turn out mostly arts and social science graduates, just as during the colonial period. Only 28 per cent of African students are enrolled in the fields of science and technology; it’s clear that most of them are studying for degrees in the humanities and social sciences. “Skills shortage in terms of numbers and quality on the African continent has reached an alarming point, posing a major concern,” said Professor Emmanuel Nnadozie, Executive Secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). This threatens to undermine ambitious plans by the African Union and the United Nations to

transform the continent into a land of prosperity in under 50 years from now. To address the deficit, African governments and development partners, such as the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) came together in February 1991 to found the ACBF. From its base in Harare, the Foundation has since invested in more than 321 capacity development projects across the continent, produced 73 knowledge products advocating emerging development issues, and committed more than $700 million to capacity development to date. While it can be said that efforts aimed at bridging the manpower gap are going on apace, experts say there’s still much work to do.

Having identified Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and vocational skills as the continent’s greatest capacity challenge now, it is important we get our students to enrol in these courses in large numbers. It is also important to take measures to discourage African experts now resident on the continent from moving abroad and to entice those in the Diaspora to return home. Unless we Africans rise up to develop our countries, we’ll continue to depend on foreign experts whose interests may be at variance with Africa’s priorities. After all, it’s the one wearing the shoe who knows where it pinches. •Paul Okolo, Abuja.

opinion

Friday, 3 June, 2016

Thirteen threats to Nigeria By Tola Adeniyi

drivers or lunatics who drive as if they had an appointment with hell? Which government can stop a bully who daily turns his wife to a punching bag? Some people just behave as if there are no laws in the land. Look at the way people exploit one another at every stage of interactions; petrol stations, NEPA offices, police stations, markets, banks, universities, JAMB offices, the catalogue is endless. Indiscipline is at the root of most of the ills plaguing this doubly unfortunate country. Proudly occupying the third slot is corruption. And by corruption I am not limiting myself to stealing alone. Stealing is a big part of corruption, but it is not the whole picture of corruption. Nepotism is corruption. Taking improper advantage of the staff working under you is a huge form of corruption. There is domestic corruption which makes nonsense of the ethics of cohabitation and coexistence. Number four threat to Nigeria is cultism. Cultism is no longer restricted or limited to schools and tertiary institutions. Artisans of all shades and grades have joined the rank and file cultist leagues in Nigeria , and they could be found in all corners and crannies of the country. Carpenters, bricklayers, commercial auto-cycle riders, painters, petty traders and small time musicians are all involved in the dreaded gangs. With children in primary schools now being recruited into cultism Nigeria faces a terrible future. Religion and its fanatical adherents are the fifth and sixth threats to Nigeria. Religion has colonised people’s minds and brains beyond redemption and majority of those captured are mere walking caricatures of human persons. Poverty, ignorance and mass unemployment have driven otherwise sane people to satanic embrace of the roguish exploiters who dress in the zany

ith this title several readers will jump to the conclusion that the dreaded but now degraded Boko Haram terrorist group should occupy the number one slot while the Fulani Herdsmen terrorists and the new Ijaw Avengers would rank second and third respectively. They are wrong! While the menace of the three mentioned terrorist groups constitutes grave threat and danger to Nigeria’s corporate existence and her economic resurrection, the combined menace of the three will pale into insignificance when placed side by side with the menace of the criminal silence of Nigerians in the face of the serious onslaught perennially and perpetually unleashed on the country by a handful vultures who have bled Nigeria to near death with their insane looting of the country. The number one threat to corporate Nigeria is the unexplainable timidity of all Nigerians, the criminal silence of the masses in the face of the huge theft of their patrimony by a handful. It was this silence that prompted the article I wrote a few years back titled ‘Nigeria: A Nation of Idiots’. That title has now become the subtitle of my 1,500-page book titled ‘In the Belly of Vultures.’ I have always wondered how a people could be this docile and timid. Sometimes, I wonder if Nigeria is the same country that produced legendary Aminu Kano, Madam Sawaba, Mrs Olufunlayo Kuti, Margaret Ekpo, Joseph Sarwan Tarka, Adaka Boro, Tai Solarin, Arthur Nwankwo, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Beko Ransome Kuti and fiery Gani Fawehinmi among a few others. Inability to speak out against evil, against injustice, against oppression, depression and deprivation is the beginning of calamitous tragedy. Nigerians have kept too quiet for too long that we now have a deadly monster that has almost swallowed us up as a people. Can we pretend not to know when our school dropout neighbour who became chairman of local government suddenly started putting up a mansion and assembling posh cars in his yard? Did we not see Ghana-must-go bags being loaded and off loaded in the National Assembly? Did we not see our governors, presidents and other public officials suddenly becoming billionaires? We kept quiet. We are still keeping quiet appearing hopelessly helpless in the face of all these revelations which in the first instance should not be news to us. The number two threat to Nigeria is indiscipline. Crass indiscipline at all levels. Indiscipline both in our private and public life. Which government can successfully eliminate drunken

garbs of religious extremists. The number seven threat to Nigeria is loss of age long societal values. Almost if not all the ethnic nationalities that make up this country are lamenting the loss of their cherished traditional values. In marriage, in commerce, in attitudes and relationships, as well as the traditional respect for elders and mutual respect for each other, honesty, hard work, patience, morality; all those values have been thrown to the dogs. This loss of our cherished values has dealt a terrible blow on our country and has enthroned lawlessness, strange foreign cultures and behaviours. Our art, our music, our ethos, and even our cuisine and domestic cultures have almost disappeared. Number eight is Fulani herdsmen and their undisguised terrorism of horrendous proportion. Whereas the number nine threat which is Boko Haram is largely limited in its operational base and territorial spread, the Fulani herdsmen terrorists are rampaging the whole country. If there is any threat that may easily lead to the break up of Nigeria it is the brutal, brutish and barbaric gangsterism of the herdsmen terrorists. We know that Boko Haram is waging a religious [even if undefined] cum vengeance campaign; the herdsmen agenda leaves room for many speculations. Is it a Jihad? Is it territorial expansion and ultimate occupation? Is it colonisation the way the Hausa were colonised? The number 10 threat is the open and almost unstoppable campaign for the actualisation of the Biafra dream. This is a political campaign with tinge of self determination and ethnic nationalism. If the threat is not well handled it may snowball into a wild fire. The Delta militants are a very credible threat and they occupy position 11 in my evaluation. The mission of the Delta militants is quite known. Theirs is a campaign for economic emancipation, justice and equity. And they also exercise self determination and are prepared to die to the last man. The twelfth threat is the combination of all self determination groups from OPC to Bakassi and other mushroom bodies that may appear inconsequential but are seriously entrenched in their trenches. The thirteenth threat to Nigeria is the notorious tribe of Nigerian politicians. If there is any group that is likely to score 100 per cent in its rabid determination to ruin Nigeria and hand her remains over to Somalia, Afghanistan, Rwanda and to the chaos in Iraq and Libya, it is the Nigerian political family. Whatever becomes of Nigeria in the months and years ahead is in the hands of our terrible politicians and whatever they make of the other twelve threats.

Of PDP, opposition and fate of democracy in Nigeria By Ademola Adesola

Since its inevitable implosion before the historic 2015 general elections, where it was battered and thrown-off the high horse of governance at the federal and in a few states across the country, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has continued to grope in the dark of divisiveness. If its loss of the presidential election was a self-induced mistake, it has not demonstrated any good sense that it has learnt a thing or two from that mortal defeat. Rather, the narrow-minded house of strange bedfellows continues to travel from the basement of scandalous folly to the lintel of utter political idiocy. And it is through that misbehaviour – that disheartening inability to prop itself up as an effective opposition party in Nigeria – that it continues to throw poisonous darts at the delicate heart of democracy in Nigeria and horrify Nigerians, just as it did for a larger part of its 16-year reign in power. Its last botched national convention further goes to confirm that the PDP is doomed to balking up the wrong three in its quixotic quest for a rebound. As it knives itself pitilessly, its spilling blood defaces the fine tapestry of opposition garment it is supposed to don with chutzpah. Truth be told, it is not totally surprising that the party does not know how to effectively play the role of an opposition in a democracy. It had in its heydays chaotically criminalised and demonstrated such virulent intolerance against opposition parties in a way that appeared it was illegitimate for an entrenched opposition to exist in a multi-party system. The party listened and waltzed to its own cacophonous tunes, deploying security agencies to browbeat dissenters, members of the opposition parties, and critics in a bid to quietly saunter onto the 60-year sovereignty of its overactive imagination. However, it must be noted that it is not only the PDP that is remiss in playing its role as an opposition to the ruling party. The telling absences and sepulchral silences of other political parties (a total of 28 by INEC’s information) make them complicit in the destruction of democracy in the country. At the federal and the state

levels, ruling parties getaway with pernicious policies and drab governance with inconsequentially little or no whimper of sense from the so-called opposition parties. The unembroidered fact is that these parties are not able to function as effective opposition because they are peopled by a slew of anti-democrats who parrot artificial democratic principles. They understand themselves as political parties only when they gain control of the levers of power and are consequently corseted with state funds and cushioned by perquisites of public office. Poor in character and barren in vision, they view the opposition role as laissez faire to whoop fruitlessly and cavort with the ruling party for mammon. Let us face the facts before the lies suffocate us: It is impossible for democracy to thrive where the opposition is absent, whipped into silence, or weak. Steady free and fair elections, fundamental human rights, transparency and accountability, and rule of law are not the only fundaments of a democratic system. Informed control of rulers by the electorate, and tolerance (on the part of government) of critical dissents– in manners expected of a wellinstitutionalised opposition and responsible citizens – are other fundamental principles that define a decent democratic culture. These allow both citizens and opposition parties to voice their dis-

agreement with actions and policies of the ruling party. They are allowed to differ and provide reasoned alternatives to issues affecting the country. Their constructive dissents cannot be treated as treasonable acts. Opposition is an integral component of a viable democratic process. The involvement of opposition parties, civil society groups, and citizens in scrutinising, critiquing, and protesting against ideas and policies of government is invaluably critical to the strengthening of the democratic culture and achievement of socio-economic development. Since no single group has all the answers to the questions of development in a society, it, therefore, follows that the existence of multiple sources of programmatic thoughts cannot be disallowed. To source the water of useful ideas for the development of a country from a lone tributary is another easy way to strand the country in the peatbog of chronic underdevelopment. What is more, the role of the opposition as a watchdog in the exercise of power by the ruling party can add ballast to the pillars of democracy. In making this point, I take refuge in the words of Benjamin Disraeli that, ‘no government can be long secure without a formidable opposition.’ In other words, opposition in a democracy is an elixir to the government. Where it is lacking, the government and the people are doomed. In their different positions, the ruling party and the ones in opposition must regard each other as authentic work-fellows in the labour yard of nationbuilding. They may bicker and fight, but their eyes must not be off the big picture – the advancement of the country. This is the sacred duty that the PDP and other formless, nondescript political parties in the country’s political space are shirking zealously. Pray, what right have they to carp that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)’s alchemy cannot produce the change it has fervently advertised? •Ademola writes from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife via toludemola1@gmail.com

Friday, 3 June, 2016

N May 8, 1939, four months after Segun was born, Obafemi’s personal effects were put up for sale. He left Hannah at home with the baby and showed up for the sale of his personal effects with some people in tow. The bailiff was considerate to the new father and therefore left him one suit! All his other clothes were auctioned. He wanted to ensure that the items were not sold as cheaply as his car, so that a substantial part of the debt could be covered by the proceeds of the auction. He took along three people so they could take part in the auction and purchase a few clothes for him to wear. He would reimburse them in the near future. One of them, one Mr. Aina (who was later called “Baba Elekuro” by Awolowo’s children), got a little money from Awolowo to buy some of the furniture so he and his wife and their visitors could have something to sit on in the house. But what was being auctioned on that day and the car and house auctioned later were not Obafemi’s alone. Even though the court had ordered the sale of his property, it was actually the new couple’s property which were on action. As Hannah says, “We had agreed that we would do everything together. All our money and property will be jointly owned. Everything will be jointly owned”. However, it was Awolowo’s presence at the auction that astounded the police constable who was mandated to keep watch at the event. He therefore wanted to confirm what he suspected. “Yes? Why not?” Awolowo asked the constable. “Sir, you are a man!” Little did the constable realize that an equally resilient and even more patient woman was waiting at home for her husband to return from the humiliating experience. From 1938 to 1942 when the storm raged, few people could believe that Obafemi and Hannah were in financial trouble, even though in 1940, the couple’s uncompleted building was sold in Ikenne for a cheap price of forty pounds (40). “I was pained that the house was sold”, replies Hannah when asked how she felt. Some in Ikenne again reminded Hannah of their warning about “this stubborn man”. Only an obdurate man, they added, would “allow his only house to be sold”. It was as if he had a choice in the matter. But the unadulterated love and unflinching support that Hannah gave her husband encouraged and strengthened him. Despite the troubles, Obafemi started studying for the London Matriculation Examination. The couple even added two children to the family. Omotola, a daughter, was born on December 1, 1940, while Oluwole, another son, was born on December 3, 1942. She was very glad that, with three surviving children, she had broken what many people in Ikenne thought was a spell cast on her maternal line, which had led to three generations of lone daughters. Despite her joy, it was very tough for Hannah to manage the home in the difficult four-year period (1938-1942). She had to cope with the collapse of her husband’s business while ensuring that Obafemi Awolowo remained in the best condition of mind to facilitate their financial recovery because she couldn’t help in any way financially since they had agreed that she would not work. With the moral support of Hannah, by the close of 1942, Obafemi Awolowo was free of all the debts which had “enthralled and cramped” him and his wife

With

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•Mama HID Awolowo

and children. Now “financially liberated”, the couple began a new life in which the head of the home was able to re-lunch his delayed attempt to travel to England to study for law. They had torn the mask, therefore, the “beautiful soothing countenance of Prosperity” was in the horizon. But, as Obafemi acknowledged, Hannah’s support was critical to this recovery. He confessed that “With my wife on my side, it has been possible for us to weather all financial storms. Because of her charm, humility, generosity and ever-ready sympathy and helpfulness for others in distress, she is beloved and respected by all our friends and acquaintances”. One early morning in 1943, after morning prayers, Obafemi told his wife that they had something critical to discuss. He had resolved to make a “last and powerful bid” to attain his ambition, professional and political. To be able to attain the second, he needed to accomplish the first. If by the time he clocked forty in seven years, he had not been able to study law in the United Kingdom, he would focus

on business as his major source of income for the rest of his life. Therefore, he was launching a five-year personal development plan which would start on his thirtyfourth birthday, that is, on March 6, 1943. This plan, Obafemi intimated his wife, would involve living a private life that would produce intense intellectual fortification, moral elevation, financial security, and the acquisition of a profession. Hannah told her husband she was committed to supporting him to achieve the four corner-stone of his ambition. Beyond this, would also increase the tempo of her prayers to ensure that he achieved his ambition. Within this period, even though he “found it hard to disbelieve in or doubt the existence of God,” Obafemi had “become a hearty admirer of agnosticism.” He only attended church occasionally. But Hannah sometimes insisted that he had to keep her company in attending church services. She had become what the Pentecostalists would later describe as “prayer warrior”. Obafemi credited Hannah with “courage

of a rare kind, a quality which he believed he also possessed. However, he confessed that “I am no match for her at all in her exercise of infinite patience and forbearance under all manner of circumstances. She absorbs without a word of complaint all my occasional acts of irritability”. These were the unique virtues which were on display in the trying period of their early life together. She showed the enduring nature of these virtues in the years that followed. Since he read Robert G. Ingersoll’s collection of essays in Lagos around 1931, Obafemi had started raising doubts vehemently about “the legends and fictions WHICH THE Israelites AND Their successors in dogma have woven round” God. In all this period, Hannah remained a steadfast Christian. As Awolowo later wrote, “throughout the period of my oscillation between agnosticism and Christianity, my wife stood immovably for the later. However, he eventually returned to Christianity. Her constant admonitions and steadfastness did more than anything else to restrain me from going beyond the point of no return”. In the 1936/37 cocoa season when he made enough money to travel to the UK to study law, Obafemi had planned to take Hannah with him. The collapse of the cocoa business in the following season ruined his plans temporarily. His dream was differed. However, by the time he had saved enough to realize his dreams, he and Hannah had had three children, two boys and one girl. They were also expecting a fourth. Still, they could have considered travelling together, leaving their children with relations as many couples did in that era. However, the best and most comforting person they considered leaving their three children with was Hannah’s mother, Elizabeth. She had both the strength, the time and the resources to take care of them. There was a big problem, though. Hannah knew that, as someone who belonged to the Apostolic Church, her mother believed fervently and exclusively in faith-healing and thus never used nor encouraged the use of modern medication. Thus, she could not leave her children with a woman who would not let them use medication or see a medical doctor. At any rate,, Elizabeth too would not like her only daughter to travel overseas where she would not be able to visit her. Therefore, Hannah and her husband decided that it was better for her to stay back in Nigeria. It might also have struck Hannah that her husband’s departure could provide her with the opportunity to employ her entrepreneurial skills, since she would need to take care of the three children and the one on the way. On August 14, 1944, Obafemi Awolowo sailed to the United Kingdom…. TO BE CONTINUED EBINO TOPSY – 0805-500-1735 (SMS ONLY PLEASE) NEXT WEEK: WALE ADEBANWI ON MAMA HID - 7

Friday, 3 June, 2016

eyesof islam

Saheed Salawu yinkadejavu@yahoo.com 0811 695 4643

Looking at Ramadan from the right perspective A By Sulaimon Adesina

GAIN, the rush has begun. All over the world, markets are welcoming multitudes of people, majorly Muslims, who are in lasthour rush to stock food items necessary for an eventful Ramadan season. Good move - but sheer misplacement of priority. This is because the month of Ramadan is neither for the harvest of foods nor an obligation from the Lord of the worlds to outsmart one another in feasts. We have witnessed many Ramadan seasons and have routinely observed fasting and engaged in other spiritual acts which we believe are associated with the blessed month. But have we ever asked what the goal of Ramadan is? The season is a means designed by Allah (SWT) for man to effectively initiate and execute strategies that will hand him a blissful earthily living and a welcome return in the hereafter. Thus, the noble month has an end. However, we all know that the world is in chaos, as man increasingly exhibits acts that have been identified by Allah and His messenger, Muhammad (SAW), as paths to hell. Where, then, are the fruits of Ramadan? No, we won’t find them until we view the month from the right perspective and take stock of our activities during the period. A key ingredient of success we must carry along in this month-long journey is the mind. Allah says, “O you who believe, the fasts have been enjoined upon you as they were enjoined upon those before you, so that you may be God-fearing” (Q2: 183). The fear of Allah is the objective of all acts

of worship: “O people, worship your Lord who created you and those before you, so that you may become God-fearing” (Q2: 21). The mind is the essence of life. It dictates what the limbs carry out. Allah grants preference for the soul, and it is only when the mind understands the goal of Ramadan that the effects of our numerous efforts in this glorious month will positively rub off on the individual and the society. A clean soul is the foundation of other achievements. Nu’man bn Bashir has related the warning from the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW), “…certainly within the body is a flesh. If it is sound, then the whole body would be sound, and if it is spoilt, the whole body becomes spoilt. Behold, it is the heart.” For most of us, our hearts are not convinced that fasting is meant to achieve anything. We see it as an end in itself. It is not uncommon in Ramadan to find stern-looking, fasting Muslims spend substantial part of the day sleeping in available mosques. Have households ceased from the practice of stocking cassettes and movies to while away time in the blessed month? Are many fasting Muslims not overjoyed at the appearance of the crescent in the evening? To these people, the month has come with its difficulties and the more quickly it goes away the better. To them, the quality of the number of fasts they observe is not the issue but as bearers of Islamic names, how they have been able to ward off the shame that would have accompanied their inability to do same. The heart is just not there. For others who think they have given the blessed month its due by way of strenuous spiritual activities, they should not be con-

founded that they have also not impacted their environment nor have they truly prepared for the hereafter. After spending long nights in tahajjud, many hours in the day in supererogatory prayers, Quran recitation, charity and others, one would think that the goals of the month—peace on the land and sound preparation for the next world—would be guaranteed. But the truth is simply that the heart is not involved in these acts. To ensure that the heart is involved in our spiritual activities in this month, therefore, we must give each of them its due by observing its etiquettes and not do them just for their sake. For instance, during fasting, we should avoid spending a great part

We have witnessed many Ramadan seasons and have routinely observed fasting and engaged in other spiritual acts which we believe are associated with the blessed month. But have we ever asked what the goal of Ramadan is?

of the day sleeping. We should also ensure moderation in the consumption of food and drink during the breaking of the fast. We should be satisfied with one or two varieties of food. We should also reduce our talk and laughter as much as possible and guard our tongues against backbiting, evil talks, etc. For our prayers and attachment to the mosque, we should try to go early to the mosque and not leave our position after the prayers except for a compelling reason, so that we can be favoured with the prayers of the angels. Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said: “The angels seek benevolence on one of you as long as he remains in the position that he had prayed and his ablution is not vitiated, by saying: O Allah, forgive him, O Allah, bless him.” The Muslim sister can also dedicate a place in her house where she hastens to and wait for prayer, repeat the Adhan after the Muadhin and stay there for a long period whenever her situation permits it. On the recitation of the glorious Qur’an, Allah says, “O men, there has come to you an advice from your Lord and a cure for the ailments of your hearts, and guidance and mercy for the believers (Q10: 57). But the Qur’an will not achieve its goal or be a guidance, healing and light except we relate with it in the manner that Allah wants. He revealed the Qur’an for us to ponder over it and then take from it what would be beneficial to us and not to read it with our tongues alone. Allah says, “This is a blessed book We have revealed to you, so that they deliberate on its verses.” Thus, our tongue, our intellect and the mind have to be completely involved. We have read the Qur’an with our tongues many times and the concern of every one of us has always been how to reach the end. In fact, some of us compete with ourselves on the number of times that we finish the Qur’an, especially in Ramadan. What real benefit do we derive from this? What change does the Qur’an bring about in us? Recitation of the Qur’an with the tongue alone, without the presence of the heart, is like huge chaff that has little benefit. Ali said: “There is no good in recitation that is devoid of pondering.” On night prayers, it is better for our mind to be connected to Allah within just two rakah than spending hours standing, bowing and prostration with an absent mind. Also, in our relations with fellow human beings, the mind has to be convinced that we do such acts for the sake of Allah alone. So, as we break fasts with our wives and children, as we provide food for the fasting Muslim, as we aid the orphan and the needy, as we strive to join family ties, as we mend fences and build the community, we should not forget that actions are judged by the intentions behind them. If we have any other goal aside from pleasing Allah, neither will the individual nor the society benefit from the acts. When the heart is connected to the limbs, our priority will be quality and not quantity. We will be satisfied with little activities to gain the pleasure of Allah rather than unnecessary competition to amass activities for the face value sake. Luckily, we still have the grace of Allah to take correction and put things in the right perspective. We should pick up our breath, re-arrange our books and then come out from this blessed month with a new spirit, higher ambition and strong emotions that would assist us to face the world and all its attractions and distractions and discharge the duties, for which Allah created us. It is then that the individual can turn a new leaf, our society can be reformed and the path to eternal bliss of paradise can be assured.

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Friday, 3 June, 2016

Check your medical status before Ramadan, Muslims urged Bola Badmus -Lagos

Members of the Ibadan, Oyo State chapter of Lajna Imaillah Ahmadiyya, a women organisation of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Worldwide, Nigeria, with their head, Mrs M. K. Ademoye (arrowed), during their “Peace Trek” and sanitation programme as part of activities marking the 100th anniversary of the Jamaat in Nigeria, held in Ibadan, recently.

Inject recovered loot into economy, Grand Khadi tells Buhari Biola Azeez -Ilorin

HE Grand Khadi of Kwara State, Justice Saliu Olohuntoyin Mohammad, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to inject recovered looted funds into the nation’s economy. At the graduation ceremony of Baraje Centre for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Islamic Village, Gerewu, Ilorin, Justice Mohammad said it was high time the president began implementation of his change agenda as his administration entered the second year. “Before the second quarter of his second year, Nigerians should begin to feel the impact of his change mantra in practical terms and not in theory. Let us see food on our tables. Let us see water flowing. Let us see electricity. Let us see effective and efficient transportation system. The time is now,” he said. However, the jurist implored Nigerians to be patient with the government, saying that President Buhari assumed control of

the country at a time when things were difficult. The tuition-free school, established by a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abuba-

kar Kawu Baraje, graduated 153 students at the ceremony. Justice Mohammad, who is the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the

centre, said the school was established to bequeath impact the younger generation through quality Arabic and Islamic education as well as moral discipline.

NSCIA charges FG on missing Chibok girls AGAINST the backdrop of the rescue of one of the abducted schoolgirls of Chibok, Borno State, Amina Ali Nkeke, penultimate week, the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has called on the Federal Government to intensify efforts at securing the freedom of the remaining girls from the terrorists keeping them in custody. The organisation insisted that no effort should be spared in bringing the remaining girls safely home now that the “jinx has been broken” that, indeed, the girls could be found. In a statement by its Secretary-General, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, the NSCIA, under the leadership of its President-General and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, however, said that the value of the controversy as to whether or not Serah Lukah, another girl who was

purportedly found barely 24 hours after Amina was rescued, was one of the kidnapped girls lied only in calculating how many of the girls are still in captivity and should be rescued. “The delight about this news is due to the hope it has brought to Nigerians, especially the parents of the Chibok girls, that it is actually possible to rescue the girls who were criminally abducted on 14 April, 2014 and that the efforts of the Federal Government on this critical national and international embarrassment have begun to yield results. “It is also sad that the 19-year-old girl, Amina Ali Nkeke, is now a mother contrary to her will and that of her parents while Serah Lukah would also have been subjected to abuse in captivity,” the organisation said. While rejoicing with the parents of the found girls and Nigerians at large on the

success of the rescue mission, the Council expressed the belief that the joy could only be meaningful if all hands were on deck to rescue the remaining missing girls. “In line with the submission of an African leader who believed that the freedom of his country was meaningless until other African countries were free from colonialism, we aver that the rescue of two out of over 200 girls is still far below expectation despite being a significant step forward,” the Council stated. The organisation, which praised the courage and gallantry of the Nigerian military forces in the Joint Task Force and their civilian partners on the achievement last week, implored Nigerians not to discriminate against the rescued girls or stigmatise them on account of their “unsavoury” experience.

Pre-Ramadan lecture Ahmadiyya women ‘take a walk’ in Ibadan

HE Boluwaji and Environs Muslim Youth Community will be holding its Pre-Ramadan Lecture on Sunday on the open field behind Law Gas Petrol Station, Boluwaji, Ibadan, between 10.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. A medical practitioner/ Islamic scholar, Dr Abass Adetunji and Ustaaz Ismail Busairi will be speaking on the topic of the lecture, “Fasting and Your Health.” The lecture, according to the organisers, will be preceded by free medical screening between 7.00 a.m. and 9.00 a.m.

AN Ahmadiyya women organisation, Lajna Imaillah Ahmadiyya Nigeria (women servant of Allah), recently held its “Peace Trek” and sanitation programme in Ibadan, Oyo State, to celebrate 100 years of the existence of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Worldwide in Nigeria. About 200 members of the organisation aged betweem 16 and above trekked through Oke-Ado, Agbeni and the Mapo areas of the metropolis before paying a courtesy visit to the Chief Imam of Ibadan-

land, Sheikh AbdulGaniy Abubakri Agbotomokekere. The Sard (national president) of the body, Dr (Mrs) B. O. Diko, said the aim of the programme was to sensitise the public to the 100th anniversary of the existence of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in the country. Diko, speaking through the head of the Ibadan Chapter, Mrs M. K. Ademoye, said the programme was also designed to promote the message of “Love for All, Hatred for None,” which is the slogan of the

Jamaat by “sanitising” the areas trekked through. “As the programme has been done in Ibadan and other areas in Oyo State, I am imploring us to make it a duty to exercise our bodies and make our environment clean always to improve our health. “Also, we should not relent in our efforts to continue propagating Islam in Ahmadiyya as this will assist us in following the true practice of the Islamic religion on the principles laid down by Prophet Muhammad,” she said.

MUSLIMS have been urged to check their medical status before the commencement of Ramadan. Chairman, Muslim Community of Federal Site and Services Central Mosque, Isheri-Olofin in the Idimu area of Lagos, Alhaji Murtala Balogun, made the plea at the annual medical screening programme for Ramadan which took place within the estate. “Ramadan is a sacred month in which Allah directs that we all fast but we must be in good health condition to be able to observe the fast. We in this community conduct this check-up every year before Ramadan for us to know where the challenges are before fasting,” Balogun said. He enjoined all Muslims to ensure that they were medically fit before facing Ramadan, even as he called on them to care for their neighbours, especially more so in the coming month. The head of the medical team, Dr Adeoye Rasheed, said the team examined the beneficiaries’ sugar level, blood pressure, among others, and those found to have one medical challenge or another were referred for treatment or given medication prescriptions.

...Scholar advises Muslims to prepare well A senior lecturer in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Ibadan, Dr Wole Abbas, has advised Muslims to be spiritually and physically prepared for Ramadan in order to be able to reap the benefits that abound therein. Abbas gave the advice in Ibadan during the pre-Ramadan lecture of Bodija Muslim Youth Forum (BOMYOF) entitled: “Welcoming Ramadan,” geared towards preparing Muslims for the fasting month of Ramadan. He said the best way to welcome Ramadan was to have consciousness of Allah and remember that He is all-knowing and as such, meet the Month of Mercy with a sense of discipline. According to the don, it is regrettable that docile Muslims will be active only in the approaching month of fasting. In preparing for Ramadan, he said Muslims, especially women, who missed some days last year were expected to pay back and make sure they are physically fit to undertake the fasting this year.

Kogi Ulama call for religious instructions in schools Yinka Oladoyinbo -Lokoja

THE Kogi State Council of Ulama (the learned ones) has called on the state government to employ qualified teachers to teach religious studies in schools and colleges in the state. The council noted that the denigration of moral values in the society was as a result of lack of religious teachings in educational institutions. A communique at the end of a segmented consultative meeting of the council in the state, signed by the administrative secretary, Alhaji Ahmed Akande, also noted that promotion of religious tolerance among the people enhances peaceful coexistence and positive development. The council urged parents to impact positively on their children and wards in order to reduce crime rate in the society. It noted that poverty and unemployment had contributed to the escalation of crimes and violence in the society.

Scholars warn on use of IT Biola Azeez - Ilorin SCHOLARS of Islam who are experts in Information Technology (IT) under the auspices of As-Sunnah Academy of Da’wah and Reaserch have stressed need for the government to regulate the use of IT with a view to censoring corrupt sites. The Islamic organisation, which organised a seminar entitled “Information Technology: Uses and Consequences,” in Ilorin, Kwara State, recently, recognised the benefits of IT but warned about the associated evils. Speaking with journalists after the seminar, the president of the organisation, Dr Abdur-Razaaq Abdul Majeed Alaro, identified the evils of IT to include users’ dependence on sources from the internet without verification or authentication, especially on matters of religion and exposure to obscene sights and corrupt cultures, “which most likely lead to corruption of the mind, and destruction of family and societal values.”

Nigerian Tribune

Friday, 3 June, 2016

fridaytreat

Rotimi Ige rotimiige@yahoo.com 0811 695 4636

MUSIC BUSINESS 101

Super Cool Cats and JagzNation labels:

By Toyin Adeniji

The Consolidation of Chocolate City Music

here is strength in numbers and there is power in unity. This best describes the strategy that Chocolate City Music major stakeholders including the founding partners and the biggest artiste brands to have come out of the label - MI, Jesse Jagz and Ice Prince adopted by deciding to create and launch independent labels for their superstar acts while still housed under the mother brand – Chocolate City Music. It is encouraging seeing a Nigerian business thinking in this direction and aspiring to see the bigger picture and working together to build a bigger future as against going solo and allowing the quest for selfish ambition and individual glory to prevail. Like the adage that said, “If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together”. There is nothing wrong with going alone and going fast in the case of these Chocolate City Music artistes, it does not mean they will not succeed in their endeavours, but it does mean

that they will have to recreate a whole new set of record label support systems that exists and which they have become accustomed to at Chocolate City Music for instance. In the music business, sometimes you don’t change a winning team or formula as long as it keeps delivering optimally. The choice to go together is a brilliant one because they all have a golden opportunity to create and make history by achieving what has never been done before in the history of the Nigerian music industry and probably in the history of independently owned labels in Africa. Going together is an opportunity to build something bigger than each individual would have achieved alone running their own record labels. This model comes as a cost-effective strategy for all parties involved because the facilities and structures required to effectively operate a record label are already in place such as recording studios, in-house production teams, accounts department, music publishing unit, music distribution department, digital media team for PR, publicity, promotions etc. If need

be, all that is required is to expand the existing facilities and structures as the need arises. The new independent labels Super Cool Cats and JagzNation will also be able to leverage on Chocolate City Music’s existing relationship and connection with relevant corporate Nigerian brands and businesses with which they have established relationships and build on from there. What Chocolate City Music has done with this development is to achieve a synergy and consolidation towards becoming a conglomerate. In business terms, a synergy is a concept that says the combination of several organisations or systems into one can produce a higher output than they can independently of each other. The launch of Super Cool Cats and JagzNation labels underneath the umbrella of Chocolate City Music as the mother-brand has resulted in the consolidation of Chocolate City Music in the sense that it has become a bigger organisation than it formerly was through its internal absorption or partnership with the emergence of its own star artistes into autonomous record companies or imprints under its

wings. While this whole development is new in the context of the Nigerian music industry, it is not new in terms of its practice within big conglomerate organisations or groups operating in corporate Nigeria. Chocolate City Music as a music business organisation is just towing the path and emulating the historic evolution of the big major record label organisations and big media conglomerates that owned those organisations. As Ice Prince and Jesse Jagz sign new acts to their different labels, Chocolate City Music will grow bigger as a music corporation with a bigger and growing share of the Nigerian music industry. Both of them will function with creative independence in the capacities of a CEO and Brand Manager for their artistes under their respective labels. With this development coupled with the growing global appreciation and interest in Nigerian music, it won’t be a surprise when an international record company shows interest in partnership with or an outright acquisition of Chocolate City Music.

I will continue to support Nollywood acts —Pastor Iginla

A clergy man and senior pastor of Champions Royal Assembly, Kubwa, Abuja, Joshua Iginla, who was recently in the news for his benevolence in giving out out 32 cars to some popular Nollywood acts amidst other gifts, has stated that in spite of negative comments and criticisms, he will not stop this act as giving is a Christian way of life. Iginla, who gave out 16 SUVs as part of his birthday celebration stated that giving out especially to Nollywood artistes will always be part of activities to mark his birthday. The clergy also gave out money running into millions of naira to the aged, widows, orphanages and scholarships to orphans from nursery school to university. Nollywood acts that enjoyed the pastor’s benevolence include Prince Jide Kosoko (Jide Babs), Francis Duru, Alex Usifo, Ngozi Osondu, Thelma Nwosu and Sunday Omobolanle popularly known as Aluwe. Six Nollywood actors and actresses got Hummer jeep 3 series, Mercedes G-Wagon and Mercedes CLS 550. Some artisans got generators and cash gifts while the widows got deep freezers, rice and cash gifts ranging from N150,000 to N1.5 million. Treasure Orphanage Foundation, Nyanya, Divine Wound Orphanage, Kubwa and Christ Home Foundation, Kuje, got N1.5 million each and many bags of rice,

while some orphans in the homes were awarded scholarships from nursery to university. Iginla said he has 782 widows and orphans he caters for. “It doesn’t matter to me if I trek home, as I have given even the car that I personally drive. I can only drive one car and live in one house at a time. This understanding is what has taught me that when I die, others will inherit my assets. The beauty of life is not in its duration but in its donation. I have not seen some of the beneficiaries before in my life or spoken to them. I saw many of them for the first time that day. That was the first day that I saw Jide Kosoko”. Speaking on his passion and why he will continue to give out cars to them annually, Iginla said he is interested in them because many of them are poor but many people erroneously think they are rich because of the roles they play in films. “This is my own way of correcting the wrong impression. The fruit of the Nollywood artistes is reaped by pirates; government should do something to arrest this situation. The Nollywood actors and actresses are our ambassadors; they have projected the image of this country positively”, he said. Iginla had, in 2015, given 18 cars and millions of naira as his birthday gifts to people, and has vowed to increase the tally on a yearly basis.

‘Shalanga’ gets high ratings It was an unforgettable experience filled with unbridled boisterousness and laughter as popular on-air personality Yaw and veteran comedian AY delivered the stage play ‘Shalanga’ as written by Nollwood actor Femi Branch. The play, which held at Eko hotel on May 29, 2016 was aimed at not only entertaining it’s audience, but also enlightening them on several embittering sectors of the country such

as the dilapidating power sector, oil, agriculture and more. Through the exhilarating performance by the duo, a sense of hope, redemption and re-integration of the country at large filled the ambiance – ensuring it’s audience the situation of Nigeria can’t be fixed by one person but our communual effort as individuals. Several other talented comedians in attendance like Funny

Bone, Kenny Blaq, Dan D Humorous, Babah Kay, thrilled the audience with hysterically hilarious gigs. ‘Shalanga’ also hosted myriad of top-notch artistes like Olamide, Solidstar, Naomi Mac, Korede Bello, Adekunle Gold, Reminisce, Marvelous Benji, Vector, Phyno, Reekado Banks, TJAN, Burna Boy, Patoranking who wowed the audience with exuberant performances.

Friday, 3 June, 2016

Mc Rapindaddy is one of the fastest rising comedians from the South-West of Nigeria. With an upcoming event ‘Spartacus’ next week, he spoke to ROTIMI IGE about the idea behind the show, among other things.

I want to ‘kill’

with laughter —Rapindaddy

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our annual event, Spartacus, will hold next weekend. What will you be up to this time? This time, I am planning to stage a comedy event that is far far better than the previous editions, especially in terms of quality of delivery, packaging and branding. My audience will see the new rebranded Mc Rapindady on that day. What is the idea behind the name ‘Spatacus’? The Spartacus is a very popular movie series which is a real life story of an empire that has a particular group of gladiators who fight to kill themselves in order to impress their lords. But a time came when a new gladiator came in to join them whose name was Spartacus. Spartacus, unlike every other gladiator, decided to fight to regain his freedom, so he came up with an idea he called ‘Kill them all’. He killed all the lords that stood as obstacle on the path to his freedom which he gained with all other gladiators who were with him. So, I decided to bring this ideology into our everyday life. We all have worries, problems, harsh economic situations, heart breaks etc which stand as obstacles to our happiness. So, I want people to bring their worries, so we can kill them all with laughter and happiness. You have become one of the most sought after upcoming acts from Ibadan at the moment. What would you say are ingredients to your success? I would say it is the grace of God, dedication and belief in my craft that has taken me this far. I put my all into making people happy, not just stand up comedy, I do comedy skits, funny graphics, sing, anchor events let me just say I am a hard hustler. Majorly, I decided to be aggressive with my hustle because I have tasted the harsh part of life and I don’t think I want to go back there again. But, I owe everything to God who made me

We all have worries, problems, harsh economic situations, heart breaks etc which stand as an obstacle to our happiness. So I want people to bring their worries, so we can kill them all with laughter and happiness.

what I am today. What is your relationship with established comedians like Koffi, Gbenga Adeyinka etc? Koffi da guru is my boss, he is my role model, I want to be like him in so many aspects. He is one of the most responsible entertainers I have seen. He believes so much in me and he is always ready to support young talents like me. Gbenga Adeyinka is a blessing to many of us young guys, I always love to call him ‘Daddy’ because he is like a father to me. Also, he is one of the most successful comedians in Nigeria. Rate the comedy industry in Oyo State and your aspirations for it... The comedy industry in Oyo State is the most lucrative sector of the entertainment industry because we have guys who are very good exports. The Ibadan comedy industry have produced comedians who have a very high level of acceptance outside Oyo state and even outside the country. Seyilaw, Bash, Laffup, Gbenga Adeyinka at some point started here. Take me for example, I do more paid events outside the state most times and the demand is still very high. I am aspiring to be the best comedian/entertainer that will come out of this great city. How do you feel that the entertainment status that the state is becoming known for can be further enhanced? Hmm, Rome was not built in a day, growth is a gradual process and thank God the growth is now very obvious but we all need to be careful, we need to love ourselves, be our brothers keeper, this I think would go a long way to further strengthen our bond. What should your fans expect from ‘Spartacus’ 2016? I have worked so hard to put this event together, judging by the quality of comedians we are parading, it is going to be mind blowing. They should expect a back to back moment of laughter. We are ready, every body is ready. Trust me, we are shutting down Ibadan next weekend. Your favourite past time? I don’t think I have a favourite past time. I take every stage very important no matter how small or how big. Every fan is important and I think I have to give in my best at every opportunity I have to stand before any audience. What would you have become if not a comedian? I would have become an RnB singer. I love gentle soul music. It is my first passion.

WURA 1 of Fuji t’o Bam, Okiki, storms venue of Season 4 audition The reigning WURA 1 of Fuji t’o Bam, Akeem Okiki stormed the venue of the 2016 Goldberg Fuji talent hunt selection party held in Ilesa, Osun State with some words of advice for the participating artistes to be focused and disciplined on stage to win the crown. Okiki, an Osun State-based fuji artiste, who won the grand prize for the Season 3 of the annual contest at the Trans Amusement Park,

Ibadan, where the grand finale of the competition held in 2015, disclosed that he learnt a lot of lessons through participating in the competition. According to him, anybody who would triumph in the contest must be ready to satisfy the judges; whom he said are veterans in Fuji music. “The judges have their standards that any successful contestant must meet; otherwise such artistes

would be shown the exit door out of the competition”. Okiki thereafter performed to the delight of guests and fans who thronged the Waterside Centre, Ayeso Area in Ilesa, venue of the selection party. Meanwhile, each of the participating artistes took turns to thrill their fans and other Fuji enthusiasts, while the judges led by Muyideen Iyanda, Governor, Fuji Musicians

Rotimi Ige rotimiige@yahoo.com 0811 695 4636 twitter: @rotifizzle twitter: @fridaytreat

Association of Nigeria (FUMAN), Osun State assessed their performances. Two other judges present at the occasion were ace broadcaster, Adebayo Faleke and Wasiu Alagbe Olaiya. The judges finally selected Fatai Adeniyi, Ayoola Olowookere, Yemi Oluwasegun, Ololade Isiaka and Ilesanmi Sogo as they were exceptionally outstanding for stage crafts and renditions. They would

join successful contenders from other locations for the quarter final, which would later hold in Oyo town, Oyo State. Iyanda, an old-timer in the Fuji industry admonished the contestants to continue to be good ambassadors of Goldberg lager beer and Fuji music as the two have created a niche that will remain strong in the history of entertainment, particularly, Fuji music in Nigeria.

Apreel 1 to honour KSA in Ile Ife as he clocks 70 Ibadan-based Event Management Company, Apreel 1 have concluded plans to celebrate Mr Sunday Adegeye fondly called King Sunny Ade (KSA) as he clocks 70 in Ile-Ife.

Artiste of the week Real Name: Akindele Justina Omowunmi Music Genre: Rap, Afropop, AfroHiphop Record Label: CAPital Hill Music | The Goretti Company Nationality: NIGERIA Mz. Kiss is a rapper, singer, songwriter and performer based in Lagos, Nigeria. Born Akindele Justina Omowunmi in the early, 90, the artistically diverse and engaging femcee hails from Okiti Pupa in Ondo State, Nigeria. Mz. Kiss started off her music career officially in 2010, when she released her debut song titled ‘You Go Craze’, followed by her ‘holla at me’ freestyle. Both songs were independently released and promoted. The songs received positive nods from the media and paved the foundation for her subsequent bangers “Figure 8” and ‘Spatacuz’. The videos for Spartacus and figure 8 were developed by acclaimed video director Paul Gambit and this marked the beginning of their working relationship. Under Gambit Music the artist experienced a great degree of artistic growth and cut her teeth as an act to reckon with in the music business. She parted ways with Paul GAMBIT on peaceful and mutually agreed grounds. Mz. Kiss caught the eye of CAPITAL GORETTI top executive/ILLBLISS whom she met during a radio interview at one of the top radio stations in Lagos. He kept an eye open on her consistent growth as a recording artist, and finally made a move to complete her signing to their stable of hit making artists. Her single ‘Owo Meta’ (produced By Tunex) was her debut single under the new Capital Goretti imprint, a street rap anthem guaranteed to stir up loads of attention for Mz Kiss. She has gone further to do more songs like ‘stoopid’ with Falz and recently, ‘Last Year’

Mr Seyifunmi Odunuga, the Chief Executive Officer of the company told the Nigerian Tribune in Ibadan that KSA would be celebrated for his legendary strides in the music industry. “We need to start celebrating our illustrious sons and daughters in their lifetime and not after their demise. “Our aim is to correct the attitude of celebrating such talents after their demise. This will serve as encouragement and motivation for others and the up coming ones,” he said. Odunuga said that the event, which comprises several programmes, would see Apreel 1 organise the public lecture and dinner at Ile-Ife in September. “We have concluded arrangement to celebrate our illustrious and amiable son, KSA, who will turn 70 on September 22 at Ile-Ife. “The choice of Ile-Ife was in recognition of its status as the cradle of Yorubaland and in honour of Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi’s effort at fostering Yoruba unity,” he said. Apreel 1 will organise a public lecture with the theme “Nigeria Music Industry: The falling Standard” to be delivered by Prof. Tunji Vidal of University of Lagos . The lecture, which will take place in September 2016 would hold at the

Amphi-Theatre of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in Osun State, while a dinner would follow at the Ife Grand Resort. Adegeye was born on September 22, 1946 in Osogbo, Osun State to a royal family in Ondo, Ondo State. KSA, a musician, singer, song writer, multi-instrumentalist and the most famous Nigerian musician, who pioneered modern world music listened to both within and outside the shores of Nigeria. Odunuga also said that the unflinching effort of Ogunwusi at fostering peace and unity among the Yoruba monarch’s was noted and appreciated by all. “This is evident in his visit to all first class monarch’s in the region, among whom are Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, Oba Sikiru Adetona, Awujale of Ijebuland and Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, the Alake of Egbaland,” he said. He posited that such strides needed to be appreciated and supported, saying it was a reason why the programme would be held in Ile-Ife as a mark of honour and appreciation to him. Odunuga said that the programme would host several prominent dignitaries in Nigeria and the diaspora, his teeming fans across the globe, likewise several other artists and musicians.

Friday, 3 June, 2016

travelpulse&m.i.c.e

’Wale Olapade 08055201323 wale11g3@gmail.com Winner, Nmma, Tourism Reporter Of The Year

Ikotun hoteliers lose N3.9 billion to Synagogue crisis Stories By ’Wale Olapade

oteliers in Ikotun area of Lagos State are currently bemoaning their loss due to low occupancy rate in most of the hotels. According to the hoteliers, since the Synagogue Church of All Nations accident and the consequent disagreement with the Lagos State government, the hotels have lost over N3.9 billion revenue. Speaking to some journalists, the hoteliers under the aegis of Pilgrims Hostels Association of Nigeria, said the total number of bed spaces of different categories for all the hotels in Ikotun area stands at about 3500. Before the accident, the hotels had 100 per cent oc-

cupancy rate in three days of every week due to the programmes in the church. The occupancy rates currently fluctuate between 10 per cent and zero all week long. According to them, what this meant was that in these three days, instead of having their normal 3500 bed spaces sold, they could only boast of 350 rooms occupied. Speaking on the issue, one of the hoteliers, Chief Jerry Omoridion said, “We have been crying for a long time and the government does not seem to understand our plight. “It is a serious issue for us because our means of sustenance is currently being wiped out. Look at it this way, you will understand what we are talking about: incident at the church, I mean Synagogue Church of All Na-

tions, cumulatively, we have a total of about 3500 hotel bed spaces. I am not adding some of the hotels that are in the process of coming on board, but had to stop since the accident. The hotels have different categories of rooms, but for you people to understand the enormity of our loss, let me peg the room rates at just N5, 000, that is the cheapest room rate in any decent hotel in Ikotun. Before the incident, we were having 100 per cent occupancy rate on at least three days in a week, this may sound unbelievable. “But now, the occupancy rate in these three days is less than 10 per cent. Many of my colleagues have reduced their staff to the barest minimum; some of us are doing the jobs we used to employ and pay workers to do, since

Travelden debut with online travel services Travelden, a new entrant in the Nigeria Online Travel Agency (OTA) was launched, recently in Lagos with the aim to making services not only quick and easy to access, but also trendy and customers-friendly. Speaking at the launching of the new OTA, the Chief Executive Officer of Travelden, Mrs Lilian Obinna-Igwe described the travellers platform as a one-stop-shop for online travel booking for top-notch customer services. Mrs Obinna-Igwe explained that the company provides online travel and other auxiliary services like customised service, travel insurance, SBS lounge, airport lounge, protocol services among other unique and innovative services. “A lot of people like to have cheap fares and because we have a very good relationship with most of the airlines our fares are extremely cheap. “Another thing that we specialise in is personal services. Personal service speaks in this industry and we pride ourselves in providing that special customer’ services, to show that we are there for them. “So customer service is a key factor for us and we offer a very good and affordable fare, good travel essentials with one-stop-shop that can provide everything and anything you want to know about travel. According to her, “Travelden offers are directed at private, B2B and corporate customers among others. Our edge in the OTA market in Nigeria will be driven by innovation and technological advancement. “If you are in the ecommerce business, you have to be innovative and move one step ahead of the competitors. In whatever you are doing, you have to be innovative, bring in new ideas, features and functionalities on your website. “So being innovative, is a key factor for Travelden and we try by all standards to make it a trend in all we do to make our customers believe in us,” Obinna-Igwe added. The National President of National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA) Mr Bernard Bankole in his brief remark at the event said that the birth of Travelden is a landmark for NANTA, adding that he expects more of it rather than the conventional way the travel business which is time consuming. “And with this new dispensation to have a company like Travelden, coming to our market to make an innovation is laudable. “We at NANTA are looking forward to more companies of this status to come on board and I know the market is ripe for it. Also, the association is trying to embrace technology to do a whole lot of things in order to help position the

President, National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies, Bankole Bernard (second left) ; Chief Executive Officer, Travelden, Lilian Obinna-Igwe (Third from left) and others at the launch of Travelden, online travel platform at Ikeja, Lagos, last week Friday . association and also our members’ business, to make them marketable to the rest of the world. “We are looking at a situation where travel

partners around the world will pick some of our members as business partners that will be a good one for our industry.

Stop funding carnivals, Amachree urges government One of leading tourism promoters in the country, Chief Mike Amachree, has advised governments at all levels to stop investing in cultural carnivals. Amachree who organised the first Abuja Carnival and the second River State cultural festival in 1990 and 1993 respectively, explained that carnivals are not capable of attracting inbound tourists to Nigeria. “It is merely a jamboree. For instance, the carnival usually organised in Port Harcourt and Abuja did not even attract local tourists let alone international tourists.” “What could bring international tourists to Nigeria were investments in world class tourist sites and museums where Nigerian culture and history will be displayed permanently.” Amachree said all the carnivals organised in the country (Calabar, Port Harcourt, Lagos and Abuja) should be done by the private sector while the government‘s position should be to provide tourism infrastructure. He reiterated that government is required to encourage and assist the private sector to grow as the success of the private sector was the

only way the government could claim success in tourism. He added that attractions such as the National Theatre, Lagos should be upgraded to first class film production village for artistes to entertain people on daily basis. While the Yankari Game Reserve is the only one that could be compared to Wildlife Park in Kenya.He urged the Federal Government to partner with Bauchi State in developing it. The Port Harcourt Tourist Beach, he said, has the best location for aquatic tourism in Nigeria as well as Ogbunike cave in Anambra State that Amachree described as a wonder of nature and called on the Federal Government to assist in developing the state into an international tourist site. According to him, “Wase Rock in Plateau State,` has been described as highest mountain in Nigeria compared to the Tanzanian Kilimanjero. Amachree said it should also be developed. He also explained that the Emir of Kano’s palace should be furnished with a antiquities and monuments and tourists should be allowed to tour the palace and savour the rich culture of the city. Chief Amachree concluded by recommending the development of the six tourist sites to ensure that the Federal Government is fair to the six geo-political zones in terms of federal assistance to tourism development and promotion in the country.

we can’t afford to employ now due to bad business climate. “With a 10 per cent occupancy rate, only about 350 rooms are sold by our members every night. Many had zero occupancy severally. What it means is that 3150 empty rooms, at N5,000 minimum per night, we are losing about N15,750,000 per night. In a month, the loss is at 189,000,000. multiplier that figure by 21 months, you have a whooping N3,969,000,000 as lost revenue. This is just a conservative estimate. Mind you if this money is injected directly into the community, think about the multiplier effect on the economy of the area. You can understand why we are shouting loudly. I am just talking about three days that we were sure of patronage.” Asked what he was expecting the government to do since the case was already in court, Omorodion cut in: “Look, this is a tourist destination. No area in Nigeria has a steady inflow of inbound tourists like Ikotun in Lagos. Go and do your research. Let me digress, I want you to go to the airport cab operators find out how this has affected their business. “We insist that the government should understand that being a destination, all over the world, when there is accident, being mindful of the peculiar nature of the place, they should put in machineries to get to the root of the accident, take punitive action where necessary without portraying the destination as unsafe and also overtly discouraging people from visiting there. “If I may ask, how did other nations manage accident at destinations. This is something we should learn to do. Like I mentioned before, the stampede in Saudi Arabia happened on September 24, 2015. More than 2000 pilgrims lost their lives. “The country, knowing the importance of religious tourists, have taken the necessary steps and quietly moved ahead. The Synagogue accident happened on September 12, 2014, since then we have been deprived of our livelihood due to the hostile signals from the government and forced to suffer. “As a country, we should be able to learn from those that know better than us. Let us borrow a leaf from other countries and learn how they manage crisis at a tourist destination. They manage in a way that ensures the safety of the lives and properties of tourists without harming the destination. What kind of business do they expect us to go into?” He explained that the figure he quoted as loss was just from the hospitality industry, adding that by the time other ancillary business in Ikotun that depend on tourists are added up, the losses would be much more greater. Omorodion called on the government to take a second look at the current impasse as regards to the Synagogue Church and create better atmosphere for the tourism to grow.

Friday, 3 June, 2016 Taiwo Adisa - 08072000046 Group Politics Editor taiadis@yahoo.com

Biafra protests and calls for restructuring During the week, the security agencies engaged pro-Biafra activists in mortal combat. South-East Bureau Chief, JUDE OSSAI, examines the implications of the renewed agitation.

Many mass-based organisations like Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ijaw National Congress (INC), Middle Belt Forum (MBF), just to name a few, have also championed the demand for a revist of the existing political structure.

ESPITE the defeat of Biafra in 1970, recent events showed that the Movement for Actualization for Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and later Indigenous People of Biafra ( IPOB) have emerged, with members struggling to resuscitate the spirit of the Biafra Republic. The pro-Biafra protests which turned bloody in Onitsha, Anambra State and parts of Asaba in Delta State were held simultaneously on Monday, May 30, 2016 across the five states in the Southeast namely Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States as well Akwa Ibom State with a mission of celebrating Biafra’s 49th Anniversary. Trouble was said to have begun in Onitsha when the Army, in what it described as preventing a breakdown of law and order, clamped down on members of the Ralph Uwazurike-led (MASSOB) now christened Biafrans Independent Movement (BIM) and other proBiafra activists who were commemorating the anniversary of Biafra. The Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel H. A. Gambo, while defending the action of the military, said an unwarranted attack was launched by members of MASSOB and the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) against the peace loving populace as well as security agencies. The development snowballed into protests in the Nkpor axis, leading to another clash by the members of the Joint Armed Forces with protesters at Nkpor-Uno. Unconfirmed reports said that 25 persons lost their lives. It was also gathered that a soldier attached to the 302 military regiment in Onitsha was stabbed while the Nnewi South regional administrator of the MASSOB, Chief Anthony Nwodo and 14 others were arrested by the JTF at Ezinifite. Although the Army claimed that only five members of MASSOB/IPOB died in the clash, the IPOB Spokesman, Emma Powerful, said the armed forces killed about 25 of their members at Nkpor, adding that “they just opened fire on them while they were having a peaceful procession.” In Asaba, the clash by the police with the separatists claimed seven lives. In the ensuing shoot-out between the police and the Biafra agitators at Cable Points and Abraka area of the state capital, two policemen were confirmed dead, while IPOB lost five of its members. Apparently heeding its threat, the police on Tuesday arraigned 13 persons suspected to be members of MASSOB/BIM before an Enugu Magistrate Court for allegedly participating in the last Monday proBiafra protest in Enugu. In the suit number: 245c/2016, the suspects were charged for belonging to an unlawful society called MASSOB thereby committed an offence

Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Enugu gov

Dave Umahi, Ebonyi gov

Rochas Okorocha, Imo gov

Willie Obi, Anambra gov

Theodore Orji, Abia gov

punishable under section 495(a) of the criminal code cap 30 vol.11 laws of Enugu state of Nigeria 2004. The Igbo activists, who were taken to court under utmost secrecy, were also alleged to have, among others, taken part in an unlawful assembly on May 30, this year for actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra and thereby committing an offence punishable under section 106 of the criminal code cap 30 vol.11 laws of Enugu State. All the suspects pleaded not guilty to each of the charges. The trial Magistrate, E. N. Alukwu adjourned the case to June 23, this year for hearing. As at the time of going to press, four pro-Biafra activists arrested during the celebration in Umuahia were expected to be charged to court, as the police’s image maker, Ezekiel Onyeke, said. In Abakaliki the Ebonyi State capital, the

police were able to cage the pro-Biafra protesters. In a statement, the state Police Public Relations Officer, George Okafor, said that the command got intelligence reports that pro-Biafra groups had gathered at Nkaliki Primary school in Abkaliki, but police swiftly arrived at the scene and stopped the gathering, adding that about 92 members led by one Vincent Nwamini and several other sub-leaders were arrested. Also in Owerri, Imo State, 17 members of the MASSOB were picked by the police for holding a road show in commemoration of the anniversary of Biafra. The state PPRO, Andrew Enwerem, who confirmed the arrests, said those arrested would be prosecuted. What perhaps irked the police was that the pro-Biafra activists did not only display the Biafra insignia, they also chanted solidarity songs in a manner believed to be capable of breaching the peace in the state. But the question on the lips of many people in Igbo enclave is whether the May killings were actually to assure professional commitment to the protection of lives and property and not repression. Indeed, the killings, arrests and arraignment of pro-Biafra activists are already generating mixed reactions from the elite, unlike in the past when top Igbo political class openly distanced themselves from the Biafra agitation. For instance, the deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu has already condemned the brutal killings in the southern parts of the country. Ekweremadu was quoted to have said, “We are now in a democracy and people should be entitled to speak their minds and to assemble under responsible circumstances. We have had so much of blood bath in this country under different circumstances and we cannot continue to lose young men and women because the future of this country belongs to them.” Ekweremadu is not alone in this condemnation as the Ohanaeze Ndigbo a pan-Igbo group said Ndigbo were traumatized by the outrageous killing of members of MASSOB and IPOB. In a statement signed by the Secretary-General of Ohaneze, Dr Joe Nworgu, Continues on pg24

politics&policy

Friday, 3 June, 2016

AST Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari hosted members of the State House Press Corps to a luncheon. It was almost one year in the making, coming after my observation in the April 29, 2016 edition of this column that the promise by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, about a year ago to facilitate regular interaction between the president and reporters did not materialize. But on Monday, it happened. For nearly two hours, Buhari stayed with us over lunch inside the exquisite Banquet Hall of the presidential villa that has played host to similar activities organized for visiting world leaders and other important personalities in and outside Nigeria. The occasion was not an interactive one. It had just three items on the agenda - a remark by the Corps’ chairman, lunch and Buhari’s address. Apart from protocol and security aides, the only government officials to join the president were his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari; Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed and Senior Special Assistant (media and publicity), Garba Shehu. The lunch followed a pattern of meetings between the president and media stakeholders in the days prior to Democracy Day, deliberately arranged as part of activities marking his first one year in office. Therefore, as was expected, he used the opportunities to provide insight into his administration’s direction in the year under review. Beyond his usual focus on efforts to tame corruption, enhance security and diversify the economy, Buhari was keen to stress the importance of the defeat concession phone call made to him by his predecessor in office, Goodluck Jonathan, even before the final tally of the results of the 2015 presidential elections was known. He had showed his appreciation for the gesture in the past particularly around the time he assumed office. After that, it had been one knock after another on the former president’s record in office which created a narrative latched upon by pundits across all strata of society to slate him. As more facts emerged, there have recently been calls

inside

aso rock WITH LEON USIGBE

Buhari’s new narrative on Jonathan s for Jonathan’s arrest and prosecution over the monumental corruption allegedly perpetuated under his nose. These calls became more strident with the arrest by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of some of Jonathan’s closest aides including his Principal Secretary, Hassan Tukur; Senior Special Assistant (Domestic Affairs), Dr. Waripamowei Dudafa and his cousin, Robert Azibaola, in connection with investigations of corruption cases under his administration. With their continued detention, many observers have concluded that their squealing must have indicted Jonathan and it is a matter of time before he is taken in for questioning. Buhari is now changing the narrative by going all out to heap unrestrained accolades on him. On each of the occasions he met the media practitioners in batches, he stressed Jonathan’s magnanimity in calling him to concede defeat in the election. He succinctly conveyed the drama that accompanied the call. He was shocked and in that shock, he opened his mouth, no words came out until Jonathan at the other end of the line asked; “did you hear what I said?” This was how Buhari narrated the incident to us. “This is where I pay my respect to former President Goodluck Jonathan. This is actually a privileged information for you. He called me at a quarter past five in the evening. He said good evening your Excellency, Sir and I said good evening.

The question of democracy Continued from pg23

and made available to the Nigerian Tribune in Enugu on Wednesday, Ohaneze stated: “We are unimpressed and unconvinced by the talk of provocation. What level of provocation will warrant the firing of tear gas, without first calling on a crowd, legal or illegal, to disperse? All Nigerians and indeed all people who like humanity must condemn in its entirety this heinous display of brutality. This is everything except gallantry”, the group added. Some residents interviewed who preferred anonymity said the security operatives should have allowed the peaceful demonstration, pointing out that the pro-Biafra activists were not violent. “The police and the army should look for Fulani herdsmen who have killed our people and not defenseless MASSOB members. Biafra spirit cannot be killed by anybody or group of persons,” one of the respondents said. According to Obieze Akuwudike, a Public Affairs Analyst, “the issue is that this killing cannot stop the agitation. So, anybody who thinks that applying brutal force will make these young men and women to forget Biafra is in self deceit. The Nigerian government should listen to their grievances and proffer solutions.” Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in Enugu and other parts of the zone with a view to stemming civil unrest. The police have mounted aggressive “stop and search” on motorists and commuters in major streets in Enugu metropolis since the Monday protests by the separatists. Consequently, night life is now going down in the zone for fear of harassment and intimidation by security operatives. ProBiafra protest and Nigeria’s quest for nationhood The implications Following the protests, some Igbo leaders were said to have held a secret meeting with President Buhari on how to tackle the separatists agenda, although details were sketchy. The build up to the ugly incident was to say the least ominous, as the organisers of the protests had vowed to go ahead with their plan to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the defunct Baifra Republic, in spite of warnings from the establishment. On Wednesday, former vice president Atiku Abubkar was the major headline of national dailies. It was not the first he would attract such a major media mention. But his message on that day formed the basis of what has become the National Question, the euphemism for contentious issues pertaining to the Nigerian federal structure.

08078891838 leonusigbe@ yahoo. co.uk

Buhari He underpinned the bane of the country on a defective structure, which has engineered claims of marginalization. According to him, “Agitations by many right-thinking Nigerians call for a restructuring and a renewal of our federation to make it less centralised, less suffocating and less dictatorial in the affairs of our country’s constituent units and localities. “The call for restructuring is even more relevant today in the light of the governance and economic challenges facing us. And the rising tide of agitations, some militancy and violence, require a reset in our relationships as a united nation. Some may say that we are saddled with more urgent challenges, including rebuilding our battered economy, creating jobs, fighting corruption and securing our people from terrorism and other forms of serious crimes.I believe, however, that addressing the flaws in our federation will help us address some of those very economic and security challenges facing this country.” Atiku however was in the system for about eight years

He said, I have called to congratulate you that I have conceded defeat. Of course, there was dead silence on my end because I did not expect it. And he said, ‘did you hear me?’ I was shocked. I did not expect it because after 16 years, the man was a deputy governor, governor, vice president and 08078891838 WITH LEON yahoo. co.uk conceded defeat was president for six years.leonusigbe@ For him to have even before the result was announced by INEC. I think it was an act of generosity and great patriotism.” Buhari went on to reveal the reaction of former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, to the call after he too had learned of it. Abdulsalami headed the National Peace Committee made up of eminent personalities which worked so hard to ensure that peace prevailed in the country before, during and after the election. Buhari said Abdulsalami reached out to him and advised that they go to the presidential villa at once to thank Jonathan. He concurred. What Jonathan did with that call, its impact in stabilizing a wobbly polity is not exactly unknown to Nigerians as much had been said about it. But why Buhari stressed it at this time the way he did is what has become a mystery to many. His intention can only be speculated. With rising tension in the Niger Delta, it may be prudent to warm his way into their hearts by demonstrating his profound respect for their most priced son.

aso rock

(1999-2007), and has pursued his presidential ambition ever since. There was no time he advocated restructuring. Rather, he teamed up with the establishment on its advocacy for the preservation of the status quo ante. Then, is his new position meant to broaden the scope and geography of his political and economic friends, new allies ahead of the 2019 contest and assuage the so-called avengers threatening his business interest in the Niger Delta region? It is recalled that it was the Obasanjo/Atiku civilian regime that saw the resurgence of an army of ethnic ethno-religious agitations. It was during that period that many ethnic militias were formed to unleash terror on the citizenry in different parts of the country. The list of these organizations has increased with their cessions agenda. These include the Igbo Biafran Movement (IBM), IPMB, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) , with all of them launching war against the Nigerian nation. Atiku is not alone in the clamour for the structuring of the existing federalism. Many other senior citizens, among them a former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anayaoku, have consistently advocated the restructuring of the country as a way of devolving powers from the centre and guaranteeing stability and unity necessary for progress and prosperity for the country and its constituents. Again, many mass-based organisations like Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ijaw National Congress (INC), Middle Belt Forum (MBF), just to name a few, have also championed the demand for a revist of the existing political structure in a manner that would promote inclusiveness and cohesion. This, according to them, became imperative because of the fundamental defects in the current federal structure. The strident clamour for restructuring led to the convocation of the 2014 National Conference by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Though he could not oversee the implementation of the report before he vacated the Presidential Villa about a year ago, the report of the CONFAB formed part of the handover note Jonathan presented to his successor, President Muhammadu Buhari . There is however no real consensus on the fate of the report, as it has been subjected to the unpredictable vagaries of party politics. President Buhari, has for the umpteenth time, discountenanced the increasing pressure on him to consider implementing the report, which many contend contains very useful recommendations, which border on the critical challenges thwarting the stability and progress of the most populous Black nation.

politics&policy

Friday, 3 June, 2016

Osun voters eager for PDP’s return —Olaoluwa Erstwhile chairman of the Osun State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Gani Olaoluwa, is worried by the intra-party discontent in PDP. In a recent interview with TUNDE BUSARI, however, he says the party is coming out stronger to reclaim power in 2019. Excerpts:

OU were at Port-Harcourt for the PDP national convention. What transpired at the event? I can say that the South-West was one of the problems. There was a court judgment that the tenure of South-West executive still subsists. Unfortunately, the Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose said the South-West PDP executive must attend the convention. The party leaders at the national level assessed the report of all state congresses and attested that Osun State conducted the best congress, which was conducted by a retired judge. The reports of the congresses of seven other states were could not be resolved. The acting national chairman, Senator Alimodu Sheriff, also said that there was a court order with implication that election into the position of financial secretary only should be conducted, while other positions remained. But, a group of governors led by Governor Fayose insisted that elections should be held across board, so there was pressure on the party chairman, which he resisted. He said he would rather respect rule of law than conceding to the pressure. He, therefore, summoned an emergency meeting of PDP National Working Committee (NWC) and later cancelled the convention. The governors then came up with the idea of having a caretaker committee. Are you not sounding overconfident when you have a divided family with no clear sign that you will achieve unity before 2019? I may sound overconfident to you but I know what I am

talking about and the people of Osun State can attest to it. They are fed up and they don’t hide it. They say it to the face of the APC (All Progressives Congress) leaders at functions. Nothing is hidden about it again. They now know that they made mistake to have voted for the party. Hunger is everywhere. Workers are regularly owed backlog of salaries without any hope of paying them.

Now, there is Adagunodo. There is Faforiji. Who is the authentic chairman of the party in the state? With what I have said earlier that the court threw out the caretaker committee put together by the governors, you should know that Honourbale Soji Adagunodo is the chairman of our party. We expect everybody to come together and support the new chairman. His leadership is a done deal. It is a popular project which we cannot afford to undermine. Then, why do you think the other faction still maintains a hard posture? To my understanding, individual ambition is the problem. The 2019 election is the target of hose fuelling the crisis. Some believe that our candidate in the last election is still interested in the 2019 election. There is nothing bad in having an ambition. It is part of the political process. How can you be in a group without an ambition? You must have a target for yourself based on your competence and capability. I am not against anybody’s ambition. But, I am against such ambition when it works against the general interest of the party. No member of the party is above the party. The party is the umbrella under which all members, irrespective of their status, stand. We should always respect the supremacy of the party. This will helps party discipline and quick recovery from our past loss. Some of your members allege that APC is behind PDP problem in the state? I am not one of such individuals. I am telling you that APC has no hand in the problem. It is purely an internal issue, which we are going to resolve with time. The APC itself is passing battling with its own challenges, so how can it have time to interfere in another party’s internal affair? What I believe is that we are going to dislodge APC, come 2019. We are returning to power to give Nigerians good governance. The people of Osun State are already yearning for the return of

Olaoluwa

PDP to power. I cannot imagine a government asking women to pay tax. This is what is happening Osun now. There is no assistance to Muslims and Christian during their festivals. How do you identify with those who voted for you? We are very positive that we are going to send them out of government house because their time is up. The half salary they pay is not even regular. Government must have a human face but theirs is not. They feel they can do anything and get away with it. We are happy that the people have seen how far they can put their life at risk. They collected a bailout fund from Federal Government and diverted it. Banks in Osun are weak now. Economic activities are almost grounded because there is almost no money in circulation. This is one of the reasons we are very confident of getting our act together towards sending APC out of power. We are happy that we still have many experienced and reasonable personalities in the party; people who can make things happen.

What I told EFCC about Diezanigate funds —Okon Ntufam John Okon, the immediate past Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Cross River State, in this interview with ANTHONY UBONG in Calabar, speaks on his recent invitation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other issues. Excerpts: what we are leaving behind. I will not deceive you because some leaders may not be satisfied because they didn’t play the dominant role they felt they should have played. The new leadership of the party, including me because I am still a stakeholder in the party, should explain to them that it was to build consensus based on grass-roots acceptance. When it comes to voting I will only vote in my polling booth, because of restriction I can only monitor my ward, so there is no need for one person to sit down and write names for the entire local government when you know that on Election Day you will be confine in one place.

Okon

NOW that you have vacated the seat as the PDP Chairman, will you say you left behind a united PDP in Cross River? That is a very challenging question. During the last primaries of the party a lot of leaders were not satisfied because they feel they should have got the tickest and they left. But for this time, I think the way we built the consensus, I think I l am leaving behind a very united party. We have been able to at least ensure key stakeholders have a say in whatever we do in the party. It is now left for the party to build on

Governor Ben Ayade marked one year in office on May 29, what is your assessment of his administration so far? Ayade has a lot to celebrate. If Ayade did not come as somebody with a business background, somebody with experience in management, what would have happened to the state? That is one question you should ask. I think it was God’s grace and opportunity that Ayade came. He came with a lot of experience and contacts which have enabled him achieve a lot. If you look at the nation’s economy, you will realize that Ayade has achieved much more than we had expected. Ayade has paid salaries up to date. I was even surprise even as a pensioner, he paid me before May ending. Now, I exhausted the money as May as ended and I keep wondering how I am going to survive till June. When other states are still struggling to pay January salaries, I think we must give him kudos for this. Though Cross River is gradually shrugging off the toga of a civil service state but it is still a civil service state. By being able to sustain the prompt payment of salaries and allowances of civil servants at all levels I think he has made the economy of the

state viable. If you also look at his projects-the monorail, the International Convention Centre that started from the administration of Donald Duke --he has been able to complete them. Today we are proud to see the monorail working. He has succeeded in keeping the legacy of the state from Donald Duke to Liyel Imoke. He values continuity that he why he didn’t abandon projects started by his predecessors. His own project like the garment factory is almost ready. The Superhighway project is another very laudable project but some Cross Riverians are working against it. If it succeeds it is for the entire Cross River State and indeed Nigeria. Recently, you were invited by the EFCC for questioning in connection with N500 million you allegedly collected from a former Minister of Petroleum, Dieziani Madueke. What really happened? Yes, I was invited by EFCC, I have gone and ironed out the issues and they are still investigating. We hope that very soon the picture will be very clear. We have all gone there and they were very nice to us. They asked questions and we gave them answers. To me, it is ok because it is their job to find out what happened. Do you think that you will be vindicated? Of course, I have already been vindicated. I have been vindicated because it wasn’t that I picked money and kept somewhere. As a chairman of the party I had to perform certain functions. I want to assure you that the issue was about our election just like it is happening in other states. I am thinking that, from the treatment we got in particular, they listened to me. But, don’t you think it is strange that this is happening towards the end of your tenure; don’t you think it is the handiwork of detractors? I don’t think there is any foul play from any quarter because I have a very good relationship with all the leaders from this state, they appreciate me. Even in that circumstance, I had a lot of backing. This is because everybody knows the kind of person I am. I worked in the civil service for 35 years, I have a clean record. I worked as chairman and I also have a clean record.

politicscommentary

Friday, 3 June, 2016

Yoruba welfare ideology and the future of the Yoruba nation By Banji Akintoye

N the first years of the 20th century, the beginning of British rule over most of the Yoruba nation, the first generation of Western-educated Yoruba people immediately began to give new and dynamic expressions to their nation’s ideology of Afenifere. They formed themselves into various local Progressive Unions or Development Associations which sought to spread the benefits of the new modern changes into the lives of their people. In particular, they engaged in various efforts to encourage Yoruba parents to send their children to school. They also engaged in community development programmes. In the 1940s, the veterans of these local Associations and Unions finally founded a pan-Yoruba organization, Egbe Omo Oduduwa, to pursue broad plans and programmes for the advancement of Yorubaland in Nigeria. Because the Yoruba people are products of this centuries-old civilization of the common welfare ideology, the Yoruba are unique in their political and social attitudes and sensitivities. They are intensely freedom-loving. They expect to be decently respected by the people who rule over them. They hate the use of leadership for self-centred and crooked purposes. In fact, this is one of the main reasons why masses of Yoruba people are experiencing serious stress about their nation’s membership in Nigeria today – they fear that Nigeria’s culture of public corruption and impunity is destroying their nation’s splendid culture of leadership and governance which has always emphasized serious concentration on seeking the people’s common well-being. The Yoruba tend to put up more determined resistance to election manipulations and rigging in Nigeria, and many of their youths die often in the fight against election rigging. The Yoruba are usually more active in demonstrations and other actions against injustice – even when the fight is not for their benefit but for the benefit of others. Moreover, the Yoruba have a profound culture of religious tolerance. Unlike among most other nations worldwide, Yoruba people of different religions live harmoniously in the same homes and communities, marry and raise families together, join in each other’s joys and festivities, and work together for the good of their communities. Yoruba of all religions are therefore unhappy about the religious conflicts and pressures that are perpetually emanating from some other parts of Nigeria. The Yoruba also have a strong culture of openly welcoming immigrants from other ethnic groups and cultures. If the Yoruba do migrate to other cultures, they very carefully respect their hosts there. They do not get the same kind of respect from many immigrants who come to Yorubaland from other parts of Nigeria these days, and still, they keep welcoming and including the immigrants. In short, we Yoruba have very unique clarity and focus about the description of the kind of country that we want, and deserve, to belong to – and more and more of us are now saying that Nigeria does not answer, and can never answer, to that description. That, in brief, is the content of the Yoruba peoples’ welfare ideology – or Afenifere ideology. We Yoruba, individually and collectively, desire prosperity for ourselves; we desire prosper-

Chief Reuben Fasoranti, Leader of Afenifere

ity for our neighbours; and we desire prosperity for all citizens of the country of Nigeria to which we belong. We are deeply grateful to our forefathers for evolving this wonderful ideology and for bequeathing it to us. We do not despise other nations for not having the same or similar ideology. But we will defend and preserve our ideology with all our strength, and we will never let any other nation or nations, or any circumstance whatsoever, rob us of it. Unfortunately, since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the affairs of Nigeria have been managed in ways that poignantly negate the Yoruba welfare ideology, and that seriously hurt the interests of the Yoruba nation and of other nations of Nigeria. In the decade before 1960, Nigeria was managed as a federation of three Regions, in recognition of Nigeria’s ethnic national diversity. Each Region had its own constitution, and managed its own resources and its own affairs in its own way. By rivalling one another, the three Regions achieved much in development, and made Nigeria a land of hope for all. The Western Region, to which we Yoruba belonged, achieved the greatest and best of the three – because our leaders were motivated by the Afenifere ideology. The only weakness in the Nigerian arrangement of the time was that each of the three Regions contained one large nationality and many small nationalities. The small nationalities in each Region combined to demand a Region of their own, but the British rulers of Nigeria refused to grant it to them. In accordance with the Yoruba welfare ideology, Yoruba leaders stepped out and supported

the demands of the small nationalities. They even wrote books to explain that, for a multi-nation country like Nigeria, a federal system of government was the only sustainable arrangement, and that the making of the federating units must respect the nationalities. This was the situation as Nigeria became independent. Then, the persons in control of the Federal Government decided that the Regions were too independent and too strong, and that they

Unfortunately, since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the affairs of Nigeria have been managed in ways that poignantly negate the Yoruba welfare ideology, and that seriously hurt the interests of the Yoruba nation.

needed to be weakened in order to make the Federal Government, and the controllers of the Federal Government, masters of all. In 1962, they embarked on this ill-advised adventure by attacking the Western Region, by meddling with its leadership, by suspending its elected government and installing a sole administrator over it, and by rigging its elections. But their adventure soon back-fired, and that led to destructive revolts, military coups, massive inter-ethnic bloodletting, and a civil war. The same elements that controlled the Federal Government seized upon this confusion to build a military-civilian axis that then proceeded to complete the fulfilment of their plan to give Nigeria an all-controlling Federal Government. Their belief was that an allcontrolling Federal Government benefited the elite of their part of Nigeria. When oil from the Niger Delta became a great source of wealth for Nigeria in the 1970s, their desire to control the oil spurred them into greater acts of centralization. They ultimately succeeded in giving Nigeria a more or less unitary system of government. Their success was finally wrapped together in a dictated constitution in 1999. But their success has devastated Nigeria. It has degraded the Federal Government into a horribly confused, incompetent and hideously corrupt government. It has promoted corruption all over Nigeria and made Nigeria one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It has weakened the states and made them cowering victims of federal manipulation. It has virtually destroyed socio-economic development initiative in all of Nigeria’s states and local government areas. It has thus pushed the masses of Nigerians into abject poverty and hopelessness. It has robbed Nigerians of all sense of loyalty, duty, morality, and dignity. It has turned Nigeria into a country that the rest of the world fears to do business with. These disasters have resulted because it is impossible to manage a country like Nigeria successfully under a unitary government. Nigeria is not a nation; it is a country of about 300 nationalities, each of which lives in its own ancestral homeland, and each of which cherishes its own culture, its own way of doing things, its own desires and expectations, its own image of itself, and its own national pride. Many of these nationalities may be small, but many others are so large in territory and population that they easily rank among the largest ethnic nations in the world. Our own Yoruba nation is one of these largest nations. Others are the Igbo, the Hausa-Fulani, the Ijaw, the Kanuri, and somewhat smaller ones like the Edo, the Urhobo, the Nupe, the Tiv, the Igala – forgive me if I omit any. Of the 53 countries of Western and Eastern Europe, our Yoruba nation is larger in population than about 48. Of the over 230 countries that are members of the United Nations, only 21 are larger than our Yoruba nation; we are larger than everyone of all the rest. Of the 54 countries of Africa, only four are larger than our Yoruba nation, and we are larger than all the remaining 50. In population, we Yoruba are larger than the five countries – Benin, Togo, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Gambia – together. Being excerpts from a speech delivered by Professor Akintoye in Akure, on May 28, 2016 in honour of Chief Fasoranti at 90

Friday, 3 June, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

Dimeji Bankole hosts members of UK Parliament in Abuja

Former Speaker, House of Representatives, Honourable Dimeji Bankole, welcoming former members of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yusuf Tuggar and Honourable Aro Bamidele, when he hosted members of the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament, in Abuja.

From left, Hourable Tuggar, Honourable Bankole and Honourable Osamor.

Honourable Bankole (right), welcoming former Minister of Transport and Secretary, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Ojo Maduekwe, to the event.

From left, Honourable Butler, Honourable Mackintosh, Hatty Cooper and a member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Nnena Ukeje.

Honourable Tuggar (left) and Honourable Bankole (second left), welcoming UK member of parliament and chair of APPG on Nigeria, Honourable Kate Osamor, to the event.

From left, Honourable Bankole; member of UK Parliament, Dawn Butler; another member of UK Parliament, Honourable David Mackintosh and a member of the delegation, Hatty Cooper.

From left, President, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Bobboi Kaigama; chairman, Ogun TUC, Comrade Olubunmi Adebayo; Honourable Tuggar and Honourable Osamor.

Honourable Bankole with Honourable Tuggar and Honourable Bamidele at the reception.

Friday, 3 June, 2016

occasions

featuresdesk@yahoo.com 0801 184 5048

Day Lam-Adesina empowered students

“

HEN you invest sufficiently in your child via education, you have thoroughly secured a future for yourself and generations yet unborn,” these were the words of the

member representing Ibadan North East/South East Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Adedapo Lam-Adesina, on May 27, 2016, when he expanded his Omo Oloore Educational Support Scheme with a quiz/debate competition among primary and secondary schools students in the constituency. At the end of the programme, which was attended by political leaders, community leaders and education stakeholders from the Ministry of Education in Oyo State, NUT, ANCOPPS and AOPSHON commended Lam-Adesina for his commitment to education, recalling how he extended a helping hand to Mr Nasiru Lukman, a teacher at St. Luke’s Grammar School, Molete, who recently slumped while teaching, and other inter- Pupils of Ayodele Samuel Primary School, Kudeti, receiving their gifts from Pupils of IMG, Ibuko receiving a trophy from a leader of the APC, Alhaji Mufutau Adisa. ventions such as the distribution of GCE forms to stu- Honourable Adedapo Lam-Adesina. dents, donation of a power generating set to the principal’s office and leather footballs for the pupils sporting development. Winners in different categories of the quiz and debate competitions went home away with desktop computers, laptop computers, trophies, textbooks, school bags, mathematical sets and other gift items worth over a million Naira, a development that drew commendations from several constituents who described the programme as a first-of-its-kind in the constituency. The choice of 27 May, 2016, when the world celebrates Children’s Day, had also revealed Lam-Adesina’s commitment to women and children, who are seen as the most vulnerable in the society, having empowered women with cash support during the International Women’s Day. The lawmaker had also awarded a scholarship to a student from Lagelu Grammar School, who came first in the debate competition. Lam-Adesina also used the occasion to reiterate his commitment to fulfilling the electoral promises he made to the state NUT, saying: “The future of our country belongs to the teachers, because in your hands lie the raw materials to be groomed, shaped and prepared to take up responsibilities.” At the end of the competitions, students from Ebire Creche Nursery and Primary School, Felele; Ayodele Samuel Primary School; George and Duke College, Felele; Lagelu Grammar School, Ibadan; Oyinlola Group of Schools, Iwo Road, Ibadan; St Leo’s School 1, Ibadan; Educare Comprehensive Col- Students of George and Duke College, Felele, Ibadan, receiving laptops from the member lege, Okebadan and Yejide Girls Grammar School, Molete, among others, emerged winners in differ- representing Ibadan North-East/Ibadan South-East Federal Constituency, Honourable Adedapo Lam-Adesina, after a debate competition held at the Ibadan Grammar School on Children’s Day. ent categories of the quiz and debate competitions.

Accolades as Adeyemi marks one year of stewardship By Moses Alao FOR the member representing Afijio/Atiba/Oyo East/Oyo West Federal Constituency and son of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, Prince Akeem Adeyemi, not being a ranking member has not been an impediment to the performance of his legislative functions of lawmaking, representation and oversight function. Giving a stewardship of his one year in office as a legislator, during a town hall meeting held at the Atiba Hall, Oyo, recently, Hon. Adeyemi told the gathering how he moved the motion on the need to compel the Federal Government to complete all abandoned or ongoing road projects, especially the Oyo-Ogbomoso flank of the Ibadan-Ilorin expressway, noting that with the collaboration of other lawmakers, the Federal Government has allocated N6billion to the project. The motions to complete the Erelu Water Scheme in Oyo and the one that called for the upgrade of the Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo, to a university for special education quickly followed. Adeyemi also revealed how he moved a motion for the diversification of Nigeria’s economy to culture and tourism, citing the example of the need to promote the Sango festival, which he said was particular to Oyo but was already celebrated in several countries of the world. But his last one year has not only been about sponsoring motions and bills, as indigenes of the town, including the president of Oyo Metropolitan Development Association, Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu, commended Adeyemi for his one year of positive representation.

The construction of an electronic library; distribution of 100 NECO GCE forms; sponsorship of an extra mural class for all senior secondary school students in Oyo; sponsorship of football tournament for sports development and the construction of two blocks of classrooms in Methodist-Anglican Grammar School, Oyo, among others were some of the other achievements. It was also at the town hall meeting, which was attended by the Leader of the House, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila and the member representing Ibadan North-East/ Ibadan South-East Federal Constituency, Honourable Adedapo Lam-Adesina; that the lawmaker chose to distribute working tools to the 211 beneficiaries of his Ogo Oyo Vocational Training Programme.

Hon. Adeyemi addressing the audience during the town hall meeting held at Atiba Hall, Oyo.

Leader of the House of Representatives, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, presenting a certificate to one of the beneficiaries of Ogo Oyo Vocational Training Scheme, while the member representing Afijio/Atiba/Oyo East/Oyo West Federal Constituency, Honourable Akeem Adeyemi, watches.

Hon. Adeyemi, addressing the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi and Olori Sulat Adeyemi, while Hon. Gbajabiamila watches.

news

Friday, 3 June, 2016

I regret serving Nigeria, Orubebe tells CCT, knows fate June 30 Sunday Ejike - Abuja

ORMER Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, on Thursday, said the criminal case instituted against him by the Federal Government before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), over alleged failure to declare his assets in 2011, has made him start regretting serving the country as a minister. Led in evidence by his counsel, Mr Selekowei Larry, Orubebe told the tribunal that the charges

against him were unfounded and uncalled for because the property for which he was arraigned did not belong to him. Orubebe claimed that he served the country diligently and with energy at his disposal for six years and four months and that the pay back for his service was the criminal charges brought against him by the Federal Government unjustly. “Let me make this point now here before this tribunal that the only regret I have for serving this country is this trial. It is

Boko Haram: Constitute probe panel, lawyers tell AGF Sunday Ejike - Abuja A group of legal practitioners, Lawyers United for Equality and Human Rights Advocacy, has asked the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to constitute a judicial commission of inquiry to avail Nigerians the opportunity of presenting vital information capable of fishing out the sponsors of Boko Haram insurgents and bringing them to book. In a letter to the AGF, the convener of the group, Mr Edward Omaga, said there is the need for the Federal Government to fish out sponsors of the terrorist group and ensure their prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Hague. The group warned against the grave mistake of government in the past that led to the intermittent resurrection of Niger Delta militancy, adding that recent developments in Nigeria which are capable of

causing serious political upheavals are pointers to the fact that top politicians in Borno State, who created Boko Haram ,are still in touch with their “foot soldiers”. “We are afraid that the killings by this animalistic bunch will not stop unless their sponsors are identified, tried in our local courts or dragged to the International Criminal Court at Hague and accordingly, imprisoned for facilitating heinous crimes against humanity. This is the only way that enduring peace would return to the North and Nigeria in general. The lawyers said, it is their duty as a group of refined legal minds to fight and preserve Nigeria- the country that gave every Nigerian a home and heritage and condoled with those who lost their loved ones to insurgents and insisted that the time to end Boko Haram is now, otherwise, the innocent blood spilt over the years, will hunt us.

Court jails man over threat messages to extort N13m from ex-commissioner Alphonsus Agborh - Asaba FOR sending threat to life text messages to the former Commissioner for Finance in Delta State, Love Okeoghene Ojakovo, with an intent to extort a sum of N13 million from him, one Oghenekevwe Frank Atumu, has been sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment. A Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in, Warri, presided over by Ena Odjugo, found Atumu, guilty on the three-count charge levelled against him by the prosecution and sentenced him to two and a half years imprisonment for each of the count. The accused, a cousin to the wife of the complainant, who is said to be a

jobless person but claimed to be a staff of an Oil Servicing Company based in Port Harcourt, was said to have been allegedly rusticated from the state owned university over cultism. The former Commissioner for Finance during the James Ibori-led administration, said he reported receiving several threat text messages from a particular Glo line to law enforcement agents and demanding a sum of N13 million. Sentencing the accused, the trial Chief Magistrate, who declined plea for leniency by the counsel to the defendant, said that the offence, which has become prevalent in society today, is a foundation for serious offence for kidnapping.

very unfortunate, it is regrettable, it is shameful. I am sad and my heart is heavy because I am put on trial on mere empty land in the bush here in Abuja, officially given to me by the same government I served. “Nigerians may not know this and I wish to say it out that during the peak of the militancy in the Niger Delta, I slept with the militants in the creek for two weeks, negotiating with them on how to adopt peaceful approach for their demands and at the end, my efforts brought peace to this country and our oil companies have their peace and Nigeria was better for it in the area of security and economy because of my efforts, only to be compensated with this trial that has destabilised me”. The ex-minister had in his evidence, claimed that he did not declare Plot 2057 in Asokoro district of Abuja because as at the time he was leaving government in 2011, he had sold off the land to pay his house rent. Orubebe told the tribunal that the land in dispute, was allocated to him by the government but that he sold it to his landlord, Mr Akinwumi Ajibola, for N10 million to offset the two years house rent he owed the landlord. Meanwhile, the tribunal chairman, Danladi Yakubu Umar, has adjourned judgment in the matter till June 30.

Dwindling revenue: Kogi sets N9bn IGR target Yinka Oladoyinbo - Lokoja FOLLOWING the decline in the revenue from the federation accounts, Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, on Thursday, set a N9 billion monthly revenue target for the state Board of Internal Revenue (BIR), to enable the state meet its financial commitments to the people. The governor, who charged the board to redouble its efforts, also warned its staff that government would not condone any act that could hinder the realisation of the set target. Speaking at a sensitisation forum on consumption tax organised by the BIR, in Lokoja, the state capital, Bello said with the abundant human and natural resources available in the state, it should be able to generate enough revenue for development.

30 22ND FOUNDER’S DAY OF THE VALE COLLEGE, IBADAN

From right, Director of The Vale College, Mrs Funso Adegbola, Mr Gbenro Adegbola and the Very Reverend Adesola Kuyebi, minister, All Saint’s Church, Jericho, Ibadan, during the 22nd founder’s day of the Vale College, Ibadan.

Professor and Justice Akin Mabogunje with Mrs Funso Adegbola.

Friday, 3 June, 2016 PHOTOS: YEMI FUNSO-OKE

From left, Mr Hakeem Afolabi (SAN), guest speaker, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the Very Reverend Adesola Kuyebi, Mrs Funso Adegbola and Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN).

From left, Professor Canon E.B. Lucas, Venerable Godwin Bamidele Daramola and Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).

From left, Barrister Iyiola Oladokun, best student, Miss Itunu Oladokun and Mr Muyiwa Ige and Chief (Mrs) Bisi Oladokun.

Prince Lateef Fagbemi (right), presenting an award of the best staff to Mrs Dumebi Ezar Ehigiator, PTA chairman of the Vale College, Mr Olayinka Otuyalo (left) and others.

Dr (Mrs) Kemi Fadipe, Mrs Funso Adegbola, Mrs Adaora Ayoade and Mrs Oyinda Ige.

From left, Mrs Oyinda Ige, Mr Kayode Adegbola, Mrs Irene Oshinbolu and others.

Barrister Kayode Adegbola and Barrister Ayotunde Adegbola.

The Vale College Orchestra performing during the service.

Friday, 3 June, 2016

businessnews Nigeria’s Barkindo now Sec Gen of OPEC 32

Friday, 3 June, 2016

•As cartel fails to agree on policy FromOlatundeDodondawaand Christian Okeke

IGERIA finally has a major representation at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as its former Group Managing Director (GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mohammed Barkindo, has been appointed as the Secretary-General of the group. He replaced Libya’s Abdalla El-Badri, who had completed full terms. Barkindo was the NNPC GMD from 2009 to 2010. He has also been an acting Secretary-General of OPEC in 2006. The Federal Government nominated Barkindo for the position citing his qualification and experience. Barkindo was born in Yola on the 14th of February 1944, eldest son of the Lamido Aliyu Musdafa. He attended Barewa College, Zaria and then Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he obtained a Diploma in Law in 1969. Later he attended North London Polytechnic, London (1973–1975) and St Clements University in the Turks and Caicos Islands (2000–2002). He worked with the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Port Authority and the National Freight Company. Joining the Gongola State civil service, he became a Commissioner for Works and later a Commissioner for Animal Health. Barkindo was a director of the National Engineering and Technical Company (1991–1993), chairman of Stirling Civil Engineering Nigeria Limited (1991–2003) and chairman of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (2003– 2005).

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia promised on Thursday not to flood the oil market with extra barrels even as OPEC failed to agree on output policy, with Iran insisting on the right to raise production steeply. Tensions between the Sunni-led kingdom and the Shi’ite Islamic Republic have been the highlights of several previous OPEC meetings, including in December 2015 when the group failed to

agree on a formal output target for the first time in years. Tensions were less acute on Thursday as Saudi Arabia’s new energy minister, Khalid al-Falih, showed Riyadh wanted to be more conciliatory and OPEC decided unanimously to appoint Nigeria’s Mohammed Barkindo as the group’s new secretary-general. Several OPEC sources said Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies had tried to propose a

ducer, already pumping near record highs, to raise production further to punish rivals and gain additional market share. “We will be very gentle in our approach and make sure we don’t shock the market in any way,” Falih told reporters. “There is no reason to expect that Saudi Arabia is going to go on a flooding campaign,” Falih said when asked whether Saudi Arabia

Executive Director, Finance and Strategy, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr Abubakar Suleiman; Executive Director, LEAP Africa, Mrs Iyadunni Olubode and Board Chair, LEAP Africa, Mrs Nadu Denloye, at a press conference on the 11th edition of the LEAP Africa CEO Forum, sponsored by Sterling Bank in Lagos, recently.

could add more barrels to the market. The market has grown increasingly used to OPEC clashes over the past two years as political foes Riyadh and Tehran fight proxy wars in Syria and Yemen. Saudi Arabia effectively scuppered plans for a global production freeze - aimed at stabilising oil markets in April. It said then that it would join the deal, which would also have involved non-OPEC Russia, only if Iran agreed to freeze output. Tehran has been the main stumbling block for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to agree on output policy over the past year as the country boosted supplies despite calls from other members for a production freeze. Tehran argues it should be allowed to raise production to levels seen before the imposition of now-ended Western sanctions over Iran’s nuclear programme. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said Tehran would not support any new collective output ceiling and wanted the debate to focus on individual country production quotas.

IATA urges Nigeria, Venezuela, other countries to address airlines blocked funds Shola Adekola-Lagos

THE inability of foreign airlines operating in Nigeria to repatriate their proceeds totaling $600 million has taken the center stage at the ongoing International Air Transport Association (IATA) meeting in far away Dublin with the international body appealing to Nigeria, Venezuela and governments of four other nations to respect international

agreements obliging them to ensure airlines are able to repatriate their revenues. Speaking in Dublin, the Director-General of IATA, Tony Tyler said in view of the crisis rocking foreign airlines’ operating in Nigeria and other five countries over the inability of foreign carriers to repatriate their revenues, the efficient repatriation of revenues is critical for airlines to help play their role

Telecoms contributes 8.83% to GDP THE telecommunications sector contributed $1,411.74 billion to GDP in the first quarter of 2016. This amounts to 8.83 per cent, which represents an increase of 0.5% points relative to the same quarter of the previous year. This was contained in a report released by the National bureau of Statistics (NBS), on Thursday, in Abuja. According to the report, “In contrast with previous years, this percentage contribution is only marginally smaller than in the previous quarter when the percentage was 8.83 per cent; given seasonal patterns the fall between the fourth quarter and first quarter of the following year has averaged 0.56 per cent points over the past five years, compared to 0.05 per cent points in the

new collective ceiling in an attempt to repair OPEC’s waning importance and end a market-share battle that has sapped prices and cut investment. But OPEC sources said the organisation had failed to agree on output policy and set a new ceiling. Despite the setback, Saudi Arabia moved to soothe market fears that failure to reach any deal would prompt OPEC’s largest pro-

current quarter.” The report added that while the economy as a whole recorded a real growth rate of -0.36 per cent in the first quarter, growth in the telecommunications sector increased to 5.00 per cent in the first quarter, from 3.49 per cent in the final quarter of 2015. The share of telecommunications in total real GDP had declined between 2010 and 2014, but for the last five quarters growth in telecommunications has been higher, meaning the trend has reversed. The total number of subscribers has increased rapidly over the past decade; at the end of 2005 there were 19,519,154 subscribers, but by the end of 2015 there were 151,017,244, which is equivalent to an increase of 13,149,809 every year.

However, growth has been declining more recently, possibly as a result of high market penetration leaving less room for large expansion.

as a catalyst for economic activity. IATA, however, called on government of Nigeria and other four nations to urgently come up with a robust air connectivity that is being hampered by airlines’ difficulty in repatriating funds to their home countries. Other countries where airlines have difficulties in repatriating their revenues are:Venezuela, Sudan, Egypt and Angola. According to Tyler, the IATA monitors blocked funds round the world exceeds $5 billion. In its breakdown of total money of the airlines locked in five countries, Nigeria alone is responsible for

$600million being revenues of the mega carriers trapped in the country because of the latest Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) forex policy. Repatriation issues arose in the second half of 2015 when demand for foreign currency in Nigeria outpaced supply and the country’s banks were not able to service currency repatriations. According to IATA, for Venezuela, airline funds blocked from repatriation totaled $3.8 billion where currency controls implemented in 2003 necessitated government approval to repatriate funds. “By 2013, approvals were not keeping pace with the amount of funds requiring

FirstBank enhances customers’ experience with bespoke offerings FIRST Bank of Nigeria Limited has created a value-chain support for the interests and activities of its customers with varying categories of products and services to support businesses across market segments. The bank is set to ensure that its customers’ lifestyles align with their planned scripts for their lives. From the SME to the affluent, the youth, and also the mass market, FirstBank has unique products and services designed to support their

goals and aspirations. The bank has created several online and mobile applications to boost convenience and ease of banking for its customers as they are enabled to transfer funds, pay bills, buy airtime and stay updated on the latest global trend from their mobile phones using the FirstMobile app and the FirstBank LOOP, a lifestyle app. The FirstMobile app conveniently allows customers to carry out banking transactions on the go from their mo-

bile phones as well as enhances their digital banking experience. The LOOPapp, assured customers of premium content from across the world delivered right to their mobile phones. Contents include technology & gadgets, the Economy, Luxury Goods, Health, Entertainment, Business, Life & Travel, Sports, Shopping and more. LOOP ensures that our customers are the first to know about the topics and events that matter most to them.

repatriation and significant airline revenue accumulated in Venezuela. The situation became critical in 2015 when only one request to repatriate funds was approved. So far in 2016 only one request to repatriate funds has been granted.” Tyler declared: “Blocked funds are a problem in a diverse group of countries, some of them undergoing significant economic challenges particularly with a fall-off in oil revenues. But one thing all five nations have in common is the urgent need for robust air connectivity that is being hampered by airlines’ difficulty in repatriating funds. “ Strong connectivity is an economic enabler and generates considerable economic and social benefits-something that struggling economies need more than ever. It is in everybody’s interest to ensure that airlines are paid on-time, at fair exchange rates and in full. “Air connectivity is vital to all economies. The airline industry is a competitive business operating on thin margins. So the efficient repatriation of revenues is critical for airlines to be able to play their role as a catalyst for economic activity. It is not reasonable to expect airlines to invest and operate in nations where they cannot efficiently collect payment for their services”.

33 news Senate summons NEITI boss over missing oil money Friday, 3 June, 2016

Taiwo Adisa and Ayodele Adesanmi -Abuja

HE Senate, on Thursday, summoned the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Mr Waziri Adio, to brief it over funds running to billions of Naira said to be missing in the oil industry. The lawmakers, who took the decision after adopting a motion sponsored by Senator Yahaya Kaura(APC Zamfara North), said they (NEITI) needed to make clarifications on the latest audit report which indicated that some billions of Naira remained unaccounted for after the 2013 audit session. The lawmakers demanded that the chamber deserved to have details of the missing funds and the cause of the leakages. While moving a motion entitled: “ The urgent need for the Senate to look into the NEITI 2013 Oil, Gas and Solid Minerals Audit Report,” Senator Yahaya said NEITI was created by an Act of the National Assembly in 2007 to, among other objectives, ensure due process and transparency in the payments made by all extractive industries and companies to the Federal Government. He also said the organisation was set up to monitor and ensure accountability in the revenue receipts of the Federal Government and eliminate all forms of corrupt practices in the determination and payments receipts and posting of revenue accruing to Federal Government from extrac-

tive industry. According to him, one of the key statutory functions of NEITI is to conduct regular audits of the extractive sector as provided in Section 4 of the extant Act. He also stated that details from the 2013 audit

Clement Idoko, Abuja

billion from solid minerals sector in 2013 as contained Solid Minerals Audit Report of NEITI,” adding, however, that the sum of $3.8billion and N358.3 billion stands as outstanding revenues from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and

its subsidiaries in the said year. He disclosed that the outstanding payments were dues from unpaid consideration from divested Oil Mining Leases from NNPC to NODC and cash call refunds by the National Petroleum Investment and

Management Services (NAPIMS). He said it was disturbing that between 2005 and 2013 the sum of $12.9 billion paid by the Nigerian Liquidified Natural Gas (NLNG) to NNPC was not remitted to the federation account.

Sales of refineries: Reps threaten to issue warrant of arrest on Kachikwu Jacob Segun Olatunji and Kolawole Daniel -Abuja THE House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, on Thursday, threatened to wield the big stick on the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, over his absence at a scheduled hearing. The absence of the minister on Thursday stalled the scheduled public hearing of the House on the sale of refineries. The House Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation was mandated by the House to probe the proposed sale of the refineries. The meeting was adjourned after the committee was informed of the minister’s absence. Chairman of the House Committee, Honourable Ahmed Yerima, however, said the committee frowned on the minister’s action by failing to inform the committee about the trip, even as he expressed displeasure over the botched public hearing. He said “the impression people have, including the minister, is that the committee is opposed to privatisation, that is not true. This

FG, Labour begin review of national minimum wage THE Federal Government and the organised labour, on Monday, commenced the process of upward review of the national minimum wage from the current N18,000. Government has also inaugurated a 16-man technical committee to work out modalities for the implementation of palliatives to cushion the effect of fuel price hike from N86.50 to N145. The tripartite meeting was inaugurated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, on Thursday, in Abuja. Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, who briefed newsmen after the inaugural meeting with the committee, said the technical committee would work out a framework for a national com-

and financial report of activities in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, which was conducted by NEITI, had shown that Nigeria made $58.07 billion from its hydrocarbons industry in that year. According to him, “the federation realised N33.86

mittee that would discuss the review of the minimum wage for the entire country. He said the committee would advise the government on how best to utilise the N500 billion as palliative to cushion the effect of the fuel price hike. The minister said the fund was already provided in the 2016 budget. He also revealed that the committee would be reconvened on June 20 to look at the suggestions of all parties, both government and organised labour, on how to ameliorate the plight of workers and Nigerians in general. The committee is also to make recommendation on the composition of the Petroleum Pricing and Regulatory Agency, which he said, would soon be inaugurated.

investigation is to ensure that the NNPC follows due process on the privatisation of these refineries.” He told the NNPC boss that the House Committee

might need to invoke relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended to deal with the minister if he failed to appear before it within one

week. The House Committee had invited the minister to appear before it to explain reasons the Nigerian National Petroleum Corpora-

tion (NNPC) rather than the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) opened bid for the sale of nation’s three refineries in Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt.

...To investigate killing of IPOB protesters in S/East Jacob Segun Olatunji and Kolawole Daniel -Abuja THE House of Representatives, on Thursday, mandated its Committees on Human Rights, National Security and Intelligence to investigate the reported killing of some civilians in the SouthEast on Monday, by security agencies, during a protest by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The House also urged the Federal Government to review and formulate a more efficient mechanism for en-

gaging with aggrieved persons that threaten the country’s security and territorial integrity. The resolution followed the adoption of a motion moved under matters of urgent public importance by the Deputy Minority Leader, Honourable Chukwuma Onyema, to that effect which was unanimously adopted by the House. Honourable Onyema, in his debate, expressed worries over the increasing spate of extra- judicial killings by security agencies in

the country. The lawmaker noted that the rights to freedom of association, expression and peaceful assembly were enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended). According to him, “the country’s dismal human rights records are largely predicated on unprovoked and forceful engagements by security agencies on defenceless civilians. “The rule of law and respect for rights of citizens are cardinal ingredients for the survival of our democra-

cy and consolidation on our democratic gains,’ he said. He argued that if the high handedness and extra judicial killings were not checked, it could lead to subsequent escalation of confrontational tendencies and resistance to state. Speaker of the House, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, through a voice vote, adopted the motion and, thereafter, mandated the committees to investigate the matter and report back to the House within two weeks for further legislative action.

34 CHANGE OF NAME

Friday, 3 June, 2016 CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Ismoil Sikirat Kehinde now MRS AZEEZ SIKIRAT KEHINDE. All former documents remain valid. Oyo SUBEB and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Adelabu Funmilayo now MRS AWOYEMI FUNMILAYO GRACE. All former documents remain valid. Local Government Service Commission and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Mgbeahuruike Moses Obinna now OKEKE MOSES OBINNA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Peter Bufe now WATERWEI JAMES PREYE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Idowu Oluwabukola Kazeem now IDOWU OLUBUKOLA IGBALAJOBI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. I, formerly Miss Mafolasire Olusike Modele now MRS. OLUSIKE MODELE ONAFOWOKAN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ADDITION OF NAME I, Afure Oghenekevwe Kess, am the same person as Afure Kess and Afure Oghenekevwe.Now, I wish to be known as AFURE OGHENEKEVWE KESS. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Confidence Ebiama now CONFERENCE EBIAMA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. I, formerly Ufuoma Beauty now MRS BEAUTY UFUOMA AIKHOMU. That I added AIKHOMU to my name. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Ofojee Chiamaka Lawrencia now MRS NDUKA CHIAMAKA LAWRENCIA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Aliu Ohunene Deborah now MRS. OMOJOWO DEBORAH WURALEOLUWA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

AUTHENTICATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Toyin Mary Oloni now TOYIN MARY OTUN. All former documents remain valid. UBA Plc., and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mr. Adeyombo Samsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Adesunkanmi now MR. ADEYOMBO ADESUNKANMI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Adegeshin Adenike Muinat now MRS. ADEOGUN ADENIKE MUINAT. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Kazeem Temitope Olayinka now MRS. JAMES TEMITOPE OLAYINKA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Kehinde Funmilayo Atinuke now ADEWALE FUNMILAYO ATINUKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Umo ObongOdu Joe now OBONG-ODU OLALEKAN OLABODE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Mrs. Olaniyi Olayemi Oluwaseun Oyewumi am the same person bearing Miss Atanda Olayemi Oluwaseun Omowumi Oyewumi and Mrs. Olaniyi Oyewumi Oluwaseun. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OLANIYI OLAYEMI OLUWASEUN OYEWUMI. All documents bearing these names refer to me and remain valid. GTBank Plc., FCMB Plc., and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Oladipupo Mojeed Tunde now ABDULHAMEED A B D U L M O J E E D OLADIPUPO. All former documents remain valid. EcoBank Plc., and general public take note.

I, formerly Alaekwe Toochukwu Uchenna now ALAEKWE UCHENNA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

THIS BOX IS FOR SALE CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Omisakin Oluremi Dorcas now MRS OLUWASANMI OLUREMI DORCAS. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Titilola Aminat Lawal now MRS. OYEFESO TITILOLA AMINAT. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mrs. Akinteye Janet Adenike now MISS OLAYIWOLA JANET ADENIKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Fasoyin Ojo Samuel now OJO SAMUEL OMOOWA. All former documents remain valid. UBA Plc., and general public take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME

I, Asefon Oluwasefunmi Oladuti my name was wrongly written as Asefon Olufunmi Oluduti on my First Bank Account. That my correct name is ASEFON OLUWASEFUNMI OLADUTI. All documents bearing these names refer to me and remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Jimoh Saheed Adetunji now ABDULAZEEZ SAHEED LANRE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mrs. Opawole Olufunmilayo Toyin now MRS. OPAWOLE O L U WA F U N M I L A Y O TOYIN. All former documents remain valid. Federal College of Education (Special) and general public take note.

I, formerly Hammed Akeem Adesola now AHMED AKEEM ADESOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Adepoju Khadijat Folake now MRS. ISMAIL KHADIJAT FOLAKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Rasaq Sukurat Abake now MRS. IBRAHEEM SUKURAT ABAKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Ayodele Oluwadamilola now MRS. ADEYOMBO OLUWADAMILOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Diepreye Funmilayo Fapohunda now MRS. DIEPREYE FAPOHUNDA-ADEYEYE. All former documents remain valid. Bayelsa State Civil Service and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Lydia Omowumi Dogo now MRS. FEMI OJO LYDIA OMOWUMI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Lawal Kudirat Bukunola now MRS. OWOLOWO KUDIRAT BUKUNOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Clement Ogani now EMMANUEL ONYILO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Sodeinde Jedidiah Folashade now SODEINDE TINUOLA COMFORT. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Ibitomisin Naomi Funmilayo now MRS IHIMOYAN NAOMI FUNMILAYO. All former documents remain valid. GTBank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Kogi State Polytechnic and general public take note. CORRECTION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Nimotalai Adekunle Oluwatoyin now AKANBI LIMOTALAH TOYIN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Oyedokun Tolulope Comfort now MRS. ADEDIRAN TOLULOPE COMFORT. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I formerly Amudaniyu Salami now AMUDANIYU ALIYU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Mr. Alabi Lawani Iwingbola now MR. LAWAL IWINGBOLA ALABI. All former documents remain valid. Skye Bank Plc., UBA Plc., and general public take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME My name was wrongly written as Adedeji Dupe Olamide. I remain MRS ADEDEJI DUPE OLARINDE. All documents bearing these names remain valid. EcoBank Plc, First Bank Plc, INEC, Oyo SUBEB and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Ogunwole Temitope Iyabo now MRS. ADEDIRAN TEMITOPE IYABO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I formerly Adewale Oluremi Oni now ADEWALE ELIZABETH OLUREMI ONI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I formerly Miss Adebayo Olaitan Naimot now MRS OYELEKE OLAITAN NAIMOT. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Kareem Ayodele Lamidi Sambo Degel now KAREEM AYODELE LAMIDI. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc., Key Stone Bank Plc., EcoBank Plc., and general public take note.

I, Babalola Kafilat Adenike am the same person as Babalola Kafilat. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as BABALOLA KAFILAT ADENIKE. All documents bearing these names remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Ibijoke Olabisi Amole now MRS KEHINDE IBIJOKE MISITURA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Nwadinma Egodikwa Iroakazi now MRS NWADINMA EGODIKWA OMORUYI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, Olokun Abdulrasheed Sidiq am the same person bearing Abdulrasheed Olarewaju Olokun. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as OLOKUN ABDULRASHEED SIDIQ. All documents bearing these names remain valid. Banks and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Odunjo Elizabeth Pedetin now MRS. AKINTOYE ELIZABETH PEDETIN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I formerly Muhammed Fatimo now ARUBA AWAWU and I was born on September 15th, 1963. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Rasaq Nafisat Kemi of Alubata Compound, Otu, Itesiwaju Local Government, Oyo State now RASAKI NAFISAT KEMI. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mrs. Makinde Omolade Esther now MISS OLUBODE OMOLADE ESTHER. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc., Skye Bank Plc., and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Salewa Tijani now MRS. HALIMAT SALEWA TIJANI OMOTOSHO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Titilayo Eleko now MRS. SERIFAT TITILAYO AKANJI. All former documents remain valid. Oyo State Government and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Odunlami Oyinkansola Asakeoluwa now MRS. ODEBUNMI O Y I N K A N S O L A ASAKEOLUWA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Adedoja Bosede Adeladun now MRS. AKANJI BOSEDE ADELADUN. All former documents remain valid. Oyo State Hospital Management Board and general public take note.

I, formerly Mr. Buluku Peter now MR. AMEDU ANDREW. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Tajudeen Oloyede now ISAU GBADAMOSI OLOYEDE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, Majekodunmi Oluwamedunokanmi Adedeji am the same person bearing Majekodunmi Oluwamedunokanmi. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as MAJEKODUNMI OLUWAMEDUNOKANMI ADEDEJI. All documents bearing these names refer to me and remain valid. Diamond Bank Plc., and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Adewale Wasiu now ADEWALE WASIU FAKOYEDE. All former documents remain valid. Institutions and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Tiamiyu Hassan Kehinde now ADESINA HASSAN KEHINDE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Ajayi Tosin Motunrayo now MRS. OLA TOSIN MOTUNRAYO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Akande Omolara Sadiat now ATOLAGBE OMOLARA SADIAT. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Waheed Ero now ADELEKE SOLIU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Modupe Yetunde Deckon now MRS. MODUPE YETUNDE DECKON TAIWO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Mrs. Akinnagbe Esther Adefunke am the same person bearing Akerele Esther Adefunke, Adesola Esther Adefunke. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as MRS. AKINNAGBE ESTHER ADEFUNKE. All documents bearing these names refer to me and remain valid. Stanbic Bank Plc., Oyo SUBEB and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Yinusa Saliu Ajao now OLANREWAJU SOLIU AJAO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Oladele Fola now YEKINI ADELEKE ODEBUNMI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Olajide Dorcas Oluwatoyin now GBADAMOSI DORCAS OLUWATOYIN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Temitope Abimbola Lawal now ADEPEKO ABIMBOLA TEMITOPE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Dada Jacob Ayodeji am the same person bearing Dada Ayodeji Spirit. Now, I wish to be known and addressed as DADA JACOB AYODEJI. All documents bearing these names remain valid. First Bank Plc., Zenith Bank Plc., and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Muraina Asimiyu Ajebori now OJEBODE ASIMIYU OYEWOLE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, Alobalara Moses Akani am the same person as Alobalara Moses Ogundiran. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as ALOBALARA MOSES AKANI. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Suraju A. Akanbi now OLADOSU SURAJUDEEN ARIYO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Oyeniyi Iyabo Selimat now MRS. YEKEEN IYABO SELIMAT. All former documents remain valid. Osun State Pension Board and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Atinuke Oyinloye Oluwayemi Remilekun now MRS. JAYEOLA REMILEKUN IBUKUN. All former documents remain valid. Nigerian Immigration Service, United Kingdom Embassy and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Arinola Moshudat Issa-Banire now MRS ARINOLA MOSHUDAT ABIODUN AJAYI. All former documents remain valid. Nigerian Tennis Federation, International Tennis Federation, Nigerian Navy and general public take note.

I, Babatunde Sarah Ayotomiwa am the same person as Babatunde Serah. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as BABATUNDE SARAH AYOTOMIWA. All documents bearing these names remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and general public take note.

I, formerly Mr. Raheem Adebayo Lateef now MR. RAIMI ADEBAYO LATEEF. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc., and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Koiki Rotimi Oluwaremilekun Kudirat now MRS. ODUEKE ROTIMI O L U WA R E M I L E K U N KUDIRAT. All former documents remain valid. OOUTH and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mrs. Kudaisi Adebukola Adebisi now MRS. ADELEYE ADEBISI BUKKY. All former documents remain valid. Stanbic Bank Plc., Wema Bank Plc., INEC and general public take note.

35 CHANGE OF NAME

Friday, 3 June, 2016 CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Salawu Fatimoh Abidemi now MRS BABATUNDE FATIMOH ABIDEMI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Sanni Adeola Ashiat now MRS SANNI ADEOLA ASHIAT. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public take note.

I, Odegade Temitope Ezekiel am the same person as Odegade Ezekiel. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as ODEGADE TEMITOPE EZEKIEL. All documents bearing these names remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and general public take note.

I formerly Miss Racheal Layo Ogunfolajin now MRS RACHEAL LAYO ODOPETU. All former documents remain valid. Osun Central Education District Office and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Areo Temilola Olajumoke now MRS ALADESELU TEMILOLA OLAJUMOKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Adigun Temitope Adenike now LATEEF TEMITOPE ADENIKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Busari Adenaike Fatimoh now MRS ABODUNWA ADENIKE FATIMOH. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly Miss Uche Edith Osinachi now MRS LONGE EDITH OSINACHI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Mrs Abdul-Hammed Zainab Adewumi am the same person as Miss Shittu Zainab Adewumi. Henceforth, I want to be called and addressed as MRS ABDULHAMMED ZAINAB ADEWUMI. All documents bearing these names remain valid. Oyo SUBEB and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Oyebamiji Adunoye Bashiru am the same person as Oyebamiji Alade Bashiru. Henceforth, I want to be called and addressed as OYEBAMIJI ADUNOYE BASHIRU. All documents bearing these names remain valid.General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Omotosho Mariam - Okikiola am the same person bearing Teniola Okikiola Mariam. Henceforth, I wish to be called and addressed as MUFUTAU OKIKIOLA MARIAM. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Adegoke Bosede Adeola now MRS ADEGOKE BILIKISU ADEOLA. All former documents remain valid. Local Government Service Commission, Oyo State, First Bank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly Miss Owolabi Mercy Oluwabunmi now MRS AYODELE MERCY OLUWABUNMI. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State University and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Akinwumiju Eunice Olamiposi now MRS ADEPOJU EUNICE OLAMIPOSI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I formerly Miss Mary Folasade Mobolaji now MRS MARY FOLASADE ADESOLA. All former documents remain valid. Oyo State Ministry of Education and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Olubimpe Olubusayo Soyemi now MRS OLUBIMPE OLUBUSAYO FALUYI. All former documents remain valid. Bowen University, Iwo and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly Miss Chidinma Peace Ehirim now MRS CHIDINMA PEACE OKEREKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Lawson Rodiat Ajoke am the same person as Ajao Raliat Ajoke. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as LAWSON RODIAT AJOKE. All documents bearing these names remain valid. Banks, LASG and general public take note.

I formerly Mr Lasisi Sarafadeen now MR. GANIYU SARAFADEEN TOPE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, Okoroafor Janet Joseph am the same person bearing Jemny Okoroafor, Okoroafor Jemny and Okoroafor Jenny Uneke. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as OKOROAFOR JANET JOSEPH. All documents bearing these names remain valid. Stanbic Bank Plc, EBN Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Mrs OriyomiIgun Shakirat Abiodun now MRS IGUN SHAKIRAT ABIODUN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Sanni Folorunsho Sanjo now SANNI FOLORUNSHO JOSEPH. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Agbomeji Babatunde Lekan now O T U N B A L O G U N AGBOMEJI BABATUNDE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Ajibola Idowu now RASAKI ALAGBE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I formerly Miss Ogunbode Tolulope Faith now MRS BABAWALE TOLULOPE FAITH. All former documents remain valid. University of Ibadan and general public take note.

I formerly Adeyemi Mariam Agbeke now FOLORUNSHO MARIAM DAMILOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly Mr Adeyemi Babatunde Adebowale now MR ALFRED OBALOLUWA JOSEPH. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly Miss Helen Alaba now MRS HELEN AMAO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Risikatu Olatubosun am the same person bearing Risikatu Olatoyosi and Risikatu Olatoyosi Ajike. Now, I wish to be known and addressed as ADEYINKA OLATOYOSI CECILIA. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly Miss Darosa Kemi Christianah now MRS AKADIRIDAVID OLUWAKEMI CHRISTIANAH. All former documents remain valid. Ondo State Ministry of Education, SUBEB and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Mercy Ejura Okee now MRS MERCY EJURA ONOJA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Olabisi Funke now MRS FUNKE OLUFEMI. All former documents remain valid. Nigeria Police Force and general public take note. CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Adeyemo Oluwafunsho Ayanwemimo now MRS LUCKYEDISON OLUWAFUNSHO AYANWEMIMO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Okoroafor Chinyere Susan now MRS OTI CHINYERE SUSAN. All former documents remain valid. FBN Plc, Skye Bank Plc, UBA Plc, GTBank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Ajala Olapeju Adenike now MRS ADENIJI OLAPEJU ADENIKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly Okorie Sunny Ogbonna now IGWE SUNDAY. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Abdulfatai Sakirat now FATAI SAKIRAT. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly Lawal Hazeem Olanrewaju now IMRAN ASIMIYU OLANREWAJU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Salawu Samurat Folake now AKINOLA MUSIFAT FOLAKE. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc and general public take note. CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Adewole Sola Samson now AJEWOLE SOLA SAMSON. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Mosunmola Folake Ajayi now MRS MOSUNMOLA FOLAKE WILLIAMS-AJAYI. All former documents remain valid. Oyo State Hospital Management Board and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Ojo Temitayo Oluwaseun now MRS OGUNJINMI TEMITAYO OLUWASEUN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Oyeniran Justine Ogunfunke now MRS OGUNTEGBE JUSTINE OGUNFUNKE. All former documents remain valid. Iwajowa Local Government, Oyo State and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Christina Tope Adewuyi now MRS CHRISTINA TOPE ADELEKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly Clement Ola Julius now OLAGUNJU CLEMENT JULIUS. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Orolade Babatunde Mathew now OYELAMI BABATUNDE MATHEW. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Nnowaluom Chukwuemeka Okereke now NNOWALUOM CHUKWUEMEKA. All former documents remain valid. Eco Bank Plc., and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Olasupo Ogunleye now YEKINI BUSARI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Apo Perpetual Shalom now BELLO PERPETUAL SHINA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Afolabi Mariam Omolara now MRS ALADE MARIAM OMOLARA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Orriddy Helen Nkoyen now NZENAGU HELEN NKOYEN. All former documents remain valid.General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Ogundeji Bosede Hellen now MRS AYANDELE BOSEDE ELALI. All former documents remain valid. Iwajowa Local Government, Oyo State and general public take note.

I, Kolawole Adeyemi Jonathan am the same person as Kolawole Adeyemi J. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as KOLAWOLE ADEYEMI JONATHAN. All documents bearing these names remain valid.GTBank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly Miss Ojona Ajokpaoghene Dandy now MRS ITIMI AJOKPAOGHENE DANDY. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I formerly Miss Ayeni Omobolanle Phebian now MRS AKOLEAJE OMOBOLANLE PHEBIAN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

My name was wrongly written as Russell Olusegun B. on my NECO result of June/July, 2007. My real names are RUSSELL OLUWASEGUN OLADIMEJI. All documents bearing these names remain valid. NECO and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Atilola Dorcas Funmilayo now MRS POPOOLA DORCAS FUNMILAYO. All former documents remain valid. Ibarapa North Local Government, Ayete, Oyo State Local Government Service Commission (LGCS) and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Akinwale Folakemi Janet now MRS FASUNLOYE FOLAKEMI JANET. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly Odejide Tolulope Temilola now EMIOLA TOLULOPE TEMILOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly Afusat Lawal now ALICE AYILARA ASANLU. All former documents remain valid. Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (Oyo SUBEB) and General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Ajetomobi Oluwatosin Taiwo now AYODELE OLUWATOSIN TAIWO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Iyun Rotimi Atinuke Esther now MRS OLANREWAJU ATINUKE ESTHER. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Adebayo Opeoluwa Beatrice now FANIRAN OPEOLUWA BEATRICE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Adelaja Theresa Oluwatosin now GBADAMOSI THERESA OLUWATOSIN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Olajide Oluronke Omowunmi now MRS YISA OLURONKE OMOWUNMI. All former documents remain valid. Ibadan South-West Local Government, Oyo State SUBEB and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Lukman Abudusalam am the same person bearing Abudusalam Owolabi. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as LUKMAN ABUDUSALAM.All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly Alli Balqis Haastrup now OYELEKE ADEDUNKE ABIOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Sangowuyi Folasade Bunmi now MRS ADEGOKE FOLASADE OLUBUNMI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Mr Olanipekun Gabriel Sola now MR KOLAWOLE GABRIEL ADISA. All former documents remain valid. Wema Bank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Ibukunoluwanimi Adebara Temitope-Mochiah now MRS. IBUKUN DEBORAH MOCHIAH. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly Miss Adeleke Bunmi Adeola now MRS ADEBUNMI JANET ADEOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME

I, Olugunna Lateef Olalekan am the same person bearing Olugunna Lateef. Henceforth, I want to be called and addressed as OLUGUNNA LATEEF OLALEKAN. All documents bearing these names remain valid. First Bank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Ajayi Oluyemisi Temidayo now AJAYI YEMISI DAYO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Hadiyatullahi Ahmed Adam now KADAM AHMED ADAM. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Adebanjo Ayodeji now IBITOYE AYODEJI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Adeyemi Busirat Adenike now MRS OLETUBO BUSIRAT ADENIKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I formerly Sakariyahu Saheed Kunle now AGBADA SAHEED ADEKUNLE ZAKARIYAH. All former documents remain valid. Oyo State Government, Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, Banks and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Adeoti Adenike Omobola now MRS. FALASINU ADENIKE OMOBOLA. All former documents remain valid. UBA Plc., and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CORRECTION OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Kunle Olalere Odeju am the same person bearing YISAU KUNLE OLALERE. All documents bearing these names remain valid. Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, EcoBank Plc, Wema Bank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly Babatunde Olatunbosun Ige now IGE BABATUNDE OLATUNBOSUN. All former documents remain valid. GTBank Plc, Wema Bank Plc and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Onajin Olayinka Abosede now MRS ATIBA OLAYINKA ABOSEDE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME AND CORRECTION OF DATE OF BIRTH I formerly Miss Adegbenjo Muibat Alake now MISS ADEGBENJO ORIYOMI MUIBAT. My correct date of birth is 5th October, 1970 and not 1st January, 1970. All former documents remain valid. Skye Bank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Mashood Olaiya Sanusi now OLAIYA OLALEKAN MASHOOD. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly Miss Ilori Victoria Omotayo now MRS OGUNADE VICTORIA OMOTAYO. All former documents remain valid. LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso and general public take note.

south-westnews

Friday, 3 June, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

Alaafin, Ooni, others back enforcement of Yoruba language in Lagos schools Chukwuma Okparaocha- Lagos

OTABLE Yoruba monarchs, including the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, have given their backing to the enforcement of the teaching

of Yoruba Language in all schools in Lagos State. The two monarchs, as well as the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, made their strong stance known during the inaugural Yoruba Summit, organised by the Lagos State House of Assembly, where participants strongly expressed the

need for urgent measures to be taken to preserve the Yoruba Language, which is deemed to be fast losing out among other Nigerian languages. The event, which was held on Thursday, in Lagos, also saw a notable Yoruba scholar, playwright and actor, Professor Akin-

wunmi Ishola, equally calling for the promotion of Yoruba Language in all areas, saying that people all over the world were better known by their languages and cultures. In his comments at the event, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, commended the organis-

Policeman kills motorcyclist in Ogun Olayinka Olukoya - Abeokuta PANDEMONIUM broke out on Wednesday night as a policeman shot a commercial motorcyclist, identified as Akanni Ahmed, at Igbo-Aje Motor Park, in the ancient town of Ilaro in Yewa South Local Government Area, at about 10.30pm. Nigerian Tribune gathered that angry youths in the town went on the rampage on Thursday morning over

the development, as they barricaded all roads leading to the town. The victim was said to have been killed by the policeman for flouting restriction order placed on motorcycles operators popularly known as okada riders. Commercial activities within the town were shut down. It was further learnt that the deceased met his untimely death when he came out of his house to buy food

and was stopped by the happy triggered policeman, who was said to have demanded N100 from him. The youth of the town were reported to have staged a protest to the Divisional Police Headquarters on that night and were dispersed by sporadic gun shots. An eyewitness said, “Ahmed only came out of his house at Oke-Ela to buy rice from a local food seller, when some policemen accosted

Police arrest Oyo NLC chairman, three others By Tunde Ogunesan FOLLOWING the disruption of stakeholders’ education summit in Oyo State at the Western hall, state secretariat, on Wednesday, the Oyo State Police command, on Thursday morning, arrested the state chairman, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Waheed Olojede and other three other members of the union. Nigerian Tribune gathered that the NLC leaders, who were invited by the police since 10.00 a.m. on Thursday, all had their phones seized and then were yet to be released as of the

time of writing this report. The three other members are vice chairman, Mr Titilayo Sodo; secretary Mrs Kofo Ogundeji and the auditor, Mr Kehinde Oparinde. Treasurer of the union, Mr Bosun Daramola, said the continued detention of their members was on the information that the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Leye Oyebade, who was said to be “busy with another pressing assignment.” He said the excuse was a ploy by the police to detain the leaders, saying such was bad in a democratic system. According to him, “we had

a peaceful protest yesterday to reject a policy of the government, which we felt was unpopular and anti-people and today all we see was the invitation of our leaders. “Their phones have been seized and all calls put through to them could not be picked since 10.00 a.m. Our leaders must not stay overnight at the station,’’ he said. When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Adekunle Ajisebutu, in a reply to a short message sent to him, said “it is true they were invited to explain their role in the Wednesday protest.”

Ondo govt, workers union meeting deadlock Organised labour backs Ekiti, Ondo workers’ strike Hakeem Gbadamosi and Soji-Eze Fagbemi AS the Ondo State workers’ strike entered its third day on Thursday, the meeting of the leadership of the workers’ union and the state government over the payment of the workers five months’ salaries was deadlocked. The leadership of the workers’ union, however, directed workers in the state to continue with the ongoing strike until the state government met the demand of the striking workers. Speaking with journalists after the meeting, the Chairman of the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC), Sunday Adeleye, said since the government was not ready to yield to the demand of the labour in the state, the strike would continue indefinitely. Also, the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Bosede Daramola, dismissed insinua-

tion that the labour rejected government’s offer of two months’ salaries, noting that the state government did not propose such offer. Daramola, who also denied the rumour that the state government was proposing 50 per cent payment of workers’ monthly salaries, urged state workers to remain resolute and stay away from their offices until the industrial action was called off. The leaders of the workers union were said to have insisted that the union was not ready to shift ground until the state government is ready to pay the five months’ salaries. The Ondo State government on Thursday, expressed optimism of early resolution of its disagreement with its striking workers over the ongoing industrial action occasioned by the nonpayment of their salary arrears, submitting

that it had very useful and fruitful deliberation and discussions with the representatives of the workers. Meanwhile, the Joint National Public Service Negotiation Council (Trade Union Side) has declared total support for the workers in Ondo and Ekiti states over the ongoing strike in the states over unpaid salaries. The council said on Thursday that it was solidly behind the workers in the two states. “The Trade Union side identifies with these indigent public servants who have endured ?enough and have no other source of income to sustain their families. The current high cost of living escalated the situation and the integrity of these workers to borrow have exhausted since their creditors and the Traders no longer grant them loans and give food items on credit.”

him, saying he stayed out too late. They told him to surrender his motorcycle. “He didn’t decline but said he won’t release the key to the motorcycle that they had just stolen his former motorcycle. They kept on dragging with him and just as he made to leave the scene, he was shot from the back. Also, Nigerian Tribune further learnt that the Olu of Ilaro and paramount Ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, paid an on the spot assessment to the scene of the incident that same night and appealed to the youths not to take laws into their hands. When contacted for confirmation on the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said that only one person died. “The Ogun State Police Command has arrested and commenced orderly room trial of one Force No 389719 Corporal Awoleke Moruf, attached to Ilaro Division of the command for firing and killing one commercial motorcyclist, Hammed Posi, M,32, on Wednesday 1st June, 2016 along Igboro area in Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State about 2230hrs,” the statement read in parts. Adejobi explained that the Commissioner of Police, CP Abdulmajid Ali, has directed the Department of Criminal Investigation and Intelligence, Ogun State to conclude the orderly room trial yesterday and charge the suspect to court today (Friday).

ers of the programme, saying all obas in Yorubaland would support any move to promote the Yoruba Language. According to him, the first person to do a research on the impact of languages to development was the late Professor Babs Fafunwa, adding that efforts should be made to ensure that the work of the late scholar was not in vain. Also speaking at the ceremony, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, urged Yorubas to see themselves as leaders, while stressing that God had blessed the Yoruba race in many ways. Oba Ogunwusi said that Yorubas were not promoting their culture and language due to in-fighting and disunity, and that this was causing setback to the Yoruba Language and Culture.

Professor Ishola, while delivering a lecture entitled: “Making The Teaching of Yoruba Compulsory In Public and Private Schools In Lagos State,” also suggested that Yoruba Language should be made compulsory in all primary and secondary schools in the state and that it should be a general study in colleges of education, polytechnics and universities, and that books written in foreign languages should be interpreted into Yoruba Language. Represented by Professor Duro Adeleke from the University of Ibadan, he insisted that if conscious efforts were not made to preserve the Yoruba Language by enforcing its teaching in schools, a time would come when the coming generations would have lost total grasps of the language.

Fayose’s legislative aide resigns, cites poor remuneration Sam Nwaoko - Ado Ekiti GOVERNOR Ayo Fayose’s special assistant on Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Samuel Ajibola, has resigned his appointment, citing economic reasons. Ajibola explained in his letter that “as SAPA, the governor pays me N220,000 and I’m a grassroots politician which the governor himself knows what it means. “Also, I have one of my children currently serving and two others in the university. How do I cope? My constituency is also of high hope that they have a son in the Fayose cabinet.” Ajibola was the only PDP member in the last Ekiti State House of Assembly and unsuccessfully sought the ticket to represent one of the Ekiti South federal constituencies in the House of Representatives in the last general election.

In his resignation letter dated May 28, 2016, Ajibola said “Sir, within my personal conviction, I am satisfied that I have in all honesty and utmost loyalty served the PDP, the people of Ekiti and government in general. “Therefore, I’m premising my resignation on some basic developmental issues and the economic situation in the state which I cannot continue to pretend over.” He said his “resignation takes off immediately.” The Secretary to EKiti government, Mrs Modupe Alade, in reaction, said “I have met with him and promised to later meet with His Excellency, whereby I believe he will retrieve the letter after the meeting. “Until after the meeting with the governor, I still consider it a rumour, though I have a copy of the resignation letter.”

No amount of intimidation can stop strike —Ekiti workers ORGANISED Labour in Ekiti said on Thursday, no amount of intimidation would stop the ongoing strike in the state. The state Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Ade Adesanmi, said this after a meeting with members of the state legislature in Ado-Ekiti. The NLC chairman, who led other leaders of unions affiliated to the congress, said that no state worker had been paid salaries in the past five months. Adesanmi alleged that Governor Ayo Fayose de-

cided to employ the divide and rule tactics rather than dialogue with labour. “It is disheartening that government is castigating us for demanding for our legitimate right. “There is hunger in town; there is economic hardship; our members can no longer feed their families. “Our members are attacked by anti-NLC protesters; but I want to say no amount of intimidation, divide and rule, will stop us.” He, however, said that the NLC was ready to dialogue, if there was commitment on

the part of government. “Labour’s doors are open for negotiation; but this ongoing strike continues until government shows some level of commitment.” NAN reports that the Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Mr Kola Oluwawole, has pleaded with labour to go back to work, while discussion continues. Oluwawole promised to organise a meeting between the government and labour, to find lasting solution to the crisis, so that it does not affect the development of the state.

news New maize disease in S/West, Edo—FG

Friday, 3 June, 2016

Says IITA working to contain it Collins Nnabuife-Abuja

S the government is working hard to tackle tomato vermin, which has ravaged tomato production in the northern part of the country, another disease which affects maize production has surfaced in the South- West and Edo State. The disease called Army Worm was detected recently in the South-West and Edo, but the government said measures had been put in place to contain the disease and stop it from spreading. Addressing journalists on Thursday, in Abuja, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, is currently intensifying efforts towards containing the disease. “We have another small crisis on our hand, apart from the tuta absoluta disease ravaging tomato production. We have another attack on maize which is occurring in the South-West and Edo State. “The disease is called Army Worm which has been attacking some farms. We are happy to say that it appears on the decline, though our partners in the IITA in Ibadan are working hard to bring this under control,” Chief Ogbeh said. The Minister said further that the government was making efforts to use biosafety chemicals compliant to control the disease from

spreading. “There are efforts ongoing to protect these farms with

bio-safety chemicals but the report we got from IITA, is that the infestation is declin-

ing. We keep watching, if it doesn’t decline, we will have to take some rigorous steps.

Director of The Vale College, Ibadan, Mrs Funso Adegbola (middle); Mr Kayode Adegbola(left); Mr Muyiwa Ige (second right); the Best Teacher of the Year; Ezar Ehigiator, with winners of The Chief Bola Ige and Justice Atinuke Ige scholarship award, during the 22nd Founder’s Day of the school, at the school’s Hall, Iyaganku GRA, Ibadan, on Thursday. PHOTO: YEMI FUNSO-OKE.

We will only disconnect chronic debtors—DISCOS

Electricity:

CONTRARY to the ban on disconnection of historical debtors by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Distribution Companies (DISCOS) have insisted that it will only disconnect chronic debtors. The NERC had, in a public hearing on Tuesday, in Abuja, noted the mass

disconnection of electricity supply to communities, villages, local government areas and estates, by the distribution companies on the excuse of non-payment of electricity bills. It maintained that the disconnection process contravened the regulations on connection and disconnection of electric-

ity consumers, hence, the ban on mass disconnection by the DISCOS. “Please note that the commission has developed procedures for disconnection of defaulting customers as contained in the regulation on connection and disconnection of electricity services. The commission has also banned mass

TUC to acquire 57% stake in Unity Bank Soji-Eze Fagbemi and Olatunde Dodondawa

THE Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria has concluded plans to acquire 57 per cent stake of Unity Bank Plc, the president of the congress, Comrade Bala Kaigama, announced on Thursday. Kaigama, who was speaking at the ongoing 10th Triennial National Delegates Conference of TUC in Abuja, said the acquisition was one of the congress efforts to reposition the congress from being spectators to investors and guarantee the welfare of its members. The TUC president said the process was already concluded, while assuring that his members would never suffer after retirements, but enjoy the fruits of their labour. According to him: “Through the TUC economy, we are on the verge

We need a lot of maize and we are in short of maize,” he added.

of acquiring major shareholding in Unity Bank Plc. We have a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the management and the process is on. We will tag it as Nigerian workers’ bank and will let Nigerians know that we have a bank in place. To build a better Nigeria, we, in TUC, shall move from just being spectators in the Nigerian economy to becoming investors in the Nigerian economy. “We can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines and watch helplessly as others decide our future and that of our families. We must take our future into our hands. To achieve this, join me in building the TUC economy.” Speaking, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, urged the Labour unions to honour rules of engagements as it relates

to disputes resolution with the government. Ngige said: “Let me emphasise at this point the need for all players within the industrial relations space to play to the rules

and embrace the principle of social dialogue as a veritable tool for the resolution of conflicts. We must move away from confrontations to consensus.

disconnection of electricity customers. “Therefore, any community, village, local government area or estate wrongfully disconnected from electricity supply, should report to the commission for its further action.” The Executive Director of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors ANED, Mr Sunday Oduntan, on Thursday, in Abuja, told the Nigerian Tribune that the distribution companies had stated that it would not go back on the exercise but would only disconnect chronic debtors.

Edo has no reason to be poor—Ize-Iyamu Bola Badmus- Lagos

EDO State governorship aspirant on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Pastor Osagie IzeIyamu, on Thursday, said he is in the race because he possesses the knowledge, experience and the capacity to move the state away from its present poverty level, declaring that Edo has no business being at a poor level of development where it is currently. Ize-Iyamu said this at an interactive session he had with newsmen in Lagos, maintaining that what the state needed was a gov-

ernment that could identify the people’s priority, which he assured, he was ready to provide. The governorship aspirant said he was in position to provide this if voted in the coming election because of his experience as a former Chief of Staff and later Secretary to the State Government (SSG), pointing out that he was not coming in to learn the rope, before knowing what to do to serve the people of Edo State. “I have the knowledge, the experience and exposure to govern the state,” Ize-Iyamu said, even as

he asserted that the real person the Edo people wanted as next governor of the state, is a person that had the wherewithal and who they could trust. Ize-iyamu, who recalled how he brought the current government headed by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole into power, said he was very much concerned that the government had failed the people of Edo, as it had failed to deliver in key sectors, including agriculture, housing, health, education, tourism, among others.

Bello nominates 15 commissioners, 8 special advisers Yinka Oladoyinbo—Lokoja

THE Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has picked 15 commissionernominees for the executive arm of government. A statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Mallam Abdulkarim Abdulmalik, on Thursday, said the nominees were chosen from 15 of the 21 local government areas of the state. The nominees are Abdulmumini Sadiq from Adavi local government area, Dr Saka Haruna, Ajaokuta; Alhaji Sanusi Haruna, Ankpa; Dr Tim Dichie, Bassa, while Honourable Enema Paul is from Dekina. Others are Dr Tolorunleke Sunday, Ijumu, Mr Oloruntoba Kehinde, Kabba/ Bunu; Mohammed Awal, Kogi/ Koton Karffe; Mrs. Bolanle Amupitan, Mopa Muro,;Arome Adoji, Ofu, Prince Salisu Sani Ogu, Idah; Salami Momodu Ozigi; Okehi. Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, Mrs Rosemary Osikoya and Alhaji Idris Asiwaju from Okene; Olamaboro and Yagba East, respectively, were appointed. The governor has forwarded the list of the nominees to the state Assembly for ratification.

Nigeria, potential economic, political power house of Africa—EU Adetola Bademosi-Abuja

NIGERIA has the potential to be the economic and political powerhouse of Africa, the European Union on Thursday, stated this at the 23rd regular meeting of the National Council on Water Resources The Head of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Michel Arrion, said unfortunately the development of the country has been hampered by poor governance, weak and complex democratic institutions, massive inequality, among other factors. “With a population of over 170 million, a growth rate of seven per cent and abundant natural resources, Nigeria has the potential to be the economic and political powerhouse of Africa. Speaking at the end of the meeting in Abuja, Water Resources Minister, Mr Suleiman Adamu, sought for more investment in the water sector.

Friday, 3 June, 2016 Nigerian Tribune 38 news 338,227 applicants shortlisted for police job, screening begins June 6 Chris Agbambu - Abuja IN line with the ongoing recruitment exercise into the Nigeria Police, a total of 338,227 have been shortlisted electronically from the over 900,000 applicants

who applied for the different positions advertised, the Police Service Commission (PSC) has disclosed Out of the number, it said 44,661 are for Cadet ASP, 87,736 for Cadet Inspector and 205,830 for Constables.

While briefing newsmen in Abuja on the recruitment of 10,000 policemen by the commission on Thursday, PSC Chairman, Dr Mike Okiro, expressed the commission’s readiness to commence the recruitment ex-

ercise in earnest. According to him, the commission has begun to send invitation letters to successful applicants for the state screening through SMS and via emails. His words: “With the clo-

sure of filling and submission of application forms, the commission is now ready to commence the recruitment exercise proper. I want to announce that the state screening exercise will begin on Monday, the 6th of June, 2016 throughout the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. He explained that the invitation letter being sent by the commission, states the date for each person’s screening and venue of the screening. Okiro pointed out that applicants will be grouped according to local governments and dates fixed for their individual screenings. According to him, this is done to avoid overcrowding at the venue and

also allow for meticulous screening. He further warned that: “no candidate will be admitted into any venue or appear on any date other than those allocated to him/ her.” Okiro, who stressed that the initial short listing was done electronically, said applicants who did not meet the requirements were screened out by the computer. “Only those who qualified for the next stage of the exercise were invited by the computer for physical screening,” he said. He noted that the Commission does not intend to subject candidates to physical exercise like running due to the forthcoming Ramadan fasting.

W/Bank approves $75m for IDPs By Biola Azeez and Adamu Amadu

Abia State governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu (right), with the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr Olusegun Awolowo, when he led other top management of the council on a courtesy visit to the governor, in Umuahia.

N/Delta Avengers attack more oil installations

•New militant group emerges, gives military 48 hours ultimatum to leave Ijaw communities From Ebenezer Adurokiya and Banji Aluko

HE rampaging Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), on Thursday, blew up crude oil more pipelines in the Niger Delta. Hinting the world on its Twitter handle, @NDAvengers on Thursday evening, the group said it had successfully blown up crude oil pipelines spanning Ogboinbiri, Tebidaba and Crough creek to Tebidaba. “At about 2:00 a.m. today @NDAvengers blew up the Ogboinbiri to Tebidaba and Clough Creek to Tebidaba Crude Oil pipelines in Bayelsa State,” the group twit-

ted. It said the attack was in line with its promise to ground operations of oil companies in the region. “This is in line with our promise to all international oil companies and indigenous oil companies that Nigeria oil production will be zero,” it stated in its tweet, which had been re-twitted hundreds of times. However, the militant group did not mention owners of the crude pipeline. Meanwhile, a fresh militant group, Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF), on Thursday, gave military 48 hours ultimatum to quit Ijaw communities, saying that it is now set to test-

run its six missiles capable of downing any aircraft no matter the size. The new group, which claimed to be affiliated to the rampaging Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), in a statement sourced online, was signed by one General Akotebe Darikoro, Commander, General Duties; General Torunnanaowei Latei, Creeks Network Coordinator; General Agbakakuro Owei-Tauro, Pipelines Bleeding Expert; and General Pulokiri Ebiladei of its Intelligence Bureau. The statement warned all oil and gas operators to shut down all operations during the missiles test-running. The group, which claimed

11 states donate 55,000 hectares for grazing project Muhammad Sabiu - Kaduna MINISTER of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, says 11 states have provided 55,000 hectares to establish ranches to curb farmers and pastoralists clashes in their states. Ogbeh made this known at a news conference on Thursday in Abuja. Ogbeh said the states are Plateau, Kaduna, Kano, Gombe, Katsina, Taraba, Niger, Adamawa, Jigawa, Sokoto and the FCT. He said of all the enterprise in the livestock sector, only the poultry industry had achieved an appreciable level of commercialisation. Ogbeh said other industries in the livestock sector

were predominantly in the hands of subsistence farmers with pastoralist system of production contributing over 90 per cent of cattle production in the country. He said the 2011 National Agricultural Sample Survey indicated that Nigeria was endowed with an estimated 19.5 million cattle, 72.5 million goats, 41.3 million sheep, 7.1 million pigs and 28,000 camels. Accordingly, the minister said the country had 145 million chickens, 11.6 million ducks, 1.2 million turkeys and 974, 499 donkeys. Ogbeh said this impressive statistics, which had made Nigeria number one in livestock in Africa, had

not met the national demand of animal protein or contributed to the GDP over the years. He decried the low milk production in Nigeria as a cow produced one litre of milk a day while a cow in Saudi Arabia or Brazil produced 30 to 40 litres. “Saudi Arabia produces 4.7 million litres of milk daily while Nigeria imports about 1.3 billion dollar worth of milk annually to make up deficit. Meanwhile, former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Professor Ango Abdullahi, has said that nobody can stop the Fulani herdsmen from grazing in any part of the country.

to be domiciled in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, disclosed that “we shall commence testing on June 7.” The group said in readiness for the testing of the six missiles on Tuesday, “no helicopter should fly around in the region, as we will not guarantee the safety of such object.” Meanwhile, two soldiers and five civilians were feared dead on Wednesday night at Ejere creek, a suburb of Warri, Delta State, during a clash between soldiers and some assailants. The 4 Brigade in Benin, Edo State, confirming the incident, said suspected militants operating in Ijere attacked a houseboat belonging to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and killed two soldiers and four civilians.

THE World Bank has approved a sum of $75 million to assist Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) brought about by Boko Haram insurgency in the northern part of the country. Speaking at a one-day advocacy workshop organised by the Kwara State Community and Social Development Agency (KWCSDA), in Ilorin, on Thursday, the Team Leader, Community and Social Development Projects (CSDP), World Bank, Professor Folusho Okunmadewa, said the bank had already released $140 million for the benefit of the 26 states participating in the project, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Represented by the Social Protection Specialist, World Bank, Professor Yusuf Suleiman, Professor Okunmadewa said “The aim is to increase access by poor people and particularly the internally displaced and vulnerable in the North-East to improved infrastructure services in a

sustainable manner. “The expected outputs are basically to empower communities and vulnerable groups and strengthen partnership between government on one side and the people on the other side.” Also speaking, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed said that the state was partnering with the World Bank to provide additional financing for KWCSDA. The governor said the move was also to ensure that rural communities in the state have access to infrastructural development. Governor Ahmed, who was represented by his deputy, Elder Peter Kisira, noted that development was essential for the advancement of the society hence the organisation of the workshop to cater for the future generation. Meanwhile, the World Bank has announced a donation of $12 million to Jigawa State for the improvement of girl-child education in the state for the period of four years. The donation was announced by the World Bank representative, Dr Tunde Adepola.

Senate’ll proffer lasting solution to farmers/ herdsmen conflict —Saraki Ayodele Adesanmi - Abuja THE Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, on Thursday, appealed to herdsmen and farmers across the country to maintain peace as the National Assembly is ready to proffer lasting solutions to the perennial clashes over grazing by cattle. Saraki spoke when a group of herdsmen, Kautal Hore Socio-Cultural Association, Jigawa State branch, visited him in his office, in Abuja. He described the peren-

nial clashes between farmers and herdsmen as unfortunate and appealed to the herdsmen to maintain peace at all times. According to him, “the National Assembly and all the stakeholders have been meeting on how to ensure that there is permanent peace between the two major groups in the nation’s agricultural system “There must be peace. There must be peaceful coexistence and there cannot be peace when human lives are being wasted. The Na-

tional Assembly will stop at nothing to ensure that there is peace. We will not stop working until there is peace between the farmers and herdsmen in this country. Please, be patient.” He promised that the Senate will soon come out with suggestions on how to end the conflict. The chairman of the group, Umar Kabir Hadejia, said the Fulanis are traditionally a nomadic and pastoral people who rear their cattle and sheep across the vast territory of Nigeria.

Friday, 3 June, 2016

Editor: Ganiyu Salman tribunesporteditor@yahoo.com 08053789060

Cameroonian, 8 others storm 3SC camp By Olawale Olaniyan

Segun Oduduwa (first left), during the 2015 All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville.

Oduduwa for surgery in Qatar

Saliu Gbadamosi-Abuja

NJURED Dream Team player, Segun Oduduwa, will be flown to Qatar for treatment, after he has been ruled out of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Oduduwa had last week suffered a knee injury during one of the team’s training sessions at the practice pitch of the National Stadium, Abuja. The lanky defender was a member of the Samson Siasia-piloted Dream Team which won the bronze at the 2015 All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville, as well as the African U-23 Cup of Nations in Senegal, and one of Africa’s tickets to the Rio Olympics. Speaking with journalists on Wednesday evening when he visited the player at the Serob Hotel in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mr Christian Chinyeaka Ohaa, revealed that Oduduwa would be out for at least 12 months. Ohaa, who came in company with the Director, Sports Medicine in the ministry, Dr Abubakar Mu’azu, informed that

President Muhammadu Buhari had directed that the defender be given the best of treatment. Ohaa stated that the Nath Boys product would, in a matter of days, be flown to the Aspire Academy Hospital in Qatar where he will undergo surgery and rehabiltation for speedy recovery. “Mr President has directed that he should be treated as early as possible, not because of the Olympics, but because of his career and a way to assure our youths that the country would never abandon them at any point, especially when they are serving their fatherland. “We have been directed to take him to the best hospital in the world that specialises in the treat-

ment of such injuries, which is the Aspire Hospital in Doha, Qatar. “We would do that within the shortest possible time as arrangements have been concluded to get his visa and other paper works concluded. This will be done in a matter of days and he would be taken there for adequate treatment,” Ohaa said. He lamented that the defender would not feature at Rio 2016. “It is quite unfortunate that we would miss the services of this elegant defender who was very instrumental in our victory in Senegal last year. “I was in Dakar with the team and I saw his contributions in the central defence. The medical team has confirmed that he would be out for the next

12 months but we have decided to make it faster,” Ohaa stated. Tribunesport recalls that due to Oduduwa’s injury, Coach Siasia, who had listed the defender among the 20 players for the ongoing Suwon invitational tourney, had to go with 19 players, hoping that the lad would recover early enough to feature at the Rio Olympics proper. “I hope the doctors work round the clock to remedy this unfortunate incident so that Oduduwa can return to training in time and be fit for the Rio Olympics, as he has been an integral part of this team from the beginning,” a disappointed Siasia had told thenff.com before the Dream Team’s departure to Korea.

... As Aaron Samuel heads for Germany NIGERIAN international, Aaron Samuel has left for Germany, where he will undergo corrective surgery on his injured knee, a source close to the player has informed AfricanFootball.com. Samuel was briefly in Ni-

geria following the end of the Russian league season and was in Port Harcourt during the Joseph Yobo testimonial last week, even though he didn’t play. “He has left for Germany for the surgery and hopefully it will all go well,” the

source informed. The former Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) striker has been on loan at CSKA Moscow from Chinese club Guangzhou R&F and is expected to be offered a three-year contract if all goes to plan.

A Cameroonian goalkeeper, Shark Kwame and eight other players are now in the camp of Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) to secure deals, as the second round of the Nigeria Premier League gets underway. Kwame, who is to compete with the likes of the first choice keeper, Emmanuel Fabiyi, Afeso Attah and Abubakar Adamu, trained with the Oluyole Warriors on Thursday at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan, under returnee technical adviser, Gbenga Ogunbote Also jostling for contracts with 3SC are Tameh Mendrano (IfeanyiUbah FC); Salawu Ibrahim (Giwa); Kayode Agboola (Niger Tornadoes); Olabisi Samuel (IfeanyiUbah FC); Joy Olubodun (3SC feeder and former Taraba FC); Oginni Olatunbosun, promoted from 3SC feeders; Henry Uche and former Lobi Stars striker, Afolabi. However, the general manager of 3SC, Rasheed Balogun has justified the appointment of Ogunbote. “Some other notable coaches came for the job but we chose Ogunbote be-

cause of his pedigree and certain qualities he possessed. He knows this team more than any of them. “Last season when he joined us, this team was in this kind of situation, I mean the relegation zone and by the grace of God, we survived. So, he (Ogunbote as technical adviser will work with Abimbola Lawal and Edith Agoye as his assistants, while Coach Lateef Yusuf remains the goalkeeper’s trainer,” Balogun told Tribunesport after the team’s training session on Thursday. He stated that 12 players will be sent packing in due course. “Taofeek Adepoju has been placed on transfer for his lackadaisical attitude. He took a permission to travel but he refused to return to training when he came back, which means he doesn’t have interest in playing for this team any longer,” Balogun said. He revealed that Daddy Bazuaye, David Oliver and Jimoh Ismail have been asked to go, while Nathaniel opted out as he said he was fed up with the financial challenge being faced while in the team.

... I would meet 3SC’s mandate —Ogunbote RETURNEE coach of Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC), Gbenga Ogunbote, said he is determined to take the team out of the relegation zone of the Nigeria Premier League at the end of the season, which remains his mandate. Speaking with Tribunesport during his first training session with the Oluyole Warriors on Thursday at the Lekan Salami stadium, Ibadan, he said he would meet the mandate given to him by the management. “The mandate given to me is that this team must not drop to the lower league. The issue is that this is my first training and today is Thursday, I only have tomorrow (Friday) to train and that is when I can select my team against Akwa United which is our next opponent. “I need the support of everybody and I believe this team will survive relegation. When I first came to this team last season, I told the management to address

the problem of the players and they did. So, I believe the management will as promised during our negotiations do the same this time because the welfare of the players is paramount,” said the former Sunshine Stars coach. Ogunbote, who handled FC Giwa this season said his return to 3SC was designed by God. “I am a Yoruba man and coming to handle Shooting Stars will always be a thing of joy to me because I’m at home. I didn’t regret going to Giwa FC, because I got a call which I could not reject. As Mr Raji Fashola once said, one should pray that one should not be in a situation where one’s loyalty will be tested. “My terms are clear to the management of 3SC and I believe we will collectively make this team regain its lost pride,” the former Sharks handler, who also rescued 3SC out of relegation last season said.

SIDELINES

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Despite being arrested several times, disabled Indian beggar, Pappu Kumar, has refused to call it quit. With $7,500 in four bank accounts and a property that is worth $185,000, why would he want to retire? He is only obeying a simple instruction in the Good Book: “Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”

Moses on Rio Olympics provisional list C

HELSEA forward, Victor Moses and Norwaybased central defender, William Troost-Ekong have been added to the provisional list for the 2016 Rio Olympics by Nigeria’s U-23 team coach, Samson Siasia. Moses, 25, will be an option as one of three overage players allowed for the competition, while Troost-Ekong, 22, falls within the allowed age for the Games. However, after Moses snubbed the Eagles friendlies against Mali and Luxembourg played late last month, it is left to be seen if his selection would be favourably sanctioned by the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). Chelsea midfielder and Super Eagles skipper, Mikel Obi, Watford striker, Odion Ighalo and CSKA Moscow star, Ahmed Musa were originally designated as the three overage players for the Olympics. But AfricanFootball.com has since scooped that Siasia has broaden his options in this respect as he has also included South Africa-based goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi among his overage players. Troost-Ekong has enhanced his chances of making it to Rio 2016 after he posted solid displays in the heart of

the Eagles defence during the friendlies against Mali and Luxembourg. The absence of Segun Oduduwa due to a major keen injury will further improve the chances of Troost-Ekong, who has featured for the Netherlands age-group teams. Africanfootball.com further gathered that Siasia has finally submitted a list of 56 players, four players short of a much-publicised 60-man provisional squad for the summer games. African champion Nigeria is paired alongside Colombia, Sweden and Japan in the first round of Rio 2016, which begins in August.

Suwon tourney:

Dream Team loses to Korea

HOSTS, Korea pipped Nigeria’s U-23 team 1-0 in the opening match of the Suwon International Youth Football Tournament on Thursday afternoon. Both teams are preparing for the Rio Olympics billed for August this year. The homers waited till in the 86th minute to grab the match winner through Choi Kyubaek. The Jeonbuk Hyundai defender beat the offside trap to hand the Red Devil victory with his precious strike. Poor finishing was the greatest undoing of the Samson Siasia men and in the end, they paid dearly for it. Taiwo Awoniyi was Nigeria’s most dangerous striker in the first half, but for poor finishing he could have given the Dream Team VI the lead in the 36th after great combination play with Godwin Saviour. He fluffed another chance in the 20th minute. Goalkeeper Emmanuel Daniel pulled a big save after half an hour. Erhun Obanor was denied the post in the 55th minute with his header off a corner heading for goal. Daniel again came to the rescue of his team in the 62nd minute before he was eventually beaten by Kyubaek with four minutes left in the game. Usman and substitute Tiongoli then wasted a sitter with the goalkeeper well beaten 10 minutes from time.

Moses

Tax fraud trial: I trusted my dad, lawyers —Messi ARGENTINA football star, Lionel Messi said on Thursday he trusted his father with his finances and “knew nothing” about how his wealth was managed as he took the stand at his tax fraud trial. “I was playing football. I had no idea about anything,” the five-time World Player of the Year told the Barcelona court hearing the case. “I trusted my dad and my lawyers,” the 28-year-old, who wore a black suit and tie, added on the third day of the trial. Messi and his father Jorge Horacio Messi are accused of using a chain of

fake companies in Belize and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on 4.16 million euros ($4.6 million) of Messi’s income earned through the sale of his image rights from 2007-09. The income related to Messi’s image rights that was allegedly hidden and includes endorsement deals with Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter & Gamble and the Kuwait Food Company. “All I knew was that we signed agreements with certain sponsors, for ‘X’ amount of money and that I had to do adverts, photos and those things but about the money

and where it went I knew nothing,” Messi told the court. The Barcelona forward and his defence team have long argued that Messi’s father handled the footballer’s finances without reporting to him, and the striker was not aware of any wrongdoing. Messi’s former tax advisors told the court on Wednesday the foot-

ball star never handed his own wealth management. The trial will wrap up today with closing arguments from lawyers from both sides. Both Messi and his father, who has managed his son’s affairs since he was a child, have been charged with three counts charge of tax fraud.

Nigeria moves 6 spots up in FIFA rankings By Oluwabunmi Ajayi

NIGERIA has moved to the 61st position in the FIFA rankings released on Thursday, by the world soccer governing body. Following a six-step move on the ladder, Nigeria is now ranked 12th in Africa, having amassed 559 points. Nigeria, it will be recalled, occupied the 67th spot in the May FIFA rankings. However, the upward move of Nigeria came on the heels of

the victories of the Super Eagles in the international friendlies played late last month, as the Super Eagles defeated the Les Aigles of Mali 1-0 and Red Lions of Luxembourg 3-1. In Africa, Nigeria is ranked behind Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Egypt, Tunisia, Cape Verde, Congo DR, Guinea, Cameroon and Congo which amassed 560 points. Algeria moved one place up to number 32 in the world and the best on the continent. Reigning

African champions, Cote d’Ivoire also moved by two spots to place 36th in the world and second best on the continent, while Ghana is ranked 37th in the world and third in Africa with 728 points. Argentina maintains its leadership spot with 1503 points as Belgium held on to the second spot with 1384 points, while Colombia is ranked the third best team in the world with 1328 points. Germany, Chile, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, Uruguay and Austria complete the top 10 in the world.

Lionel Messi (left) with dad

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. 3/6/2016.