4th December 2015

NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER NO 16,385

FRIDAY, 4 DECEMBER, 2015

MTN's CEO, Corporate Affairs head resign •NCC reduces company's N1.04trn fine —P11

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Nigerian Tribune

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Nigerian Tribune

MINIMUM WAGE

N150

Govs say it is pay cut or retrenchment —P2

•Any gov who can't pay salary should resign —Labour chief

Bayelsa poll: INEC dispatches election materials to LGs

•NSCDC deploys 10,000 officials —P10

From left, Director, Fidelity Bank Plc, Kayode Olowoniyi; Oyo State deputy governor, Chief Moses Adeyemo; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Nnamdi Okonkwo and the Ekarun Olubadan of Ibadanland, High Chief Biodun Kola Daisi, at the Regional SME Conference (SouthWest), organised by Fidelity Bank Plc, in Ibadan, on Thursday.

Arms deal: Looters should be executed—NLC —P5 •I didn't implicate anyone —Dasuki •Not all funds for NSA's office are for arms procurement, he says •Bode George, Bafarawa deny receiving any money from ex-NSA

Kogi election should have been cancelled —P10 —INEC lawyers

PDP holds national convention March 19

•It is wrong —Okupe —P8

news Minimum wage: Govs say it is pay cut or retrenchment 2

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Any gov who can't pay salary should resign —Labour chief From Leon Usigbe and Muhammad Sabiu

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URDENED by huge wage bills and depleting resources, state governors are insisting that there has to be a downward review of the N18,000 minimum wage or retrenchment of workers to be able to meet up with the payment.

They now want to hold talks with Labour to reach an amicable resolution, in order to avert crisis.

Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari, disclosed this to State House corespondents on Thursday, after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, reiterating that the states could no longer pay the wage, given shortfall in revenue.

Following Labour's warning over any attempt to reduce the wage, Yari maintained that the governors had no bad intention towards Labour over states' desire to tinker with workers' pay.

Even though he said no decision had been reached on the review of minimum wage, he maintained that N18,000 was no longer sustainable because of falling oil price.

Noting some state governors who have kicked against lowering the wage, he said: “Let me make it very clear to Nigerians, Governor’s Forum is not an enemy of Labour in any way.

“Rather, we have been working together, but what we are saying is this, not only Governor Nyesom Wike, but also my friend in comradeship, Adams Oshiomhole, kicked against the decision.

“Although by the decision, we never said we are going to stop payment of N18,000 minimum wage, but we are looking at the situation in the country and the global economy.

“What we said is that when the National Assembly enacted the law of paying N18,000 minimum wage, oil was about $118 per barrel, but today, oil is $41 per barrel. So, if it continues this way, definitely, we will find it difficult to continue with the payment.

“We have to sit with the Labour and see how we can review, either to continue or downsize. We want to find a solution, because we have to be realistic, as we have so many areas to touch.

“There is infrastructure deficit, there is need for security, there are other things

like the social life of our people and the nation as a state.

“In the receipt from federation account, some people received N400 million, N500 million. Some others received N55 million, two digits. And there are other issues, not even the salary, their pension is over a billion.

“So, how can we continue borrowing and servicing the service aspect of our expenditure or overhead? How can we do that?

“We are telling the public that we are planning to sit with the president, his team and the state governors as a team and that the experts to come out with the way forward and how we are going to handle the poor state of the economy.

“But what we have on ground now will not be realistic if it continues the way it is, without having other sources from the economy, but still rely on oil that was being sold for $118 dollar per barrel, but now down to $41 and think that we can continue behaving or misbehaving the way we are doing, if there is anything like that.

“Therefore, we are saying that we should tighten our belts. Definitely, we should sit and come up with a way to do it realistically or otherwise."

On Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), Governor Yari observed that some states were better positioned than others, regretting that some of the industries of states would have relied upon it in the absence of oil revenue.

“For instance, in my state, the tiny state that is my own, which has more than three textile plants, because of energy, all had been closed, NNPC shut down. We have about three (cotton) ginneries, but due to shortage of power, they all closed down.

And these are places where we can earn our revenue,” the Zamfara State governor noted.

Meanwhile, former deputy president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Issa Aremu, has said any governor who cannot pay the minimum wage of N18,000.00 to his workers should resign from office.

Aremu, who is the General Secretary, National Union of Textile Garment Workers of Nigeria (NUTGWN), said such governor had no reason to be in the business of governance.

Speaking as the guest speaker at the 18th Joint Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Manufacturers Association of Nige-

ria (MAN) in Kaduna, on Thursday, he argued that one of the ways to judge the performance of the sitting president and all the state governors was their ability to resuscitate the collapsed industries in the country.

“Any state government that cannot pay salary has no reason to be in business of governance and therefore, any governor who cannot pay the salary should resign,” Aremu said.

He noted that Nigeria was sitting on the keg of gun powder, if its alarming rate of unemployment was not nipped in the bud.

He said: “Nigeria is playing with fire, because 24 per cent of its population is officially unemployed and 50 per cent unofficially unemployed. Some countries have a total of only 12 per cent unemployment crisis, with the people on rampage.

Nigeria must begin to prevent this by reopening all

closed factories to engage the teeming unemployed youths.

“Labour strongly supports the urgent need to rebuild Nigeria through targeted efficient massive productive spending. President Buhari must be wary of the emergency advisers, who claim falsely that government has no business in business.

“Government not only has business in business, the art of governance itself is a business that must be done.

“Let me recommend Mallam el-Rufai to other states governors in this respect.

I learnt that the moribund Kaduna furniture factory is almost back to produce thousands of school desks for public schools in Kaduna.

“The governor has also promised textile mills to produce school uniforms.

And another organisation, Crittal Hope, is also back to life, producing windows and needed metals to fix the classrooms.

BVN: Reps want CBN, police to check 'Change of Name' adverts Jacob Segun Olatunji and Kolawole Daniel -Abuja THE House of Representatives, on Thursday, urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Police to check the antecedents of new applicants for the Bank Verification Number (BVN), as the frequent change of names in the dailies could be a way to circumvent the process and perpetrate fraudulent acts.

The House also mandat-

ed its Committees on Information, Police, Judiciary and Bank and Currency to investigate the issue.

The resolution followed the adoption of a motion of urgent matter of public importance entitled: “Motion on rampant change of names as published in newspapers and implication of fraud and the danger it poses to national security,” sponsored by Honourable Danburam Nuhu.

Moving the motion,

the lawmaker said “those changing their names might have been doing so for other reasons which might be dubious or pose security challenges.

“The change of name might be linked to the recent CBN's BVN policy as a way of circumventing the programme,” he stated.

Supporting the motion, Honourable Garba Datti said the motion was timely, in view of how national dailies carry “5-10 pages of change of names” on a

daily basis, which calls for concern on Nigeria's national security.

Also contributing to the motion, Honourable Simon Arabo, cited Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution, where freedom of expression for all Nigerians was guaranteed, emphasising that the constitution had provided for such liberty.

When the motion was put into voice voting by the Speaker, Honourable Yakubu Dogora, it was unanimously supported.

Alleged corruption: Probe of CCT chairman stalled by petitioners’ absence Jacob Segun Olatunji and Kolawole Daniel -Abuja THE probe being carried out by the House of Representatives on alleged corrupt practices levelled against the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Mr Danladi Umar, by the AntiCorruption Network,was on Thursday stalled, following the absence of the petitioners.

Consequently, the House Committee on Public Petitions investigating the matter adjourned its sitting till December 9 and 10 for all the parties concerned to be properly put on notice.

Speaking, the chairman of the committee, Honourable Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, said the adjournment became necessary, in order for the petitioners to come and prove their allegations, as well as to avail the the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) more time to prepare and appear before the committee.

Honourable Nkem-Abonta, before adjourning the sitting, inquired if the petitioners were duly notified of the committee's sitting and the clerk of the committee affirmed that the petitioners were duly served the notice of hearing.

After due consultation with other members of the committee, the chairman adjourned the sitting, saying it would not be proper for only one of the parties

to make presentation in the absence of the other party.

According to him, “in the practice of fair hearing and transparency, it will not be

worthwhile to ask the respondent to go on and talk.

The petitioners must come and substantiate their allegations.”

The committee then directed the committee clerk to issue the petitioners another hearing notice slated for next week.

Oshiomhole to Okonjo-Iweala: I'm ready for your lawyers Banji Aluko -Benin City GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has reacted to threats by the former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to charge him to court over character defamation, saying he was awaiting letters from her lawyers.

The governor, however, described the threat to charge him to court as a way of avoiding critical issues, encouraging Dr Okonjo-Iweala to explain to Nigerians the level of sleaze that went unnoticed under her watch.

Reacting to the former minister’s statement, the governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Prince Kassim Afegbua, said rather than respond to issues, OkonjoIweala was making self-indicting statements on how she denied Edo people the funds needed to develop critical infrastructure.

“She should be ashamed to even state that she denied Edo people infrastructure loan when she could not redeem what was due to the state. Would there have been need for loan request if she was truly in firm control

of the economy under her watch?

“Is it not ridiculous that the former Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy pretends to be ignorant of the sleaze and primitive looting of the nation’s treasury under her watch?

“Does it not prick the conscience of Okonjo-Iweala that so much financial improprieties were perpetrated right before her nose and yet wants to be celebrated as a super minister? Does she want to absolve herself of the abysmal performance of the economy under her watch during the Jonathan years?

“From the revelations so far and the manner in which our resources were plundered in the last administration, it is crystal clear that Okonjo-Iweala was grossly incompetent to manage the nation’s economy, especially on account of the huge sums of money running into billions of dollars that were stolen under her watch.

Such incompetence will be further complicated if it is assumed that she looked away while some people helped themselves to the nation’s treasury. Either way, she is

complicit.

“We have no doubt in our minds that Okonjo-Iweala, from all indications, has shown a remarkable attributes of a voodoo economist and one who, rather than answer very simple questions by way of clarifications, easily condescend to base sentiments to divert attention.

“She has numerous questions to answer with respect to the management of our collective patrimony. What manner of a Finance Minister will allow huge sum of money to be withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria with whimsical stroke, dealing with individuals in a way that eliminates the usual control that should be the hallmark of such body?

“How can a World Bank former Managing Director allow such conduct right under her watch without raising concerns?

Oshiomhole even faulted international accolades that are being poured on OkonjoIweala, charging organisations giving her awards to “carry out due diligence to properly score her, else, one would have cause to suspect that such awards may have been procured.”

Friday, 4 December, 2015 Nigerian Tribune 3 news Yuletide: Police tighten security at motor parks, hotels, others

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he Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has tightened security at motor parks, hotels and other strategic places in the territory, ahead of the Christmas celebration.

The Commissioner of Police for the territory, Mr Wilson Inalegwu, made this disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Abuja, on Thursday.

Inalegwu said that the Inspector-General of Police’s directive to all Commands to ensure effective security, further reinforced the measure taken by his command.

“We have taken steps to heighten security across the FCT; there are visible police deployments at all the motor parks in the FCT. “In addition, we have encouraged the transport unions and the luxury bus owners to also have their own internal security ar-

rangements which we supervise and guide them,” he said.

Inalegwu said that the command had deployed officers to hotels considered strategic to the FCT. “We have deployed officers for hotel security coordination and we have also made additional deployment to hotels that we consider very strategic to the FCT,” the commissioner said.

He said that the ‘Safer Highways’ had been fully

Kwara gives suspended LG chairmen 1 week to reverse unauthorised appointments Biola Azeez-Ilorin

GOVERNOR Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has given the eight suspended council chairmen one week to reverse the unauthorised recruitment or face further sanctions.

It will be recalled that the Kwara State House of Assembly, acting on the letter by the governor, on Wednesday suspended eight out of 16 council chairmen in the state for alleged wrongful recruitment of staff.

Speaking during a meeting with principal officers of the State House of Assembly, local government chairmen and Labour lead-

ers in Ilorin on Thursday, the governor also said that the remaining eight sitting chairmen also have the same deadline to reverse the appointments if they are involved or be referred to the State House of Assembly for stiffer sanctions.

He described the actions of the suspended local government chairmen as insensitive in view of the fact that salaries are still being owed by all local government councils in the State.

The governor said the savings from the reversed appointments should be used to pay the outstanding salaries of existing workers, adding that his

administration has no interest in sacking any workers except those who were illegally engaged.

Continuing, he absolved the state government from interference with local government funds which he said are shared between SUBEB and the 16 local government councils in line with the law.

According to him, the October allocation of the local governments were withheld by banks in view of the N4.6billion loan obtained for the payment of their staff salaries in September, in anticipation of the N5billion bail out from the Federal Government which is yet to be released.

deployed and mobilised with well motivated personnel. “One other thing we are doing is sustaining raids on suspected criminal hotspots where we have made important breakthroughs and arrests through,” he said.

The Commissioner also said that the relationship between the police and communities was enhancing the command’s operations.

He restated the com-

mand’s readiness to continue to collaborate with other security agencies to ensure security in the FCT. “We will continue to strategise with other security agencies to secure the territory. We have also collaborated with communities in this area. We have had a lot of engagements with the Churches.

Security is about partnership, we have also circulated our help lines to the

public,” he said.

Inalegwu urged the media to help make the help lines available to residents and advised residents to be careful while receiving gift items during the yuletide.

“Don’t get careless when you are going to the Church or Mosque, ensure that all bags are searched.

Pregnant women should be screened thoroughly to ensure that the pregnancy is not fake,” he added.

news Biafra: Don’t create Boko Haram in the East, IYC tells FG

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HE President of Igbo Youth Congress (IYC), Mr Bright Ezeocha, says he fears that the use of violence against pro-Biafra protesters by the government might give rise to the creation of a terrorist group in the manner of Boko Haram in the East.

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Ezeocha said this in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune in Lagos when reacting to the alleged killing of some members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) by security agents on Wednesday.

Ezeocha said he had urged the Federal Government to handle the issue with care

by dialoguing with the people to avoid a repeat of history.

He alleged that what led to the creation of the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group was the killing of one of their leader, Muhammad Yusuf. He, therefore, raised the fear that the Federal Government

was already towing this line again.

“I want to condemn the killing of the members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). It is uncalled for, and never expected in the 21st century that the law enforcement agencies do not know how to disperse protesters except to

open bullet on unarmed protesters,” he said.

He said that the protesters had the legitimate right to express their anger through protest.

The youth leader urged the Federal Government to release Nnamdi Kanu and Ben Oscar unconditionally.

According to him, the Federal Government ought to allow independence of judiciary for the sake of peace and respect court orders and rule of law.

He, however, urged the protesters to shun burning of vehicles and religious houses.

Ezeocha said that the situation could not be curtailed by force, saying ‘They must not use force. It would not do the country good. Let’s go to the roundtable and dialogue. We need to learn from history.”

The IYC leader also cautioned pro-Biafra protesters against inflicting sufferings on the people from the

South-East.

According to him, the agitators have to be orderly and peaceful in their protest against marginalisation.

“First of all, let me use this opportunity to condemn what happened on Monday when the pro-Biafra agitators blocked the overhead bridge causing much pains to the people plying that road.

“The protesters should not increase the sufferings of the people in the SouthEast by blocking roads,” he said.

Ezeocha said that the protest should not deprive people who were going on their legitimate business access to roads.

“There is need for us to be careful, while we are fighting for people’s right. Let us not inflict pains on them.

Please, don’t allow our people to go through such pains any more.”

Senate asks FG to reintroduce tollgates President Muhammadu Buhari with the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, shortly before the president left the country for South Africa, on Thursday.

Taiwo Adisa and Ayodele Adesanmi - Abuja

100 local hunters ready to fight Boko Haram

THE Senate, on Thursday, asked the Federal Government to reintroduce toll gates in all the federal highways in the country and channel the revenue collected for the maintenance of the roads.

Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration cancelled the toll gates across the country in 2004, citing loss of revenue to government and the poor maintenance of the

Muhammad Sabiu - Kaduna

LOCAL hunters from Kaduna State have said they are ready to assist the military in Maiduguri to bring an end to the war against terror which has continued to claim many innocent lives in some parts of the Northern region particularly the North-East.

Addressing newsmen in Kaduna, on Thursday, the Head of the Local Hunters, Alhaji Shehu Musa Al- Jan, disclosed that about 100 local hunters have declared their interest to go to Maiduguri and fight the dreaded Boko Haram.

According to him, the hunters were aware of the December dateline given to the military authorities by President Muhammad Buhari, saying “we are ready to go and fight the insurgents to a standstill.”

Al-Jan remarked that the fight against Boko Haram was a call to duty, adding that, “the military alone cannot end the psychological war. We want to go there and assist them, we are not joking.

“We have contacted our members across the Northern region and we know who and who are ready. We just want an invitation from the government, and we will land in Maiduguri without delay.

“We are ashamed of ourselves that in spite of the fact

that we have brave and courageous men in the region.

We cannot fold our hands and see the senseless killing of our brothers, sisters, sons, daughters and wives by these blood thirsty and heartless men (Boko Haram).”

He was optimistic that the December deadline to end the insurgency is possible,

maintaining “with serious commitment among the various security agencies and the combined efforts of our members, we shall defeat the insurgents.”

Al-Jan, who also said his group were involved in the recent recovery of stolen cows and ammunition at the Kumuku Forest in Birnin Gwari, lauded the commit-

ment of the state government under Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai, saying the feat couldn’t have been achieved without his support.

“The state governor, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai, has provided all the support necessary to assist the security and our group in bringing the situation to where we are now,” he declared.

Interior minister calls for city policing Chris Agbambu – Abuja

THE Minister of Interior, Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau, has called for the creation of City Policing across the major cities in the country, in

order to bring policing closer to the community.

He explained that the new unit of police will be in charge of patrols and intelligence gathering that will enhance security and safety of the public and tasked the

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, on the decongestion of prisons.

The minister gave the charge in Abuja yesterday at Force Headquarters while on familiarisation tour of the Nigeria Police, which is

Navy solicits for intervention funding AlphonsusAgborh - Asaba

THE Nigerian Navy has solicited for intervention funding for sustainable acquisition and maintenance of its ships including interceptors and flat bottom boats in an effort to combat the emerging maritime security challenges.

It has also called for the promulgation of a comprehensive framework for interagency cooperation from the ministerial level as well as developing a national maritime security strategy.

In a communiqué issued at the end of a two-day retreat in Asaba, Delta State and read by Chief of Policy and Plans of the navy, Rear Admiral Johnson Olutoye, the Navy initiated the process of establishing a maritime security trust fund as well as lobbing the National Assembly for increased funding of naval operations.

It sought to acquire four fully equipped mil bands to be located in Lagos, Abuja, Warri and Calabar, provide adequate training aids and platforms for all categories of training and enhance the

motivation of instructors at the Nigerian Navy professional schools.

It further called for the upgrading of the naval hydrographic office and engaging management to partner Navy in enhancing security amongst others.

The retreat with theme “Nigerian Navy and emerging maritime security challenges” provided a forum for intellectual discourse aimed at developing viable strategies to meet the contemporary and emerging challenges in the maritime sector.

under his ministry.

According to him, “City Policing is something we must pursue and I was discussing with the IGP that we need to tie the idea of community policing to city policing. Let us have this unit in our cities with special outfit like Abuja City police or Lagos city police.

“The city police should be able to conduct patrols, go in and out of the cities to ensure people’s lives are protected but it cannot be done without intelligence and that is why the DIG in charge of investigation and intelligence, must look into it because it is a major task for the police and it must be pursued.”

Commenting on the decongestion of the prisons, Dambazau said: “Within the criminal justice system, we have very serious issue bothering us and that is prison congestion. To me, the police have a major role to play in the decongestion of the prisons.”

tolled roads.

The Senate, however, said on Thursday, that new methods of funding roads projects should include concessioning to construction companies with solid capital base and excellent track record.

The Senate also invited the management of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) to brief it on the state of Federal Government’s concessioning arrangements and ways of exploring Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements in road construction.

The decision followed the adoption of recommendations of the Senate ad hoc Committee on Works on the total collapse of federal roads in Nigeria and prevalent gully erosion.

Presenting the report, chairman of the committee, Senator Barnabas Gemade (APC) Benue South) informed that many of the federal roads were poorly designed and some were even constructed without design, insisting that “since these roads lack designs, the objectives for constructing them may not be fully achieved.”

He disclosed that the yearly budgetary allocation given to the Ministry of Works was not enough to construct major roads of international standard, adding that infrastructure should be made functional “so that a large number of roads should be concessioned as it is done in some advanced countries.”

news Arms deal: Looters should be executed —NLC 5

Soji-Eze Fagbemi - Abuja

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IGERIA Labour Congress (NLC), on Thursday, insisted that those found guilty of corruptly enriching themselves with public funds should be executed, saying that the mind-boggling revelations on the $2.1 billion has justified and reinforced the call for capital punishment.

Addressing what he called an urgent press conference on issue of national interest, NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said the ongoing messy revelations on the $2.1 billion arms deal have vindicated the congress support for the fight against corruption.

He said: “The revelations by former National Security Adviser, his erstwhile Director of Finance, Shuaibu Salisu, which we believe are just the tip of the iceberg, are mind-boggling and justify as well as reinforce our call for capital punishment in cases of corruption in public office.

“We believe with prescription of more stringent punishment for corrupt cases, few will dare to go to this extent. We need not telling that massive corruption in the system is responsible for our lack of development and our present economic woes.”

Comrade Wabba said corruption has sent so many Nigerians to their early graves, hence, if those who perpetrated such corruption face the ultimate penalty, it is very justifiable.

The NLC president insisted that capital punishment for corruption worked in other countries like China.

To this end, the congress president demand a legislation and policies to be put in place to deal with the situation.

He urged the National Assembly to rise to this challenge immediately, but advised that the laws should be crafted in such a way that it should not be used indiscriminately.

Besides, he called on the National Assembly to enact laws that would also protect whistle blowers, while the judiciary should also rise to the challenge by ensuring speedy disposal of corrupt cases.

Comrade Wabba called on President Muhammadu Buhari not to relent in his war against corruption, even if it is the only major achievement in four years.

He said: “On our part, we urged President Muham-

Friday, 4 December, 2015

madu Buhari not to relent in his war against corruption. Even if it is the only major achievement in four years, it will suffice. At least, it would have succeeded in loot recovery as well as set a national moral barometer capable of attracting international confidence and respectability.

“In furtherance of this campaign, we call on the government to among other things probe the power sector reform programme which has delivered darkness instead of light.”

He said the NLC would not allow any attempt to politicised the anti-corruption efforts and urged the anti-corruption agencies to follow due process.

Comrade Wabba said: “We believe with prescription of more stringent punishment for corruption cases, few will dare to go to this extent.

“We need no telling that massive corruption in the system is responsible for our lack of development and our present economic woes.

“Rising cases of alienation, civil disobedience, crime and insurgency are directly traceable to wanton cases of corruption in high places which did not only create avoidable dis-

eases, ignorance and poverty, but have totally incapacitated our people.

“We as a people and as a nation cannot continue like this, except we want to continue to be the laughing stock of other nations and except

we want to create a state of anarchy. Because certainly, our teeming youths and the army of the unemployed who look unto their country for their means of livelihood, will not fold their hands while a few individuals corner the na-

FORMER Minister of Aviation, David Oluwafemi Fani-Kayode, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to stop terrorising Nigerians and perfect strategies to conquer Boko Haram.

Fani-Kayode stated this in a statement while reacting to the treatment meted out to the former Director-General of SSS during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure, Colonel Kayode Are and the National Security Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Sambo Dasuki and the arrest of Raymond Dokpesi, Governor Attahiru Bafawara, Alhaji Bashir Yuguda, Nnamdi Kanu, Godswill Orubebe, Bukola Saraki, Sule Lamido and others being persecuted, In a statement made available to the Nigerian Tribune, the former aviation minister said the Federal Government should have presented evidence of wrongdoings against

of reference of the Professor Itse Saggay Committee should be expanded to accommodate receiving confidential information on corruption, and forwarding same to anti-corruption agencies for prosecution and recovery.

Dasuki denies implicating anyone As Bafarawa, Bode George deny receiving money from him

By Chris Agbambu, Christian Okeke and Bola Badmus

FORMER National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd), has denied ever making any statement implicating anyone or group in the allegation of $2 billion arms purchase deal brought against him by the Federal Government.

Dasuki, who spoke through his lawyer, Mr Ahmed Raji, said he never made such statement or name anyone to EFCC and wondered where the authors got their information from.

“I was with Dasuki yesterday and wish to make categorical statement that my client never made any statement of such nature or naming anybody or group in any statement.”

“Quote me anywhere, Dasuki has not done anything

like that. It is absolutely untrue. It is the figment of the imagination of the authors aimed at creating falsehood for reasons best known to them and Nigerians should disregard them.

“They are just out to scandalise the man, bring his image and character into disrepute so that his friends and well wishers can run away from him. They want him deserted and that will fail,” Raji said.

Meanwhile, PRNigeria has revealed that not all funds in Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) are related to arm procurement as being alleged.

The ONSA manages several funds for national security and other special interventions which are not related to Boko Haram or arm procurement. They include recurrent expenditures and miscellaneous

Face Boko Haram, Fani-Kayode tells Buhari

By Tunde Ogunesan

tional resources.”

He pointed out that labour must be resolute and firm in their support for good governance and fight against corruption and must entrench the culture of accountability.

He said that the terms

any citizen rather than on pages of newspapers.

He described various attacks on these citizens among others as an “attempt to silence us with guns, bullets, threats of arrest and prosecution, violence, storming of homes, locking up of relatives, kidnapping of citizens, shameful lies and baseless allegations. Demonization in the media and disinformation will not work. They do not have enough prisons to silence the voice of the Nigerian people or to break their spirit and noone is intimidated by the government’s evil tactics and wicked ways.

“My message to President Buhari is simple and clear: stop terrorising your own people and save your terror waves and Gestapo tactics for Boko Haram.

“I have just spoken to Colonel Kayode Are, the former DG of SSS during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration and the former Acting National Security Adviser to

President Goodluck Jonathan and I am deeply concerned. He told me that his house is under siege and that gunshots are being fired at him and his family as we were speaking.

“I am not sure what the issue is but a situation where security men go to the home of a respected patriot like that and start shooting at him and his family for whatever reason is unacceptable and extremely dangerous.

“When you consider what is happening in Are’s home and marry with the shameful manner in which Colonel Sambo Dasuki, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, Governor Attahiru Bafawara, Alhaji Bashir Yuguda, Nnamdi Kanu, Godswill Orubebe, Bukola Saraki, Sule Lamido and others are being persecuted, threatened and demonised by the Federal Government, it is clear that we are now in a police state in which law and order have broken down and in which anything can happen.”

expenses under Special Service Office (SSO) to fund special projects and programmes including capacity building, refreshment, travelling, office maintenance, crisis communication and supports to special causes and Non-Governmental Organisations.

“Most of the figures being bandied were taken from the special funds meant for the purposes that they were spent and not on the socalled arm-deal.

“All over the world, there are lots of expenditures of national security and sensitive matters that are not ridiculed in the press.”

During yesterday’s proceedings in court, the Federal Government appointed a private legal practitioner, Mr Oladipupo Opeseyitan, to prosecute Dasuki.

Opeseyitan, after announcing his appearance, told the trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, that he had filed a motion for stay of execution of the ruling of the court which granted Dasuki permission to seek medical treatment.

He applied to the court to put the ruling on hold pending the outcome of the appeal in the matter.

Raji, in his reply, told the court that he had just been served with the motion in court, adding that he needed time to respond to the motion.

The case has been fixed for December 8, 2015 for hearing.

Meanwhile, former governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, has denied receiving any money from the embattled former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki.

He said that he had no deal with the former NSA nor collected any money from him for any purpose.

Bafarawa, in a statement issued through his former Special Adviser on Youths and Students Matters, Alhaji Akibu Dalhatu, lamented what he called deliberate media campaign aimed at tarnishing his image.

He said that it does appear that the media was being used to play out a

script that was written long before now.

He said: “We have seen deliberate falsehoods published in the newspapers and social media platforms, designed deliberately to tarnish the image and person of Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa.

“Some of the writers and media outfits have access to former Governor Bafarawa and his media advisers. It would appear that the media is being used to play out a script that has been written long before now.

“The truth is that Governor Bafarawa went to the EFCC to honour an invitation made to him by the agency while he was abroad. He had informed them through a letter by his lawyers that he was abroad and would honour their invitation on return.

Governor Bafarawa went to the office of the EFCC with his lawyer and an aide,” he said.

The former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, said on Thursday that he never received “a farthing from Dasuki or anybody else whatsoever” not to talk of a “phantom” N100 million as being circulated.

Chief George, who is also the Atona of Oodua, said this in his reaction to an online media report.

Speaking through his Political Adviser, Mr Uthman Sodipe, the PDP chieftain said the “libellous publication” was untrue and lacking in substance, declaring that he did not collect a farthing from Dasuki or anybody and never visited the former NSA throughout his tenure in office.

“Dasuki, of course, is very much alive to corroborate this position,” he said.

“Again, in its disdain for clarity and the truth, the grubby online outfit still refers to Chief Bode George as an ex-convict despite the fact that the man has been completely discharged and acquitted by the highest court in our land.”

6

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

7

Friday, 4 December, 2015

news Senate set to restrict online media operations 8

Taiwo Adisa and Ayodele Adesanmi -Abuja

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HE Senate, on Thursday, expressed its readiness to restrict operations of the social media groups in the country, while also investigating their activities over incorrect reportage.

The decision was sequel to a point of order raised by Senator Dino Melaye, who complained about what he called false and unjust publications by one of the online media organisations, Sahara Reporters, against the eighth Senate.

He noted that Sahara Reporters, an online outfit, had in recent times, engaged in a number of false publications against the Senate, maintaining that the Senate would not remain silent over what he referred to as negative aspersions on the eighth Senate.

According to him, “while I celebrate the social media as a major actor, this Senate should not be blackmailed or cowed because of the social media. They (online social media) are able to drag democracy into crisis by casting aspersions on the Senate.

“The Senate is a hallowed and sacred chamber. This can have a negative concomitant effect on democracy.

“They have commercialised their consciences, monetised their operations and are now tools used against perceived political enemies. This Senate must not, because of fear of blackmail, keep quiet.”

Senate Majority Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, sought

Friday, 4 December, 2015

to know if there were laws in place to checkmate the nefarious activities and operations of the online media organisations.

He noted that there were many other media houses that were equally guilty of incessant lies against politicians and other public figures, as he lamented that he had in the past been accused of buying 400 Golf Volkswagen cars for Boko Haram.

Ndume added: “It is getting so much out of hand.

It is not only the Sahara Reporters, there are many of them.

“People set up social media and start writing all sorts of things without being held responsible. We are a lawmaking body.

“We have the responsibility of holding people responsible. We need to stand up and look into this issue,” he said.

Deputy Minority Whip, Senator Biodun Olujimi, in her contribution, while acknowledging that social media was the best thing that had happened to Nigeria as a country, condemned the unruly behaviour of various social media.

She revealed that she was once attacked on the social media and added that it prompted her to close down all her accounts on the social media.

She reminded the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that it was among the biggest gainers from the social media.

“It (social media) has benefitted everybody; it has helped in our elections.

It is the best thing that has happened to us adding that “when we (Peoples Demo-

cratic Party) members were in the government, our party suffered from the attacks of the social media operators. The APC benefitted so much from the social media then.

“Today, it is the turn of your government to receive

the attacks from their activities, but castigating the entire Senate, we must do something against them,” she said.

The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, observed that accuracy was very important, saying that “a few

bad eggs are set to sabotage what goes on, on social media. We all agreed to support the freedom of speech.

“But as a Senate, we should not be blackmailed.

You can't write false stories just because it is social me-

dia,” said Saraki.

The Senate President later referred the motion to the Committees on ICT, Cyber Crime and Judiciary, as well as Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions and report back within four weeks.

Wike vs Peterside: Appeal Court reserves judgment Sunday Ejike -Abuja THE Abuja division of the Court of Appeal, on Thursday, reserved its judgment in the appeal brought by the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, asking it to set aside the judgment of the Rivers State Governorship Election Tribunal which nullified his election on October 24.

The appellate court took the decision after the adoption of written addresses by counsel for parties in the appeal.

In a notice of appeal filed on November 3 by his counsel, Mr Emmanuel Ukala, the governor raised 26 grounds of appeal upon which he sought to set aside the entire judgment of the tribunal.

But, during the course of hearing of the appeal, counsel for Dakuku Perterside and his political platform, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Akin Olujinmi and Yusuf Ali, respectively moved the court to strike out some paragraphs of the appeal on the ground that they did not flow from the decision of the tribunal.

The motion was vehemently opposed by counsel for the appellants, Emmanuel Ukala, Wole Olanikpekun and Onyechi Ikpeazu for Wike, PDP and the Independent National

Electoral Commission (INEC), respectively, who argued that the motion lacked merit and should be dismissed.

On his part, Wike's counsel challenged the competence of Peterside’s petition on the ground that it did not carry the stamp and seal of its lawyers, contrary to the directives issued by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) that all processes filed must carry the stamp and seal of counsel.

The issue generated heated debate between counsels, who made submissions citing various case laws to support their positions for and against it. The argument were further triggered by an oral application by Olujinmi for the court to allow him affix his stamp and seal on his processes.

On the main appeal, the lawyers dwelt mainly on the decision of the tribunal on hinging its decision on the failure to use of Card Reader during the conduct of the April 11 governorship election in the state.

While the appellant’s counsel argued that it was wrong for the tribunal to have relied on the failure to use the Card Reader to arrive at its decision, Peterside’s counsel said the tribunal’s decision was right under law, given INEC’s regulations on the use of

the Card Reader which the tribunal admitted as exhibit 308.

Besides, Peterside argued that the Card Reader was used to prove the fact that the total number of accreditation as released

by INEC, which conducted the election was less than the total number of voters in the disputed election.

After the adoption and arguments advanced with respect to other motions, the Court of Appeal announced that its judgment had been reserved.

In his appeal, Wike joined APC and its governorship candidate in Rivers State, Peterside, INEC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as respondents.

He asked the court to allow the appeal and to make an order setting aside the judgment/decision of the Rivers State Governorship Election Tribunal which sat in Abuja.

He further urged the Court of Appeal to make an “order striking out or dismissing the petition filed on May 3 by Peterside and the APC.” Wike, among other grounds, noted that the tri-

bunal erred in law, when it relied on hearsay and inadmissible evidence to nullify his election.

He added that the finding and conclusion of the tribunal was not supported by evidence before the court.

He also faulted the tribunal’s decision nullifying his election on the basis of Card Reader accreditation, even though the Electoral Act recognised manual accreditation.

The governor said: “The tribunal wrongly neglected, failed and refused to abide by and follow the binding decision of the Court of Appeal in APC vs Olujimi Agbaje: Appeal No CA/L/EP/ GOV./751A/2015 (unreported ) delivered on August 26, which was duly cited to it and, thereby, came to a wrong conclusion.”

He added that the petitioners at the tribunal failed to disclose any reasonable cause of action against the respondents and the tribunal failed to conduct a pre-trial conference after the removal of the first chairman, hence the tribunal erred in its judgment.

PDP holds national convention March 19 It is wrong—Okupe Dwindling oil price: World Bank supports Nigeria Sunday Ejike -Abuja

on alternative revenue sources Taiwo Adisa and Ayodele Adesanmi -Abuja WORLD Bank's Country Director in Nigeria, Dr Rachid Benmassoud, said on Thursday that the bank was already perfecting measures to help Nigeria out of its economic woes, in view of the dwindling revenues due to fall in oil prices.

The Country Director, who stated this in Abuja, while briefing members of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts on the state of the nation's financial cooperation with the World Bank, promised to communicate the debt profile of Nigeria to the

committee at a later date.

He noted that the country's indebtedness, compared to the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was very minimal, compared to those of other African countries.

Benmassoud informed that the global institution would partner with Nigeria in the areas of agriculture and mining, in order to generate alternative sources of funds that would be used to service its foreign loans and also fund public infrastructure.

The World Bank Country Director assured that the World Bank would support the country in the areas of security and unemploy-

ment, in an effort to bring governance closer to the people, saying “unemployment is inimical to growth and development. Human development can guarantee and drive development.

We are, therefore, assisting that the country should create a competitive domestic market because it will drive the much needed growth.”

He further said: “That is why necessary environment should be created by the government by facilitating access to financing and make investment climate that is conducive, because the private sector, whether local or foreign, should be part of the solution.

“The government should ensure transparency in its spending, because accountability is very important to enhance confidence that would support any effort aimed at getting the support of the people.”

He stated that agriculture was the best way to reach the poor, hence a number of activities was needed to bridge the gap in the allocation of resources to states from the federation account, disclosing that the states needed information about what they could do to diversify the economy towards the agricultural sector from the reliance on oil and gas, so that they could have a higher productivity.

THE National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has approved March 19, 2016 for the party's national convention.

This was contained in the timetable for the party's 2016 Chapter Congresses and National Convention, signed by PDP national publicity secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in Abuja, on Thursday.

According to the timetable, the party's Ward Congresses was scheduled for February 27, 2016, while the NWC also approved March 5, 2016 for the party’s local government area congresses.

The NWC also approved

March 12, 2016 for state congresses and March 16, 2016 for its zonal congresses.

Reacting to the development, former Special Adviser to the President on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe said it was wrong, adding that the PDP NWC had no power under the party constitution to convene a national convention.

“That power rests exclusively with the NEC of the party. The dates announced by the national publicity secretary, therefore, must have been in error and cannot stand.

“The NWC, with the approval of the acting national chairman should, therefore, call for a meeting of the NEC to formally begin the process,” he said.

9

Nigerian Tribune

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Edited By

Lagosmetro

Lanre Adewole

olanreade@yahoo.com

0811 695 4647

Show love to people living with disabilities, Ambode urges Nigerians Wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Mrs Bolanle Ambode on Thursday called on members of the public to show love and affection to people living with disabilities always, as they need peoples’ love affection and not sympathy.

Mrs Ambode, who stated this, through the wife of the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mrs Temitope Ayorinde on the occasion of the ninth International Day for Persons Living with Disabilities in Lagos State explained that people living with disabil-

Ongoing rehabilitation of Meiran/Ile-Iwe Road, Agbado/Oke-Odo by the Lagos State Government on Wednesday.

8 LAGBUS staff arrested for allegedly issuing fake tickets prosecuted

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AGBUS Asset Management Company, operators of Lagos Metropolitan Red Buses on Thursday said it had arrested eight of the company’s staff for allegedly issuing fake tickets to commuters.

Mr Tosin Alamu, Head of Enforcement Franchise Unit, LAGBUS, Ikorodu Wing, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Alamu said that over N17, 000 fake tickets were recovered from them during a recent monitoring exercise.

“We have given all our staffs training and warning since we realised that our sales were getting low. We realised that money is being siphoned through the back door; through the ticket vendors and the drivers,’’ Alamu said.

He said that to guard against the ugly trend, the management decided to increase the welfare, salaries and incentives of the officers of the fleet, including ticket vendors.

He said, “We held meetings with the drivers and the bus officers and warned them based on our findings. The management told them that an enforcement unit will be going round and anybody found with duplicate tickets will be arrested and prosecuted.”

Speaking on the fate of those arrested, he said, “These ones have been taken to court on Wednesday to serve as deterrent to others.”

Alamu explained that some of the offenders were caught for allegedly carrying passengers without issuing tickets to them, while some sold recycled tickets.

Meanwhile, an Ogudu Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, has slammed bail of N20, 000

each on the eight alleged offenders after they pleaded innocent.

The magistrate, Mrs Sule Amzat, ordered that the bail for the accused will be accompanied with two sureties each, whose addresses must be verified by the court.

She then, adjourned the case to January 26, 2016.

However, the prosecutor, Sergeant Lucky Ihiehie, gave the names of the accused as Olamide Abiodun, 25, Anthony Blessing, 20, Abolade Taiwo, 32 and Adebayo Olayemi, 25.

Dismissed Police Officer, 1 other arrested for vandalising manhole In a renewed effort to rid Lagos State of criminals, operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) on Thursday arrested a dismissed police officer and one other person for vandalising and stealing a manhole cover.

The suspect, Ernest Young (30), who co incidentally is a son of a retired Deputy Superintendent of Police, was arrested with his accomplice, Rasheed Tiamiyu, (20), on Eko Bridge around 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

Young hails from Yala Local Government in Cross Rivers and was arrested in possession of manhole covers, vandalised and stolen on Eko Bridge.

Young stated that, he and his accomplice trekked from Ijora Under-Bridge to Eko Bridge to steal the manhole cover. He explained that his accomplice, Tiamiyu, a primary school dropout introduced him into the crime, a claim Tiamiyu promptly denied, stressing that, “Young was the one who invited him into the crime. We steal the cover even when I protested that we leave it and

that was why the cover was found in his hand. The entire plan was his idea.”

Tiamiyu maintained that, “despite the fact that cover was very heavy, Young insisted in stealing it with the plan to resell it to scrap metal buyers the following day.”

‘Both of us work as load carriers in Ijora. We sleep in Ijora park. We had no money to feed ourselves

The manhole vandalism suspects

and he requested that we go to a party in Isale Eko, and that on our way we would pick up the manhole cover to sell to cart pushers,” Tiamiyu added.

Tiamiyu further stated that, he came from Plateau to Lagos in search of work but since he came to Lagos, he has been homeless and struggling to survive as well as living in parks and under bridges.

ities are part of the society and as such members of the public should believe in their abilities to progress and contribute meaningfully to the growth of the society.

“It is essential that we reassure people living with disabilities that they are part of the society and to believe in their abilities to order to progress and contribute meaningfully to the society.

They must never feel rejected or dejected but rather should always see themselves as unique and endowed people,” she noted.

other NEWS

Credible ID scheme, key to permanent voter registration exercise — Wike Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has said the ability of the country to put in place a credible national identity management scheme will put an end to frequent voter registration exercises.

He made this known while speaking with the Rivers State coordinator of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mrs Olubunmi Soyode, who paid him a courtesy call in his office in Port Harcourt, on Thursday.

The governor said “The role of NIMC is key to national development. If we are able to get a comprehensive and credible identity data base,

we will not need to continuous conduct voter registration,” he said.

The governor subsequently directed the Secretary to the Rivers State Government to liaise with NIMC in order for the state to collaborate with the commission for an improved service.

Meanwhile, Governor Wike has announced that his administration will commence the construction of rural and semi-urban roads across the state in January, 2016.

He said that by the time his administration completes the first term of four years, majority of Rivers communities would have been completely transformed the infrastructural base of the state.

Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi is the Special Guest of Honour at this year’s Pioneer Movement Iseyin (PMI) annual week, where renowned literary icon and former member, House of Representatives, Dr Wale Okediran would speak on the theme, ‘Education for Sustainable Development in Oke-Ogun: What must be Done.’

The annual week, which will be chaired by the Registrar, JAMB, Professor Dibu Ojerinde is aimed at charting a sustainable course for the Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State.

In a release signed by the Chairman, Organising Committee, Bolanle Azeez, events to be held during the week include the Ajibike Bisiriyu memorial football competi-

tion final on Friday, December 4; the Educational Development lecture; Scholarship Awards and handing over of the rehabilitated school on Saturday, December 5.

PMI is a socio-educational group comprising professionals from Iseyin and its environs formed with the primary objective of striving for educational development, social justice and poverty alleviation in Iseyin in particular and Oke-Ogun in general.

In its close to three decades of existence, the Movement has championed the cause of development of Iseyin community by organising regular economic, social, health, political and educational programmes to advance the cause of Oyo State, Oke-Ogun area and iseyin community.

DapoFalade-PortHarcourt

Ajimobi, Ojerinde, Okediran, others for PMI week

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news

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Kogi election should have been cancelled —INEC lawyers As court decides Wada, Faleke, Bello, others’ fate today Taiwo Adisa and Sunday Ejike - Abuja

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AWYERS to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have, in a legal opinion forwarded to the commission, asked it to cancel the inconclusive November 21 election in Kogi State.

The law firm of Awomolo and Associates, in the legal opinion submitted to the commission on November 24, 2015, said with the death of Abubakar Audu as the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), the electoral commission should have cancelled the election and started a fresh process.

The legal opinion, signed by five Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), Adegboyega Awomolo, A.B. Mahmoud, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, Hassan M. Liman and Ahmed Raji, indicated that the crisis over the inconclusive election could have been averted if INEC had countermanded the election and kicked off a fresh process.

The lawyers said in the 10-page letter that since the constitution did not envisage the death of a candidate during an election and since no candidate had been duly elected, the commission should have simply cancelled the entire process.

According to the lawyers, the Kogi scenario had failed to meet the conditions under Section 179 of the 1999 Constitution and also failed to meet the circumstances contained in Section 36 of the Electoral Act 2010, which indicated what was to be done if a candidate dies before the commencement of polls.

“The foregoing frontally deals with a situation where poll had not been commenced. This section did not anticipate a situation where poll had commenced but was not concluded.

“Though it may be argued that the section is not on all fours with the present case, it could, however, be

contended that for the reason that ‘poll’ is yet to take place with respect to the polling units over which supplementary election is scheduled (which is yet to commence), the principle within that section could still be applicable.

“If the latter scenario is adopted, then, clearly, there will be a need to countermind the poll and indeed the entire process cancelled.

“The foregoing is supported by a combined effect of sections 178(1) (1),186,187(1) of the Constitution, which stipulate that there must be a candidate for the office of a governor as well as a candidate for the office of a deputy governor before a nomination can be valid,”

the letter read.

The counsel concluded that the way out for INEC was to cancel the inconclusive poll.

“We are of the opinion that the best option in the circumstances is to countermand the election to the office of the governor of Kogi State, call for a nomination of another governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress and schedule another date for election in all the 21 local government areas of the state,” they added.

Meanwhile, all is now set for Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court in Abuja, to deliver judgment on the contentious issues that emanated from the November 21,

HUNDREDS of women protesters, on Thursday, stormed the Kogi State secretariat of the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) to protest against the resolve of the commission to conduct a supplementary election in the state tomorrow.

The women, who were clad in black attire, also ex-

highest number of votes in the election, James Faleke, on the other hand is also, asking the court to order INEC to declare him winner of the election.

Other plaintiffs in consolidated suits, Emmanuel Idakwo, John Jacob Usman and Honourable Emmanuel Igbokwe had, in their various suits, asked the court to compel the electoral body to contact fresh election in the state following the death of Alhaji Abubakar Audu, the governorship candidate of the APC in the election.

In canvassing their various arguments, counsel for INEC, Yahaya Bello and the APC submitted that the court has no jurisdiction to adjudicate on the issues raised by the plaintiff, say-

Bayelsa poll: INEC dispatches election materials to LGs •We are prepared —Police •NSCDC deploys 10,000 personnel Ebenezer Adurokiya - Yenagoa

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HEAD tomorrow’s governorship election in Bayelsa State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has begun dispatching materials for the election to the eight local government areas of the state.

The materials include ballot papers, results sheets and incident forms.

They were arranged in the strong room of INEC before they were transferred into a waiting truck by electoral officers to their various destinations.

However, a mild drama almost disrupted the exercise at exactly 10:00 a.m. as the keys to open the strong room could not be found.

Party agents were begging to express misgivings with arms akimbo before the keys were eventually found.

The resident electoral commissioner, Mr Baritor Kpagir, who spoke to journalists during the dispatch of materials, expressed satisfaction over the pre-election exercise.

Meanwhile, barely 72 hours to the Bayelsa gover-

norship poll, the state police commissioner, Nasiru Oki, has called on all Bayelsans to play by the rules and shun violence before, during and after the elections.

He made the call at the police headquarters in Yenagoa, while speaking with journalists on Thursday.

Speaking further, he assured the citizens of the police’s preparedness in tackling the threat posed by ex-militants, and that the

pressed their displeasure over the decision of INEC to declare the November 21 election inconclusive.

The protesters were said to have besieged the INEC office located on marine road, Lokoja as early as 10 a.m. and blocked the main entrance to the expansive building.

Displaying placards with different inscriptions condemning the action of the

14,000 troops drafted from other states by the Inspector General of police, would contribute immensely to the success of the election.

Meanwhile, the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, has given concrete assurance to the people of Bayelsa State that the gubernatorial poll will be very peaceful.

Gana made this assertion

at the Corps National Headquarters, Abuja when he disclosed that 10,000 personnel have been deployed to provide security before, during and after election.

According to the NSCDC helmsman, three Deputy Commandant Generals, four Assistant Commandant Generals, a host of Commandants, officers and men and sniffer dogs would be on hand to ensure a hitchfree poll on Saturday.

Sylva’s absence at debate, fear of defeat —PDP He was busy at campaign tour —APC From Ebenezer Adurokiya and Austin Ebipade THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the fear of defeat made the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva, to boycott the public debate held on Wednesday, in Yenagoa.

The PDP’s Director of Publicity and Media, Jonathan Obuebite, said this in a statement made available to journalists, in Yenagoa.

Obuebite stated that Sylva’s absence at the public debate organised by the

Kogi: Women protest against supplementary poll Yinka Oladoyinbo - Lokoja

2015 governorship election in Kogi State, which was declared inconclusive by the INEC. At the resumed hearing of the matter on Thursday, counsel for all parties adopted and argued their various briefs for and against the decision of INEC to proceed with the December 5, 2015 supplementary election.

The court also heard arguments from counsel on the burning issues with respect to declaratory reliefs sought by the contending politicians and their political parties.

Specifically, while Governor Idris Wada is urging the court to compel INEC to issue him a certificate of return as the only surviving candidate with the

commission, the women vowed not to vacate the premises until INEC reverse its decision on the election.

However, as the women protested and displayed their placards, a detachment of policemen drafted to the scene kept close watch to forestall breakdown of law and order and ensured that the protest did not go out of hand.

Nigerian Elections Debate Group (NEDG) was a further confirmation of his disdain and lack of respect for the people of the state.

But in a swift reaction, the spokesperson of APC campaign organisation, Nathan Egba, while tendering apology to Bayelsans for the absence of Sylva, said the candidate was held back at a campaign tour at Odoni and Agbere communities in Sagbama Local Government Area, as earlier scheduled by the party.

Egba also claimed that Chief Sylva had also earlier expressed his reservation in having a close contact with Governor Seriake Dickson because of his aggressiveness in an earlier debate hosted by a private radio station in Yenagoa.

He said Sylva’s absence was not in any way designed to undermine the collective interest of the people.

The PDP’s spokesperson, Obuebite, in his statement, insisted that Sylva had no tenable reason for boycotting the crucial debate ex-

cept that he was afraid of defeat at the Saturday’s election.

“The organisers of the event had officially invited all the governorship candidates and all of them accepted to attend, but it is disheartening that Sylva failed to show up.

“Most of his supporters, including party chieftains arrived the venue before the commencement of the programme and waited patiently for his arrival, but 30 minutes after the flag off of the debate, it dawned on them that, their candidate in his habitual way would not show up,” he noted.

Deridingly, Honourable Obuebite said, the debate would have afforded Sylva the opportunity to showcase his vision and competence to move the state forward, if elected, but missed the opportunity.

He added that Chief Sylva lacked the capability to grapple with the dynamics of governance, adding that, that was a major reason he could not perform as expected at his first coming as governor of the state.

ing that the appropriate court is the election petition tribunal.

On the other hand, Falake’s counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun, Pius Akubo for PDP and Chris Uche for Captain Wadadisagreed on the ground that since no candidate had been declared winner, the matter could not be heard by the election petition tribunal.

After hearing submissions of counsel in the protracted suits, the trial Judge, Justice Kolawole, slated today for judgment.

Why I am seeking re-election —Dickson

GOVERNOR Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has said that he was seeking reelection to consolidate on his first term achievements and called on the people of the state to turn out en masse and vote for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that can deliver the dividends of democracy.

Governor Dickson said the people had the opportunity to vote for peace and security, pointing out that his record of service is before them, just as the antecedents of the APC candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, are known by all.

Warning the youths against being used to foment trouble during the election, the governor said his administration was closely monitoring the activities of some people in the state, stressing that anybody caught in perpetrating criminal activities, including cloning of permanent voter cards, use of fake card readers and other related offences would be prosecuted in accordance with the Electoral Act. Rolling out his programmes for the civil servants and pensioners, the governor said in spite of the huge allocation received by Chief Sylva while in office, he left behind huge unpaid pension arrears.

He said that, his administration would proffer lasting solution to the clearance of pension arrears that is now over N10bn, adding that, Sylva created the problem.

He added that, if given the chance for a second term in office, his administration would concentrate on capacity building, which includes training and re-training of workers as well as provision of low cost housing and implementation of the civil service health insurance scheme.

businessnews Our partnership with customs’ll reduce fake imports by 15% —SON 11

Akin Adewakun-Lagos

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TANDARDS Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has expressed optimism that its partnership with the Nigerian Customs Service would reduce importation of fake and substandard goods by 15 per cent in the first quarter of 2016.

Disclosing this while receiving a donation of a commemorative plaque and laboratory equipment from Intertek in Lagos on Thursday, the Director-General of the organisation, Dr Joseph Odumodu, stated that the organisation would continue to partner well-meaning organisations in its bid to ensure that the nation’s markets are rid of fake and sub-standard goods.

While expressing his delight at the partnership with Intertek for the past one decade, the SON boss added that the donation of the science equipment would go a long way in assisting the regulatory agency in its fight against fake products, while preventing the Nigerian consumers from being exposed to potentially unsafe products.

Odumodu said the Intertek’s gestures would ensure improved compliance to Nigerian standards, adding that the agency was

DMO to sell N50bn worth of bonds Dec 9 THE Debt Management Office (DMO) has said it will raise N50 billion worth of bonds in two categories on Dec. 9.

The DMO disclosed this in its ‘Bond Circular’ posted on its Website on Thursday.

According to the circular, the two categories of bonds are the 10-year and fiveyear bonds.

The DMO said that it would issue N20 billion worth of the 10-year bonds and N30 billion of the fiveyear bonds.

It said the two categories of bonds would mature in March 2024 and February 2020, respectively.

The DMO said that the two categories of bonds would open with different coupon rates. ``The 10-year and fiveyear bonds would have coupon rates of 11.85 per cent and 11.73 per cent, respectively.’’

It said that the bonds would be auctioned on Dec. 9, while the settlement date would be Dec. 11.

Friday, 4 December, 2015

looking forward to success as the partnership reached its 10th anniversary.

Presenting the plaque to

the SON DG, Director of Business Development, Intertek Government and Trade Services, Lena At-

mani, explained that the decision of the company to donate the laboratory equipment to the agency

was informed by the need to assist the agency in combating the import of substandard and counterfeit

Nigerian Tribune

goods to the country.

According to him, the company, which had been certified by SON to issue necessary certification to exporters to meet the requirements of the programme, had been a SON Conformity Assessment partner also known as an Independent Accredited Firm (IAF) since SONCAP’s inception.

12 finalists compete for N2.25m UBA educational grants Kehinde Akinseinde-Jayeoba -Lagos

From left, Ambassador, Embassy of Ireland in Nigeria, Sean Hoy; Chairman, Guinness Nigeria, Mr Babatunde Savage; Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine, Mr Simon Coveney TD and Managing Director/CEO, Guinness Nigeria PLC, Mr Peter Ndegwa, during a courtesy visit to Guinness Nigeria by Irish Minister, on Wednesday. PHOTO: ALABA IGBAROOLA.

MTN Nigeria CEO, regulatory officer resign as NCC slashes fine to $3.4bn

By Bode Adewumi

IN what may be a backlash of the fine imposed on MTN Nigeria by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Chief Executive Officer of the company in Nigeria, Mr Michael Ikpokia has reportedly resigned his appointment.

Also,the Head of Regulatory and Corporate Affairs, Mr Akinwale Goodluck has also reportedly tendered his resignation with immediate effect.

The MTN Group in a statement signed by the Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Phuthuma Nhleko, said it has

reviewed its operating structure with a view to strengthening operational oversight, leadership, governance and regulatory compliance across its 22 country operations in Africa and the Middle East.

Also, the MTN Group in another statement, announced that the NCC has reduced the fine imposed on it in October, saying the authorities have issued them with a letter reducing the fine from $5.2 to $3.4 billion. It added that it is still in the process of considering this and following due processes internally.

The statement conse-

quently said that the MTN Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Michael Ikpoki had tendered his resignation with immediate effect.

It said that the Head of Regulatory and Corporate Affairs, Mr Akinwale Goodluck also tendered his resignation with immediate effect.

The group’s statement said that Ikpoki was replaced by Mr Ferdi Moolman as MTN Nigeria CEO, while Goodluck was replaced with Mrs Amina Oyagbola, as its Head of Regulatory and Corporate Affairs.

World Bank, NPA partner to curtail HIV/ AIDS spread Tola Adenubi-Lagos

THE Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), in partnership with the World Bank, has commenced its sensitisation programme on prevention of HIV/AIDS among ports users and other maritime stakeholders.

The sensitisation campaign tagged ‘Getting to Zero’, which held at the Tin Can Island Port Complex, saw truck drivers, freight forwarders, food vendors and truck owners, among others, all in attendance for the free HIV/AIDS test.

The Committee Chairperson, Dr Comfort Datong, reiterated that it was important for stakeholders to know their HIV/AIDS status, adding that everyone

was prone to the dreaded infection.

According to her, the campaign was borne out of the fact that “we don’t want to hear of any cases of HIV/AIDS again and we want no more discrimination by operators in the maritime sector and we don’t want to record cases of death anymore.”

Datong further explained that the programme seeks to reduce obstacles to trade and transport at the port, pointing out that the free test for operators in the maritime industry would create an enabling environment for the sector.

“If people get to know their status, they will be referred to the various centres where they will be

taken care off. They will be given free medication that will help them to live long, if they have such infection and they will live normal and healthy life,” she said.

Apart from the free test carried out for stakeholders, male and female condoms were distributed to those who attended, as part of measures to prevent infection.

She said that the World Bank was part of the programme through the NGO to sensitise maritime operators on the virus and the NPA collaborated with the Abidjan Lagos Corridor (ALCO) in staging the campaign.

“Knowing your HIV status is the first step in preventing the spread of the virus.”

Moolman, it said was previously the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at MTN Iran cell and most recently, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at MTN Nigeria.

The statement said that Oyagbola retained the position of MTN Nigeria’s Head of Human Resources, in addition to heading regulatory affairs at the Nigerian operating company.

It said that the search for the MTN group’s CEO was underway and remained a priority.

“The group has resolved to re-implement its previous reporting structure.

“MTN group would restructure into three regions, namely West and Central Africa (WECA), South and East Africa (SEA), and Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

“To support this structure, MTN has made a number of senior appointments,’’ the statement noted.

The statement said that the MTN group’s leadership structure was also reviewed, adding that effective December 1, 2015, Ms Jyoti Desai would assume the new position of Group Chief Operating Officer (COO).

It added that Desai, who is based in Johannesburg and has 14 year working experience at MTN, would report to the Executive Chairman, Mr Phuthuma Nhleko.

The statement disclosed that two regional vice presidents had been appointed to report to the Executive Chairman.

UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has announced the names of the 12 finalists for the 2015 edition of its National Essay Competition (NEC).

The finalists emerged after a rigorous appraisal of entries for the annual competition which opened on September 30, 2015.

The Foundation received about 3,500 entries for the UBAF NEC 2015 edition from students of senior secondary schools all over Nigeria, representing a 50 per cent increase over 2014.

The entries were reviewed by a panel of judges made up of professors from reputable Nigerian Universities, who shortlisted the 12 best essays.

The 12 finalists are Ayomide Omole; Udochukwu Melvin Okonkwo; Emediong Uduak Uko; Jonathan Favour; Obiabunmo Precious and Starish UgieOritse-Ete Enonuya. Others are Comfort Macaulay Uwem; Dada Oluwatobi Joshua; Osagiede Omosefe; Olaoye Promise Oluwatobiloba; Eze Ugochinyere Golden and Peter G Okon.

Ijeoma Aso, the Managing Director/CEO of UBA Foundation, said, “Three best essays will be selected from the 12 finalists who will now write a supervised essay at UBA House this weekend.”

The first prize for the UBA National Essay Competition is a N1 million educational grant for the winner to study in any African university of his or her choice. The second and third prizes are N750,000 and N500,000 educational grants respectively.

Meanwhile, three brilliant students have already emerged as winners in the 2015 UBA Foundation National Essay Competition in Ghana.

12

businessnews

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Reps to investigate sale of NITEL, MTEL to NATCOM

T

he House of Representatives on Thursday, mandated its committees on Telecommunication and Privatisation to investigate the liquidation and take over of Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL) and Mobile Telecommunications (MTEL) by NATCOM. The House gave eight weeks deadline for the committees to report back to it the outcome of their investigation for further legislative action.

The mandate followed a motion sponsored by Rep. Henry Nwawuba (ImoPDP), which was unanimously adopted by members through voice vote.

Moving the motion, Nwawuba said that since the sale and subsequent take over of the two companies by NATCOM, there had been lots of controversies.

He said that there were issues of alleged under valuation of the two telecoms

companies before they were sold to NATCOM. Nwawuba expressed concern that in spite their huge revenue potential and ability to generate employment for the teeming unemployed citizens, MITEL and NITEL were not made to work.

He said there was the need to resolve the issues surrounding the sale and take over of the two companies by NATCOM. Contributing to the debate, Rep. Egwu Emmanuel (Kogi-PDP), stressed the need for members to support the investigation

into the sale of the telecommunications outfits to maximise the resources of the country.

He also stressed the need for the federal government to have its own telecommunication company.

Emmanuel noted that though privatisation was

CONTEC Agro launches N20bn agric project in Nigeria Nigeria’s agricultural rebirth has received a major boost with the successful trial of inputs that breathe life into depleted soils, shorten the period between breeding and harvest of crops and livestock, as well as resist the incursion of pests.

This is part of an ambitious N20 billion worth project launched by CONTEC Global Agro Limited to develop and deploy biofertiliser, bio-stimulants, soil biological conditioners and similar innovations intended to reinvent farming cultures through improved soil fertility and improved production of crops and livestock.

The products, developed by globally spread experts in agricultural innovations, are currently being used at pilot farms across the country.

Chairman/President, CONTEC Global, the parent body of CONTEC Global Agro Limited, Dr Benoy Berry, who disclosed this in an interview, said the project had reached advanced stage with remarkable results from farms in Lagos, Kaduna, Niger, Benue and the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja).

“We are commencing a comprehensive agricultural programme for Africa that would be executed through series of innovative strategies. Of course, Nigeria is priority. So we are starting here.

“One of such is the biofertiliser project, which basically aims to increase the fertility of the soil, shorten crop production timeline and improve on quality of harvests and produce.”

From left, Chief Executive Officer, Ginger Box, Mr Kunle Jinadu; Co-Founder/Tech-Lead, PassNG, Mr Joshua Adebagbo; Regional Manager, West Africa, WeChat, Mr Idemudia Dima-Okojie; Customer Service Manager, PayLater, Mr Habila Musa-Luka and Co-founder, TracList, Mr Balogun Emoto, after a press conference to announce the WeChat partnership with start-up companies in Lagos, on Thursday. Photo: Sylvester Okoruwa.

Panic grips port workers as NPA sacks 500 Tola Adenubi, Lagos

Indications are rife that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) may have sacked 500 workers from its payroll. This is even as the agency stated that they are not its direct workers but contract workers.

According to findings, NPA was said to have secretly pencilled about 500 of its workers for sack. However, when contacted, the General Manager, Public Affairs, NPA, Captain Ebubuegou Iheanacho, stated that the cry over sack of workers by the NPA could not be unconnected from the planned termination of the contract the agency has with dockworkers at the seaport.

“You know we have told the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) that we will not be renewing the contract we have with the dockworkers once it lapses.

“I am sure the report that we sacked 500 workers is connected to that planned termination of our contract with the dockworkers. It is a propaganda aimed at making the NPA change its mind. We have not sacked any of our workers and we are not planning to do that in the nearest future,” he stated.

It would be recalled that the NPA has pledged to ensure all outstanding payment owned tally clerks and on board security were

paid before the expiration of their contract in December 15th, 2015 to avert future threat of shutting down port operations.

Executive Director, Marine and Operations, NPA, David Omonibeke, stated this recently after a closed door meeting with the representatives of the Federal Ministry of Transport, NASC, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria and other stakeholders.

“As a confident ports authority, we are still keeping to our words that as the bills are being processed they are being paid and NPA will still do all it can within its reach to ensure that before the December 15th, most of the outstanding bills are pro-

iSON inaugurates call centre, employs 2,000 in Ibadan

By Bode Adewumi

Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, on Thursday, in Ibadan, commissioned an ultra modern customer care and skills development centre by iSON BPO, a world leading Customer Experience management conglomerate.

The governor, who was elated over the siting of the company in Ibadan, assured the organisation of the government’s support while calling on other investors to avail themselves of the peaceful atmosphere and the level of infrastructural development that dot the landscape of the state

to do business in the Pace Setters state.

Speaking with reporters, the Group Chief Executive Officer of iSON BPO, Mr Pravin Kumar, said the company has on its employ about 4,000 Nigerian youths, and that 2,000 of these are in Ibadan, stressing that by March 2017, a 20,000 workforce was being targeted to reduce the unemployment rate in the state and the country in general.

Kumar said the company was committed to investing in Nigerian infrastructure as well as human capacity development with the long term benefits of

creating large scale employment and engendering indirect local employment opportunities as well.

Kumar pointed out that due to its effective management of Airtel’s Call Centre, which is based in Ibadan, that MTN Nigeria also decided to outsource its Call Centre operation to iSON. He said the commissioned facility has the latest technology and is comparable to any of its contemporary worldwide and is one of the four new call centres that iSON is setting up in Nigeria, namely Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ilorin and Kano.

aimed at making the operations of the companies efficient, the reverse had been the case since they were sold to NATCOM. Rep. Leo Ogor, the Minority Leader, expressed optimism that the investigation would reveal the true position in the sale of MITEL and NITEL. Meanwhile, the House Committee on Public Petitions has adjourned till Dec. 9 and 10 its investigative hearing on alleged corruption charges preferred against Mr Danladi Umar, Chairman, Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

“In the spirit of fairness, it will be best if the petitioner is present to either defend or substantiate the evidence against him,” Chairman of the committee, Rep. Uzoma Abonta (Abia-PDP) said while announcing the adjournment.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that a group known as Anti Corruption Network had petitioned the House on Nov. 10, alleging mismanagement of funds against the CCT Chairman.

•They are contract staff — Mgt

cessed and sorted out.

“The contract they have will be expiring December 15th and we have no plans to renew it. Government is making every effort to ensure that before the expiration of that contract, the right organization that will be responsible for such payment will be clearly stated.

“The objective of us having

this meeting today is due to conflicts in some of our concession port areas where we have stevedoring operating in those areas and we have had the issues of payment and who is responsible and we felt we should bring all the industry player under one umbrella to discuss the issues as it pertains to stevedoring operations,” he said.

Nsukka, Owerri and Aba rock again as Glo storms towns with shows The three Eastern cities of Nsukka, Enugu State, Owerri, Imo State, and the commercial city of Aba, in Abia State, will this weekend rock again as Globacom storms the towns with its flagship shows, the Glo Laffta Fest and the Glo Slide ‘n’ Bounce.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday, Globacom said that the three aforementioned cities “will be experiencing the best of entertainment for the second time in less than three weeks as we alternate the shows across the cities to delight our numerous subscribers in them”.

According to the statement, while the Glo Laffta Fest, a comedy show, will hold on Friday, December 4, at the Millipat Hotel, Nsukka, Owerri will play host to the Glo Slide ‘n’ Bounce, a musical concert, at the Imo International Conference Centre, on Saturday, December 5. Aba

will host the Laffta Fest show at Binez Hotel on Sunday, December 6.

“We have lined up the best of the nation’s comedians such as Basket Mouth, I Go Dye, Okey Bakassi, Funny Bone, I Go Save, Buchi, Headmaster, Acapella, Senator, AB Simple, Arinze Baba, Gordons, Bash and Gandoki for the Laffta Fest shows in Nsukka and Aba, while music stars such as Wizkid, D’banj, PSquare, Bez, Omawumi, Ego, Sammie Okposo, Burna Boy, Korede Bello, MI and Di’Ja will perform at the Slide ‘n’ Bounce concert in Owerri”, the statement added.

Globacom explained that the shows would hold in the cities to “usher our valued subscribers into the festive period in a very special way. We promise them a total and complete entertainment that will last in their memories for a long time to come”.

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Friday, 4 December, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

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tribunebusiness

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

Critical information is essential to business success —Oladejo

Owolabi Oladejo is the founder and president of Metropolitan Broadcasting Service, the multimedia organisation responsible for floating Impact Business Radio in Ibadan. In this interview with GBENGA OLUMIDE, he speaks about how the media can be used as a tool for economic rejuvenation, among other issues. Excerpts:

W

HAT is the idea behind setting up a business-focused radio station?

The whole idea is to use this medium to see what impact we can make in changing the society, in refocusing the society. We are coming with an assumption that an average human being wants to succeed.

We are of the assumption also that the limiting factors are always there. Critical is the value creation and information. If you don’t have appropriate information, whatever you are doing, you are limited. Whatever your ambition, you are limited.

Again, it still comes to the issue of the value to a function of the information that is available. So, I view this media as a tool to be used in assisting those who have the desire to succeed to achieve their desires.

When did you first get the vision to set up Impact Business Radio?

Sincerely, the vision did not start with the radio station. The ambition is just about me looking at myself and asking what I can do if I had the opportunity to change what is happening.

The truth is that I never thought of the media as a project. But I’ve always been driven by that single desire that very many people have problems out there, a lot of which are avoidable. With appropriate leadership and appropriate information, a lot of things can change. That is my personal belief. Being pushed with that type of a desire, all of a sudden, I asked myself, what if I enter into the media world.

For now, I can assume that Africa is the only continent that doesn’t have focused attention on business and entrepreneurship. Yes, we have seen business newspapers; I don’t know how well they are doing.

Again, we are not essentially readers and most of these media are already part of what is compulsory for you, unlike newspaper. It is not compulsory for anybody to read the newspaper, except they choose to.

But somehow, you are in the car, you tune your radio; you are in your house, you put on your TV. I realise that it is an opportunity for us to reshape the minds of people. It just occurred to me that this is a critical thing.

As a Yoruba man, I heard that even when Chief Obafemi Awolowo wanted to start his programmes, he didn’t forget the media.

He established the first television station in Africa. The South-West has always relied on information from the media. And that is what marks us out.

Why Ibadan, especially considering the fact that it is not known as a business hub?

I can prove you wrong. Part of what will make me prove you wrong is what this station will achieve. How come anybody will say that Ibadan is not a business hub?

Where did the industrialisation of Nigeria start from? It started from the South-West and when you talk of this region, you are talking about Ibadan. That is the notion we want to correct.

I agree with you; looking at it today, for those who are between 10 and 25 years of age, who never knew what really happened before. They may be thinking this is how

With appropriate leadership and appropriate information, a lot of things can change.

That is my personal belief. need to succeed: Business, Entertainment, Inspiration, News and the General things.

Those are our focuses of the decadent system has corrupted their own ambition. They have wrong ambitions.

What is your educational background?

Well, I am a Chartered Accountant. I have a technical background. I have been into engineering before.

Owolabi we’ve always been. We’ve not always been like this. This is the most industrialised environment in Nigeria. At some point, we were far better than many other hubs in the world in terms of economic activities.

With a lot of radio stations coming up, how do you intend to carve out a niche for yourself?

That is already done. I am not aware of any radio station in Nigeria, not to talk of Ibadan, which has the primary objective of promoting industrial and entrepreneurship drive.

Being the first of its kind, do you have any misgivings?

I am comfortable with something. Why should I habour any fear when I have a good team. I’ve been privileged to be encircled by the gurus in the business; people who, when they talk broadcasting in Nigeria, you should listen. I deliberately sought them out and I told them my mission. Luckily for me, they were able to embrace the mission.

What is the thrust of your programming?

We focused on what we call BEING. These are the things an average human being will

As an accountant, what informs your love for the media?

If you see the story of a man, you can know who he is. Maybe my story molded me like this. I give God the glory. It’s been tough in the past and each time I see any young boy or young girl out there, I get worried. If I don’t have the opportunities I had, maybe I would have been dead. So, somebody needs to give them the opportunity, somebody needs to give them the information. That’s all.

What are your projections for the next five years?

In the next five years, anybody who desires to succeed must tune in to Impact Business Radio. In the next five years, the question you want to ask your friend is, when last did you listen to Impact Business Radio?

Because on a daily basis, we will be doing things such that if you miss a minute, you should be calling somebody to tell you what you missed.

Anti corruption: Auditor-General appeals to NASS on audit law THE Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation has appealed to the National Assembly to pass the Audit bill into law to aid the fight against corruption in the public sector.

The Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr Samuel Ukura, made the call in Abuja on Wednesday at a retreat involving his office and the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly.

Ukura said there was need to amend the Audit Law made over 55 years ago and

which could no longer meet the needs of the time.

He said the bill was still pending in the National Assembly and added that a new law would ensure financial and administrative independence for the Office of the Auditor-General.

“To improve the quality of public governance in Nigeria, we need effective synergy between the work of my office and that of the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly.

“Since the return of parliamentary democracy in 1999, my office has submitted 14 annual audit reports to the National Assembly and none of it has seen the light of day.

“This needs to change because the opportunity for the executives to implement the report will not arise if it is not passed at the two chambers of the National Assembly,’’ he said.

He urged the Public Accounts Committees to play their roles in ensuring accountability and good governance.

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Friday, 4 December, 2015

eyesof islam Hajj stampede: The panacea

By Ishaq Akintola

T

HE whole world was shocked when, on Thursday 24 September, 2015, news filtered out that a large number of pilgrims had died in a stampede at Muna, Saudi Arabia, during the stoning of the devil. The death toll stood above 2,000 at the last count.

It was not the first time. Several pilgrims had died in hajj stampedes before. Yet, deaths in stampedes are not limited to Saudi Arabia alone.

Ninety-six football fans were trampled to death at Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield, England, during the FA Cup semifinal between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool after a wall collapsed during a stampede. This tragic event occurred in 1989.

Even America has had its own taste of stampedes occasioning high death tolls. In 2003, a stampede in New Jersey’s Station Nightclub resulted in 96 people dying after attempting to escape from a fire outbreak at the night club.

Mention must also be made of similar stampedes in India, particularly during Hindu pilgrimages. A stampede on September 30, 2008, at the Chamunda Devi Temple in Jodhpur, India, claimed over 224 lives. The Sabarimala stampede occurred on January 14, 2011, on Makara Jyothi Day at Pullumedu near Sabarimala in Kerala, India. It broke out during an annual pilgrimage, killing 106 Hindu pilgrims.

Back home in Nigeria, at least 28 Christian faithful were trampled to death on Saturday, November 3, 2013, during a stampede at the Holy Ghost Adoration Ground, Uke, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Nigerians will not forget Saturday, March 16, 2014, in a hurry as immigration officials picked that date to recruit new workers. Overcrowded stadia across the country caused simultaneous stampedes in Niger, Rivers, Gombe, Oyo, Oshun and Lagos states which resulted in the death of more than 18 applicants.

Did Satan play any part in hajj tragedies?

Some mischief makers have alleged that the Muna stampede occurred because Shaytan (Satan) decided to stone pilgrims as they were stoning him. This is false and baseless.

The data provided above proves that the devil played no part in hajj tragedies. It shows that stampedes cut across nations, races, colours, events and religions. The truth is that stampedes are sometimes a corollary of failure of crowd control tactics anywhere in the world, be it a political rally, a sports event or a religious gathering of Muslims, Christians, Bhudists, etc.

Therefore, those who laughed at Muslims over the tragedy in Muna missed the point. Those who alleged that Shaytan

(Satan the devil) decided to cast stones back at Muslims have short memories. If they had gone down memory lane they would have realised that stampedes have occurred in other places before and Bhudists, Christians, Confucians, Muslims, Americans, Britons, Ghanians, etc, have fallen victims in the past.

It is also clear from the above statistics that the death toll in stampedes depends largely on the number of people involved in the event. It is an open secret that hajj exercises attract the largest gatherings in the world. In the above examples of stampedes around the world, the death tolls were relatively proportionate to the size of the crowd attracted to the event.

For instance, 28 died out of about 100,000 people who were at the Holy Ghost Adoration Ground, Uke, Anambra State in 2013 while 18 died in the immigration stampedes across the country in 2014. The size of the crowds in each stadium could not have been more than 50,000. 350 Hindu worshippers also died out of a crowd of 300,000 at the Mandher Devi temple massacre mentioned above in 2005.

These cannot be compared to the extraordinarily large size of the mammoth crowds which are always involved in Saudi Arabia. That of 2015 was 2 million. In spite of the Saudi government’s decision to cut the number of pilgrims (20 percent from foreign pilgrims and 50 percent from Saudi citizens who apply for hajj) the country hosted 24.8 million pilgrims from all over the world over the past 10 years.

Should Muslims entertain fear about hajj?

A reporter from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) called hajj exercise a death trap after the 2015 tragedy. The question that comes to mind immediately is, “Should Muslims entertain fear about going on hajj?” This should not be so. True Muslims cannot and should not be afraid of the religious exercise because it is ordained by Allah and it is the fifth and last pillar of Islam.

Why should Muslims stop going for hajj because of the

Nobody can decide by himself where he would be born, who his or her parents will be, when and where he will die. Allah determines all these. This is the meaning of Qadar in Islam.

Saheed Salawu yinkadejavu@yahoo.com 0811 695 4643

stampede when ordinary football fans have not stopped going to the stadium after so many stampedes in different stadia around the world? Christians have not stopped attending crusades in spite of the deaths of many of them in religious stampedes. Neither have Bhudists called off their annual religious festivals despite losing thousands in past stampedes.

There also those who say, “Those pilgrims would not have died if they had remained in Nigeria.” We should remember that Islam has a fatalistic philosophy about life and death.

The Glorious Qur’an assures Muslims that even if some people decide to stay at home for fear of death, they will still die if they were destined to die around that time. “Say, even if you had remained in your homes, those for whom death was decreed would certainly have gone to meet their death” (Qur’an 3:154).

Again it says, “Wherever you may be, death will find you out, even if you are in towers built up strong and high” (Qur’an 4:78) and “Say, ‘that death from which you run will truly overtake you. Then you will be sent back to the Knower of things secret and open, and He will tell you the things that you did’” (Qur’an 62:8).

With verses such as those above, Muslims are strengthened to face the challenges in their religion. Islamic history is also replete with lessons on the inevitability of death. Nobody can run away from his destiny.

Nobody can decide by himself where he would be born, who his or her parents will be, when and where he will die. Allah determines all these. This is the meaning of Qadar in Islam.

Although the concept of Qadar should not be misunderstood as the need to sit down idly expecting manna from heaven, a Muslim must strive in this world and leave the rest to Allah. Avoiding hajj cannot prolong anybody’s life. Afterall some healthy people still died natural deaths or from accidents at home in Nigeria while pilgrims were on hajj.

The Saudi angle Even the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not want pilgrims to die in their land. This is why Saudi has taken giant strides in the past years to improve its infrastructure. Spaces are always being expanded particularly at the Haram. New hotels and better roads are constructed on an annual basis. Tunnels are dug at random to make way for roads.

Electricity supply is at its optimal performance. Saudi’s light does not blink for a second. Saudi authorities are committed to the provision of comfort for pilgrims. To further ensure the comfort of visitors to the kingdom, Saudi authorities have promised that bullet trains will transport pilgrims from Makkah to Madinah as from 2016 hajj.

Some people have alleged that the stampede occurred because a Saudi prince was casting stones at the devil. This is false, baseless and malicious. The video click provided is fake.

The Jamrah has an helicopter pad on its rooftops and dignitaries do not need to come by road. There is also an underground basement where dignitaries cast their stones. That video clip was not recorded during hajj. It is an attempt to smear Saudi’s reputation.

Concerning the allegation of discrimination against black pilgrims, I think we need to put our house in order. Black vicinities in Muna camp are the dirtiest because our people ignore sanitation rules. Our houses in Makkah and Madinah are another example. We take our dirty habits to Saudi and those people have understood us. We are the ones who need to change. Thousands of blacks also enter Saudi illegally.

Their quarters are the dirtiest in Makkah and Madinah. Do we blame Saudi for that too?

The way forward •Saudi Arabia should involve affected countries in the investigation of the 2015 hajj stampede.

•Saudi Arabia should invite Islamic scholars and Muslim leaders around the world to an international conference to discuss issues pertaining to hajj.

•In view of the fact that stampedes are common only at the jamaraat, Islamic scholars should boldly pontificate on the stoning exercise during hajj to determine whether or not there is need for a radical and pragmatic review of the exercise.

•Saudi hajj authorities should employ enough interpreters and translators in the major world languages (Hausa, Swahili, English, French and Chinese to assist pilgrims during the hajj season.

Source: Telly Dawah Embassy.

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Friday, 4 December, 2015

Oyo NUJ begins 2015 Press Week with Juma’at service THE Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo State Council, kicks off its 2015 Press Week today with a Juma’at service at the Central Mosque, Lemuck Barracks, Mokola, Ibadan.

The Oyo State council of the NUJ holds the Press Week annually to deliberate on topical national issues with a view to charting ways forward for the nation.

The chairman of the organising committee, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, said the theme of this year’s edition of the weeklong programme, “Nigeria Beyond Oil,” is in line with the Federal Government’s plan to diversify the economy.

Fuel scarcity: NACOMYO appeals to FG

New officers of the Muslim Assistance Association of Nigeria (MAAN), Alekusho\Oki branch, Ibadan, Oyo State, with the chairman of the association’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Alhaji AbdWahab AbdSalam (third right), after their inauguration at a ceremony, recently.

Al-Mu’minaat protests discrimination against Muslim women, girls

A

L-MU’MINAAT (The Believing Women) Organisation has criticised what it described as the discrimination and victimisation of Muslim women and girls in educational institutions.

The organisation, in a statement by its National Amirah, Hajia Nimotullah Abdul Lateef, lamented that the discrimination, harassment and victimisation of Muslim girls and ladies for dressing in conformity with their religious belief were targeted at discouraging them from publicly funded

educational institutions.

The group said the hijab (Muslim women’s scarf or head covering) does not prevent Muslim females from learning or interacting with their peers.

“It is sad that principals of public secondary schools in Lagos State would mete out punishments to innocent secondary school students for wearing the hijab above their uniforms outside school hours and the state’s ministry of education would not prescribe disciplinary actions against such principals and school administrators.

“More pathetic is that even soldiers and military personnel would physically assault Muslim ladies for wearing hijab during the NYSC orientation camp trainings.

“We demand for a law that protects the rights of women on hijab so that permitting them to reflect their faith is not dependent on the idiosyncrasies of individuals at the helm of affairs,” the group said.

It also said that “the ongoing orientation of the NYSC has thrown up cases of sisters being persecuted due to their refusal to wear the

trousers and baby-size head coverings.”

Al-Mu’minaat also made it clear that “the talk about security ‘risks’ was being addressed and sisters were cooperating by submitting to checks carried out by female security agents.”

According to the group, “terrorists use various means that the society can’t possibly do away with such as cars and even ordinary mufti. The society cannot go naked because some misguided men, women and children wear plain clothes in their nefarious activities.”

Hasten to help one another, MAAN tells Muslims

By Taibat Alimi

MUSLIMS have been urged to always hasten towards the aid of one another, especially in dire times, as a way of helping the cause of Allah.

A member of the Board of Trustees of the Muslim Assistance Association of Nigeria (MAAN), Alekusho\Oki branch, Ibadan, Oyo State, Alfa Tajudeen Idowu, made the plea during the inauguration of new officers as part of activities marking the branch’s 13th anniversary.

Idowu said it is incumbent upon all members of the Ummah to be their brother’s keeper so that the essence of being the best community of people on earth would not be lost.

According to him, it is necessary for the new officers of the branch to follow the injunctions of the Qur’an and teachings of Prophet Muhammad in order to achieve success in their assignment.

He also urged the members to work for the sustainability of MAAN. The immediate past branch chairman of MAAN, Alfa Idris Muhammadul Awwal, in a speech, highlighted the challenges and successes

during his tenure and commended the efforts of the generality of members at ensuring the continuity of the association.

He urged the members to cooperate with the new officers and help them in taking the branch to the next level.

At the event, the association’s financial report for 2014\2015 (Hijrah 1437AH) was presented by the immediate past financial secretary, Kamaldeen Bamidele, and members were thereaf-

ter given their dividend.

Members of the immediate past executive council and the new executive members from the branch and other zones were presented with gifts.

Chairman of the association’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Alhaji AbdWahab AbdSalam, in his speech, praised the leaders and members of MAAN Alekusho\Oki branch for their efforts through the years, while also tasking the new

executive to be up and doing.

The new branch chairman of MAAN, Alfa Sarafadeen Opeyemi, who was the Public Relations Officer, called for the cooperation of all members so that the new officers could succeed in their tasks.

According to him, the new executive plans to build a complex for the branch, engage members more actively and ensure accountability which, he said, is one of the objectives of the association.

Gov pledges more competitions to boost religious knowledge Adamu Amadu -Dutse

THE Jigawa State governor, Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar, has promised to introduce more competitions on Islamic religious knowledge, in addition to the annual Qur’an recitation competition.

The governor, who made the promise in Dutse, at the 30th edition of the state’s Qur’an recitation competition, said the introduction of the additional contests was

aimed at boosting the knowledge of the youth in particular as regards Islam, in all the ramifications of the religion.

Governor Abubakar stated that if the general public, especially the youth, had access to sound religious education, the economic and security challenges in the country and, indeed, the world would be ameliorated.

He reiterated his commitment to the success of the ongoing Qur’an recitation competition and appealed

to the judges to be fair to the competitors.

In her welcome address, the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hajiya Rabi Ishaq Hussaini, said 324 male and female students were participating in the competition.

Hajiya Hussaini explained that 12 students were drawn from each of the 27 local government areas of the state, having emerged winners in similar competitions at the local level.

THE National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations (NACOMYO) has appealed to the Federal Government to speed up the revolution being carried out in the downstream sector of the economy to ameliorate the hardship being experienced by Nigerians as a result of persistent fuel scarcity.

In a statement by its National President, Alhaji Kamal’ddin Akintunde, the apex Muslim youth group opined that the corrective measures being taken in the sector should make Nigerians have utter access to petroleum products, especially petrol.

While stating that a holistic reform would address the issue of subsidy, whether it should be sustained or removed, NACOMYO argued that Nigerians should not be made to suffer in the midst of plenty.

Also, the group decried epileptic power supply, lamenting that adequate energy provision remained a mirage in the country.

It enjoined the government to step up reforms that would guarantee constant power supply to Nigerians before talking of electricity tariff, stating that the proposed increase in electricity tariff was not agreeable to Nigerians as energy supply to homes remained irregular.

NACOMYO noted that the privatisation initiative should be result-yielding, charging the electricity distribution companies to brace up and justify the initiative in the interest of the economy and Nigerians.

Moreover, the Muslim youth body said the practice of true federalism and rule of law, premised on constitutional provisions, would guarantee social and economic well-being, just as it enjoined the three tiers of government to be workers-friendly by giving them their due promptly, correctly and accurately.

It called for greater efficiency and high productivity on the part of the labour force, just as it opined that the call for minimum wage increase should be in tune with economic realities.

Meanwhile, NACOMYO has congratulated the new president of the League of Imams and Alfas in the South West, Edo, Delta States, Sheikh Jamiu Bello Kewulere, on his turbaning, asking him to sustain the unity of the Nigerian Ummah (Muslim community) by working with the leadership of the Ummah under Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).

The group also enjoined the cleric to work towards unification of Muslim elites and the orthodox for advancement and progress of Islam and Muslims.

Be patient with Buhari, cleric urges Nigerians Biola Azeez –Ilorin

NIGERIANS have been urged to be patient with the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in its efforts to restore the glory of Nigeria.

Renowned scholar and Mudiru-l- Markaz Arabic Institute, Agege, Lagos, Sheik Habeebullah Abdullahi Al-Ilory, made the appeal in Ilorin, at the wedding ceremony of the daughter of the Chief Press Secretary to Kwara State governor, Alhaji Oba AbdulWahab.

The scholar noted that six months was not enough for Buhari to “right the wrongs” of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) 16-year rule.

He said Nigerians needed to be patient to experience the ‘change’ they voted for during the last general election.

Al-Ilory also emphasised the need for Nigerians to support the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, noting that the contribution of the National Assembly is crucial to the success of the executive arm of government.

He particularly enjoined the people of Ilorin to give Saraki maximum support “because he (Saraki) is our ambassador in government. He has been tested and trusted and, therefore, deserves the support of all.”

17

Friday, 4 December, 2015

M

Y friend, Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran turned 70 a little over one month ago. Tunde Adeniran means many things to many people. Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran is a fine gentleman. Anyone that falls in his company will always like him and wish to remain with him. I have known ‘Tunde since 1954 (over 60 years ago).

‘Tunde is from Orin Ekiti about three miles from Ifaki Ekiti and about three miles from Ido Ekiti (Ido Faboro).

We became close friends and with thanks to God have remained very close since 1954.

You cannot but like Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran. He is ever close to his friends and he never wavers in his support for whatever principle, cause or opinion they hold. ‘Tunde is an intellectual of a fine breed. He had cause to move out of the University of Ibadan in his undergraduate days. Clearly and without any fuss withdrew from the university and he moved to the United States of America to complete his studies. He went to study at the University of Columbia, New York. He did not only succeed in finishing his Bachelors degree in Political Science, he ended up netting his Ph.D degree in the same discipline. ‘Tunde Adeniran later returned to U.I to become not only an established lecturer in Political Science but he ended up being a top rated intellectual as an authority in Political Science. I say it with pride that my friend ‘Tunde Adeniran is today an authority in political science. Fearless in his intellectual commentaries over men, matters and events of African politics, Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran commands respect and recognition in his professorial duties.

I remember Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran’s contributions to the media debates of the purge or retirement bogey that attended the Murtala Mohammed/Obasanjo retirements of Public Officers in Nigeria in 1975 and 1976 after the coup against General Yakubu Gowon during those interesting years.

Many public servants were sent out of their civil service jobs during those hard but interesting years. The Sunday Times of Nigeria of that time had to come out with an article written by ‘Tunde Adeniran and sent down from America to caution against arbitrariness in the retirements that were being announced left, right and centre by the military regime.

‘Tunde had written in very fine language the following remarks on the purge issue:“Don’t cut down the green trees when the dry ones are still standing”. The ‘Tunde Adeniran article immediately opened the eyes of Nigerians on the mass retirements.

Our friend Gbolabo Ogunsanwo, then the Editor of the popular Sunday Times conspicuously displayed the ‘Tunde Adeniran article. I say it with sadness and sorrow in my heart that beautiful intellectual minds of Nigeria were programmed out of the public service by the mass retirements.

‘Tunde is equally today without doubt one of the colourful politicians of his country Nigeria. During the second republic in Nigeria, Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran featured in the political activities of the then Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) founded and led by the Avatar of our time the late Papa Obafemi Awolowo. ‘Tunde was at that time a functioning lecturer of the Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan.

‘Tunde became the Co-ordinator of the UPN intellectual forum in Nigerian universities.

As the then National Director of Organisation of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), ‘Tunde Adeniran was the Secretary of the UPN intellectual group. The group had organised primaries for gubernatorial, senatorial and other elective positions within the party at that time. He did the job well. I remember Professor Eric Fayemi, Professor Funsho Akingbade and others too numerous to mention in the UPN intellectual group in the second republic politics.

The UPN party primaries in the old Ondo State, old Bendel State, and the old Oyo State were all handled by the intellectual group under the effective control of Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran. The intellectuals spent their own money and made large scale contributions that cannot be easily forgotten by the progressive politicians of the UPN School in Nigeria those days.

When the General Ibrahim Babangida two party system came in the early 90s, Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran was among those who mobilised intellectual opinion in favour of the left of centre party the Social Democratic Party. While the SDP was led by Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, the right of centre Party, (the National Republican Convention) was led by Architect Tom Ikimi. ‘Tunde was counted with the LEFT in Nigerian politics those interesting times. One can say in all confidence that Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran has never wavered in his support for progressive political groups in Nigerian politics. IBB’s MAMSER programme was coordinated and led by Professor Jerry Gana and Professor Tunde Adeniran.

In this current political dispensation, Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran has been in consistent support of the PDP. We will have cause to return to ‘Tunde’s PDP days in this piece later.

The literary contributions of ‘Tunde Adeniran to Nigeria’s socio-political life are quite appreciable. ‘Tunde Adeniran’s

With

Ebenezer Babatope

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Professor Tunde Adeniran at 70

•Professor Tunde Adeniran

prolific writings have gone a long way to let people know his exact feelings on issues. Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran is an authority on the literary life and times of “Bros Kongi,” Professor Wole Soyinka. ‘Tunde Adeniran’s writing has equally manifested in his ability to use writing to compliment his historic adventures in politics for posterity. Since the PDP started in Nigeria in 1999, ‘Tunde has been a Federal Minister of Education. He has been an Ambassador of Nigeria to the Republic of Germany. He had tried to be a gubernatorial candidate in old Ondo and Ekiti states.

One thing that can be said as a minor defect of Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran’s beautiful career is the fact that that he is a very “stubborn” character. Once ‘Tunde has made up his mind on issues, it is very difficult to move him out of his strong position on such issues. In other words, Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran does not compromise his position on issues very easily.

When in 2013, both of us had indicated our intentions to contest the National Secretary’s position within the PDP, I knew it would be difficult to get ‘Tunde Adeniran to withdraw from the race.

I told many of our friends (who had expressed to me their embarrassment in having two of us close friends contest against each other), that ‘Tunde will not yield his position in contesting the position. In one of our very few conversations on the contest. I told ‘Tunde that neither of the two of us would emerge the National Secretary of the PDP. I was convinced that anarchists within the party would use our hardened positions in contesting the position to block our party from a good opportunity in rejuvenating the party for greater heights. It was apparent to me that the anarchists would do everything to weaken our party. Today, we are all better educated on the repercussions of the above developments in the

Party. PDP’s travails started from that year. We are still battling to recover from the unfortunate events.

No matter what we say on the “stubbornness” of ‘Tunde on some issues, it must be said in his favour that Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran’s “stubbornness” confirms Chairman MaoTse-Tungs popular view that “any compromise over principle is total abandonment of that principle”.

We the friends of Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran including Jubril-Martins Odutola Kuye, Yemi Farounbi, Eric Fayemi, Tola Atinmo, Professor Agboola Gambari, Ambassador George Obiozor, Professor Walter Ofonagoro, my humble self and several others will always wish him well.

All those who will want a full update of the life and times of ‘Tunde Adeniran should have copies of the two volumes written by ‘Tunde himself to specially mark his 70th birthday. The two volumes are entitled “SERVING MY FATHERLAND”.

‘Tunde Adeniran is a Knight of John Wesley (KJW) having been so honoured by the Methodist Church of Nigeria. Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran does not joke with his faith.

All those who may also have some missing links in my life can contact ‘Tunde Adeniran to assist them. I once again say it with pride that ‘Tunde has been a strong part of my life since 1954. Today, he (Professor ‘Tunde Adeniran) is one of my close friends and surely a confidant. I simply love him!

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18

Friday, 4 December, 2015

LETTERS TO THE

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It MUST be accompanied by the full name and address of the writer.

Kogi: We shouldn’t get the law twisted

L

ET me start this letter with a quote which says: “Law exists for man’s profiting and not for man to become a slave to the law.” I seek to submit, particularly with respect, that contrary to the wide spectrum of views already expressed, I do not see any legal quagmire created by the Kogi situation. It is a sad commentary that, whenever any opportunity presents itself for the further development of the Nigerian law, given our heavily politicised system founded on clientilism and political malafideism, the law would usually be interpreted in a manner akin to making a feast out of an ordinary meal, such that at the end of the day, even for a simple constitutional matter, a legal mountain would have been created. It is trite that

Attention, Gov Amosun The urban renewal vision of the Ogun State government may be adversely affected, especially in the Abeokuta metropolis, if urgent step is not taken to salvage the Adigbe-ObadaOko link bridge which is already giving way due to unchecked erosion. The bridge which was constructed by the regime of Chief Olusegun Osoba more than 20 years ago has accelerated the pace of development of the adjourning Obada Oko community, by so doing relieving Abeokuta of bulging population experienced in recent times.

The hope of residents and commuters in the axis was buoyed sometime recently when a construction company was seen in the site undertaking some salvage jobs, only to discover they had vacated the site without anyone being able to adduce reasons. The inhabitants are hereby appealing to the governor of the state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun to urgently reckon with the bridge in its urban renewal drive which encapsulated massive construction and rehabilitation of failed roads in the state.

•Tope Adaramola, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

every decision that stems from provisions of the law must be a product of legal reasoning, which is usually the fulcrum of the argument of sound lawyers in the courtroom.

Nigeria’s legal circle must move away from its ground zero base, where everytime a legal issue arises, we are quick to say that the constitution does not provide for it, and immediately designating it as a legal quagmire. Is the constitution an encyclopedia as to comprehensively provide for all and sundry in its letters? God forbid that that be so. While the constitution, to the extent to which the letters can accommodate, provides generally for certain things, it only stands to reason to say that the same Constitution captures so many other things left unsaid via its spirit and intent. I make bold to say that no Constitution in the world provides for every eventuality, yet in many of these other countries their law is so robust, fluid,

and even so tantalising to many, who are not even lawyers. That is why provisions of the law are both express and implied; express in the sense that they are clearly stated in extant legislations, and implied to the extent that necessary inferences can be drawn from these express provisions, to identify the intent and spirit of that law.

It can only be commonsensical and reasonable to say that only Section 181(1) offers a nexus, and that is to the extent that substituting a running mate with a deceased partner, in an election where more than 90 per cent of the votes have been returned is far closer to the spirit of this section, than substituting a name mid-election, a process that is unknown to our laws and which is not near what Section 33 of the Electoral Act intends.

The Kogi governorship election ticket is a single ticket belonging to the APC, and the character of its singleness is such that

it cannot be divided into two, rather the two aspirants of the party hold in trust for the party. This is so because, under our type of constitutional democracy, the political party is the only recognised entity on the ballot paper for any election upon which

votes will be cast, and once those votes are counted and returned, they are so returned as votes accruing to the party and not the candidate. This is in sharp contrast to some other democracies that practice independent candidacy. In such places, the votes cast

are directly owned by the candidates, being his own man.

•Balogun Emmanuel Funsho, Department of Zoology,, University Of Ilorin.

Ilorin, Kwara State

Relying on crude oil, our bane Nigeria is blessed with crude oil and many other mineral resources which should have catapulted us to the peak as one of the richest countries in the world. The country relies mainly on the revenue we get from oil alone, and this is our biggest undoing.

Although we are known as a country flowing with milk and honey, we are not fulfilling our potentials in the comity of nations.

Our citizens are still suffering due to the mismanagement we have gone through over the years.

While crude oil has been

a blessing for us, it is also a curse in the sense that we have become lazy and neglected other avenues through which we can generate money.

During the era of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, he did not focus on agriculture alone, but exploited other sectors of the economy.

This is why Awolowo was able to perform excellently during his time.

But now, government has neglected agriculture, mining and other avenues through which we can develop our economy.

I, therefore, hope that President Muhammadu

Buhari can focus on other sectors of the economy other than crude oil for development.

•Fatoki Olaoluwa E., olasmart4eva@yahoo.com

Buhari, tackle the fuel scarcity It is no longer news that Nigerians enjoyed a better living standard during Muhammadu Buhari’s regime between 1984 and 1984; General Babatunde Idi Agbon was then Buhari’s second in command.

At that time, the exchange rate was N1 to 1 British Pound.

Things were very easy for Nigerians then, as people benefited from free and compulsory education, there were job opportunities for youths, electricity was stable and people had potable water supply.

Now, Buhari is back in power, but the realities on ground are not what they were in 1983. For some weeks now, Nigerians have been experiencing inadequate supply of petroleum products, and this has made the price to go up. A litre of fuel now goes for as high as N180, and people queue for hours before getting the product to buy.

We know Nigerians rely majorly on fuel for survival, and it controls our lives; with the scarcity now, prices of goods and services have gone up.

Although President Buhari just came to power, he should work hard to reduce the suffering of Nigerians, particularly by making fuel available at an affordable price.

•Omobolanle Buruji, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.

19

editorial Of fakes and the legal profession

Friday, 4 December, 2015

R

ECENTLY, the Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Akintokunbo Oluwole, stunned the Nigerian public with the revelation that, following the introduction of a stamp policy, the association has been able to uncover no fewer than 1,000 cases across the country of individuals practicing with fake credentials. According to Mr. Oluwole, the NBA’s stamp policy, apart from generating revenue for the association, has “improved the authenticity of documents which are now being filed in court registries since all legal documents must now bear the stamps of lawyers to be considered valid.”

For some time now, Nigerians have been alarmed at a spate of newspaper reports indicating the infiltration of the legal profession by men and women acting under false pretenses and deceiving unsuspecting members of the public. In a number of cases, law enforcement officers have been able to track down such nefarious characters and duly exposed them to the public. The Nigerian Bar Association is to be commended for taking the issue seriously, and for coming up with a policy which has proved effective in separating the wheat from the chaff. Other professional associations in the country, especially the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), which are similarly bedeviled by impostors can learn a lesson or two from the NBA’s approach.

That said, we recognise that quackery is a complex problem that is not easily stamped out. The most straightforward cases concern impostors who have never seen the inside of a classroom. But the trickier category comprises impersonators who studied Law quite all right, graduated, but flunked Law School. The latter apparently was

Nigerian Tribune

the case a few years ago with the gentleman who was whiskers away from the Secretaryship of the Ibadan branch of the NBA. With a little bit of luck, who knows what might have happened?

In addition to its successful stamp policy, the NBA is reported to be updating its register with a view to getting genuine lawyers listed, and collating the most up-to-date information on such.

In the age of modern technology, this shouldn’t be too difficult to pull off. In addition, not only is the same recommended to other professional associations in the country, nothing says that all of them cannot share basic information about members. Doing so will save them an enormous amount of time and money. As well, it would make things more difficult for aspiring quacks.

It will also be the associations’ contribution to a much needed journey towards a more transparent society.

However, the problem of quackery is by no means limited to the NBA. It is a problem that imperils the very soul of the nation in general. Hence, not only are we a country of fake lawyers; we are also a country creeping with fake medical doctors, fake PhD holders, fake engineers, fake policemen, fake motor mechanics, fake certificates and so on. Clearly, whatever the NBA’s stamp policy manages to achieve, it can only make a dent on a problem that is endemic to the society in general.

Nor is quackery the only problem menacing the legal profession or most other professions in the country for that matter. Every now and then, the reading public is inundated with sordid reports of professional misconduct involving lawyers- the real ones. For the NBA, putting its house in order requires expunging fakes from its ranks, as well as ensuring that real members continue to toe the path of professional decorum.

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opinion Amosun: Breaking the second term jinx 20

Friday, 4 December, 2015

By Ishmael Alabi

W

ATCHING Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun the other day in rain boots deep in the night during an inspection tour of a road rehabilitation work along the Lagos-Ibadan, reminded me of what most Nigerians think of a governor in his second term.

According to my compatriots, the first time a governor is elected he works hard to fulfill his promises to deliver the much-awaited dividends of democracy. He sows, as it were, by going the length and breadth of the state to work the same way he went up and down to campaign for votes before he was elected. He would execute projects and commission them. He would undertake routine and surprise inspection of work sites in several locations across the state. He would task his aides to do a roundthe-clock assessment of project points to precede his own visit there. Some have been known to do night runs, touring work sites only under the cover of darkness to press upon contractors that service to the people isn’t denominated by time; it is a 24/7 affair.

Now, if the leader does all these in the first term in office, what does he do during his second coming if he is lucky to be re-elected? Most Nigerians, aided by the opinions fed them in the media, have a very dim view of such returning leaders. They say if the first term is sowing period, the second is what they strangely call harvest time.

What they mean is that the second term is for the governor to rest from his labours. It is for him to sit back and expect to eat from the planting of the previous term. He has sowed; now he must reap. He must harvest bountifully.

What then would be the fate of the people who voted him into power? What do they harvest? Must they rest from their expectations of the goodies of democracy?

Well, it is obvious that in Ogun State Amosun does not subscribe to this unproductive and unpatriotic doctrine of sowing and reaping in governance. What I have seen so far in his first six months in his second term is that the governor has deflated the balloon of that doctrine. He is setting forth a new one that says that a governor that truly answers to that calling would not rest until he has

finished his term whether the first or the second.

The people of Ogun State got a hint of where Amosun would be heading in this latter coming when he delivered his inaugural address on May 29, 2015. He left no one in doubt as to what to expect from his government in his second term.

He said: “We shall press the pedal hard in accelerating the development of our state in the next four years…

We are determined to put Ogun State on auto drive of progress and modernisation in which all the stakeholders will be able to fulfill their collective and individual aspirations. We want to continue to rebuild the system, structure and the people.”

That speech has since turned out to be Governor Amosun’s second term mantra. The other day it drove him to the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Nigeria’s number one highway. Worried about the state of the road and the tales of death, sorrow and anguish it has woven around the lives of thousands of citizens who ply the road daily, Amosun intervened with millions of naira of Ogun State funds on a federal government-owned route.

He ordered the state ministry of works to work on depressed portions of the expressway, more than 70% of

which is situated in his domain. As work progressed day and night, the governor has deemed it necessary to regularly inspect the site and encourage Ogun State workers and engineers striving to alleviate the hardship of commuters and motorists.

At the time he and his cabinet members visited in the night, Amosun met his countrymen and women resorting to trekking to their destinations that hour of the night (10pm). Later the newspapers reported that some of these citizens arrived home at 4am of the following day!

I have gathered from those close to Amosun that the governor has vowed that although scant finances are a check on new projects, he would nevertheless work hard this second term to complete all the work he commenced in his first term. He says he will leave no project unfinished by the time he is through with his encore in office.

He has probably had to make this pledge because of such high-grade road schemes as Ilo-Awela and Ijoko dual expressways which he began to the applause not only of Ogun State citizens but also of the generality of Nigerians.

Amosun’s nocturnal appearance on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway resulting in the ease in traffic there is indicative that the governor is prepared to walk the talk of his inaugural speech that he has a mission to rebuild Ogun State. He is poised to outdo himself in his second coming, given his plans for an airport, Deep Sea Port, and a Free Trade Zone among other long term economic proposals.

There are a thousand and one lessons Amosun is teaching public office holders and fellow governors either in the first or second term. Can a diligent pursuit of delivering democratic dividends allow a serious governor any room for rest or respite? Can you talk of a sleepy and laidback reign or a so-called harvest when you are saddled with the great business of bringing succour to the citizens through empowering programmes?

The real harvest waiting for a governor, a people’s governor really, isn’t the ephemeral one of wealth or self-enrichment. It is the applause of the people at the end of his tenure. It is the irreversible record history submits about his achievements in office. He reaps what he sows to uplift the citizens, not the filthy lucre he takes from them.

•Alabi is a retired civil servant in Abeokuta.

Adelabu: A quintenssential banker and role model

By Sikiru Akinola

I was on the Internet, trying to get the names of successful Great Ife; those who attended University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) when I stumbled on his name. Again, I did not know he had any relationship with late Chief Adegoke Adelabu ‘Penkelemesi’ until someone told me he is one of the grandsons of the late politician.

For someone like me who has always been looking forward to seeing young people from my state doing great things, it was a dream come true. Our state has been tagged as a place that cannot produce achievers, not minding the fact great people have been produced here, in Oyo State.

I have attended several conferences, seminars, lectures etc and all what I have always looked for is intellectually sound minds who are doing well in their chosen fields.

Many times I was disappointed when they read their beautiful credentials and they are not from my state.

To some people, why am I concerned with this ‘egoistic thing’? I love to be motivated by the achievements of young people, especially when he or she is from my state.

Born on September 28,1970 in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, young Bayo attended Lagelu Grammar School, Ibadan before proceeding to the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife to study Accountancy. Just like his late grandfather who scored firsts in virtually everything he laid his hands upon, he graduated with a First Class honours in 1992 and later went on to pass his final qualifying examinations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). After two decades of joining ICAN as an associate member, he has risen to become a fellow member of the institute.

Bayo’s grandfather, Adegoke Adelabu, was said to

have displayed a rare prodigy in western education as he earned double promotions thrice consecutively in the elementary, primary and later in secondary school.

In the centenary posthumous birthday celebration, Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajimobi was quoted as saying: “Today, we have not come to celebrate only his academic prowess, though, one of his immediate juniors of Government College, Ibadan, himself an erudite scholar, Professor Saburi Biobaku, had said in his book ‘When we were Young’ (1992) “Adegoke Adelabu was the brightest student that Government College has ever produced or is ever likely to produce”. His activities as a grown up and his evolved political philosophy did not only threaten, but actually culminated in the abrupt termination of promotion of British colonial interests and hegemony at the expense of the educated Nigerians. He was a meteor, prodigy, wordsmith, an orator, peculiar and a unique personality.

“It was Dr. Victor Omololu Sowemimo Olunloyo, himself a brilliant mind, and an old boy of Government College, Ibadan, former executive governor of Old Oyo State, who described Alhaji Adegoke Adelabu as perhaps the most remarkable person that Ibadan has ever produced… a genius… better endowed than virtually all his contemporaries on both sides of the political divide… a deep thinker, widely read, philosophically accomplished strat-

egist and master tactician.”

Apart from being a member of many local, national and international associations, Adelabu has been bestowed many awards for his immense contribution, part of which are the Distinguished Fellow Award of Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) in 2010 and later honoured with a chieftancy title of Agbaakin Parakoyi of Ibadanland by the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba(Dr.) Samuel Odulana Odugade I. These many achievements of the Ibadan-born banker is a good motivation for the youth of Nigeria, especially Oyo State. Despite his rich background, his grandfather a popular and affluent individual while alive, Bayo did not allow that to fool him, he went on to bag a First Class grade at Africa’s most beautiful university, OAU, Ile-Ife. And 23 years after he left the great citadel of learning, he has etched his name in gold, leaving many tongues to wag as to how he made it.

A silent achiever, Bayo did not allow work to distance him from his Ibadan root as he is always in the state capital regularly and especially when his help is needed.

A member of Ikoyi Club 1938, Jericho Businessmen Club and Ibadan Golf Club, the youthful banker once told reporters that he will be bringing to office initiatives that would rapidly move the bank forward when asked what should be expected of him as CBN deputy governor.

Pledging to pursue a philosophy of productivity to achieve the desired result for the bank, he noted: “I don’t believe so much in activities. It’s more about productivity. I do more of the work than the talk. I don’t believe that we should talk too much. If you have a work to do, do it well and everyone will see that it is a success,” he said.

•Akinola of Abu Summaiya writes from Ibadan.

He can be reached via sikiruakinola86@gmail. com.

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Friday, 4 December, 2015

fridaytreat Kingdom Africa will cater mostly

to African music — Dexter Akin Alamu

Idris Elba escapes death in Ghana Brian McKnight to perform in Lagos

Nigerian Tribune

Rotimi Ige rotimiige@yahoo.com 0811 695 4636

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fridaytreat

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

Brian McKnight to perform in Lagos

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HIS Christmas, 16-time Grammy Award nominee Brian McKnight, popularly known for his timeless piece ‘Back at One’, will be live in Lagos, Nigeria for the first time to perform at the Butterscotch Evenings. Hosted by Michelle Dede, Butterscotch Evenings 2015 will hold on December 23, 2015 at Eko Hotels with performances from Nigerian stars like Styl Plus, Seyi Shay, Lara George and

many more. World famous Michelin star, Chef Tom Wolfe will also treat guests to the finest cuisine available. 46 years old Brian McKnight performed in South Africa in September 2015 during his ‘Sequel’ tour.

Born June 5, 1969, Brian McKnight is an American R&B singer-songwriter, arranger, producer and musician.

He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays eight instruments including piano,

guitar, bass guitar, percussion,trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and trumpet. He is one of the very few leggiero tenors in the pop genre.

McKnight is perhaps most recognised for his strong falsetto and belting range.

McKnight’s work has earned him 16 Grammy Awards nominations, though he has never won.

He is tied with Snoop Dogg for the record of most Grammy nominations without a win.

McKnight

Idris Elba escapes death in Ghana BRITISH actor, Idris Elba recently admitted that he was narrowly saved from falling to his death as he filmed his latest movie on location in Ghana.

The actor said that he slipped six feet down a waterfall while preparing for a scene in the Af-

Elba

rican war drama ‘Beasts Of No Nation.’ Speaking on Saturday’s episode of ‘The Jonathan Ross Show,’ the actor cum musician opened up on his short brush to death.

“We decided to do this waterfall scene where all these child soldiers were walking behind

this massive waterfall.

“In Hollywood, you would have just filmed a bit of water coming down and just shot people’s close ups, but Cary Fukunaga, the director, decided to shoot it for real.

“The stunt co-ordinator says, ‘Listen everyone this is a waterfall, that’s a 90, 100 foot drop down there and the ground is very slippery, just be careful!’ ‘I put my foot on this rock just to hang out and chill out while they were setting up and as I’m doing that it’s slippery, obviously. I slipped and thought I’d be alright, I put my hand on this tree…However, it’s not a tree it’s a branch!

‘It snaps and I go literally about six feet before I go bang over and I got caught by the security guy!’ After the presenter declared he could have fallen to his death, Idris joked: ‘Yes! It could’ve been in today’s news, saying, ‘Idris Elba dies after a fall at waterfall.’

Adekunle Gold

Shina Peters

Hennessy climaxes 250th anniversary celebrations with ‘talk-of-the-town concert HENNESSY has celebrated its 250th anniversary in a grand style, proving to consumers and enthusiasts that it is a timeless brand with heritage through different activities that were programmed to portray the theme: ‘Crafting the Future.’

Tagged the H250 concert, the final event was held on Saturday, November 28, and it encapsulated the entirety of the celebrations, bringing it to a thrilling close.

Addressing the excited audience, brand manager, Lere Awokoya expressed Hennessy’s appreciation to fans worldwide in what he described has “a momen-

tous and eventful 250th celebration.”

He also assured of the brand’s desire to improve, as well as stay consistent to its consumers.

Performing at the event were Tekno, Kiss Daniel, Adekunle Gold and a host of other Nigerian acts with hit songs currently making waves on the Nigerian music circuit.

In what became the high point of the evening, was a surprise performance by former headliner and Afro Juju crooner, Sir Shina Peters, as he threw the entire crowd into a frenzy as everyone stood up to dance to the pulsating beats from

his evergreen hit album, ‘Ace.’ The highlight of the evening was the back to back appearance of the 2015 headliners.

R&B star, Praiz, performed some of his hit tracks and took the guests straight to the hip hop cruise, as Vector and Burna Boy closed the show for the night with mind-blowing performances. ‘The Time Barrel’ was on display at the end of the red carpet, and guests were allowed to step in throughout the evening and experience the time capsule as well as record their messages for future generations.

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society

Friday, 4 December, 2015

...celebrating the people

For Booking, contact Alaba Igbaroola alabaadewale01@gmail.com 08155975474

Faces at Boluwatife and Oladimeji’s wedding

From left, former Governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala; groom’s parents, Prince Ademola Dare and his wife, Janet Dare.

From left, Mrs Dupe Ojo; Mr Isaac Ojo; Mr Abraham Ojo and Mr Goke Adewole.

The couple

From left, Mr Yinka Olanipekun; Mr Akin Oyekola and Mr Sakiri Suara.

Bride’s parents,Pastor Akinloye Oladapo and Deaconess Favour Oladapo.

Ambassador Peter Layi Oyedele (left) and Deputy Comptroller General of Costoms (Rtd) Ezekiel Okeniyi.

From left, Otunba Shakura Bello, Asiwaju Abdulrazak Shittu and President of First Group, Chief Bayo Babatunde.

Nigerian Tribune

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Friday, 4 December, 2015

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

fridaytreat him to pastor a church. He had called to ask what I thought of him going to Lagos to pastor a church, as he began to tell me how he had been inspired by my life.

Dexter Akin-Alamu is a trendy pastor who has been called a generational changer owing to the establishment of his church, The Empowerment House, which is mostly attended by young and young at heart. An avid lover of entertainment, he speaks with ROTIMI IGE, in this interview about his life’s experiences and how they shaped him to become the man that he is today.

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ELL us a bit about your background sir; growing up years and early memories of family life?

I was born many decades ago in the city of Ibadan. I remember my father lived in his family house, which was my grandfather’s house in Agagu. I spent about the first seven, eight years of my life there and I remember I spent about five years of my life in a ‘face me, I face you’ apartment.

My parents shared two bedrooms; we had only one toilet at the back of the house.

Everyone shared the same kitchen. But along the way, things started to get better for my parents and eventually, my father built his own house.

I remember my father’s house was the first in Alakiya then, and I had no friends until I got a bit older, which was when people started coming in gradually many years later. I attended Orita Mefa Baptist Nursery and Primary School, and later proceeded to Federal Government College, Ogbomosho for my secondary school education.

At what point did you discover a public speaking ability, or what passions did you have while growing up?

Incidentally, I don’t think I have a speaking ability, I think what I have is probably an ‘anointed’ ability to speak because I cannot remember myself growing up as a speaker. I was and still a melancholy to the core.

I enjoy being by myself and I don’t remember being a part of any debate while in school. I was very quiet and easy going.

I really believe that whatever I do in times of preaching and teaching with so much energy, is influenced by the anointing, because it not me. I was never like that until I knew that God had called me and I had to step down to do it. It has to be the grace and anointing of God that takes over. However, after I discovered my anointing, I have done a lot of things, over the years, to help me communicate better.

So at what time did you travel abroad?

I traveled out in 2001 after I got married.

I and my wife got married in July 2001 and then we left the country in September. I was a Pastor in a church in Ibadan at that point, but I felt that God wanted us to travel.

I remember going to the embassy to seek for visa before we got married. I and my fiance had already talked about it that we were not going to live apart and that if God wanted us to travel, we would both get the visa to travel. We applied individually, so when we got to the embassy that morning, I didn’t realise that we had been captured by the CCTV, so when I was asked if I knew the lady I entered with, I denied. For this reason, I wasn’t given a visa, while my fiance got hers approved.

As God would have it, I appealed that decision a few months after I changed that decision supernaturally and I was granted access and that how we traveled in September. I say it to people jokingly that everything

How did your ministry blossom in the UK? I am the kind of person that just go and do things. I remember that I started a fellowship in my house after just two weeks of our arrival in London. We started ‘Empowerment House’ in London a few years after that and God blessed the work. We are here because of what God is doing.

about us traveling was a step of faith because everything we owned when we were to travel fit into our travelling luggage.

How did you meet your wife?

I met my wife when I was pastor of a campus fellowship called Royal Priesthood Foundation at The Polytechnic, Ibadan. It was a Thursday night when she came into fellowship; I was preaching, but I noticed when she walked in that she was a first timer.

To this day, I can tell exactly what she was wearing that day, but I probably never had a one-on-one talk with her until probably a year after that day.

I felt that she was the one, so I got a bit closer. We started developing a relationship with one another after a while; I got to know her a little bit more and I was even more convinced. So that was how we started a relationship.

When did you get the ‘call’ from God and when did it become a ministry?

Prior to my calling, I had been a Christian for many years. I had an encounter with God while I was serving in Vine Branch Church in Ibadan, but something happened that changed everything. On March 21, 1998, I had gone to visit some few friends at the University of Ibadan when I felt this strong urge to pray. The room next to my friend’s own was empty, so I stayed there all night praying until I had an encounter that changed my life forever.

While I was praying, Jesus walked into the room that Saturday morning and he gave me the instruction that gave birth to the call of God upon my life. When I left that room, I knew I was going to do this for the rest of my life because he told me what to do and what the emphasis of my ministry was going to be.

That encounter happened about 18 years ago.

So the ministry was birthed here in Nigeria?

It was birthed right on campus. After that day, I started the fellowship on campus called the Royal Priesthood Foundation, where we had like a 100 people. When I was to graduate, we had a leadership issue, so I decided to sacrifice one year and I stayed back on campus to make sure it stabilised.

I had to develop materials for leadership.

So after that one year was over, I ended up not serving, and I still have not collected my certificate at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, since I knew what God had called me to do and I had already focused on it.

How did your parent feel about your decision?

Initially it was an issue, but after a while, they just allowed me because I stood my ground. Many years after our initial disagreement, I got a call from my father while I was in London; my father was from a Muslim background and he was the only one who went to school and was a local government chairman at some point.

After he had finished his tenure, he called me and stressed that he felt that God wanted

Kingdom Africa will cater mostly

to African music

— Dexter Akin Alamu

Seeing that Empowerment House is now a worldwide ministry, at what point did your quest for a media organisation begin?

I had always been a media person. I had my background in media as I had a HND in Mass Communication from The Polytechnic, Ibadan.

Though initially, I wanted to be a lawyer, but I just had to look for what was closest to Law and I opted for mass communication.

I really wanted to practice mass communication for a while, but when I knew I was going into the ministry, I had a struggle with that. I wanted God to give me one or two years, but it didn’t work out, because what God told me then was that there was something in my future that was going to be a reward for my obedience. So I agreed and stepped out.

Our ministry in the beginning was really small and I wanted to be on television. So when we got to the UK, I started finding out about Christian TVs. I found out that there was only one Christian TV in the UK then. In 2004, I decided to find out what it would take to have a Christian TV. The amount of money that was needed in pounds for the project was staggering. So, I backed up on the dream and forgot about the project totally.

It was about nine years after that when I, my wife and some few friends had gone to support Pastor Sam Adeyemi at the first Success Power in London and during the meeting, God spoke to me clearly about the Christian media and my place in it. I remember that as we were walking out of the hall that day, I was telling my wife that I was going to start a Christian TV. Immediately, God spoke things and started revolving, doors started opening; it was supernatural. Kingdom Africa today is in every expense, supernatural, because of the way God opened doors.

You were quite successful in the UK. When did you decide to come back home

Africa has now become the centre of the move of God on earth. There are things happening here in Nigeria that are not happening around the world... So, God raised Kingdom Africa to showcase what He is doing today.

and why?

Again, I didn’t decide to come back home.

When Kingdom Africa started, at that point, I didn’t realise that we would come back home. I was making plans of running the church/channel from the UK, until we came home for a family wedding that God spoke to me that we were coming back home. It happened in a very mysterious way because as we lifted from Abuja, the pilot reported difficulties with the plane and said it had been advised that we return to Abuja. Immediately, there was panic but I was at peace because I was assured by the message from God that I had just received and there was no way the plane would crash. After a while the pilot informed that he had consulted with the people on ground and they said that the engineers that were going to repair the plane were in Lagos, and so we were going to fly to Lagos anyway. We landed in Lagos and that was how the work started.

I didn’t tell my wife about the experience because before we flew that plane, we had so many issues with people in Nigeria with all kinds of disappointments. So, I kept quiet and kept praying about it. After a while, I had an engagement in Nigeria but couldn’t attend because of another event in London and so I asked her to travel.

She spent about a week in Nigeria and when she returned, the first thing she said to me was that she was convinced that God want us to go back to Nigeria. After that, we made plans to relocate.

How was the acceptance in Lagos?

It was good; what we are seeing God do since we came back to Nigeria has been awesome. We are just following God and again very recently, I knew that God wanted us to move out of Lagos.

Probably a year ago, we were taking our first son to school in Ibadan as it was his first day in school. We were almost in Ibadan when the car somersaulted several times; passers-by were scared for the occupants of our car which had my whole family. Surprisingly, we all walked out unscratched. In the middle of that, God spoke to me and told me to move to Ibadan.

Who/what would you say are your inspiration or mentors?

I have a lot of people who inspire me, I actually define my relationships. I believe that we have many instructors but have one father.

I believe that my greatest asset in the ministry that gave life to me is the word of God and that is the greatest foundation I had.

I am also inspired by the likes of Bishop T.D Jakes, Dr Miles Munroe, Bishop David Oyedepo, etc.

You are someone who has passion for gospel entertainment and you have given core values to artistes, especially the platform to thrive professionally. Why are your reasons for these?

I think it was based on the instruction of God that this platform was to raise people from Africa, so it was a divine instruction. There was a lot of western content when we started, so I felt the Europeans have a platform, the Americans have a platform; I am raising this platform for artistes and gifted people in Africa because God is doing great works in Africa. That is the reality.

Africa has now become the centre of the move of God on earth. There are things happening here in Nigeria that are not happening around the world: like the monthly prayer meeting happening in Redemption Camp today, 50,000 capacity auditorium at Winners Chapel which organises five full services on Sundays. So, God raised Kingdom Africa to showcase what He is doing today.

The general perception, although might be wrong, is that your ministry speaks mostly to the youth and young at heart. Is this true and why?

It depends on what you call young, because I am young. But, I personally want to reach people who still have a lot to do with their life, and who are still building their life, because the message the Lord has given me is the message of empowerment. My message is for people who are in the process of resurrection and a lot of young people seem to be attracted to what we say and teach.

How also do you provide support in terms of critics saying that ‘gospel artistes are not ‘consistent.’ Is there any way that you help them to also find their position in the industry?

There are things that we have been considering over the years. I don’t know how God is going to do it but at the moment, the platform is there.

We were trying to start out with a record label a while ago, but we got distracted about that. One of the reasons we are passionate about these things is that most times we lose these gospel artistes to secular music because they don’t feel encouraged.

They don’t think there is something that will keep them busy with their gift in the kingdom.

However, I am passionate, but I cannot do everything. I believe there is a great future for gospel music in Nigeria and I believe that those people that left are eventually going to come back.

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Friday, 4 December, 2015

travelpulse&m.i.c.e

’Wale Olapade 08161235359 wale11g3@gmail.com Winner, NMMA, Tourism Reporter Of The Year

Stakeholders push for viable sector at NHTIC 2015 Stories By ’Wale Olapade

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N array of high profile speakers and stakeholders who participated at the 2015 edition of the Nigeria Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference have charged both government and private sector on more concerted efforts at making the tourism and hospitality sector count in the Nigerian economy.

At the conference, which held from November 25-27, 2015 at Intercontinental Hotel Lagos, the speakers noted that now is the right time to show more commitment and action at diversifying the Nigerian economy and using tourism as a sure alternative to oil, especially now that the global oil price is falling.

As expected, the three-day conference went beyond paper presentation to offering veritable platforms for networking, interaction and exchanges among participants who were eager to learn new, discover new trends and also implement resolutions arrived at the conference for the growth of their businesses.

From the first paper entitled: Macro-Economic Overview, Sam Ohuabunwa, founder, SOFEE, thoroughly explored the country’s economic outlook, giving insight to would-be investors on how to go about their investments across the country and also meeting their expected investment objectives.

Placing the country against the rest of the world, Ohuabunwa noted that despite the challenges of doing business in the country, Nigeria is still an investment haven because of the high return on investment.

However, the picture became clearer when Trevor Ward, managing director, W Hospitality Group, exposed the growth and investment potential of the Nigerian hotel and tourism market. Ward gave detailed study on the hospitality hot spots, supply gaps and key segments with potential growth which would-be investors should look out for among others.

Moreover, Ward’s figure-based presentation was more convincing and enlightening as questions that followed later reflected the gray areas that burdened most investors.

Also, Laura Alakija, managing associate, Sterling Partnership, assured the participants and would-be investors the safety of the investment with her presentation on the Regulatory Framework in Nigeria: How can this be made easier for investors.

From the government perspective, Cross River State Carnival Commission led by Gab Onah, the chairman, unveiled the efforts at making the state the foremost tourism destination in West Africa. Onah noted that over time, the state has grown its craft, skills and even passion that have sustained the carnival, and other related businesses. Also speaking, Justina Ovat, principal consultant, Calabar Hospitality House Limited, noted that the increasing traffic to the state, especially during festive season, offers limitless opportunities for more investments, hotels, resorts, tours and related businesses. Moderated by, Tourism Editor, Business Day, Mr Obinna Emelike the Cross River State session at the conference ended with a formal invitation by Onah to the audience to participate in this year’s carnival.

There were other sessions featuring paper presentations on topical issues affecting the industry. The likes of Andrew McLachlan, vice president, Carlson Rezidor, Mark Martinovic, CEO, Hotel Partners Africa, Samuel Alabi, legal adviser, Eko Hotel and Suites, Rosana Forsuelo, provost, Wavecrest College of Hospitality among others enlightened the audience with their various paper presentations that truly made the conference worth participating.

Earlier at his welcome remarks, Brian Efa, managing partner, Jonel Hospitality Consulting, organisers of the conference, noted that the theme this year; ‘Nigeria’s Tourism Industry-Catalyst for Economy Diversification’, was purposely meant to highlight the challenges of operating in Nigeria, opportunities and prospects of the industry and plans to in place to secure increased investment in the sector the three-five years.

Efa commended the quality speakers and their insightful presentations, the participants that made the conference well-attended, and promised a more impacting edition in 2016.

From left Trevor Ward, CEO, W-Hospitality Group; Mr Sam Ohuabunwa, Managing Consultant/CEO, Starteam Consult and Laula Olakija, Managing Associate, Sterling Partnership, during a section at the conference in Lagos, recently.

Organised in partnership with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and with the endorsement of defunct Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National

Orientation, NHTIC, is an annual event of the international level aimed at promoting the hotel and tourism business in Nigeria, and the West African region.

Dubai Tourism highlights shopping, family destination of choice at Akwaaba DUBAI’S debut presence at this year’s African Travel Market (ATM), that held in Lagos, Nigeria from November 22 to 24, highlighted the emirate’s interest in the continent, with Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce delivering the message that the city is a must-visit destination for African travellers in 2016.

Speaking at the ATM, Stella Obinwa, Head of Africa Region, Dubai Tourism, said: “Dubai already holds great appeal among African travellers, particularly those who love shopping, entertainment and family fun. We are here to show that Dubai is going to out-do itself in this regard in 2016, with incredible new attractions and opportunities that can’t be missed.”

Nigeria is one of Dubai’s best-performing African markets, with over 300,000 visitors arriving in Dubai from the region in 2014. Shopping is a major attraction among African travellers, and Dubai is highlighting its incredible retail offering to Nigerians in several innovative ways.

Dubai Tourism recently rolled out an advertising campaign in Nigeria highlighting Dubai Shopping Festival in January – the month when shopping bargains and festivities can be found across the city, including the world’s

most-visited mall, The Dubai Mall. Furthermore, Dubai Tourism is running an incredible prize giveaway for consumers, on radio with Soul & Liquid Lounges and with travel partners Tour Brokers International and World N Travel, offering 200 people the chance to win a trip to Dubai Shopping Festival 2016.

Obinwa commented: “The scale of the competition is unprecedented and hasn’t been done by any other tourism board or company. We are working with our top travel agencies and radio stations to give Nigerians an amazing Dubai experience. When it comes to shopping, nobody does it better than Nigerians.”

Dubai Tourism is also enlisting style leaders to highlight its status as a fashion capital, and the Department recently worked with Nigerian-American artist Jidenna to highlight the city’s shopping and destination offerings.

The emirate’s ambition plans to make Dubai the world’s number one family holiday destination will also be demonstrated during ATM, spurred by the openings of four major theme parks in Dubai next year. Opening in early 2016, IMG Worlds of Adventure will be the world’s largest indoor theme park.

Ethiopian airlines inaugurate B-777 FFS, B-787 FFS ETHIOPIAN Airlines, has finalised the installation of Boeing 777 Flight Simulator manufactured by CAE Inc. ahead of its schedule and is now ready for training.

This new B777 Flight Simulator is the fifth full flight simulator acquired, following the B767/B757, B737 NG, Q400 and the latest B787 full flight simulators which went operational back in March.

The addition of this new B777 simulator is on par with the airlines vision to be an aviation leader in Africa and to equip its manpower with the latest and state-of-the-art technology the industry has to offer.

Ethiopian was also the first in Africa and among the very few worldwide to acquire the B787 simulator. Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam, said Human Resource Development (HRD) is one the four pillars of our vision 2025, along with Fleet, Infrastructure and Systems; since well trained, adequately experienced and performance focused aviation professionals are the engines of our fast, profitable and sustainable growth agenda.

“The full sufficiency in pilot training with both full flight simulators and fixed training devices for all airplane models in our service enables us to provide training to our pilots with the latest aviation technology machines.

“The installation of these machines in our newly built

flight operations building reduce travel time to distant places for training and will increase quality time with their family at home base.

“Our employees are our greatest asset and the main source of our competitive advantages and we will continue to make all required investment in training and Ethiopian Aviation Academy.

“As Africa’s flagship carrier, Ethiopian Airlines has always been and remains aviation technology leader in the continent; we will continue to introduce the latest equipment of full flight simulators with the aim to serve not only the needs of Ethiopians, but also dedicated to bridging the aviation skill gap on the continent.”

With its ongoing plan to modernise and continue on its pioneering role to be a leader in aviation training in Africa, Ethiopian has already prepared the facility to include an A350XWB and B737Max full flight simulators.

The pilot training school of Ethiopian Aviation Academy is approved by Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to give world class trainings in commercial Pilot License (CPL), Private Pilot License (PPL) and Multi Pilot License (MPL) trainings using state-of-the-art training simulators and professional instructors.

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Friday, 4 December, 2015 Group Politics Editor Taiwo Adisa - 08072000046 tai_adis@yahoo.com

Dickson

Bayelsa 2016: Battle of power brokers As the governorship election holds tomorrow in Bayelsa State, AUSTIN EBIPADE, writes on the general public expectations.

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T has been given various tags: battle of titans; mother-of-all wars; battle of survival, and so on. No doubt, the governorship election taking place tomorrow in Bayelsa State is an epic battle.

It is one election that is bound to redefine the politics of the nation. From the North to the South; from East to West, there is awesome and overwhelming public anticipation about the conduct and outcome of the poll.

There is huge expectation from the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC), as the second poll to be conducted under the new leadership of the commission. The suspense is underlined by the hoopla triggered by the inconclusive governorship election held on November 21 in Kogi State.

While the elections are the same, the dynamics are different. Suffice to assert that tomorrow’s election again affords INEC

chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu and his team to stake their integrity and come out clean, just it is acid test for the commitment of the Buhari administration to free, fair and credible poll.

As the home state of the immediate president of the country, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, the poll in Bayelsa State also represents a veritable opportunity for him to consolidate on his political pedigree and clout under a level-playing field. The poll could be used by him and his predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari to showcase the inherent

beauty in the evolving Nigeria’s democratic experiment. But the arduous task of not compromising standard rests squarely on the shoulders of the government of the day, its agencies including INEC and cohesive arms of government.

The build up to the election has been full of intrigues with the main political gladiators and their political parties trading accusations of plans to compromise the process.

The horse-trading occasionally went beyond a battle of wits, as there were pockets of violence with the attendant injuries inflicted

The election has also divided the camp of exmilitants in the state, as Paul Eris (aka) Ogunboss, and others have pitched their tent with Sylva, while Pastor Reuben and others are with Dickson.

Sylva on party members and other persons. The campaigns was also largely dominated by mudslinging, instead of core issues about the welfare of the citizens of the oil-bearing state. The emphasis on such divisive tendencies aggravated political temperature to a boiling point among the supporters of the candidate of the leading parties: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), incumbent governor Seriake Dickson and his All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipreye Sylva. But, the combined efforts of the police and other law enforcement agencies curtailed much collateral damage, especially to the psyche of continues pg35

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Friday, 4 December, 2015

The make or mar election continued from pg34

prospective voters with PVC for the election.

With the deployment of about 9,000 personnel and equipment including Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) to the state from other police commands and formations, the authorities might have restored public confidence about a hitch-free poll.

For Dickson, he enjoys the factor of incumbency. His supporters claim that major staying power is the extent the citizens of the state appreciate the achievements of his administration since he came into office. The belief in his camp is that he should leverage on his achievements to secure another four-year term as governor. His team, which comprises members of the state cabinet, is convinced that he has raised the bar as far as governance is concerned, and that the electorate will only affirm their confidence in his leadership. To them, his giant strides in opening up Bayelsa to the world through the provision of infrastructure stand him out among his peers in the country. He is said to believe in teaching people how to fish rather than throwing crumbs at them on their part, loyalists of Sylva contend that their principal remains the candidate to beat in the election because of his principle of empowerment. It was said to have been the hallmark of his first coming as the governor of the state.

PDP vs APC The election has serious implications for the PDP, as it re-engineers ahead of the 2019 general election. A victory for the PDP will rekindle hope in its members and supporters across the country that of a better tomorrow, while a defeat could spell doom for its current efforts at rebranding. The election gives the people of the state to reinvigorate their partnership with the PDP since Nigeria restored democracy in 1999.

For the APC, the battle of Bayelsa is significant having inflicted a debilitating blow on the PDP during the last general election. The wish of the leaders would be to add Bayelsa to the list of most of the PDPcontrolled states the APC snatched victory so as to complement its grip on the centre.

Of course, the PDP had accused the APC of relying on federal might to win today’s election, an accusation the latter said lacked logic if indeed PDP believed in free, fair and credible poll.

Generally, the resort to hate speeches by the major parties has sharply divided the people. The grand rallies held by the individual parties to round off their campaigns were dominated by hate speeches. The hate campaign negated the spirit behind the peace accord signed by political parties to allow for a free and fair election. It has created fear and apprehension among some members of the public, who have promised to remain indoor during the election.

The PDP had also accused the APC of cloning Permanent Voters Card (PVC) and fake card reader machines to reject the PDP voters and accept the APC cards. However, APC standard bearer, Chief Timipre Sylva said his would not do anything untoward during the poll, urging its supporters not to be intimidated.

Ex-militants The election has also divided the camp of ex-militants in the state, as Paul Eris (aka) Ogunboss, and others have pitched their tent with Sylva, while Pastor Reuben and others are with Dickson. The former militants were part of the separate campaign

Buhari teams of the APC and the PDP, and their first clash in Ekeremor Community led to the death of an APC stalwarts, one Mr June shortly after the APC toured communities in Ekeremor Local Government area of the state.

Besides, there were cases of mutilation of the campaign posters of the APC allegedly by supporters of the PDP, just as the PDP complained that its posters were destroyed and some PDP members also attacked during the campaign. There was yet another clash during the APC Clean Bayelsa Exercise, targeted at evacuating heaps of refuse in the state. The PDP members felt slighted and took it as an affront, so it resulted in a clash at Tombia roundabout, where APC supporters were beaten and injured, and their trucks were vandalised.

Nonetheless, security agencies, comprising the police, army, DSS and other sister agencies have assured of the security of lives and property during the election. The Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State Command, Nasiri Oki said he had deployed his men to ensure security of lives and property.

He added that volatile areas in the riverine communities would be effectively manned, as a team of marine policemen had been dispatched to the areas to ensure adequate security is sustained during and after the election.

Jonathan/Dickson camp The Jonathan/Dickson camps have collapsed into a unit, though a few of their loyalists have defected to the APC. The defection, according to Chief Diekivie Ekiogha, is

Jonathan expected, because the political equation in the Bayelsa changed when President Buhari took over the reigns of power, Sylva, according to his campaign Director General and Minister of State, Heineken Lokpobiri is leveraging on the projects that the former did in every community he took his campaign to Traditional rulers have also demonstrated partisanship during the countdown to the election. Some of them publicly endorsed either of the candidates based on what they called insensitivity of some party leaders in the past or present dispensation to the people’s welfare.

INEC preparedness The leadership of INEC believes it has done the needful to ensure a smooth exercise. The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Mr Baritor Kpagih, gave the assurance during an interactive town hall meeting with the theme: “Promoting Credible Non-Violent Election in Bayelsa State,” broadcast live by a private radio station in Yenagoa, the state capital. The participants were drawn from more than 15 groups, members of the National Youth Service Corps and representatives of various communities from the eight local government areas of the state. The REC said INEC had procured card readers and three back-ups for each of the 1,804 polling units in the state.

Federal might The PDP has continue to accused the APC of banking on federal might to win the election, but with some opposition party leaders

The hate campaign negated the spirit behind the peace accord signed by political parties to allow for a free and fair election.

in the state that the governor had forgotten that he was a beneficiary of such privilege when Jonathan was in power.

Reallignment With seven commissioners in the current state government in the last minute defection to the opposition APC, it needs to be seen how this would not affect the fortune or otherwise of the PDP in tomorrow governorship election. The poll is no doubt crucial to the soul of PDP in the home state of Jonathan, for a slip may diminish the political status of Jonathan and push him to the rear in the affairs of his state. This perhaps explained Jonathan’s rise to the challenge and joined other members of the party in an effort to save the party from humiliation.

At the Samson Siasia Stadium, Yenagoa, Jonathan was in his elements with assuring words that his party would win the governorship election. Political gladiators in the state averred that Jonathan, having lost to President Buhari in the March 28 elections would want to use the election to reposition the party considered by the APC as beatable.

So, the election is a final battle that he is not defeated at home.

As PDP is leaving no stone unturned to secure a second term Dickson in tomorrow election, APC is also determined to return its candidate, Sylvia to the Government House, which he had occupied between 2007 and 2011 when Dickson defeated him in the governorship elections.

The leadership of APC, is therefore, optimistic that nothing would stop them from winning the election. Vice-president Yemi Oshibajo, on behalf of Buhari, stormed Yenagoa, the capital of the state to seal the party’s chance. Other prominent members of the party in company of the vice-president included APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, former Interim national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC led by its National Chairman Chief John Oyegun, governors of Sokoto, Edo, Imo States, party standard bearer in Rivers State, Chief Dakuku Peterside and members of the State Working Committee (SWC) led by state chairman, Chief Tiwei Orunimighe.

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politics&policy

Wada

YINKA OLADOYINBO examines how the inconclusive governorship election held on November 21, 2015 has further brought to the fore issues of ethnic diversity and related matters in the state politics.

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Bello

Kogi: The crisis of ethnic diversity

while Edo, Ondo and Kwara states are on the Western side. The state is made up of Igala (Ankpa, Dekina, Bassa and Idah), Ebira (Okene, Adavi and Okehi), Kabba (Oyi) and Kwara (Kogi) divisions of the former Kabba Province, all making up the existing 21 local government areas (LGAs) of the state: a total of 13 local government areas are from the former Kwara, while eight are from Benue.

M

AJOR stakeholders that championed the cause that culminated in the creation of Kogi State in 1991 are not likely to have envisaged some ugly incidents that have characterised the state for quite a while. They will be grieved that their dream to own a state, watch it grow and develop rapidly has suffered serious political haemorrhage and setback largely because of politics, ethnicity and religion. Those leaders of thought will possibly be preoccupied with analysing some contending issues that led to the November 21 governorship poll, ending in an inconclusive poll to be held tomorrow.

Kogi comprises three major ethnic groups: Igala, Ebira and Okun (Yoruba), as well as others as Bassa Komo, Bassa Nge, Kakanda, Kupa, Ogori-Magongo, Nupe, Oworo, Gwari, among others. Like any other state in the country, Kogi has produced many eminent persons, including professionals that have contributed immenselt to the progress of the country.

Some of such worthy ambassadors of Kogi include late Senator Sunday Awoniyi, Professor Francis Idachaba, Eyitayo Lambo, Isah Ocheja, Olushola Akanmode, Bayo Ojo, Abdulahi Ibrahim (SAN), Ibrahim Ogohi, Kola Jamodu and Major General David Jemibewon (retd).

Created on august 27, 1991 out of the former Kwara and Benue states on August 27, 1991, Kogi covers the area of the former Kabba Province, which was however split into two in 1976, with one part in Kwara State and the other in Benue State.

The people, who were thus put in separate

Faleke states, had lived together under the same administrative structure for more than 75 before their separation. Kogi has its bound-

ary with Niger and Plateau states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja to the North, Benue and Enugu states to the East,

Ethnic cleavages The Okun people are of the Yoruba descendant, and are believed to constitute about 20 per cent of the population of Kogi. They spread across six local government areas: Kabba-Bunu, Yagba-West, Yagba-East, Mopa-Muro, Ìjùmú and Lokoja local government Areas. Okun people migrated from Ile Ife. But, the Okun have consistently claimed of being marginalised in the scheme of things by the other dominant tribes. In fact, they said their frustration dated back to colonial era when they were politically ceded to the Northern protectorate by Lord Lugard, the then Governor-General of Nigeria. The abolition of the provincial and regional administrative units in 1967 led to their merging with Ilorin to form old Kwara State, while the Igala land at that time, was merged with old Benue State. Following the creation of Kogi, Okun people were brought together with Ebira and Igala from Benue State, a situation they 9the Okun) were not comfortable with. Since them, they have accused the Igala and Ebira of capitalising on their population to marginalise them politically and in resource allocation. To address the issue, the incongruous geocontinues I pg30

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The controversy over power rotation continued from pg29

political arrangement, some Okun leaders have made frantic moves to lobby the higher authorities on the possibility of the Okun people joining their kith and kin in the South-West.

On another hand, the issue of marginalisation had buoyed the crusade for power shift and rotation among the ethnic groups in Kogi. At the height of the campaign in 1992, leaders of thought from Kogi reached a mutual agreement on a fair-sharing formula with the Eastern part of the state to produce the governor, Central the deputy governor, while the Western part, the secretary to State Government as well as the Speaker of the House of Assembly. The agreement appeared to have been thrown into the trash can, as the Igala have dominated the seat of political power. The seeming marriage of inconvenience between the major ethnic groups has collapsed irretrievably. In 2003, some concerned stakeholders from the Central and West took the initiative on for power rotation.

But the campaign could not go far because the political parties did not demonstrate the necessary enthusiasm and synergy to partner with the initiators. Thus, the supposed hegemony of the Igala ethnic group has subsisted in the politics of Kogi, in spite of the fact that one zone had succeeded in entrenching the zoning principle.

Matters arising There is no doubt that the death of the governorship candidate of the APC in Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu has created a political and constitutional crisis that has thrown up new calculations and also changed the leadership direction in the confluence state. Apart from this, the development has also provided opportunity to gage the level at which centrifugal forces are in operation in the state which has three major ethnic groups. The logjam has created a sharp division along ethnic line among the people of the 24 years old state.

Prior to the November 21 that the major election was held, it was obvious that there were two major views in the political scene of the state and that was that of the APC and the PDP. The people looked at issues along these major lines, it was easy to see an Okun man and an Igala person having the same view with an Ebira man on the political developments in the state. Their arguments, reasonings and actions were based on political affiliations. But, there was a sharp turn of event immediately Audu died and many possibilities were thrown up as to who, takes over, particularly among the APC members.

Contending issues Since the merger of a part of old Benue and part of old Kwara to form the state known as Kogi in 1991, one of the major issues in the state has been the perceived domination of the Okun and the Ebiras, who came from old Kwara by the Igala that were carved out of the old Benuee.

The Igala in the Eastern senatorial district of the state has nine local government areas and are more in terms of population.

The people also made use of their large number to have a voting population that is almost half of the entire registered voters across the state. The nine local government areas in the Eastern senatorial district of the state have a total of 684, 845 registered voters, while the 12 local government areas in both the Central and Western senatorial districts of the state have 695, 133 regis-

Chief John Odigie-Oyegun

Uche Secondus, PDP acting national chairman

Many people view the domination of other tribes by the Igala as a repeat of the fate that the Igala suffered in the old Benue State.

tered voters. The development has however made the people of the East to have domination over others as this has shown in the power distribution in the last 24 years.

The state has elected governors on four occasions, and the four of them are Igala men. The first democratically elected governor was Audu in 1992; he was also reelected in 1999. In 2003, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris became the governor and in 2011, Capt Idris Wada was elected as governor.

Many people however viewed the domination of other tribes by the Igala as a repeat of the fate that the Igala suffered in the old Benue State. The Igala also did not have access to power for so many years they were in Benue as the Tiv were in control of power. Now that they are in the majority in Kogi State, they bave been exploring their Population and political awareness to hold on to power since the creation of the state.

Power shift The domination of power by the Eastern senatorial district has led to the agitation for power shift/rotation by the other two ethnic groups in the state. This agitation has been on for many years, but was more prominent as a campaign issue in the build up to the election. The two major contenders, Wada and Audu at every campaign outside the Eastern senatorial district take advantage of every opportunity to promise the people of their desire to make power shift to either of the West or the Central senatorial district. The PDP has even gone

a step further to set up a committee that will midwife the actualisation of power shift in 2019.

The genesis The crises in Kogi did not start with the death of the APC candidate, but originated from the governorship primary of the APC held on August 29 and which eventually produced Audu, an Igalaman as the winner and Yahaya Bello, an Ebira man as the first runners up.

Prior to the conduct of the primary, many people had seen Bello as the candidate to beat and it was obvious that the contest was going to be between Audu and Bello.

However the entrance into the race of two other contestants, who are also of Ebira extraction changed the calculations and at the end of the day the votes were shared and Bello lost to Audu. The belief in Bello’s camp and among the Ebira people generally was that it was Audu who sponsored the other two aspirants in order to reduce the chances of Bello in the contest, which eventually paid off. Therefore since the completion of the primary, Bello stayed away from the party’s activities in the state and also filed a petition before the appeal panel set up by the national secretariat of the party over the primary.

Aftermath of November 21 Immediately the death of Audu became public knowledge, the division among the ethnic groups in the state started to mani-

fest. The people of the West and Central believed that the development had made power shift achievable naturally, while those from the East said the wisest thing was to let the governorship remain in Igala land. The Okun people argued that since James Faleke, who is the running mate of Audu is still alive, he should continue with the election and inherit the votes of his principal.

However, the Ebira people were quick to go constitutional in their argument in line with the leeway provided by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. The people argued that since Bello came second in the primary election, he should automatically be used as a replacement for Audu. But the Igala people immediately came up with the argument of Mohammed, the first son of Audu being used as a replacement for his late father.

The argument was vociferous that some youths from the area had to block the Itobe bridge in Ajaokuta to press home their demand. But after a critical consideration of the issue, those agitating for Mohammed dropped thier agitation and queued behind Faleke and came up with another proposition of Faleke/Audu ticket. Nonetheless, the positions taken by the people of the state is that of ethinc colouration, with some Igala people appearing to be more at home with the Okuns taking the governorship seat than conceding it to an Ebira person.

Last lap As the INEC continues with the inconclusive poll of November 21 tomorrow, the concern of the stakeholders in Kogi is how the state could easily find its way out of the current political quagmire. To them, the outcome of the election will go a long way in shaping the future of the state, depending on the ability of the gladiators to exhibit a sense of comportment and maturity. They are of the strong belief that the fallout of the election will inform how the state is able to frontally address issues of power shift or rotation, as well as other tendencies that have been catalytic to instability within the system.

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Friday, 4 December, 2015

hers

Editor: Yemisi Aofolaju yemiaofolaju@yahoo.com 08055001741

How best can he announce his other family?

Iyaniwura

By Monica Taiwo

T

ONI believed she had a close to perfect marriage. Although she cannot claim to know everything about her husband, she believed she knew close to everything about the man she calls her soul mate because he tells her everything and they share everything; at least that is what she thought.

For few months now, she began to notice changes in her husband’s behaviour. She tried to get him to talk about what was bothering him, but he wouldn’t. The best answer he always mumbled anytime she either jokingly or seriously asked him to come out with what was eating him up was always “I am fine” but according to her, she knew all was not well.

It didn’t come as a surprise to her to see her husband’s relatives in her house early morning two Saturdays ago. She didn’t think twice of their visit because despite the fact that she does not get on with some of his family members especially, her mother and sister-in-law, there is an understanding between her and her husband that she takes them the way they are, just for him.

She was however, surprised when after they had taken the breakfast she served, they asked her to join them as she was the reason for their early morning visit.

She wondered why, but she didn’t have to wonder for too long when she was invited to join them in the sitting room. The long and short of their gist; their son, Damola, Toni’s husband, impregnated a woman outside their matrimonial home, she had delivered and they wanted her to know and plead that she forgives her husband. Her mother-in-law claimed she is the one she should forgive.

Typically, Toni, told them in plain language that what happened had nothing to do with her husband’s family, it should

Victor be an issue between her and Damola and they should be left to sort it out. Of course, they took offence at her words, but she said she had no apologies. She then told her husband that, the baby and mother were not her problem, but the fact that he got his extended family involved in the issue.

Readers, in your own opinion, how best can men break such news to their wives.

HERSAY got some responses. Excerpts.

David John: No man is above mistakes, not every man plans to do such; I mean having another family outside, especially in this austere times also with the idea of the one man, one wife civilisation brought to us.

Though, it could be painful to the woman because of various promises they would have made to each other during courtship and other times, but I think no matter what and how bad the situation or grievous the sin or offence committed, the man should be able to talk to his wife alone without getting any family involved.

If I were in the man’s shoes, I will wake my wife up in the middle of the night; plead with her to forgive me after telling her what I did. Of course, you won’t expect her to accept your apology there and then, but with time you will get her to come around.

Theresa Clement: The fact that the man involved his family or asked them to break the news to her does not mean that the man respects her. It only shows a sign of cowardice. A man who asks his family to do his dirty business for him has no guts.

If he realises that he loves and respects his wife in the first place, he won’t have got involved in extra-marital affairs that would transcend into the other woman having a child for him.

The fact is that the other woman cannot bear his child without his consent, so if he has consented to that fact, he should be

Lewis

Kehinde

able to face his wife and ask for forgiveness.

I don’t see any reason why he should involve his family, he should be able to speak with his wife and ask her to forgive him. Involving his family will only worsen the situation, more so if his family does not like his wife. It is only expected that the woman at the receiving end would react, her reaction would definitely raise bad blood with the man’s family.

trust, but the man who is the head of the family should be able to handle such without getting his family especially involved.

Because of the nature of our society and the fact that a woman is told on at marriage that she is not marrying her husband alone, but her in-laws inclusive, their presence in this situation will definitely be intimidating to the wife.

Even our religion which is permissive of more than one wife leaves much room for mutual respect. The man should respect his wife’s feelings and look for soft landing and a good way to break the news to his wife and if anybody should be involved, in my opinion, it should be the wife’s family.

Ranti Olusayo: Involving his family is not a sign of repentance. It is a way of intimidating the woman to accept what he did. Obviously because of his family’s involvement, the woman will be forced to take whatever they say.

This particular issue should be settled between husband and wife. At marriage they have become one and they should be able to settle their differences as one. Though it is not easy, but it is just right that it should be done between them and the right way.

Iyaniwura Akinlua: This is a tough situation and I believe it should be between husband and wife. If there is need for them to involve an outsider, I guess this should be a pastor or an Imam or the woman’s family.

Most often than not, I see the involvement of the husband’s family as lacking genuine repentance and intimidation.

In as much as no woman wishes for her husband to stray, but if handled right, both should be able to work out their differences and carry on with life. Of course the man shouldn’t expect his wife to throw her arms round him and applaud what he did, she would be angry, but he has no right to shot her up with his family’s presence.

Alhaja Kehinde Memunat: Husband and wife should be close enough to discuss issues and sort out things by themselves.

Although, it could be very difficult, because this is an issue bordering on betrayal of

Pastor Victor Olufemi: It is not a good situation, especially since trust has been broken. Only God can heal a broken heart so both should take the situation to God. The man should first confess his sin before his creator and ask for forgiveness, then probably with the help of a man of God, breake the news to his wife.

If he feels he can do it alone, okay, but if he needs help, a man of God should come in.

Though temptation abound in the society, but God’s children should ask him for the grace to be able to flee from temptations at all times.

Muyiwa Lewis: it is no time to ask why the man did what he did, but a time to make peace. Getting his family involved is not entirely a bad idea if there is love within the entire extended family.

This is because in our culture, the woman is not only married to her husband but also to his extended family. If they come in, it shouldn’t be to cause more trouble but to make peace and give the woman an assurance that the advent of the other woman will not in any way affect her position in the family.

32 hersay

Y

OU have a job. Your kid has a job. School is your kid’s job. When you go to work, you have to do your own work. No one does it for you.

You do your work because your work is your responsibility. That’s the way it works with your kid’s job, too. It’s her work and you need to let her be responsible for it.

“Which means that your kid’s homework is her responsibility. It isn’t your homework. It is her job to complete it, not yours. If she needs help, you should be there to help, with heavy emphasis on help. You shouldn’t do it for her; you should only help her figure out what she needs to know to do it herself. Don’t badger and nag your kid to get it done. She knows it should be done. If she doesn’t do it, let her suffer the consequences for not getting it done.

Every nine weeks, there is a report card. That report card is your kid’s job evaluation. If she does well, she gets a promotion. If she doesn’t do well, then she fails, gets left behind and experiences the consequences of her failure.

Sadly, we don’t fail many kids these days, which doesn’t do the kid any good at all. In fact, it is a huge disservice to keep passing a kid through the system when she hasn’t learned.

However, our school systems have a tendency to pass kids whether they learn the material or not. Which means that if the school doesn’t impose consequences, it is your responsibility to do so “Allow me an aside right now to talk about the new movement to get away from letter grades. I am a big believer in A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s and F’s. No E’s! There are no E’s for effort in the

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Parenting The host of Straight Talk!

With Olufunke Adetuberu

08023242389

cryonmenow@yahoo.com

Teaching your children about school real world. I don’t believe in “needs improvement” and smiley faces and frowny faces and all that happy crap.

Some of the new psychologists and parenting groups say that giving a child an F that represents failure will hurt their delicate psyche and lead them to believe they are a failure. Guess what? If your kid gets an F, it means they failed! They failed to do the homework, do

In fact, it is a huge disservice to keep passing a kid through the system when she hasn’t learned.

well on the tests and gain the knowledge so they could move forward. The world is full of circumstances in which you fail and children need to learn at a young age what that feels like. When a salesperson doesn’t make the sale it’s because he failed to convince the customer to buy. When a lawyer loses a case, he failed his client.

There are thousands of circumstances where people fail all the time.

Let your child experience and learn from failure when she is young so she can “learn how to correct her behaviour in a safe, nonthreatening environment. Better to fail at school than in the real world. There is also the competitive nature of grades. When you see another student get an ‘A’ and you know you could have worked a little harder and gotten an ‘A’ as well, that is a good thing.

While I am on grades: When it comes to getting all A’s—take a chill pill. I made a lot of A’s when I was a kid. But then I got to high school and I made a lot of B’s and some C’s. What happened? I got busy. I worked, was in all the high school plays and the band and was involved in lots of stuff.

My parents were understanding and knew that it was important to have a well-rounded kid with varied interests. More important than straight A’s.

The moral is, don’t beat your kids up to get A’s all the time. Let them have a life and make good grades. Have them do their best. Expect them to do their best.

But raise a kid who can have a lot going on and still get good results with a healthy amount of stress. You know, kind of like real life.

Health educators, UNICEF consultant intensify campaign on measles, malaria SOME health experts have appealed to media organisations to join them in educating the public specifically women on various health initiatives and projects targeted at promoting sound health of the people.

The group led by Mrs Oluwakemi Olawoyin, Oyo State Health Educator made the appeal recently at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo State Council Press Centre, Iyaganku, Ibadan.

She said that the media was an integral part of every campaign due to the great and significant role it played in the dissemination of information to a mass audience. ``We are seeking your collaboration on our upcoming vaccination programme, which is aimed at a 95 percent reduction of measles and malaria burden if not totally eradicated. ``The defects suffered by children affected by measles and that suffered by individuals from malaria has become a concern for government and various international health organisations. ``This led to the intervention of all concerned. We are seeking the collaboration of the media as an educative and informative platform relied upon by the public to help educate them on the importance of these initiatives,’’ she said.

Olawoyin said that vaccination would be administered on children from zero to five years, adding that prevention of measles and malaria was a burden not to be neglected.

Also, Mrs Toyin Afachung, the Consultant, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Oyo State Measles Campaign said that immunisation was good for children’s health.

Afachung said that government was trying to ensure that the children were adequately taken care of, calling on the media to also give necessary support through adequate education of the people.

According to the UNICEF consultant, the campaign becomes necessary because of the pressure of survival on modern day mothers who take immunisation of their children with a pinch of salt unlike what obtained in our motheres’ days.

Similarly, Mr Usman Usman, Behaviour Change Advisor told newsmen that malaria was a disease that could be treated and prevented, urging the people to support every initiative aimed at preventing its occur-

rence.

He said that the World Health Organisation(WHO) would distribute 4.5million Insecticide Treated Nets to the people of both Oyo and Akwa-Ibom states, saying the nets prevents malaria. ``The net prevents malaria in three different ways. It is a barrier between the human body and mosquitoes, it serves as repellent and kills mosquitoes as a result of the chemicals on it. `` The nets which lasts for three years could be washed with bathing soaps and must be dried under shade for 24 hours before usage because of the chemicals on it.

Usman, who said that the nets would be distributed from January 28 to February 1, said that they would

ensure that families in the selected states benefit from the distribution.

He said that the mobilisers would visit every household to give out net cards, which would be used in obtaining the net at specified distribution points. ``We will ensure proper monitoring of the distribution and make sure at least a family gets four of the nets,’’ he said.

They allayed the fears that the nets could have negative effects on the users due to the chemicals on it, likewise the perception against immunisation of the children.

They also called on the people to always make good use of such items when obtained to get the best results it was aimed at.

Behaviour Change Communication Advisor, Mr Usman Usman (first right), speaking at the sensitisation programme, held at the Press Centre, Iyaganku, Ibadan. With him are Mrs Toyin Afachung (second right) and Mrs Olawoyin Oluwakemi, while participants at the event look on.

33 hersay

Friday, 4 December, 2015

and need to be steamed,” she explained.

She goes online and chooses the outfits she wants for her various meetings, lunches, client dinners and charity balls, and they are all waiting in her wardrobe when she checks in.

Kate, pictured wearing her designer clothes, heels and accessories, said she doesn’t get embarrassed by her extravagant spending as she Kate with Graydon and Grayson has worked hard for everything she has.

Kate’s ‘empire’ included owning tanning shops and beauty salons and she made her first million ten years ago “With the outfits already being here, it is so much easier and it is like being Cinderella trying them all on,’ she said.

“I have gone online picked what I wanted and then it is all here so all I have to travel with is toiletries.

“Every second is accounted for, time management is key in my life.

This is just so much easier for me.’

Kate, a mother of three, believes ‘image is paramount’ so she is keen to make the right impression with her choice of outfit and show of wealth.

‘It is not about being looked at, it is about being remembered,’ she said.

“I feel like a kid in a sweet shop!’ she exclaimed as she tried on a The teenage single mum who became a millionaire: Woman who left school at 17 reveals how she 38-carat £80,000 diamond necklace. built a beauty empire and now splashes £250,000 on diamonds and stays in £1,000-a-night hotels In the end she opted to spend £242,000 on a diamond bangle de•Kate Stewart left school with no qualifications and had a baby at 17 claring it ‘a bargain.’

•She’s now a wealthy businesswoman with ‘empire’ of beauty salons She said that getting dressed up in expensive clothes and adorning herself in gems is her ‘armour’ in the business world.

•Spends £1,000 a night on hotel suites for business trips She explained: “I don’t get embarrassed by my spending, I have •Uses ‘designer wardrobe room service’ so she doesn’t have to pack worked for everything I have got and I am proud of everything I buy.

•Loves to spend her money on diamonds as a show of wealth.

“Sometimes nice clothing and jewellery is your armour, you put your amour on and go out and you are almost USINESSWOMAN Kate Stewart is so rich she playing a role, it makes me feel more confident.’” prefers to pay for designer clothes to be delivKate admits her lifestyle now is a far cry from her humered to her hotel when she goes away rather than ble beginnings. pack a suitcase.

Kate revealed: “I don’t get embarrassed by my spendThe multi-millionaire, 33, from Liverpool, thinks ing, I have worked for everything I have got and I am spending £242,000 on diamonds is ‘a bargain’ and loves proud of everything I buy’ ‘Sometimes nice clothing and to flaunt her wealth with her expensive tastes. jewellery is your armour, you put your armour on and go The mother-of-three, who appears on How The Othout and you are almost playing a role, it makes me feel er Half Lives, says she is not ashamed of her extravamore confident,’ said Kate as she snapped up items of gant spending as she has worked hard for everything she luxury jewellery. has after starting from nothing.

She is now married to Graham, with whom she had ‘I left school with no qualifications and had a normal, twins Graydon and Grayson in September 2014. dead-end job paying £2.50 an hour,’ she told the show’s Sadly, the couple lost a previous baby six months into presenters.

Kate’s pregnancy so this time she took no chances, hav“I got pregnant at 17 and the destiny written for me was ing regular private check ups and hiring her own mid“you are going to claim benefits and have more kids”. Evwife. eryone wrote me off and I thought “no” and came back She then booked an elective c-section at the Women’s fighting. That gave me the drive to achieve.” private Catharine Medical Centre in Liverpool.

Kate said it was initially hard to get people to give her She told the Liverpool Echo the money she spent on a chance but worked as a secretary while studying for a her sons’ safe delivery was the best she has ever spent. business and management degree, alongside raising her She said: “I didn’t care about the cost, I’d have gone daughter, Caitlin, now 15. without food or without anything in my life, I’d have sold Recalling her career ascent, she said: ‘‘I did my educaeverything just to ensure that my children were well and tion at the same time while I was a single mum. I did a deborn safely. gree and ended up running a company and then invested “I don’t go out every weekend, I don’t drink, so I spent my money correctly so I built up my own empire.’ that money instead on the well-being of my pregnancy Kate said she started out with nothing but built up an and I’m glad I did.” empire of tanning and beauty salons after getting a busi“Now I look at my babies’ two faces every morning and ness degree and making wise investments know it’s the best thing I could ever have done.’”

Her ‘empire’ included owning tanning shops and beauKate is back at work now, the boys are a year old and ty salons and she made her first million 10 years ago. had a busy round of meetings and presentations on the She went on to own Liverpool’s Heritage Market while day she met Eamonn and Ruth to feature on their show expanding her businesses and making other wise investinvestigating ‘how the other half lives’. ments.

Asked if she has ever attempted to drop her heavy Now she can afford to travel with only toiletries when Scouse accent, she replied: “I am who I am, Eamonn, she goes on business trips to the capital to save herself and I am proud of where I came from. the time and inconvenience of packing clothes.

“People always underestimate me and assume I don’t She pays £1,000 a night to stay in a suite at the W Hotel know what I am talking about, but as soon as I do a prein London where they offer the ‘designer wardrobe room Kate, pictured wearing sentation or start speaking in business, you can see the service’. her designer clothes, shock on their face.”

“I like to travel light and not have loads of suitcases, and heels and accessories.

•Dailymail.co.uk. by the time you get here the clothes would all be creased

How a teenage single mum became a millionaire

B

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Friday, 4 December, 2015

heartcopy I have a burden to help her because of my background

D

EAR Taiwo, I needed to write my story, because of the dilemma facing me now. I passed through a lot while I was growing up, but I was saved by grace. So, whenever I see or come across any young girl in a similar situation I always have the burden to help.

However, this particular young girl and the circumstances surrounding her is giving me sleepless nights. I understand her perfectly, I pity her and will do anything to help her out and locate her mother, but the fact that she has refused to open up despite all glaring facts about her situation.

Her father has turned her into a sex slave just like my father did years back. Unlike in my own situation that I had no one to speak up for me, her younger brother told their story and he also desire help for her and his other younger sister who he fears their father will do the same to.

I have tried to help them locate their mother who left them with their father years back without a second thought.

When I got her, her response was rude and insulting. She almost fought with me in the public, so much that people who learnt about what she did to me asked what my stake is in this. But I have a story to tell. I believe you and your readers can advise on how I can get this young girl out of the bondage she is in.

I am a woman and by God’s grace a mother of two children and I would not mince words to say that a lot of evils which befall children, more often than not, is as a result of our mothers’ carelessness, most of the time.

I was seven, when my parents quarreled and my mother left with my younger brother and I. She rented an apartment and she continued with her trading. She had a mini super market where she sold provisions beside our rented apartment. My brother and I attended a private primary school and I wasn’t too young to know that my mother was

I can’t have sex!

DEAR Taiwo, I am 32 and I have lost interest in sex. Do not get me wrong, I used to enjoy sex, but lately, I am just not in the mood.

My wife thinks she is responsible for this. (We got married about 18 months ago) and I have told her she wasn’t at fault, but she won’t believe.

Another thing is that when we eventually get round to having sex, I cannot ejaculate. My weak sex drive is affecting my relationship, please, what can I do?

Joakim.

Dear Joakim, What you are going through now could be distressing and I can understand how you and your spouse feel.

It is very natural for a woman to want her husband sexually; more so, an average woman likes her man to desire her constantly. When this does not happen, she could feel rejected and unattractive. In your situation, you need to try and convince her that she is not the problem and let her know how you feel.

What you are going through now is just natural and many men of your age or older must have gone through this stage at a particular time.

I will advise that you don’t force or push yourself too hard to have sex as this will not help the situation, rather. It could make it worse.

Are you on any medication or worried about something in your office or family? This can

surviving on cooperative loan.

Things were okay until I gained admission into a secondary school. I was 13 years plus and my brother was 10.

Mummy told me that she was swindled by a fraudster, and all we had went down the drain in a short while.

At about the same time, my brother fell ill and died of pneumonia. His death was as a result of lack of good medication, which my mother could not afford at that time.

share a

Monica Taiwo monicataiwo@yahoo.com 08055001724 (sms only) @taiwomonica

Things went from bad to worst and mummy later began to date a man who worked at an oil company.

At the initial stage of their relationship, he treated me well and he liked me. I went back to a private school and things started picking up for us again. Few months into their relationship, my mother called me in the middle of the night and told me that ‘uncle’, as I called him, has proposed marriage to her, but the problem was that, he said I could not move into his home with her, which meant I had to go back to my father’s house.

I pleaded with her, but she said her decision was final.

The following morning, before going to school, I stopped over at her only surviving sister’s house to ask her to plead with my mother; she did, but my mother refused.

Eventually, I went back to my father’s house, I was almost 14 and in SS1. He welcomed me. But as soon as I entered the house we left years back, I saw the difference. The stench and dirt was intimidating. I wasn’t lazy; I tidied up as much as I could. I had my former room, but getting food and other necessary toiletries was a problem.

My father drinks a lot, most of the time he would come home dead drunk and vomit all over the place. I would wake up and clean up the mess. He brought home different women every night and he was very brutal with me.

He would hit me even when I did nothing and I always avoided him.

One night, he came home, drunk as ever. He summoned me into his room; he told me that from that day, I would take my mother’s place. I didn’t understand him immediately, until he asked me to strip my clothes. I didn’t want to; he tore my night gown and raped me. I would never forget that day, which marked the beginning of my horrific experience in my father’s hands.

When he was through with me, he brought out a small animal horn covered with a red cloth; he showed me and said if I told anyone what happened between us, I would die vomiting blood. I was scared and that started the pattern, every night for two years. Twice, I became pregnant and he gave me drugs to abort. The third time I got pregnant and he gave me the same drug; I bled and almost lost my life.

Anonymous.

Continues next week

Can I ever love again?

burden WM

ith onica Taiwo

08055001724 (sms only) monicataiwo@yahoo.com

also lead to this kind of situation. If the answer is ‘Yes’, kindly see your doctor about the particular drug or medication and try to remove all worries from your mind.

If the answer is ‘No’, please, you need to see a doctor particularly on the issue of not being able to ejaculate.

Although at your age, I don’t see any serious medical problem cropping up, but you should not take chances.

DEAR Taiwo, I am 38 with a very good job and I thought I had a relationship that was altar-bound until few weeks ago when my 30-year-old girlfriend of six years told me of her forthcoming wedding ceremony.

Women can be very terrible (with due apologies). She never gave me the impression that something was going on and I did not suspect that she was into another relationship. She just dropped this bombshell.

I have a good job with a bank; she equally has too. I learnt that the man she wants to marry came in from the United States about two months ago. We did not quarrel.

This lady has broken my heart. I have tried talking to her, but she won’t even pick my calls. I went to see her at home, her mother turned me back and warned me not to come and look for her again as she will soon be getting married.

These are people I initially enjoyed a cordial relationship with. I am so sad. Would I ever be able to love again?

Sly. Dear Sly, I will advise that you pull yourself together and move on with your life. What happened to you is not the end of the world. There is nothing new under the sun. There is no way your girlfriend would change her mind, it is very obvious she has the backing of her parents.

So, there is no point pushing it. She knows her reason for agreeing to marry the man from the US. Your own woman will definitely come your way. Cheers.

35

Friday, 4 December, 2015

arewa

Femi Olukunle Co-ordinating Editor 08158610216

Muhammad Sabiu - Gusau

T

he Northern Emirs, under the Chairmanship of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, have raised the alarm over the whereabouts of funds donated to the Internally Displaced Person’s (IDP’s) in the North Eastern region by individuals, governments and organisations.

He made this known while speaking at the 2nd General Assembly of the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council meeting held in Kaduna.

The Sultan remarked: “When we go into closed session, we will discuss that thorny issue of displaced persons in the Internally Displaced Camps (IDPs), mostly in the North-East; it is a very sad situation.

People are suffering, billions and billions of naira have been collected or put aside for their welfare, but what we hear every day and what we saw on the pages of newspapers are not pleasing.

“The billons of naira collected must be utilised now because when somebody dies, he does not need anything again except prayers; so since they are still alive, let us feel for these IDPs; they are our brothers and sisters.

‘We must feel for them, we cannot live in luxury when our brothers and sisters are suffering; we cannot sleep well, so please when we see things like that, we want the governors to take the issue much more seriously, take it up with Mr President and ensure the release of these funds because I was part of the team that attended the meeting where money was collected for IDPs during the last government. They should find out where that money is and disburse it immediately,” he said.

He stressed further: “Whenever we meet with our political leaders, we always tell them that we are only here to advise them and that is what we are doing here and we will continue to advise them as long as it is necessary.

‘We will continue to advise them for the good of our people especially in the Northern part of the country.

“We believe that once problems of the North are taken up from the troubled spots or the map of troubled areas in the world, we believe Nigeria will be a better place. So we intend to discuss issues affecting the North and also the country in

Victims of insurgency in the North-East in one of the IDPs in Borno.

Northern Emirs raise alarm over IDPs’ funds general.

On Biafra, he noted: “We are very much concerned about this issue because we know we have millions of Igbos residing with us in our homes, in our towns, in our

state, very peacefully, very industriously, helping our communities and helping our economy to grow, and so many of them as we know keep telling us that they have no-

where else to live other than where they are presently living.

“Since we have this coordination with millions of them, what is happening now is a thing of concern to us and we believe we should look at this issue and most likely set up a small committee of senior traditional rulers to go down to South-East and engage our brothers there (traditional rulers) so that we will know how we can come in to help to stop this agitation.”

He commended some of the Igbo leaders and governors who condemned it adding that it must be condemned totally “we believe in dialogue, whatever the problem is with anybody, we believe we should sit down and discuss and a solution will be found.”

Crew

Sabiu Mohammed - 08067698878 mohsabiu@yahoo.com Isaac Shobayo - Jos 08037032359 shobayo.isaac@gmail.com

An IDPs camp in Kaduna.

Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar

ITF management, workers lock horns, paralyse Fund activities —Pg.36

When Kwara varsity extolled virtues of Saraki —Pg.36

Biola Azeez – Kwara State 08034276889 biolababes@gmail.com James Bwala – Borno / Yobe 08069596659 jamesbwala97@gmail.com Adamu Amadu - Dutse Kola Oyelere - Kano

36 arewa

Friday, 4 December, 2015

ITF management, workers lock horns, paralyse Fund activities Isaac Shobayo - Jos

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he Industrial Training Fund, for quite sometimes, has been embroiled in internal crisis especially between the staff and management of the establishment. The internal wrangling got to its peak on Monday when the staff of the organisation trooped out enmass to protest and embark on a warning strike against what they described as the high handedness of the management.

The resounding protest paralysed activities at the corporate headquarters of the organisation in Jos as the entire management staff were locked out while the few who had reported to work hurriedly left the premises to avoid embarrassment and molestation by the aggrieved workers. They carried placards with various inscriptions such as “Enough of dictatorship, “where is our N1.2 billion that was embezzled?” “We can’t take it any more”.

They also complained of non-payment of their salaries.

According to the text of their complaints, signed by 22 members of staff of the Fund, including the President of SSACTAC, Comrade Kayode S. Alakija and Chairman, AUPCTRE, Comrade Ishaya Audu, “Staff have lost every sense of belonging, while the Director–General/ Chief Executive has turned the organisation into a private concern. The Fund is being run as a family business and any activities that your kitchen cabinet are not part of will not see the light of the day “Activities of various departments/ units have been paralysed while money is being spent on frivolities. Financial impropriety and misappropriation of funds is now the order of the day.”

The staff, in the light of the above, want the Director–General to respond to the

following issues which include, non–remittance of all deductions from salaries from June to date, non–payment of training contributors reimbursement claims, National Health Insurance Scheme, lack of internet facilities, renovation of ITF headquarters complex, non–approval of core activities of the various department/ units, dissolution of staff school’s board, construction of 150 metres concrete access road, overseas training, study tour and many other areas.

In a swift reaction, the management of ITF said that it was very much aware of the staff conference, adding that it called for a meeting between the junior and senior staff and the management which unfortunately the staff turned down.

The Director, Public Relations of ITF, Ifeoma Iheazue, who spoke for the management, said the allegations which were put in writing would be looked into by the management one by one, adding that the agitators were their colleagues who were working for ITF. “I want to stand here to tell you that our salaries have been paid. Most of these remittances they are talking about have been paid. We are aware of this new policy of Treasury Single Account (TSA) which has delayed a lot of things. And ITF is not an exception. We are equally affected. But as I am talking to you now, ITF is not owing anybody. It is not owing the union. Whatever is needed to be remitted as of today has been remitted,” Iheazue stated.

On the Director–General’s alleged high handedness, she said that she was aware that the headquarters of ITF was in Jos, adding that most of the policy activities took place in the nation’s capital, Abuja, which required the physical presence of the Director–General.

She stated that the Director –

General was in Jos last week, adding that if she had to be in Jos constantly as they wanted, other issues that needed to be addressed outside Jos would equally suffer.

“How can we resolve this issue? It is all about dialogue. If you dialogue with ITF management, whatever issues you have, it will be trashed out point by point. But they have not given such an opportunity, that is why they are taking laws into their hands,” she stated, adding that the management of

Protesing staff of the ITF in front of the Fund in Jos on Monday.

When Kwara varsity extolled virtues of Saraki Biola Azeez-Ilorin Almost every experience shared by those who have come in contact with late political icon in Kwara state and a philanthropist per excellence, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, praised his humane, kindness and love for his people, the state of his origin and Nigeria at large.

Dr. Saraki, who died on November 14, 2012 at the age of 79 years, has always been remembered in the annals of Nigerian politics for providing the philosophy of people’s welfare as the crux of politics.

Late Dr Olusola Saraki

The participation of Dr Saraki in 1964 federal election expanded his understanding of the poverty level in Nigeria, particularly in the rural areas. He then resolved to find a possible way to assist those actually in need.

As a renowned politician, on July 7, 1979, he contested the Senate in the Second Republic and won. In the Senate, he was elected the leader. In 1983, he contested the Senate for the second time and won overwhelmingly with the result that had made him the first and only Senator to have scored such votes (i.e. 98.02 per cent) in the general election. Thus becoming the first Ilorin indigene to attain that parliamentary height.

It was not a surprise that within four years of service at the Senate, Saraki had established himself as a towering figure of consequential influence. A very simple, humble and unassuming politician, Saraki struck the heart of the people with his hospitality and kindness.

All his life, he represented the interests and yearning of the poor. He was fair and just, simple but great, incredible but true, gentle but powerful. Saraki’s life was that of unfaulted honesty, enviable courage and sincerity.

Thus, the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, regarded as university for community development, has taken it upon itself to organise a yearly community summit to immortalise the life and times of the late political godfather, “for the benefit of researchers and the future generation”.

ITF was on top of the problem.

Arewa findings revealed that the establishment is presently polarised while there are suspicions among the staff of the establishment. There is a cross section of both the junior and senior staff who perceived the protest as a ploy to frustrate the Director-General Mrs Chukka Onaekan out of office while positing that she must leave on allegation of administrative misdemeanors.

The annual summit, which is not for the well-to-do people alone, is also for the masses because Dr Saraki was described as a politician for the masses who also spent his money to improve their welfare.

Speaking at the third in the series of the event in Ilorin, the vice chancellor of the institution, Professor Abdulrasheed Na’Allah, said that the authorities of the institution wanted ordinary people to have a say in the three-day summit as well as the youth and every other participant.

“We believe we cannot exhaust his history, and that’s why this programme is an annual event. I learnt a lot of lessons from the previous summit. For instance, it was last year I understood that it wasn’t late Saraki that voluntarily came home to join politics. It was true that he contested election and lost initially, but he returned to Lagos to continue his medical practice.

“It was the people who went to invite him back home for humanitarian service after so much agitation for a tarred road from Isale Oja to Pakata area of Ilorin. To demonstrate his willingness to serve his people, he hearkened to their call and helped tar the road. This was unprecedented in the history of Ilorin. He single-handedly guided the political, social and economic development of Kwara State. The state has escaped the political crisis through the principle of consensus”, he said.

The vice chancellor also used the occasion to appeal to the nation’s political class to forgive the scion of the Saraki political dynasty, who is also the Senate president, Dr Bukola Saraki, of his purported politi-

cal “sins” for the sake of his late father, Dr Olusola Saraki.

Professor Na’Allah said that Nigerians should remember late Saraki’s contributions to national growth and selfless life lived by the late philanthropist.

Many people, who spoke at the summit, paid glowing tribute to the late philanthropist, describing him as a godfather of Kwara and Kogi politics.

A former legislator in the Kwara State House of Assembly, Honourable Kayode Omotose, described late Saraki as one of the greatest Nigerians of all times, saying that the history of Nigerian politics could not be completed without chapters dedicated to Saraki, the kingmaker.

Also speaking, the Head of Service of Kwara State, Mrs Zahra Omar, described how late Saraki helped a widow and two infants, children of a journalist, Tunde Oladepo, who was murdered in 1998 during the turbulent days of General Sani Abacha.

Mrs Omar recounted how the late philanthropist just read of the agony of the widow and her two children in newspaper and sent a token sum of N250, 000 cash (a lot of money then) to her without setting his eyes on them.

“Dr. Saraki did what he did out of his love for God and humanity and it was done quietly without any fanfare. I have little doubt that ‘Oloye’ did the same and perhaps much more for many others whilst he lived and I wonder how many of our leaders have the same kind of charitable and compassionate spirit as he did”, she said.

37 news

Friday, 4 December, 2015

SERAP drags Senate to UN over anti-media freedom, social media bill Olalekan Olabulo-with Agency Report

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ocio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an urgent appeal to Mr David Kaye, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, asking him “to use his good offices and position to urgently request the National Assembly of Nigeria, specifically the Senate, to withdraw a bill which if passed into law, would undermine the internationally recognised right to freedom of expression and press freedom on the internet in the country.”

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, was also copied in the urgent appeal.

In the appeal dated December 3, 2015 and signed

by SERAP Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organisation said,“We are seriously concerned that the National Assembly of Nigeria will any moment from now pass a bill to jail for two years and fine anybody or group of persons who send any alleged false text message or post false message on the social media against another person.”

“SERAP is concerned that rather than increasing universal and inclusive access to the Internet for all Nigerians, the National Assembly of Nigeria is working to undermine access of citizens to the Internet. Yet, freedom of expression entails the ability to both speak and receive information, including through the social media and other generated content services such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and chat applications,” the organisation said.

The organisation also stated further that,“By initiating this bill, the National Assembly is impermissibly restricting the ability of the citizens to use these tools to communicate, connect, and seek independent sources of information.”

“International law provides that any restriction to rights online must be provided in law, pursuant to a legitimate aim, and limited to only what is necessary and proportionate.

SERAP believes that the bill falls far short of international requirements of legitimacy, necessity and proportionality,” the organisation added According to the organisation, “The Senate has set in motion a process to accelerate the passage of this obnoxious bill. SERAP is seriously concerned

that if passed into law the bill would contravene Nigeria’s international legal obligations, including under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a signatory,” the organisation said.

The bill entitled: “A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and other Matters

Connected therewith”, is sponsored by Senator Ibn Na’Allah, the All Progressives Congress ((APC) Kebbi South.

The bill provides for an option of N4 million for persons convicted of false statements in newspapers, on the radio and television and N2 million for offenders of false phone text messages or messages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or WhatsApp. The bill also seek to punish alleged malicious intent to discredit

or set the public against any person or group of persons, institutions of government.

Meanwhile, the national coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Chief Gani Adams, has condemned the Senate for seeking to introduce a bill intended to make it a punishable offence to publish any petition or complaint against a public officer without being supported with a sworn affidavit.

The OPC chief, while speaking with select journalists at his office in Lagos, on Thursday , describe the proposed bill as “dangerous “ to the country’ s democracy.

According to Chief Adams “the bill, entitled “An act to prohibit frivolous petitions and other matters connected therewith’’, is dangerous for the nation’s nascent democracy.”

Fayose suspends SSG EKITI State governor, Mr Ayo Fayose, has suspended the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Modupe Alade.

This was conveyed in a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Idowu Adelusi and made available to newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, on Thursday.

Fayose, according to the statement, said the suspension would last for three months.

It said the governor directed the state Head of Service (HoS), Dr Gbenga Faseluka, to oversee the office pending her resumption.

Alade, it will be recalled, retired from the state civil service as permanent secretary and had worked in ministries of Education, Local Government Affairs, among others.

Appeal Court dismisses appeal against Oyo lawmaker From left, Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Akure, (FUTA), Professor Adebiyi Daramola; Dean, Galilee Management Institute, Israel, Dr Nathan Tirosh and the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Development, FUTA, Professor Tolulope Akinbogun, during Tirosh working visit to FUTA, on Thursday.

Osun Assembly may order closure of MTN, Etisalat, Airtel offices defaulting organisations. Why would they refuse to appear if OSUN State Assembly on they are fully compliant and Thursday, through its have duly paid their taxes?” chairman, House Committee While expressing displeasure on Public Accounts, Honourable Rasheed Afolabi, threatened to order the closure of MTN, Etisalat and Airtel communications offices in the The Delta State Commisstate, owing to the failure of sioner for Lands, Survey the companies to honour the and Urban Development, committee’s invitation.

Sir Dan Okenyi, has set up a The committee had invited committee to identify undeprivate tertiary institutions veloped plots of land, earlier and telecommunication allocated to individuals and companies operating in the organisations in the Core state, but only Globacom and Area of Asaba, the capital of the institutions appeared Delta State. before the committee.

The committee headed T h e c o m p a n i e s a n d by Mr Alex Eboka, it was institutions were summoned gathered, would identify to render an explanation undeveloped plots by their regading their compliance owners, two years or more, with tax laws and payments after they were allocated. in the state.

The exercise was necessiI rked over the non- tated by the prevalence of c o m p l i a n c e o f t h e undeveloped plots of land, telecommunication companies some of which were allocated with the summon, Afolabi for upward of five years and said the telecommunication duly issued with Certificates companies must provide of Occupancy. genuine excuses on why In setting up the committhey could not appear before tee which will be inaugurated the committee on or before in the Conference Hall of the Monday next week, or risk the Ministry, on Monday, Declosure of their offices. cember 7, Chief Okenyi noted “The era of impunity is over, that some of the beneficiaries and appropriate sanctions were engaging in land specuwould be meted out to lation without any intention Oluwole Ige - Osogbo

over Globacom for hoarding necessary information for a proper computation of their taxes by the office of the auditor, he maintained that

the economic situation in the state and the country at large, required every stakeholder to play its role towards improving the revenue of the state.

Committee to identify undeveloped plots in core area of Asaba to develop the property. He statted further that some of the plots of lands were pos-

ing security challenges as hoodlums had turned them into their operational base.

Remoland gets new Iyalode

BY DARE ADEKANMBI

REMO Traditional Council, the umbrella body of all the Obas in the Remo zone of Ogun State, on Thursday, announced the appointment of Chief (Mrs) Folasade Ogunbiyi as the new Iyalode of Remoland.

Ogunbiyi is the wife of a former managing director of the Daily Times of Nigeria and the chairman of Tanus Communication Limited, Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi.

Her appointment was made known to newsmen at the end of a meeting of the Remo Traditional Council held at the palace of the Akarigbo and paramount ruler of Remoland, Dr Adeniyi Sonariwo, in Sagamu, Ogun State.

Speaking on the choice of

Ogunbiyi, the Alado of Ado, Sagamu, Oba Tijani Osokowu said the choice of Ogunbiyi was unanimous, as there was no dissenting voice against her appointment.

Oba Osokowu expressed the optimism that the reign of Ogunbiyi as the Iyalode of Remoland would bring growth and development to Remo, particularly to the women in the division.

ChiefOgunbiyihasherpaternal roots from the Olasibo Ruling House of Epe, Sagamu, where her younger brother, Oba Adewale Osiberu is the reigning king.

Her maternal family tree is from the DerinOlogbenlabranchof theGiesi RulingHouseofIleIfe, thesamehousethatproducedthe new Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi.

BY TUNDE OGUNESAN

The Court of Appeal siting in Ibadan, has dismissed the appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Ibadan North -East Constituency I, Mr Mutiu Kolapo Raji against Honourable Kehinde Oloya of the Accord Party.

While delivering the judgment in the Appeal No: CA/IB/EPT/HA/12/2015, the chairman of the panel, Justice Michelia noted that the Appellant failed to substantiate all the issues raised in his appeal and therefore ought to be dismissed.

The Court, thereafter, awarded the cost of N50,000 against the appellant in favour of the respondents.

The appellant, Mr Mutiu Kolapo Raji had gone to the Appeal Court to challenge the judgment of the election petition tribunal sitting at Iyaganku, Ibadan, that upheld the election of Honourable Kehinde Oloya on October 5, 2015.

Speaking on the development, Honourable Kehinde Oloya thanked God and the people of his constituency for their support and prayer while the trial lasted.

He, however, urged his opponent to accept defeat in good faith and join hands with him in the overall interest of the people in their constituency and Oyo State in general.

45

news

Friday, 25 September, 2015

Military dismantles Boko Haram fuel depot I’ve never eaten apple—Displaced girl From CHRIS AGBAMBU and James Bwala

T

roops of 3 Division on Thursday, dismantled a Boko Haram fuel depot, located at Ladu Dumbawa ward, Guzamala Local Government Area of Borno State.

Nigerian Tribune

gathered that suspected Boko Haram insurgents had abducted seven persons in Gajabere and took them to the same location.

Those kidnapped were three local wards heads and their respective deputies, as well as the Chief Imam of the town.

However, through bravery, three of them escaped and reported the matter to the

security agency, leading to the rescue of others and discovery of the terrorists’ fuel depot.

The troops also blocked the terrorists supply route, which led to Babangida in Tarmuwa Local Government Area of Yobe State, where they mostly got the supplies.

Meanwhile, the InspectorGeneral of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, has reiterated

unalloyed commitment of the Nigeria Police to actively sustain the fight against insurgency.

The IGP stated this while hosting a delegation from the United States (US) Embassy, led by Ambassador Daniel Mozena, in his office at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.

Head of the delegation commended the efforts of the

Nigeria Police for upholding professionalism and rules of engagement in the ongoing fight against insurgency in the North-East.

Ambassador Mozena also offered to help the Force in handling terror suspects who might lay down their arms.

In his response, Arase appreciated the support gained from the US Embassy

NDLEA arrests student, 4 others with 10,255 kg of drugs at Lagos airport SHOLA ADEKOLA-Lagos

Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a student and four others for suspected drug trafficking.

They were caught at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport ( MMI A ) , L a g o s , o v e r unlawful possession of 10.255 kilogrammes of narcotics hidden in garri and luggage.

Two of the drug suspects were coming from Brazil with cocaine, while three others were going to South Africa, Dubai and Pakistan when they were arrested.

NDLEA commander at the Lagos airport, Mr Ahmadu Garba, gave the names of those apprehended and the drugs found in their possession as follow: “Twenty-six-year-old student, Okonkwo Daniel Anagor, was caught with 2.810 kilogrammes of Tramadol on his way to Dubai; Lawal Monsuru Ademola, 33-yearold trader was arrested with 3.310 kilogrammes of methamphetamine on his way to South Africa, while Ogbonna Donatus Chigozie was caught attempting to smuggle 610 grammes of cocaine to Pakistan. Two other suspects, Okoro Chibueze Augustine and Okpue Ernest Ifeanyi were caught with

2.575 kilogrammes and 950 grammes of cocaine from Brazil.”

Okonkwo David Anagor, who was to board Rwand Air flight to Dubai, told investigators that he wanted to spend some time after his secondary school and further his education in Dubai.

His ambition has, however, been scuttled, following his arrest, as well as criminal charges of drug exportation preferred against him by the agency.

According to him, “I was travelling to Dubai to spend holiday and further my studies, but they called me from Dubai that somebody will give me garri in Lagos.

When I got to Lagos, the person called me and gave me the bag of garri. This is my first time of travelling outside the country. At the airport, the garri was searched and 445 sachets of Tramadol were found inside the bag. That was how I was arrested.”

He hails from Ayamelum Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Lawal Monsuru Ademola, a trader selling clothes at Marina Lagos, holds a diploma in Computer Installations and Repairs at the Lagos State Polytechnic.

His journey to South Africa was aborted, as

We destroyed 10 illegal refineries, seized 42 oil tankers —NSCDC chief The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) said it destroyed eight illegal refineries in three states and seized 42 oil tankers used in diverting petroleum products to the black market.

Commandant-General of the corps, Alhaji Abdulahi Gana, told newsmen in his country home in Minna, on Thursday, that the operation was carried out between July and September.

“On Friday, we destroyed three illegal refineries in Rivers State; within the week we destroyed five in Bayelsa and another two in Abia,’’ he said.

Gana expressed dismay

at the way the Federal Government was losing much more oil revenues to the operations of oil thieves than it was receiving.

He said that the corps would continue to safeguard the country’s critical infrastructure and national assets, in order to ensure that its development efforts remained on course.

He told newsmen that the corps deployed 40,000 of its personnel to strategic locations across the country, to ensure a hitch-free Sallah celebration.

Gana said that ensuring the security of the country was everybody’s business and not be left to the government alone.

3.310 kilogrammes of crystalline substance, which tested positive for methamphetamine, was found in his possession.

The drug was neatly packed in 26 parcels in a false bottom of his luggage.

Similarly, Ogbonna Donatus Chigozie was nabbed with 610 grammes of cocaine while attempting to board an Emirate flight to Pakistan.

Okoro Chibueze Augustine from Imo State, who was expecting N2.5 million, described his arrest as a bad luck, saying: “I have lived in Brazil for a year and six months. I have suffered

trying to make ends meet in Brazil. I got involved in drug trafficking, so as to start a legitimate business. I was expected to make N2.5 million from the deal. Unfortunately, my partner who would have collected the drug in Dubai failed to show up, so I had to come to Nigeria with the drug.

That was not the original plan.

This is a bad luck and I feel so sad.”

Okpue Ernest Ifeanyi, who had lived in Brazil for a year, said he came to Nigeria for his traditional wedding ceremony.

“I work in a restaurant in Brazil. I am 39 years old from

Enugu and I sincerely want to get married and have a family. In the process of trying to make more money, I was given 59 wraps of cocaine to take to Nigeria for N400,000.

Now, I realise I have made a big mistake. I pray my woman will find a place in her heart to forgive me. I feel I am under a spell,” he stated.

Chairman/Chief Executive of the Agency, Ahmadu Giade, while reacting to the recent arrests, called on Nigerians to shun drug trafficking and promote peaceful coexistence.

The NDLEA boss said the five suspects would soon be arraigned in court.

saturday, 26 SEPTEMBER, 2015

in Nigeria and further disclosed that a Deputy Commissioner of Police was deployed to the Operation Command centre in Maiduguri, adding that 4,000 operational policemen were working in partnership with the military to end insurgency in the North-East.

Meanwhile, a displaced girl at the Government College camp said she had never eaten apple, adding she was going to eat apple for the first time.

One of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)’ children, Fatima Umaru, told newsmen when the Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, went to their camp in Gwoza, that she had never eaten an apple.

According to the displaced girl, who held unto her apple for some time, watching how other children were eating theirs, said she thought it had to be peeled before eating it.

“I have seen it before; they used to tell us it is a fruit for rich people. I never thought I could have a taste of it, but I am happy and thank Governor Shettima for the opportunity,”she said.

n150

interview

interview

HID Awolowo Murtala Muhammed’s widow relives experience with Yeye Oodua •Nollywood speaks too

features

There is a river in a town in Oyo State, where the indigenes cannot fish. What is the name of the river, where is it located?

Find out tomorrow!

I hate to see female musicians slander one another —Emma Nyra

entertainment

Those who called my father ‘Amala Politician’ were always in his house to eat amala with him —Adedibu’s eldest son

court & crime

He had sex with his father’s wife, impregnated another woman with 4 children •Wife tells court •It’s a lie, my wife is troublesome —Husband Book your copy today

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THIS BOX IS FOR SALE

39

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I, formerly Oluwagbenga Segun is the same person as Animashaun Segun Abiodun. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as ANIMASHAUN SEGUN ABIODUN. All former documents remain valid.

Wema Bank Plc and general public take note.

I, formerly Mrs Omotosho Rebecca Yetunde now MISS ALAYANDE RUKAYAT YETUNDE. All former documents remain valid.

Diamond Bank Plc and general public take note.

I, Olugbenga Tanimowo am the same person as Olugbenga Tanimowo Olabode Abolade, Alagbe Olabode and Tanimowo Olugbenga Abolade.

Now I wish to be known and addressed as OLUGBENGA TANIMOWO. All documents bearing these names remain valid. Diamond Bank Plc., and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Iyi-Ojo Abimbola Omobola now MRS. AKINBILE ABIMBOLA OMOBOLA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Oladosu Omolara Rukayat now AKINJOBI OMOLARA RUKAYAT. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Adeniji Abraham now ADENIJI ADAMS. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Arowojolu Opeyemi now MRS. ADESEGUN OPEYEMI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Aderanti Deborah Adebimpe now MRS. OGUNDARE DEBORAH ADEBIMPE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Alhaji Biliaminu Lawal now ALHAJI BOONYAMEEN ABIOLA LAWAL. All former documents remain valid. UBA Plc., and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Adeniran Titilope Omobonike now ADISA ADEWUMI TITILOPE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Igbinosun F. O. Adesuwa now ISAAC KATE NGOZI. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, Adebayo Rafiu am the same person bearing Adewole Rafiu Adebayo. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as ADEWOLE RAFIU ADEBAYO. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Olufunmilayo Abosede Sowemimo now MRS. OLUFUNMILAYO ABOSEDE SOLOMON. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Badmus Olaide Saheed now OYEKANGUN OLAIDE SAHEED. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Margret Odey now MRS MARGRET MPUA AGBO. All former documents remain valid. EcoBank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Ogunronbi Korede David now OLANIYI KOREDE DAVID. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Apebo Ebenezer now OJO EBENEZER OLUWABORI. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Adenugba Anuoluwapo Yewande now MRS OSENI ANUOLUWAPO YEWANDE. All former documents remain valid. Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, First Bank of Nigeria Plc and general public take note.

I, formerly Rashidat Mopelola Alimi now MRS RASHIDAT MOPELOLA OLUMO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Musa Rasaki now MUSA OLOWOOKERE JIMOH. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Adenuga Oluwaseun Elizabeth now MRS OLABODE OLUWASEUN ELIZABETH. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

This is to confirm that Akolawole Oluwafemi Idowu is now wish to be known as AYEDEGBE IDOWU FELIX. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Akanbi Bolanle Jelilat now MRS KAREEM BOLANLE JELILAT. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Chinonso Ruth Esilonu now CHINONSO RUTH UGWOEGBU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Adedeji Sefiat Iyabo now MRS KOLAWOLE ISAH SEFIAT IYABO. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Adegoke Olasunmbo Muhammed now ADEGOKE OLASUNMBO EMMANUEL. All former documents remain valid. Crusade Pension, Sumal Foods Limited and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME AND DATE OF BIRTH

I, Kazeem Lamidi Babatunde am the same person as Kazeem Ahmed now wish to be known and addressed as KAZEEM LAMIDI BABATUNDE and my date of birth is 11th Nov 1975. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Chuks Joseph. am the same person bearing Joseph Jude Kehinde . Now I want to be known and addressed as JOSEPH JUDE KEHINDE. All former documents remain valid. Access Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Ogundare Oluwatosin Abidemi now MRS OGUNKALU OLUWATOSIN ABIDEMI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mr Adeyemo Daodu of Elemoso Compound Isalefin Saki now MR ELEMOSO DAUDA ADEGBENRO. All other documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME AND DATE OF BIRTH

I, Lawal Olubunmi Christianah am the same person as Lawal Oluwabunmi Temitope now LAWAL OLUWABUNMI TEMITOPE and my date of birth is 26th January, 1992. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Adeyemi Victoria now MRS OLADAPO VICTORIA ADELOLA. All former documents remain valid. Union Bank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Adegbesan Oluwatoyin Gbemisola now MRS ODUOLA O L U W A T O Y I N GBEMISOLA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Mr Olatunji Isiaka now MR OLATUNJI ISIAKA BUSARI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Monday Anthony Uche now OKOH GLORY ANTHONY. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME AND DATE OF BIRTH

I, formerly Miss Ayoola Abiola now MRS FATOKUN ABIOLA OLAOTI. All former documents remain valid. Oyo State TESCOM and general public take note.

I, James David Idigbe am the same person as James Idigbe Michael now wish to be known and addressed as JAMES DAVID IDIGBE and my date of birth is 6th Nov 1993. All former documents remain valid.General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Aso Kehinde O. am the same person bearing Yekeen Kehinde Osenat. Now want to be known and addressed as MRS YEKEEN KEHINDE OSENAT. All former documents remain valid. Zenith Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Ogunlowo Oluseye Michael now IBADEKI TAIYE MOSES. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Tiamiyu, Kadijat Tinuke now MRS SALAWU, KADIJAT TINUKE. All former documents remain valid.

TESCOM Oyo State and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Adedapo Adekola Adegeye am the same person bearing Adedapo Benjamin Adegeye. Now I want to be known and addressed as ADEDAPO ADEKOLA ADEGEYE. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Akinrinade Femi Caleb now AKINRINADE FEMI JOHN. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Mojisola Anifat Aigoro now AIGORO ANIFAT OLATAYO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Busari Yetunde Aminat now MRS YEKEEN YETUNDE AMINAT. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Abayomi Mary Abiodun now MISS EMMANUEL MARY ABIODUN. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Falaye Dolapo Helen now MRS OLASUPOONIFADE DOLAPO HELEN. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Ayishat Momoh now MRS AYISHAT JUMMAI MOHAMMED. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mr Adebayo Matthew Adesola now MR AILAKO SOLA. All other documents remain valid. Skye Bank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Tirimisiyu, Alade Arolaje now ALADE, TIRIMISIYU ONAOLAPO. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Samuel Joel now DADI BULUS CHOKA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Adejare Kafilat Adedayo now MRS YUSUFF KAFILAT ADEDAYO. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mrs Adedamola Folawe Akin Akinpelu now MRS ADEDAMOLA FOLAWE ORIOKE. All former documents remain valid. B.C.O.S. and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Abimbola Taiwo Humani now MRS AFOLABI TAIWO ABIMBOLA. All former documents remain valid.

Federal Polytechnic, Ede and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Aderibigbe Olalekan Adeniyi am the same person as Aderibigbe Olalekan and Aderibigbe Olalekan A. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as ADERIBIGBE OLALEKAN ADENIYI. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

40

CHANGE OF NAME

Friday, 4 December, 2015 CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Hammed Mutiat Folasade now MRS. HAMMED-AKANMU MUTIAT FOLASADE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Sanni Olamide Precious now OGUNDARE OLAMIDE PRECIOUS. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Aboderin Sadiat now MRS. SANNI SADIAT BOLA. All former documents remain valid.

Lautech Teaching Hospital and general public take note.

I, formerly Oladayo Dauda Badmus now ADEDOKUN DAUDA OLADAYO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Sulaimon Adekunle Olawore now SULAIMON ADEKUNLE OLAWORE OGUNGBADE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Esther Aniefiok Edem, now OFONIME KENNETH ARCHIBONG. All former documents bearing the former name remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Patrick Dyeris now KURE CLEMENT. All former documents remain valid. GTBank and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Arobadi Esther Abosede now MRS. OYENEYE BAMIDELE ABOSEDE. All former documents remain valid. Oyo SUBEB and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Godday M. Egboboh am the same person as Godday Dafeadjeren, but now known as GODDAY M. EGBOBOH. All former documents remain valid.

Skye Bank and general public take note.

I, Adeleke Omotola Elizabeth am the same person bearing Akinbondere Omotola Adewumi. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as ADEKEYE OMOTOLA ELIZABETH. All former documents remain valid.

Skye Bank, First Bank and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Alabi Hussainat Wumi now MRS. MUTIU HUSSAINAT WUMI. All former documents remain valid. Oyo State SUBEB and general public take note.

I, formerly Talabi Olubunmi Tunrayo now OLADEJO OLUBUNMI TUNRAYO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Oladosu Iyanda now TIAMIYU ALLI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Florence Ayobami Alaba now MRS. FLORENCE AYOBAMI OTESANYA. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc., and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Olaiya Aderemi now IKECHUKWU AARON. All former documents remain valid. Zenith Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Sanusi Wasiu Babatunde now SANUSI ABIOLA JAMIU. All former documents remain valid.

First Bank, Sterling Bank and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Aguocha Chinedu now AGUOCHA DANIEL EDU CHINEDU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, Badmus Nimotallahi Ideraoluwa am the same person bearing BADMUS IDERAOLUWA ABIOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Job Isaiah Nazizi now SAMAILA YUSUF DADINGI. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, Jimoh Saka Abiodun am the same person as Zakariyyah Jamiu Abiodun and Zakariyyah Jamiu A. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as JIMOH SAKA ABIODUN. All former documents names remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Elizabeth Abiola Ogunoye now MRS. ELIZABETH ABIOLA MADARIOLA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Dada Omolayo Caroline now MRS. OJULARI-GBENGA OMOLAYO CAROLINE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, Akinyemi Saliu Temitope am the same person bearing Owolabi Saliu Temitope. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as AKINYEMI SALIU TEMITOPE.All documents bearing these names remain valid.

First Bank of Nigeria Plc., GTB and general public take note.

I, formerly Mr. Adesokan Saidi Sola now MR. ADESOKAN SAIDI ADESHOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Adara Olufunke Sefunmi now MRS. TAIWO OLUFUNKE SEFUNMI. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc., and general public take note.

I, formerly Idonua Kenneth now IDON KENNETH PATRICK. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Olawale Elizabeth Olajoju now MRS. OLAOGUN ELIZABETH OLAJOJU. All former documents remain valid. Oyo State College of Agriculture and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Temiloye Morufat Aderiike now MRS AGBAJE MORUFAT TEMILOYE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Bamidele Adijat Motunrayo now MRS ADELEKE ADIJAT MOTUNRAYO. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Mr. Giwa Pius Akinlose now MR. MORAKINYO PIUS (JP). All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc., Wema Bank Plc., Ore and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Awobode Bukola Folasade now MRS POPOOLA BUKOLA FOLASADE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Alhaji Jamiu Alayo am the same person as Jamiu Yusuf Olaiya.

Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as ALHAJI JAMIU ALAYO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Aserikorigha Solomon Oluwaseyi now ASERIKORIGHA SOLOMON OLUWASEYI PREYE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Adeyemi Kemi Ifeyemi now MRS ADIGUN KEMI IFEYEMI. All former documents remain valid. Federal Ministry of Education, Civil Service Commission and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Micheal Adigun am the same person as Peter Adigun.

Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as MICHEAL ADIGUN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Alayande Ikimot Oyenike now MRS. KEHINDE IKIMOT OYENIKE. All former documents remain valid. Ibarapa North Local Government, Ayete, Oyo State Local Government Service Commission and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Tiwalola Ogunnayajo now MRS. TIWALOLA CLEMENTINAH OSUNTUYI. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, Saburi Usamotu am the same person bearing Saburi Samotu Owoade. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as OWOADE SABURI SAMOTU. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Useni Olatunji now OJO OLATUNJI EMMANUEL. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Kasali Oluremi Mariam now MRS. ALLI OLUREMI MARIAM. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Mrs. Apalowo Yetunde Tolulope now MISS ADEOYE YETUNDE TOLULOPE. All former documents remain valid.

Banks and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Victoria Oluwatoyin Adeyanju now MRS. VICTORIA O L U W A T O Y I N ADETOSOYE. All former documents remain valid. Fire and Miracles Ministries and general public take note.

I, Olorunwa Solomon am the same person as Olorunwa Solomon Loyinmi and Olorunwa Loyinmi.

Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as OLORUNWA SOLOMON. All documents bearing these names remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Olaniyan Adeola A. now MRS. ADEWALE ADEOLA A. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Stephen Amos Kurum now MADU AYUBA YAKUBU. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Olaoye Serifat Ayodele now MRS. ADEYERA SERIFAT AYODELE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Omogbai Ogheneogaga Linda now OMOGBAI OGHENEOGAGA LUCY. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Ini Saturday Okon am the same person bearing Effiong Saturday Idiono. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as INI SATURDAY OKON. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Sanni Abdulmajeed Adedeji am the same person as Rauf Majeed Kolawole. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as SANNI ABDULMAJEED ADEDEJI. All former documents remain valid.

Stanbic Bank and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Regina Ochogwu now MRS. REGINA JEREMIAH. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Yusufu Isah now YAHAYA YAKUBU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Chidom Thelma Onyekachukwu now MRS. APATA THELMA ONYEKACHUKWU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Afolabi Omolade Adetoyi am the same person bearing Afolabi Omolade Adetoyin and Otemolu Omolade Adetoyin. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as AFOLABI OMOLADE ADETOYIN. All documents bearing these names remain valid. GTBank Plc., and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Sumbo Tunrayo Florence now ODERINDE TOPE ESTHER. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Oladimeji Sunday Alemu now OLADIMEJI OMOTOLA ONI ADERENLE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Adeleke Mojirade Lucia am the same person bearing Adeleke Lucia and Adeleke Mojirade.

Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as ADELEKE MOJIRADE LUCIA. All documents bearing these names remain valid. First Bank Plc., and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Olorode Olabisi Elizabeth now MRS. SOSANYA OLABISI ELIZABETH. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Adie Francis Akpanke now AGBA EMMANUEL. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Adepoju Olajumoke Mubshira now MRS ABUBAKAR ADEPOJU OLAJUMOKE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Moses Faramade now ADEBOMI JAMES FARAMADE. All former documents remain valid.

Osun State Government and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Oyedele Busayo Ganiyat now MRS. OLADELE BUSAYO GANIYAT. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Olawuyi Mayowa Victoria now OPADOTUN MAYOWA VICTORIA. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc., Access Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Ogundipe Victoria Olayinka now OLAREWAJU VICTORIA OLAYINKA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Akinyosola Omobolanle Abigeal Oluwadunmomi now MRS. ADESANYA OMOBOLANLE ABIGEAL OLUWADUNMOMI. All former documents remain valid.

Solo Phone Nigeria Ltd., Ecocnk Plc and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Abdulquadre Habibat Ladidi now MRS. ABDULWASIU HABIBAT AJOKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Akanji Abidemi Abayole now GAFFAR ADEBOWALE ADEOJO. All former documents remain valid. Guaranty Trust Bank Plc., and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Oyinloye Iyabo Mary now OJO IYABO MARY. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Adegbuyi Iyabo Adebowale now MRS. ARETADE IYABO ADEBOWALE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Folajin Oyeronke Oyefunke now MRS. OLAYINKA OYERONKE OYEFUNKE. All former documents remain valid.

LAUTECH Ogbomoso, Oyo State, First Bank Plc., Guaranty Trust Bank and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Adeosun Modupe Oyenike now MRS. OWOLABI MODUPE OYENIKE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Mr. Peter Patrick now MR. EGBEJIE PETER PATRICK. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, Olagoke Ojo am the same person as Oluwafemi Richard.

Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as OLAGOKE OJO. All documents bearing these names remain valid. First Bank Plc., and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Abdulmojeed Agbaje now ABDULMOJEED SALMON-ABDUS. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Fabunmi Akinniran Olalekan am the same person bearing Fabunmi Moses Olalekan Akinniran. Now I want to be known and addressed as FABUNMI MOSES OLALEKAN AKINNIRAN. All former documents remain valid. Stanbic Bank, UBA Bank and general public take note.

I, formerly Mr Raimi Mufutau now MR GBADEGESIN RAIMI MUFUTAU. All former documents remain valid. Saki West Local Government Universal Basic Education Authority and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Ajayi Olufemi Omolola now OLUFEMI OMOLOLA AMOKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CORRECTION OF NAME My name, Anthony Fatigba was wrongly spelt as Amtonie Fatigba. My correct name is ANTHONY FATIGBA. All former documents remain valid.

EcoBank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Azeez A. Fasasi am the same person as Akano Ajao Lasisi.

Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as AZEEZ A. FASASI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Ajao Iyabo Sami am the same person as Meshach Iyabo Ajoke.

Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as AJAO IYABO SAMI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Aworinde Abidemi Oluwakemi now MRS OYEGBAMI OLANREWAJU AWORINDE OLUWAKEMI. All former documents remain valid.

Ministry of Education, Osun State and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Fagbenle Doyin Kafayat and Fagbenle Doyin Esther now ADEROJU DOYIN ESTHER. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Etimibra Afa now ETIMIBRA JAMES. All former documents remain valid. UBA Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Okanlawon Sidikat Arike now MRS ABDULAZEEZ SIDIKAT ARIKE. All former documents remain valid. Osun State SUBEB and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Nworie Oforbuike am the same person as Emmanuel Ifeanyi.

Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as NWORIE OFORBUIKE EMMANUEL. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

41

news

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Osun monarchs may boycott Ooni’s coronation —Oba Aromolaran

We have sent invitation to all Osun monarchs —Odunlade Oluwole Ige - Osogbo

S

trong indication emerged on Thursday, that traditional rulers from Osun State may not attend the Monday’s coronation ceremony of the new Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, unless they receive formal invitation letter from the central planning committee of the event.

The Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, made this known in Osogbo, while briefing journalists shortly after he emerged as the substantive chairman of the Osun State Council of Obas.

He st we would go there after consulting with the governor. As at the time we concluded the meeting of Osun Council of Obas today (Thursday), we have not received any invitation from IleIfe about the Monday’s

coronation. We don’t just go to where we have not been invited.”

But, reacting to the claims that Osun traditional rulers have not been invited to Ooni’s coronation, the chairman, media and publicity of Ooni coronation planning committee, Honourable Biyi Odunlade, said the central planning committee had already sent out invitations to all the traditional rulers in

Osun State.

He affirmed that “I can tell you authoritatively that we have sent out invitations individually to all the monarchs in Osun State. We believe that they are one in unity, but we have to treat them individually with respect and that is why we sent the invitation cards individually.”

However, when asked what would be the status of the new Ooni of

Ife now that he (Aromolaran) had been adopted as the substantive chairman of the Osun Council of Obas, he said “it is the Obas that can answer that question because they made me their chairman.”

According to him, “today, we held a meeting of Council of Obas in Osun.

During our discussion, we deliberated on the chairmanship of the council.

Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun, moved

the motion that since I have been acting as the chairman, I should continue in that capacity as the substantive chairman and other monarchs supported the motion.”

Oba Aromolaran continued, “I have been acting as chairman of the council even when late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, was alive. I usually presided over the meetings in his palace because of his old age.”

Oba Ogunwusi pledges to transform Osun State

By Seyi Sokoya The newly-installed Ooni of Ile-Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has promised to transform the ancient city, Ile-Ife and the state in general, with many projects that will develop the state and its populace.

Speaking through a public relations executive, who is also a member of the media committee of the installation planning committee, Mrs Oriade Okesanjo, the Ooni reaffirmed the promise to commence the development of a 200-bedroom resort, to be named Ife Grand Resorts and Leisure, within six months in stages, among his plans to transform the ancient city.

According to her, the monarch’s philanthropic disposition and commitment towards bringing development and growth to the state, before and after he became the Ooni of Ile-Ife, depicts he was ready for the task and would also affect lives positively in his reign.

Okesanjo told Nigerian Tribune on Thursday, that the Ooni’s large heart would be a great benefit to the people of Osun State and the nation as a whole, adding that, “We strongly believe this is the reason God ordained him to be a king over the Yoruba race at his time, to achieve God’s purposes for this generation.”

From left, Marketing Manager, Ms Ayo Ayeni; Head of Programme, Mrs Lanre Anjorin Oyebode; Chief Executive Officer, Mr Femi Adefila and the Marketing Manager, Mrs Omotoke Balogun, all of Rave 91.7 FM, at an interactive session between the management of Rave 91.7 FM and Advert Executives, at House J, Ikeja GRA, Lagos, on Thursday. PHOTO; Sylvester Okoruwa.

Rave FM CEO meets advertisers Akin Adewakun - Lagos A new entertainmentbased radio station, with a niche for youthful programmes, Rave FM, has joined the nation’s airwaves.

Announcing its official entry into the nation’s media space, the chairman of Felicia Daniels

Communication, owner of the new station, Mr Femi Adefila, stated that though the radio station was being unveiled officially to the public on Thursday, it had started making waves across the nooks and crannies of Osun State since.

Adefila stated this while meeting with advertisers

at Ikeja GRA, Lagos.

According to him, besides being youth-centric, the new station which operates on Frequency 91.7, also offers the best of amazing music and quality talk programmes that would further delight residents of the state.

The station, he stated,

I spend N4.5m annually on diesel —Alake THE Alake and paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba (Dr) Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, on Thursday, tasked private investors to improve on the provision of stable electricity supply for Nigerians.

He made the call when the management and staff members of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) paid him a congratulatory visit on his 10th year coronation anniversary at his palace in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.

The traditional ruler ar-

gued that power distribution in the country had not improved since being handed over to private firms.

Oba Gbadebo described the supply of electricity in Abeokuta as poor.

The traditional ruler disclosed that he spends an average of about N4.5 million annually to fuel the generator that powers his palace due to unavailability of electricity.

He then urged private firms in the country not to betray the trust bestowed in them by the populace.

The monarch said that the poor and unstable supply of electricity had also contributed to the increase in the rate of unemployment in the country.

According to the Alake, “We have so much belief that you can do better than government but it has been worse since when NEPA was dismantled.”

“We have too many unemployed people because of poor supply of power.

The part played by your organisation for the growth of Nigeria is very important.”

would have its focus on the youths in the state, while educating, informing and throwing up issues concerning this class of age-grade.

He described the advent of the new station as a product of deep research and huge consumer insight, adding that demand for a youth-centric radio station among the teeming youthful populace in the state had made the introduction of the state pertinent.

“During our research, the youths we spoke to told us something was lacking in the present-day broadcasting in the state; since there was no station about them.

You see this station mantra is amazing music and quality talks to people of Osun.

“We will not be found wanting on giving quality information, educating the people as well as giving them quality music,’ he stated.

Book on Ooni of Ife A book titled: “Outstanding traditional rulers and leaders of Yoruba Nation” (Reprinted and enlarged) dedicated to the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Alaiyeluwa Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ajaja II etc. shall be out on Monday, December 7, 2015 to coincide with the presentation of instrument and staff of office to the Ooni of Ife. The book is on eminent leaders and traditional rulers of Yoruba nation. There are other important areas in the book such as: History of Nigeria, The Origin of Yoruba Tribes, Oduduwa - The Renowned Ancestor of the Yoruba Race, Kingship Institution, Oduduwa Children, Ile-Ife: The Source, and the difference between Mystery, Myth and History. The book, printed by Lichfield Nigeria Limited shall be of benefit to readers, libraries, schools etc. It will serve as a reference book now and in future.

A book on His Imperial Majesty, Alaiyeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade II, late Ooni of Ife of blessed memory, earlier scheduled to be released on December 7, 2015, has been postponed for good reasons. A new date shall be announced soon.

Alaiyeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II was a special person who contributed greatly to Yoruba Nation, Nigeria, institution of obaship and humanity etc.

UPU honours Ibru, Ali Baba, Okagbare, others Saturday Ebenezer Adurokiya - Warri THE Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), the umbrella body of Urhobos worldwide will, on Saturday, honour former governor of Delta State, Chief Alex Ibru, ace comedian, Atunyota Alleluya Akporobomerere, popularly known as Ali Baba and ace sprinter, Blessing Okagbare, with a lifetime award.

Other beneficiaries are the oldest monarch in Delta State, 96-year-old HRM Ovie Richard Layeguen, the Ohworode of Olomu Kingdom, another comedian; Godwin Omoneh, popularly called Gordons, Professor G.G. Darah, former deputy governor of Delta State, Professor Amos Utuama, late Senator Pius Ewerhido, among others.

President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, among others, are expected at the occasion.

42 news

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Assets declaration: S/Court delivers judgment on Saraki’s case Feb 5 Sunday Ejike - Abuja

T

he Supreme Court, on Thursday, fixed February 5, 2016, to

deliver judgment in the appeal brought before it by the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki.

Saraki is challenging the decision of the Code of

Conduct Tribunal (CCT), to assume jurisdiction in the 13-count charge, bordering on false assets declaration and money laundering slammed against him by

the Federal Government .

The Court of Appeal, Abuja division had, in a split decision of two-to-one, upheld the tribunal’s decision to assume jurisdiction

From left, Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose; state Commissioner of Police, Mr Etop John James; Director of State Security Services, Mr Duke Fubara and the founder, Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), Chief Afe Babalola, during a meeting between the governor and tipper drivers, at the Government House, Ado Ekiti, on Thursday.

EFCC arraigns former NIMASA boss, 7 others over alleged N3.7bn theft AyomideOwonibiOdekanyinLagos The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), on Thursday, arraigned the immediate past managing director of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA), Dr Patrick Ziadeke Akpolobokemi, before a Federal High Court in Lagos, on 30 counts charge of conversion of a sum of N3.700,629 billion.

Others charged with the former NIMASA boss are; Captain Ezekiel Bala Agaba; Ekene Nwakuche; Felix Bob-Nabena; Captain Warredi Enisouh; Governor Amechee Juan; Ugo Frederick and Timi Alari.

Also charged with the accused persons are two limited liability companies: Al-kenzo Limited and Penniel Engineering Services Limited.

The EFCC in a charge number FHC/L/496c/15, alleged that Akpolobokemi and other accused persons

had on or before December 20, 2013, by conspiring among themselves to convert the said sum which was derived from stealing from NIMASA. The alleged offences according to EFCC prosecutor, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, is punishable under section 18(a) and 15(1)of the Money Laundering Prohibition (Amendment) Act. 2012, and punishable under section 15(3) of the same Act. Count one of the charges reads; “that you Patrick Ziadeke Akpolobokemi Captain Ezekiel Bala Agaba; Ekene Nwakuche; Felix Bob-Nabena; Captain Warredi Enisouh; Governor Amechee Juan; Ugo Frederick and Timi Alari, Al-kenzo Limited and Penniel Engineering Services Limited on or about 20th day of December, 2013, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this court, did conspire amongst yourselves to commit an offence, to wit; conversion of the sum of N1,151,214.00, property

of NIMASA, which was derived from stealing and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 18(a) of the Money Laundering Prohibition (Amendment) Act. 2012, and punishable under section 15(3) of the same Act.” The accused persons pleaded not guilty to all the counts charge.

Upon the plea of the accused persons, Oyedepo urged the court to remand the accused persons in prisons custody pending the determination of the the charge.

14,000 firms, 305,780 graduates register for GIS

By Lanre Akinmoladun and Oluyomi Fashakin

ABOUT 14,000 firms across the country and 305,780 graduates have registered for the Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS).

This was disclosed by the Director, GIS, P. M. Papka, at the opening ceremony

Afe Babalola congratulates Fayose over transparency award The founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, has congratulated Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, on his winning the 2015 Nigerian States Budget Transparency Survey conducted by the Civil Resources Development Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC).

In a statement in AdoEkiti on Thursday, the renowned lawyer said the state won the award for the first time in its 19 years of existence.

The elder statesman said that having regard to the

huge and quality human resources that abound in Ekiti State, the vision of the proponents of the creation of the state were to the effect that the state was in a vantage position to lead others in all areas of human endeavours.

With the rating by CIRDDOC as the most transparent state in the country, AareBabalola added that the vision of the founding fathers of the state was fast becoming a reality under the leadership of Governor Fayose.

Aare Babalola then urged the people of Ekiti and all

However, Dr Joseph Nwobike, SAN, counsel to the Akpolobokemi and the fourth accused person, Felix Bob-Nabena, urged the court to grant bail to his clients in self-recognition Nwobike SAN, said the accused persons bail applications was pursuant to sections 32 (1)(2), 158 and 165 of Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015; and section 35 of Nigeria constitution, 1999.

The trial has been adjourned till January 29, 2016.

on the charges, a decision Saraki appealed against at the Supreme Court.

At the resumed hearing of the appeal on Thursday, Joseph Dauda (SAN), who led five other Senior Advocates for Saraki, asked the Supreme Court to hear the appeal, insisting that the tribunal has no jurisdiction to hear and determine the charges against Saraki.

According to Daudu, the CCT, which is only a disciplinary panel constituted to deal with breaches by public office holders does not carry criminal conviction.

Daudu said if the sevenmember panel of the apex court, presided over by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, allows the tribunal to sit as criminal court, it will have far reaching implication on the jurisprudence But, the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), in his submission, said an academic question by the defence counsel cannot prevail on the constitution, adding that the constitution allows the tribunal to have two members to sit and hear a matter.

According to Jacobs, the law did not stipulate how many of the Judges should contact a sitting on a matter and urged the court to hold that two members can conduct the business of the tribunal, as it was done in the case of Saraki.

Jacobs then urged the apex court to dismiss Saraki’s appeal.

lovers of the state to cooperate with and support the Fayose-led government for it to maintain the leadership role in matters of transparency.

The award was given the state at a ceremony in Abuja.

The award was done in conjunction with the British Department for International Development and Ekiti was acknowledged as the most transparent in the country.

Ekiti State was followed by Cross River State in second position, while Lagos State, came third and Jigawa State was fourth.

of the scheme’s three-day Orientation and Employability Skills Training for interns and firms’ representatives, at the Ibadan Business School, in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Thursday.

According to Papka, in a speech delivered on his behalf by Mrs A. N. Onyeozirila, “GIS aims at providing the unemployed and underemployed graduate youths with internship opportunities that will expose them to skills and experiences relevant to the current labour market and enhance their employability.”

He said since the inception of the scheme, many firms and graduates had joined while the graduates are securing opportunities to develop their employability and business acumen.

These, he said, “underscored the great confidence Nigerians have in the scheme.”

“The GIS is contributing to the renewed growth of SMEs and cooperative so-

cieties through increased competent and skilled manpower. 25,186 graduates have been deployed, with 68 per cent males, 31 per cent females and one per cent vulnerable. So far, 9,387 have exited the scheme,” he said.

He also said the scheme was in line with the Federal Government’s determination to diversify the economic base of the country through the development of skills in the non-oil sectors like agriculture and mining.

He said the project had facilitated enhancement of graduate skills, making them prospective employers of labour, due to experiences acquired in the course of internship.

While restating Federal Government’s commitment to the scheme, Papka urged participating firms and organisations, including interns to justify this gesture for the betterment of the country.

Nigerian Tribune

Saki Parapo to honour Adebayo Shittu

By Tunde Adegbola The national body of Saki Parapo Association in Saki area of Oyo State, both home and abroad will on Saturday, join other numerous well-wishers to welcome the Minister of Communications, Mr AbdulRaheem Adebayo Shittu, to his home town, Saki, for a civic reception organised to honour him by the Saki West Local Government chapter of the All Progressives Congress, (APC).

This was contained in a press release issued and jointly signed by the chairman and secretary of the association, Chief Yekeen Adetoro and Mr Shittu, as a worthy ambassador of Saki as well the pride of Oke-Ogun and Oyo State in general.

According to the release, “the national body of the association, all the indigenes of Saki and Oke-Ogun in general, are enjoined to come out irrespective of their political party or religion to honour the minister.”

‘Look into proposed hosting of Igbo Day in Yorubaland’ The Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), has called on the organisers of the World Igbo Day 2015, security agencies, as well as Yoruba leaders, to look into the proposed hosting of the event in Yorubaland, given the precarious situation of the country, just as it charged Yoruba leaders of thought to maintain the peace and unity, which had always been the pride of the race.

The congress made the submission in a press statement signed by the spokesperson of the National Coordinating Council (NCC), Mr Adeshina Akinpelu and made available to the Nigerian Tribune, in Ibadan, on Thursday.

The OPC, which said though, it acknowledged the right of every person or group to self-determination, noted that “we are of the firm belief that this particular event is mischievously conceived and earmarked to be hosted in any part of Yorubaland.’’

It, however, added that “the South-West is the most secure and peaceful part of Nigeria today, and should, therefore, not be turned into a theatre of war or avoidable crises.”

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Friday, 4 December, 2015

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08116954632 foreignnewseditor@gmail.com

Police launch probe into killing of 14 in California United States authorities are investigating the motive behind a shooting spree that left 14 people dead and another 17 wounded at a social services centre hosting a Christmas party in Southern California, AlJazera said.

A man and a woman suspected of taking part in Wednesday’s attack in San Bernardino died in a shootout with police hours later, authorities said.

The slain suspects were identified by police as Syed Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, were described as a couple.

Jarrod Burguan, San Bernardino police chief, said US-born Farook had attended a holiday banquet for

Oscar Pistorius (centre) being escorted to a police van during his trial. PHOTO: REUTERS.

Appeal court convicts Oscar Pistorius of murder

O

lympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, has been found guilty of murder after a South African appeal court overturned an earlier manslaughter verdict.

Pistorius killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013 after shooting four times through a locked toilet door.

He is currently under house arrest after spending one year of his original fiveyear sentence in jail.

With the new verdict, Pistorius will have to return to court to be re-sentenced, for murder.

The BBC said it was earlier incorrectly reported that the court had ruled the manslaughter verdict would remain.

South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the lower court did not correctly apply the rule of dolus eventualis - whether Pistorius knew that a death would be a likely result of his actions.

The minimum sentence for murder in South Africa is 15 years, but judges can apply some discretion.

South African law does not make provision for someone to be placed under house arrest for more than five years,

so Pistorius will be going back to prison, reports the BBC’s Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg.

What next for Pistorius?

Will he return to jail?

Yes. He will be back behind bars, less than two months after he was placed under house arrest.

When will he be sentenced?

We don’t have a date yet, but it will be next year. The minimum sentence for murder is 15 years, but the judge

does have the discretion to lower it.

Can he appeal?

Yes, but only if his lawyers are convinced that the appeal judges violated his constitutional rights. So it’s a high threshold, and hard to meet.

So is this the end of Pistorius’ professional athletics career?

Almost certainly. He’s 29, and will be past his prime by the time he is freed. It is also unlikely that advertisers would want to sponsor him, as the Pistorius brand is now tainted.

Zuma says South Africa, China sign deals worth $6.5bn South Africa and China signed deals worth 94 billion rand ($6.5 billion) during talks between the two countries, President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday, adding that relations between the two nations were at their “best ever”.

The talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping focused on boosting investment and trade between the two countries, Reuters said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping walks with South African President Jacob Zuma upon his arrival at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. PHOTO: REUTERS.

British jets strike Islamic State’s oil refinery British fighter jets have carried out the first airstrikes in Syria targeting Islamic State, following a vote in parliament backing increased military action.

Several countries, including the United States-led coalition and Russia, are already carrying out bombing raids against the terror group.

Washington praised Britain’s

increased involvement in the air campaign.

Just hours after military action was approved, four British Tornado jets took off from their base in Cyprus to attack Islamic State targets in Syria, VOA said.

The first bombs were dropped on the Omar oil refineries in the east, that it’s believed were used to fund the terror group.

British Prime Minister David Cameron talks to lawmakers inside the House of Commons in London during a debate on launching airstrikes against IS extremists inside Syria.

PHOTO: AP.

Police conduct a manhunt after at least two assailants opened fire at a holiday party in San Bernardino, California. PHOTO: REUTERS.

employees of the local public health department, and later returned to open fire on the celebration.

The attackers were dressed in military-style gear and carried assault weapons as they burst into the auditorium where the shooting took place, at the campus of a social-services agency.

The couple also placed several bombs at various locations, which police detonated. In addition to the 14 dead, the shoot-

ing left at least 17 people wounded, including 10 in critical condition.

No details have yet been released on the victims’ identities.

Police were conducting a house-to-house search in the area where the third suspect was apprehended and completed the search early in the evening, when the “shelterin-place” warning to residents was lifted, according to police.

otherNEWS

Unlicensed Cambodian doctor jailed for spreading HIV A Cambodian court has convicted an unlicensed medical practitioner of murder and sentenced him to 25 years in prison for spreading HIV among almost 300 villagers.

Al Jazeera said a spokesman for the court in the northwestern province of Battambang said Yem Chrin, 56, was found guilty on Thursday of torture and cruel behaviour resulting in death, intentionally spreading HIV and practising medicine without a licence.

Ten of the villagers have died since the outbreak began, village officials said.

Authorities detected an epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus, the virus that causes AIDS, on December 9 when they started testing a community in Battambang.

The victims ranged from a two-year-old to elderly in their 80s.

Authorities decided to test villagers after a 74-year-old man tested positive for HIV in November.

Impeachment proceedings opened against Brazil’s President Rousseff President Dilma Rousseff

The speaker of Brazilian lower house of Congress has opened impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff, a move that threatens to mire the government in political wrangling as the economy nosedives.

Reuters said the opposition parties filed the request in September, accusing the unpopular president of violating Brazil’s fiscal laws and manipulating government

finances to benefit her reelection campaign last year. Lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha said he had agreed to open proceedings.

A special committee with members from all parties will decide on the merits of the request, which then needs two-thirds, or 342, of the votes of the chamber to suspend the president pending a 90-day trial by the Senate.

44

communitynews

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Ogun monarch seeks subjects’ cooperation on development OLAYINKA OLUKOYAABEOKUTA

T

HE Alaye of Ayetoro in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Oba Abdulazeez Ishola Adelakun, has solicited the support of his subjects towards the development of the area.

The monarch made the appeal during the 13th Ayetoro Day celebration and launching of N250 million development fund at the Comprehensive High School playground in Ayetoro at the weekend.

Oba Adelakun admitted that the community could only witness even development when sons and daughters extend their hands of collaboration with him.

The traditional ruler said: “I want to use this celebration to implore you to support us in the course of bringing better development to Ayetoro.

We can make our area great once we join hands together.”

The Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Honourable Suraj Adekunbi, in his letter of felicitation to the monarch dated November 23, 2015, eulogised Oba Adelakun for ensuring peace and tranquillity among his subjects.

Adekunbi, who represents Yewa North State Constituency at the assembly, stated that the positive effects being witnessed since the commencement of the celebration 13 years ago could not be overemphasised.

“Kabiyesi, this celebration is unique because it involves the meaningful contributions of all and sundry and the uncommon leadership you brought to bear in staging these events was awesome.

“As we celebrate together, the overall effect cannot be overemphasised and I believe will contribute to greater socio-

economic development of our community,” he said.

The chairman of Yewa North Local Government Areaa, Mr Olusola Akinosi, disclosed that the celebration had also assisted in setting agenda for the local government authorities.

He said: “Permit me to observe that the annual celebration like this is meant to appraise our

performance from last celebration and to make agenda for the years ahead.

“I wish to use this medium to congratulate the Ayetoro Community Development for the establishment of community bank that metamorphosed to Apple Microfinance Bank, establishment of community primary school, Igbole

Department, Abuja, Mr. Rasheed Akintude, the state Head of Service, Sola Adeyemi, National President of Radio, Television, Theatre, and Arts Workers Union (RATTAWU), Dr Yemisi Bamgbose.

Members of the state House of Assembly, local government chairmen, trade unions, chiefs, among others paid homage to the monarch.

Akoko chiefs commend TB Joshua over philantropic gestures

hakeem gbadamosi-akure

Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi (second right), commissioning a motorised borehole donated to Akure community by the lawmaker represnting Akure North-South at the House of Representatives, Honourable Afe Olowookere, recently. With him are Honourable Olowookere (third right) and other community members.

Sankara community decries lack of learning facilities in 63-year-old school People of Sankara village in Ringim Local Government Area of Jigawa State have called the attention of the state governor, Alhaji Badaru Abubakar, to the neglect of a 63-year-old primary

school with over 1,000 pupils.

Speaking on behalf of the people, the Chairman, Sankara Community Development Association, Alhassan Bello Sankara, during the inauguration of

a toilet constructed at the Sankara Primary School by the association, in collaboration with DFID funded programme otherwise known as M4D, said the school lacked basic learning facilities due

Ogun bans illegal felling of trees The Ogun State government has placed embargo on illegal felling of trees and flitches in the state, while movement of logs at nights, especially between the hours of 7.00 p.m. and 7.00 a.m. has also been restricted.

The state Commissioner for Forestry, Mr Kolawole Lawal, said this while speaking with journalists in Abeokuta.

He said the restriction and ban should take place with immediate effect in order to checkmate the excesses and illegal activities of some loggers at night.

Lawal said that vehicle conveying logs within the state must be duly registered and licensed with traceable documents from government, and drivers must be in possession of all relevant docu-

Olowu and a host of others in a bid to assist the government.”

Highlights of the event was the presentation of award to nine illustrious sons and daughters of the area including Adekunbi, Mr Wale Bajomo, the Commissioner of Police in charge of Homicide Investigation Section of the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation

ments conveying the logs.

He further stated that flitches (Alamole) remained banned in the state, adding that all flitches from neighbouring states are expected to be covered with neces-

sary certified permits and the driver of such vehicle must be with relevant documents at all times, otherwise the vehicle shall be impounded.

“You see, all these decisions are taken to check-

mate unwholesome and illegal activities of some timber merchants, loggers, plank sellers and smugglers in the state to boost the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) drive of the state,” he said.

Flood: Victims get relief materials in Ndokwa alphonsus agborh-asaba

Communities in Ndokwa ethnic nationality of Delta State that were ravaged by flood, rcently have received some relief materials.

The gesture from the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC) was to boost the confidence reposed in the state government by the people.

Items distributed to about 66 communities in Ndokwa

East, Ndokwa West and Ukwuani Local Government areas at Aboh include rice, matrasses, beverages , mosquito nets, tomato puree, noodles and cash, among others.

Speaking at the event, the Executive Director of DESOPADEC, Mr Ochor Chris Ohor, urged the victims not to despair as government will continue to show concern on their plight in time of adversity.

Ochor said in making the 2016 budget, communi-

ties would receive their fair share by way of government providing amenities, adding that criticism on government should be constructive.

Also speaking, the commissioner representing Ndokwa at the commission, Mr Fidelis Oputa, said the new board will continue to wear a human face despite the challenges facing the present administration.

He assured that communities in Ndokwa land will not be short changed by way of amenities.

to its abandonment.

He explained that the school was built in 1952, and presently, it has 1,144 pupils, adding that all of them are receiving lessons on bare floor as there were no seats in any of the classroom.

Alhaji Alhassan noted that despite the large size of pupils enrolment, the school has only seven teachers and 10 classrooms, saying “this makes learning unconducive for the pupils.

“Due to the unconducive environment, many parents in the community are not willing to send their children to the only primary school we have. As I am talking, over 30 per cent of our children are out of the school.

“I am using this opportunity to call on authorities concerned to intervene and rescue the community from loosing its main source of knowledge.”

The chairman, however, said the association constructed the toilet facilities in the school to tackle the menace of open defacation and improve the pupils hygiene.

The Association of Concerned Akoko Traditional Chiefs has commended the philanthropic gesture of the founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Prophet Temitope Joshua, towards the development of Akoko land.

The group, which stated this in a communique issued at a meeting and signed by its Chairman, Oluke of Ikare, Chief Jamiyu Adejoro, in IkareAkoko, Akoko South West Local Government Area of Ondo State, called on sons and daughters of Akoko land to emulate the good gesture of the prophet to eradicate poverty in the land.

According to the group, the cleric has brought smiles to the faces of the underprivileged and widows in the area through scholarship award to indigent students and financial assistance to orphans and widows.

The group listed some of the project embarked upon by the prophet in the communique to include “ various building materials he donated to victims of thunderstorms in Akoko land even before any succour from both the state and federal governments. “ Palliatives of trailer loads of rice, money and rechargeable lamps to the aged and the physically challenged in the area.”

The group, however, stressed the need to reposition the land, called on sons, daughters and organisations to assist in rebuilding the land so as to regain its lost glory.

They also called on the state government to find a lasting solution to the deplorable state of the road in the area, the erratic supply pipe borne water and insecurity in the area.

45

Friday, 4 December, 2015

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IMF approves China’s yuan into elite reserve currency

President Barack Obama, right, shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after a bilateral meeting, in Paris, on Tuesday. PHOTO: AP.

The International Monetary Fund has approved China’s yuan into its elite reserve currency, in a decision described as “an important milestone” for the world’s second largest economy.

With the decision, the yuan, also known as the renminbi, will join the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen and British pound next year in the list of currencies the IMF uses as an international reserve asset.

Al Jazeera said Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director, called the decision “an important milestone in the integration of the Chinese economy into the global financial system.”

Obama urges Turkey, Russia to focus on ‘common enemy’

A

week after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet sparking tensions, United States President Barack Obama has called for a de-escalation between the two countries and a unified front on the Syrian conflict, the VOA reported.

“We all have a common enemy and that is ISIL. And I want to make sure we focus on that threat. And I want to make sure we remain focused on the need to bring about some sort of political resolution in Syria,” Obama said.

The U.S. president spoke on Tuesday following talks with his Turkish counterpart Recip Tayyip Erdogan

on the sidelines of the United Nations climate conference.

The meeting took place a week after Turkey shot down an SU-24 fighter jet, saying the Russian aircraft had entered its airspace.

Russia has insisted the jet did not cross the Turkish border and responded by imposing economic sanctions against Ankara.

Obama in Paris reiterated support for the U.S. ally.

“The United States supports Turkey’s rights to defend itself, its airspace and its territory. And we are very much committed to Turkey’s security and its sovereignty,” the U.S. leader said.

For his part, Turkish President Erdogan called for diplomatic language to resolve what he called problems in the region.

“We don’t want to invest in tensions, we want to avoid the tensions. We don’t want to get hurt and we don’t want anyone to get hurt, because if tensions arise in the region, all of the parties involved get damaged at the end. We want peace to prevail at all costs,” Erdogan said.

During Tuesday’s talks in Paris, Obama praised Turkey’s “generous” support of refugees and said the United States is interested in accelerating the military-to-military rela-

#ClimateChange: France, Germany, Canada

call on world to put price on carbon

One of the smartest ways to fight global warming is putting a price on carbon dioxide pollution, some key world leaders said during discussions at the Paris climate summit.

Either a tax on carbon dioxide emissions or trading carbon pollution like pork bellies, which puts a price on carbon, will help use capitalism to get closer to a day when the world isn’t adding heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere, according to leaders of France, Germany, Canada, Chile, Mexico and Ethiopia, as well as heads of the World Bank, International Mone-

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Carbon Price conference.

PHOTO: AP.

tary Fund and Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development.

The number of countries, provinces, states or cities putting a price on carbon has tripled in the past year and is now at 40, including some U.S. states, said World Bank Group President Jim

Young Kim. Kim and others pointed to straight carbon taxes in British Columbia, Sweden and France as examples of what works.

Economists have known since 1923 that “smart economics puts a tax on bad things and not on good things,” said World Re-

tionship to ensure “Turkey is safe and secure, but also that Syria can finally begin winding down what has been a terribly costly war.”

On Monday, Obama held a 30-minute closed-door meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that centered on the situation in Syria. Obama called on Putin to focus its efforts on Islamic State militants instead of the Syrian moderate opposition.

During talks on the sidelines of the climate conference, Obama also expressed regret over the loss of a Russian pilot and crew member in the November 24 attack and subsequent rescue effort.

sources Institute President Andrew Steer, a former Wharton economist who wasn’t part of the multination initiative on carbon pricing. He compared it to taxing cigarettes to reducing consumption, although other methods of trading carbon pollution credits aren’t quite the same, he added.

“We simply cannot afford to continue polluting the planet at the current pace,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said.

“Carbon pricing is critical for reducing emissions, preserving our environment and protecting the most vulnerable.”

“It is also a recognition of the progress that the Chinese authorities have made in the past years in reforming China’s monetary and financial systems,” she said.

The decision by the IMF executive board solidifies China’s ambition to see the government-controlled yuan achieve global status as one of the world’s

top currencies alongside the US, Europe and Japan.

China asked last year for the yuan to be added to the Fund’s Special Drawing Rights list.

otherNEWS

UK already an IS target, Fallon, defence secretary, says The United Kingdom is already a target for Islamic State extremists and the threat has “intensified”, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has told MPs. The BBC said Fallon told the Defence Select Committee “air strikes alone” would not destroy IS but could reduce its ability to attack the UK. The Cabinet has endorsed the PM’s plan to debate and vote extending air strikes into Syria on Wednesday.

Labour wanted a two-day

debate and has called the plans a “rush to war”.

David Cameron urged MPs of all parties to back his case for intervention.

The government has published the motion to be voted on, which says military action is “only one component of a broader strategy” to tackle IS. It says the UK government will not deploy troops in “ground combat operations”. The motion would specifically authorise air strikes “exclusively” against IS in Syria.

Obama’s final State of Union speech set for January 12 Barack Obama will deliver the final State of the Union speech of his eight-year presidency on January 12, the speaker of the US House of Representatives announced on Monday.

“As we look ahead to the new year, we have both an opportunity and obligation to find common ground to advance the nation’s interests at home and abroad,” Speaker Paul Ryan said in a letter to Obama inviting him

to address a joint session of Congress.

“We also owe it to the American people to present solutions that address the challenges they face,” Ryan said.

The annual speech is an opportunity for the US president to take stock of the nation’s successes and shortcomings over the previous 12 months, and to look at policy prescriptions and challenges for the year ahead.

Burkina Faso celebrates newly elected president Hundreds of supporters of Burkina Faso’s newly elected president chanted “Presi, Presi” after preliminary results released on Tuesday gave Roch March Christian Kabore an outright win.

Kabore, winner of the freest election since this West African country won independence from France in 1960, dedicated his victory to those who died overthrowing strongman Blaise Compaore last year

and during a failed military coup in September.

Christian Kabore

46

features

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Afe Babalola shines at NSE’s national conference

President, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Mr Ademola Olorunfemi (right), giving the award to Chief Afe Babalola.

By Tajudeen Kareem

T

HE concerted drive among stakeholders in the engineering world to make Nigeria square up with developed countries in the area of engineering and innovation necessitated the theme of the 2015 national engineering conference, exhibition and annual general meeting of the Nigerian Society of Engineers. At the forum, renowned legal luminary, Aare Afe Babalola, among other distinguished 56 Nigerians together with four other institutions bagged the 2015 Presidential Award.

The event, with the theme; “National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP) 2015: Strategies for Implementation,” bore positively on the new drive, as said by President Muhammadu Buhari, who commended the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) for the choice of the theme to catalyse the intended objective.

“Engineers all over the world are recognised in their capacity and quest for providing the necessary technical support to the governments in bringing about sustainable infrastructural development,” Buhari said.

During the event, the NSE singled out the engineering programmes offered by the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), adding that it is a worthy template for engineering education in Nigeria.

Aare Afe Babalola, who is also the founder of the university, together with few notable Nigerians, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engr. Babachir Lawal, the Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko and chairman of Innoson Industries, Chief Innocent Chukwuma were honoured by the NSE. While Babachir bagged the NSE professional fellowship award, Babalola, Mimiko, and Chukwuma were made honorary fellows.

In the same vein, the NSE President, while speaking after a facility tour of the university’s vast College of Engineer-

ing built on 2.5 hectares of land which was commissioned by former President Goodluck Jonathan on October 19, 2013, confessed that what he met on ground in the university, in terms of equipment, was far more in excess of what was contained in the report submitted by the combined team of the NUC and NSE that came for the accreditation of the university’s engineering programme in January 2015.

As a result, at the end of the accreditation visit by Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) in January 2015, all the university’s seven engineering programmes: Chemical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering as well as Civil Engineering were accorded full accreditation.

A visibly elated president of NSE, Engr.

Olorunfemi wondered that despite the large number of sophisticated equipment, about 50 percent of which are exclusive to the institution, Afe Babalola keeps on adding more almost on a daily basis.

“What I saw in the College of Engineering is not only amazing, it is also incredible.

I will not only come back, I will spread the gospel for others to come and see the wonder in engineering,” said the elated Olorunfemi.

He encouraged the institution to take maximum advantage of the pool of the sophisticated equipment to partner with some industries nationally and internationally, adding that “with all these, there is no reason why the income of the university will not be more than that of the state 10 years down the line”.

He called on institutions, parents and students to avail themselves of these facilities which have no equal anywhere in Africa.

Olorunfemi was so impressed with what he witnessed that he made on-the-spot contacts with four companies to explore the possibilities of collaborating with ABUAD, emphasising the symbiotic benefits of such collaborations.

Engineers all over the world are recognised in their capacity and quest for providing the necessary technical support.

Responding, the jubilant Babalola in his keynote address during the conferment of the award said the infrastructure on ground in ABUAD were evidence which trailed the commitment of his hard-earned resources and goodwill tailored to the College of Engineering and the university generally, in view of his determination to produce engineers and other professionals that would be relevant in the contemporary competitive job market.

He noted the weakening of local infrastructural development and maintenance capabilities, erosion of a culture of technological innovation and research in universities and lopsided manpower deployment in engineering and technology institutions and ministries as the hindrances to national infrastructural development.

“Infrastructural development is economically sustainable if it results in the growth of the economy, job creation and eradication of poverty. Weak infrastructure affects economic growth. Difficulties accessing markets via crumbling roads or clogged up ports and vast expenditure on generators required to avoid blackouts are regularly cited as the biggest challenges to investors in this country.

“The focus of the governments must be to fund and support projects that could stimu-

late economic growth. Any so called infrastructure project that does not contribute to the goals of removing barriers to economic growth or support economic productivity is, in my opinion, a white elephant project and an unsustainable one,” he said.

Citing his experience while building the six-year old ABUAD, the university administrator canvassed that national infrastructural development must be erected on economic, social and environmental sustainability. “Infrastructural development must therefore be based on sound blueprint that deliver balanced economic, social and environmental development and growth.

An infrastructural masterplan must deliver practical and measurable gains in the three sectors: economic, social and environmental, otherwise it is unsustainable, wishful, speculative and failure-bound.”

Babalola praised government efforts in drawing the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan, NIIM, and described the plan “as a necessary statement of intent that is in line with global trends in infrastructural development.” He said Nigeria was towing the path taken by developing economies like Malaysia, India Singapore and China.

He raised concerns on the implementation of the NIIMP with its $3 trillion budget. “A first key concern with the masterplan is that it does not deliver realistic projection on how government intends to fund this significant capital infrastructural development in the light of dwindling oil prices.”

Specifically, Babalola picked holes in government’s commitment to the public-private-partnership and noted that “very little is shown in terms of commitment to support and partner with the private sector.

“The government expects the private sector to survive or perish at its own expense, without providing any support of functional climate for the private sector to play meaningful roles in addressing infrastructural deficits,” he observed.

Babachir, the current SGF, obtained bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1979. He left several indelible hallmarks in organisations where he worked such as: Delta Steel Company, Aladja, the Nigerian External Telecommunications Limited, Data Sciences Limited, and eventually founded his own information and communication technology (ICT) and telecommunications consulting firm in 1990.

Governor Mimiko, a consummate politician and graduate of medicine from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, in his seven years administration in the state, has hatched myriads of sustainable infrastructure through his Caring Heart Initiative and programmes, especially in the health and education sector.

His achievements include the initiatives in the health sector like the Abiye and Agbebiye, which has won several national and international recognition and he berthed gargantuan facilities like the Mother and Child Hospitals, Trauma Centres, Kaadi-Igbeayo, among others.

In the education sector, he built 51 Mega Schools with up-to-date ICT across the 18 LGAs, the newly established University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, and other concomitants like 51.720 kilometres, 60 kilometres and 55.29 of surfaced-dressed and asphalted roads which were constructed in the northern, central and southern districts of the state respectively while the most recent and jaw-breaking of his achievements is the International Cultural and Event Centre (DOME).

Kareem sent this article via kareemdeens@yahoo.com

47

tribunesport

Friday, 4 December, 2015

Glo League king, Salami receives Yekini award

By Olawale Olaniyan THE memories of the late ex-international Rashidi Yekini came to the fore on Thursday in Ibadan, as the Glo Premier League goal king, Gbolahan Salami was presented the Yekini award.

Encomiums were freely showered on the late Nigerian football legend at the colourful ceremony held at the media centre of the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Ibadan.

Salami, finished the 2015 season with 17 goals to claim the maiden award organised

by Rashidi Yekini Foundation.

The Warri Wolves player for his heroics was presented with the pair of boots last used by Yekini as well as a trophy and a cash sum of N100,000.

In his remarks, the initiator of the award, Barrister Jubril Mohammed who is the personal lawyer to the late IICC Shooting Stars legend said the Foundation initiated the award as one of the ways to

Super Sand Eagles regroup for COPA Lagos 2015 THE Super Sand Eagles are back to their Badagry camp ahead of the 2015 edition of COPA Lagos, which holds later this month.

Coach Audu Adamu has announced that young and upcoming beach soccer players would be part of the squad for the tourney.

The former BCC Lions goalkeeper in an interview stated that the team needs to be revitalised with young players so as to compete favourably with other national teams.

“Super Sand Eagles missed out of the Beach Soccer World Cup in Portugal as such; there is a need to energise the team to compete at the African Nations Beach Tournament and the World Beach Soccer Cup,” Ejo as he is fondly called said.

The Kogi State-born coach while reacting to speculations pointed out that captain Isiaka Olawale is still part of the team adding that, he only handed over the captainship responsibilities to Bartholomew Igbenegbu.

Audu however, stated that “It’s time the young players took over from him (Olawale) in order to build on his wealth of experience.”

A Nigerian player (right) challenges an opponent at the 2014 COPA Lagos tournament.

Mobil Nigeria named sponsor of Corporate Soccer Nigeria MOBIL Producing Nigeria Unlimited, an affiliate of ExxonMobil Mobil has been named sponsor of the annual Corporate Soccer Nigeria scheduled to hold this weekend at Campos Mini Stadium, Lagos.

The competition director, Onome Obruth in a

telephone chat with Tribunesport disclosed that the oil producing company has shown great commitment to the competition.

He further informed that aside the sponsor, eight other companies are participating in the two-day soccer competition aimed

Muhammad Sabiu-Kaduna

Aodu disclosed that former FIFA and CAF executive committee member, Dr Amos Adamu is to serve as the chairman of the SWAN seminar, while the Minister of Youth and Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalong will be the special guest of honour.

“The Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Alhaji Alhassan Yakmut will speak on the theme of the seminar, ‘Grassroots Sports as the Basis for Sports Development’, just as Kaduna State Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Culture, Mr Daniel Danauta will speak on the topic ‘Promoting Sports for Sustainable Peace,’” he said.

Manager, Mobil Producing Nigeria having expressed confidence in the outing of the company’s team at the competition assured of the continued sponsorship. He urged the organisers to ensure the competition is hitch-free.

Obruth, also disclosed that the winner will represent Nigeria at CAFCO Championship scheduled for South Africa next year.

Defenders make me to work harder —Ighalo

Kaduna SWAN Week begins THE 2015 Kaduna SWAN Week has kicked off with inter-media games for journalists across the 12 chapels that constitutes the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Kaduna State council.

According to the chairman of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Kaduna State chapter, Mallam AbdulRaheem Aodu, events to be competed for are table tennis, scrabble and athletics (50m, 100m and sprint relay).

He said the 2015 Kaduna SWAN Week will end on December 9, with a seminar at the Media Centre of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna.

at fostering cordial relationship among corporate bodies. The companies are Bourboun Group of Companies, Chevron, Emerging Markets, Lafarge, Galaticos, Etisalat and DHL. Patrick Utomi, Public and Government Affairs

immortalise Yekini.

“My late client hated to be recognised, in fact, publicity during his lifetime, but we can’t just allow his name to go like that and this what has led to Rashidi Yekini Foundation. It is our wish to make this award a yearly event God willing,” Mohammed said.

An elated Salami while speaking on the occasion said he was excited to be the first winner of Yekini award.

“I so much loved Yekini even though there was no personal contact with him and to win the Yekini award is an honour. I think this is one of the best thing that had ever happened to my career,” said the former Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) striker.

Also, former 3SC coach, Niyi Akande recalled how he signed Yekini in 1983.

“I recruited him (Yekini) for Shooting Stars in 1983 and he never for once gave me any problem while playing. I am using this medium to charge fellow coaches to go for the best players and don’t collect bribe from any player,” said the former Super Falcons handler.

Earlier in his remarks, the chairman of the programme, Elder Bode Oyewole lauded the organisers for the initiative.

“We need to celebrate our stars while alive so as to know that the country remembers them for their efforts. What we are doing is legendary and nobody can forget what Yekini did for Nigeria,” said the former 3SC boss.

Ighalo

N

IGERIA international, Odion Ighalo has revealed that the challenge from opposing defenders has made him to work a lot harder to get more goals for Watford in the English Premier League.

Ighalo, who last weekend scored his eight EPL goal of the season in Swansea’s 3-2 win at Aston Villa, said the level of opposition has made him a better player.

“Opposing defenders are always around me because they feel I am the danger man of my team, so there

are always two players marking me. That has really helped me grow more, to get better and work harder preparing for every game because I now realise it will take real hard work to score goals,” Ighalo said.

The Super Eagles striker, who is the third leading scorer in the EPL this season with eight goals, said he was delighted with a hardearned victory over Aston Villa.

“The game against Aston Villa was tough and difficult, but thank God we won,” Ighalo, a former Lyn of Norway player said.

SIDELINES

N150

FRIDAY, 4 DECEMBER, 2015

NO 16,385

A would-be stowaway trying to get on an Abuja-bound plane from Lagos failed in his attempt as he got injured on the tarmac.

He subsequently escaped into the bush where he was arrested.

He must have learnt his lessons by now; that not all aircraft leaving Lagos end up in Europe or America and culprits often end up in police cell.

Nigeria drops to 66th in FIFA rankings Pinnick

By Nurudeen Alimi

N

IGERIA’s senior national team, the Super Eagles for the second time in two months dropped seven places to become 66th football playing nation in the world.

This was contained in the latest FIFA rankings released for the outgoing year by the world football governing body on its official website on Thursday.

Nigeria, after amassing 541 points is now number 14th in Africa behind Cote d’Ivoire, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, Tunisia, Senegal, Congo, Guinea, Egypt, Cameroon, Congo DR, Mali and Uganda.

Cote d’Ivoire is ranked first in Africa with 950 points, while the Fennecs of Algeria end 2015 as runners-up with 845 points.

Ghana is third on the log with 778 points.

Belgium claims the team of the year award for 2015. The Red Devils jumped into first position (their first-ever) on the Novem-

ber rankings, but a 3-1 victory over four-time world champion, Italy in Brussels on November 13 saw them hold on to the coveted position for the final rankings of 2015.

Turkey received the award for best mover of the year, thanks to the 329 points it amassed over the last 12 months.

Having last competed at a major tournament in 2008, Turkey secured a place at the Euro 2016 in a campaign that saw them defeat the Netherlands.

Pistorius guilty of murder

P43

—Appeal court

2 FIFA chiefs detained at Zurich hotel TWO FIFA vice-presidents have been arrested in a dawn raid at a Swiss hotel on suspicion of accepting millions of dollars of bribes.

Concacaf president, Alfredo Hawit and Conmebol president, Juan Angel Napout were taken from the Baur au Lac hotel, Zurich, where several FIFA officials were also arrested in May. FIFA’s executive committee has been meeting in the city, voting on reforms.

It says it will “fully co-operate” with separate US and Swiss investigations.

The US Department of Justice requested Thursday morning’s arrests as part of its ongoing investigation into corruption in football’s world governing body.

Hawit, 64, is interim president for North, Central America and Caribbean football, while Napout, 57, oversees football in the South American confederation.

They are alleged to have taken money for selling marketing rights in connection with football tournaments in Latin America, as well as World Cup qualifying matches, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FoJ) said.

“According to the US arrest requests, they are suspected of accepting bribes of millions of dollars,” it said, adding the pair had opposed their extradition to the United States at a hearing earlier.

FIFA’s reform committee chairman, Francois Carrard, said at a news conference in Zurich the arrests were “a very important step” as part of changes “so FIFA can renew itself”.

Speaking after a raft of reforms were approved on Thursday, he added: “FIFA is going through a major crisis - a crisis is a unique opportunity for change, for renewal.”

In May, seven FIFA officials, including another two vice-presidents, were arrested at the same Zurich hotel at the request of US authorities, as the governing body became engulfed by claims of widespread wrongdoing.

A Swiss criminal investigation into the bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups was also launched earlier this year, alongside the US inquiry.

Senegal 2015:

Siasia blows hot over Dream Team

NIGERIA’S U-23 coach, Samson Siasia has warned that another lethargic display from his wards will only spell doom for them after they drew 2-2 with Egypt in a group B game at the ongoing Africa U-23 Cup of Nations in Senegal.

The Dream Team led Mali 3-0 at half time in the first group game, but nearly lost as Mali clawed their way back scoring two goals in the second half and were unlucky not to get an equaliser.

The same scenario played out on Wednesday night as Egypt, down 2-0 at half-time, fought back to get a draw and domi-

nated the second half.

Siasia attributed his team’s performance to fatigue but warned that such displays cannot happen again if his team is to progress to the semi-finals “We did not play in the second half and we cannot continue like this, if we want to go to the Olympics” he told cafonline. com.

“We have to be careful.

We tend to lose concentration in the second half and I have to fix it. It was the case in the first game against Mali and the same thing happened against Egypt.

“It is no longer funny.

It will be a tough battle against Algeria, and we have to be careful about the North African sides, they attack left and right.”

Meanwhile, Nigeria captain, Azubuike Okechukwu has said he and his team-mates are calm ahead of tomorrow’s decisive game against Algeria.

“We know the Algerians.

We are not afraid of them.

We respect them but we are not afraid of them.

“We will play our game, try to win and I am sure we will come out with a good result,” said the Yeni Matalatyaspor of Turkey midfielder.

From left, Barrister Jubril Mohammed, the personal lawyer to the late ex-international, Rashidi Yekini; former Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) chairman, Elder Bode Oyewole; Glo Premier League highest goalscorer of the 2015 season, Gbolahan Salami and the daughter of Yekini, Yemi during the Rashidi Yekini Award presentation to Salami of Warri Wolves, held on Thursday at the media centre of the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Ibadan. PHOTO: OLAWALE OLANIYAN.

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. 4/12/2015.