7th February 2016

nigeria’s most informative newspaper no 2,032

SUNday, 7 february, 2016

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Nigerian Tribune

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Prices of bread go up in South-West

LAGOS CITY MARATHON 2016...From left, Special Adviser to the Governor on Sports, Mr. Deji Tinubu; Group Managing Director, Access Bank, Mr Herbert Wigwe; Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode; Chief of Army Staff, Major General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, at the National Stadium take-off point of the marathon, Surulere, on Saturday.

n200

Nigerian Tribune

pg49

•New price regime begins tomorrow

Bureau de change:

Top Northern monarchs, politicians under watch pg4

300 BDCs linked to top politicians, CBN directors Operators made N356bn in 2015 — Investigation

How I took 9ice’s apology —Ruggedman

CONFESSION OF SUSPECTED ARMED BURGLARS

‘We formed our gang in SARS cell’ 2 kids of same family die in another Lagos boat accident •8 rescued

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pg4

Anti-corruption: OBJ tackles Buhari •Asks him to begin fight from Presidency •Declares: ‘Chibok girls can’t be found again’

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7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

life&living Abandoned: Sad tales inside lepers’ colony With the giant strides made globally, including Nigeria, and the efforts by governmental and non-governmental organisations, as well as religious bodies, the celebration of World Leprosy Day, last weekend, showed that much still needs to be done in terms of information, timely treatment and proper reintegration of victims of leprosy into society. RITA OKONOBOH reports the plight of persons affected by the disease, the efforts made so far to tackle it and the challenges ahead.

Rebecca Alfred

A

LTHOUGH she had lost all her fingers, Madam Rebecca Alfred was using a knife to cut pawpaw with amazing dexterity, her first meal of the day. The time was 4:25p.m.

Like other people at the Baptist Leprosy Centre, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, she looked older than her age. As Sunday Tribune approached her, her disposition changed, and she seemed expectant when she was told that she had a visitor. When she heard it was somebody from the media, she beamed as she prepared herself to share

Deborah Oladoja

her story. After over 35 years of staying at the centre, it was about time she relived her years of sweet-better memories.

Aged 55, she recounted that she was brought to the camp on December 26, 1979.

“I am from Delta State but I was based in Ile Ife, Osun State, when the disease started. I don’t have a husband anymore, but my children are alive. When I was quite young, I discovered that the skin on my leg began to change, as if someone poured hot water on it, and my parents

Ayodele Adenle

did not really understand what was going on. With time, the location of the wound became painless. In fact, at some point, some people thought it was a diabolical attack, like maybe I had stepped on a charm. Later, the bones on my fingers began to fold in and I started to experience pain. That was when my father brought me here.

“I’ve finished my treatment, and I’m better now. Although I visit home sometimes, whenever I’m at home, I see the many achievements my mates have

made and it always makes me feel sad.

You know that proverb that states that ‘a corner with the living is better than a corner in the grave,’ that’s why I’ve decided to accept my fate. For now, I just visit home for a few days at a stretch. I pray God grant my children the resources to get a place for me to stay so I can stay there, because staying at my father’s house only brings me shame and pain. I have accepted my fate.”

Continues pg 3

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life&living

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

‘Despite our situations, we still fell in love’ commemorating the 2015 World Leprosy Day with the theme; Leprosy Elimination-Challenges Beyond Multi Drug Therapy (MDT), “Leprosy is infectious but not contagious; it is only a person with untreated leprosy than can transmit the diseases. Once treated with antibiotics (Multi Drug Therapy), the person is free of the bacteria.”

Why reintegration into society is difficult As part of efforts to understand why many patients, even after treatment preferred to stay at the camps, Sunday Tribune spoke with the Chief Medical Social Worker at Bowen University Teaching Hospital (BUTH), Ogbomoso, Mr A.O. Adeniji.

According to him, “the Baptist Leprosy Centre, Ogbomoso, an annex of Bowen University Teaching Hospital, was started by American missionaries in 1930 and caters for patients from almost every state of Nigeria, speaking different languages and practising different religions. The centre began through the efforts of Dr B.L. Lockett, who gave treatment to persons affected by leprosy, and in 1930, he secured a land near Ogbomoso, and began the first Baptist Leprosy Settlement in Nigeria.”

The centre, which is a combined effort of the Nigerian Baptist Convention and the American Baptist Mission, also has the support of the Damien Foundation, Belgium, which provides surgery and physiotherapy services, especially providing reconstructive surgery for patients who have lost body parts to leprosy. This reconstructive centre is the only one in Nigeria specifically built for that purpose and serves as a referral centre for other treatment facilities in the country.

Adijat Apeh

Michael Apeh

Continued from pg 2

see the leprosy germ under a microscope. This was a revolutionary discovery. The evidence was clear: leprosy is caused by a germ (Mycobacterium leprae). It was not hereditary, a curse, or from sin. Because of Dr Hansen’s work, leprosy is also called Hansen’s disease.”

In 1981, the World Health Organisation (WHO) started recommending multi-drug therapy, or MDT. The three drugs, taken in combination, are dapsone, rifampicin (or rifampin) and clofazimine, and treatment is said to take from six months to a year or more and, in 1982, American Leprosy Missions pioneered the use of multidrug therapy in its projects. According to the American Leprosy Missions, “Since then, millions of people have been cured of leprosy with MDT. As of 2015, every two minutes, someone around the world is still being diagnosed with leprosy. Even though it is curable with Multi-Drug Therapy, children, men and women are still being crippled by this terrible disease.”

The word ‘leper’ is usually seen as derogatory. Rather, ‘people/persons affected by leprosy’ or the term ‘leprosy patients’ is acceptable for people who are currently in treatment.

According to the National Director of The Leprosy Mission Nigeria, Dr Sunday Udo Odihiri, in his message

Speaking on efforts by government, Mrs Alfred noted that “the council used to pay us a monthly stipend of N3,000 but this is the third month now since we last received it. I trade but now, I’m short of funds. When the stipend was steady, although it was not really enough, it was better than nothing. We really need government input. Although we get provisions, especially during the festive seasons from non-governmental organisations and charity groups, now that the festivities are over, it is back to where we were. Although the Baptist Mission is really trying, in all fairness, we understand that they can’t do it alone. Government effort is also needed. Nigerians need to understand that we should not be treated as outcasts and that the disease is not contagious. It was while I had this disease that I had my children and if you see them with me, you won’t believe your eyes.”

The Mahatma Gandhi connection World Leprosy Day, celebrated every last Sunday in January, started in honour of Mahatma Gandhi, who was known for his interest in persons affected by the disease and was once quoted as saying “Eliminating leprosy is the only work I have not been able to complete in my lifetime.” Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948.

The day is celebrated to focus global attention on the plight of persons affected by the disease. Also known as Hansen’s disease, named after Norwegian physician, Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen, who discouraged the notion that leprosy was hereditary, the central theme of this day is to work towards ending leprosy-related disabilities, especially in children, ensure early detection and reduce suffering.

This has also formed the thrust of this year’s theme, “Zero Disability in Children Affected by Leprosy.”

According to The American Leprosy Missions, “every day, 52 children around the world are diagnosed with leprosy.

At least twice that number will remain undiagnosed due to stigma, fear and lack of medical expertise. And many of them will face permanent disabilities.”

Tracing the history of leprosy, which causes damage to the nerves of the hands, feet, eyes and parts of the face, The American Leprosy Missions notes that “in 1873, Dr Armauer Hansen of Norway was the first to

According to The American Leprosy Missions, “every day, 52 children around the world are diagnosed with leprosy. At least twice that number will remain undiagnosed due to stigma, fear and lack of medical expertise.

And many of them will face permanent disabilities.”

‘Sometimes, even family members reject their own’ Mr Adeniji, who spoke on several attempts at reintegrating treated persons into society, as the World Health Organisation recommends, stated that “We have made several attempts to take people back home, and in most cases, the same thing repeated itself. They become outcasts, and these people return home. I’ve accompanied persons who have been treated back home to rejoin their families. I remember one experience when I accompanied a woman to Ilesa to reunite with her family; she is dead now. When we got to her house, people ran away from the compound when they saw her. Even when she spoke to some of them to show that she recognised them, they rejected her. I had to involve the palace and the monarch had to designate a chief to follow us, and they allowed her stay but many of them left the compound. However, the week after, the woman returned to the centre.”

Citing another example, Mr Adeniji told the story of a man who was taken to his home at Iseyin, but who returned the next day because he didn’t feel welcome.

“That’s the problem we experience. In fact, many of them prefer to be at the centre, because they are happy there,” Adeniji stated.

Things are much better nowadays Speaking on why leprosy leads to disfigurement, a family physician and the Deputy Director, Clinical Services, BUTH, Dr Adewunmi Durodola, stated that “The main problem is that although the bacterium is readily cleared by drugs, disfigurement that occurred prior to treatment remains or sometimes gets worse due to permanent nerve damage. The disease damages nerves that allow people to feel sensations at different parts of the body including the face, hands and legs. Due to inability to feel, recurrent injuries and chronic ulcers develop, especially on hands and feet, with fingers and toes falling off by themselves or being amputated by medical personnel. Early detection and prompt treatment of leprosy prevents extensive damage. In the past, due to the fact that some relatives do not see much physical changes after treatment, they tend to ostracize them. Things are much better nowadays.”

Patients recount more experiences, challenges Mr Michael Apeh, from Benue State, aged 38, found love at the centre and is married to Mrs Adijat Apeh, also a patient at the centre and they have three children.

Recounting his experience, he stated that “I’ve been here for over 25 years. The entire thing started when Continues pg 47

news BDC operation: Top Northern monarchs, politicians under watch

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Sunday Tribune

7 February, 2016

•Bureaux de change operators made over N356bn in 2015 —Investigation From Taiwo Adisa And Sulaimon Olanrewaju

T

HE Federal Government has decided to place a number of operators in the financial market under watch in its determination to clean the foreign exchange market, sources close to the administration told Sunday Tribune.

Investigations revealed at the weekend that some top politicians from the North as well as some prominent monarchs are already under watch for their links with operations of some 300 Bureaux de Change (BDC) outfits in the last 10 years.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had admitted the BDCs into the foreign exchange market in 2006 with a view to arresting the gap between the black market and the official rate of the US dollar.

The government had thought that by ensuring direct dollar sales to the BDCs, the gap between the official market and the black market will be bridged.

With direct sales from the CBN guaranteed, the BDCs had access to more foreign exchange and their number jumped from about 74 in 2004 to over 3,000, sources close to the CBN said, adding that the apex bank had since the emergence of the huge number been battling with challenges of effective monitoring and rent seeking by the BDCs .

It was gathered that the Federal Government discovered that one top shot at the CBN owned close to 160 BDCs which have received direct dollar allocations for close to 10 years now.

It was also gathered that some top political figures who owned a number of BDCs are suspected of

money laundering and are currently under watch.

“There are issues of economic sabotage and when this is proved, these persons will go into the books,” an official of the administration said.

Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari was quoted as telling the Nigerian delegation in the United Kingdom that the government banned direct sale of the Dollar to BDCs because many of them are owned by CBN directors.

The president had disclosed that his government stopped the sale of

foreign exchange to bureaux de change, because the decision was in response to acts of sabotage perpetrated by some directors of the CBN. Buhari, who stated this while interacting with Nigerians living in the United Kingdom on the sidelines of the summit on Supporting Syria held in London, said that a number of CBN directors were found to be sabotaging the economy through the BDCs. He said: “We found out that some directors of CBN owned bureaux de change and when foreign ex-

wigs under close watch, with their operations dating back to 2006.

It was gathered that the seemingly uncompromising position of the president with regard to the devaluation of the currency is based on his conviction that only a handful of people would benefit from such policies which would plunge majority of the citizens further down into poverty and penury.

While announcing the discontinuation of the sales of dollar to the BDC operators in January, the CBN governor, Godwin

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, being received by the Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji Barkindo Mustapha (left), at the end of Jumat prayer at Yola Central Mosque, Adamawa State on Friday.

2 kids of same family die in another Lagos boat accident Olalekan Olabulo-Lagos

THERE was a boat tragedy in Lagos State again on Saturday as eight people escaped death when a passenger boat capsized in

Badagry area of the state .

Nine passengers including the boat operator were thrown into the lagoon, when the boat hit a log in the middle of the water.

Operatives of Marine Po-

10-day-old, 13 others die in Taiwan earthquake AT least 14 people were killed and 484 injured on Saturday morning when a magnitude-6.4 earthquake hit Taiwan, Taiwan’s official Central News Agency reported.

More than 200 people were rescued from damaged structures, many from a 16-storey residential building that collapsed in Tainan, officials told CNA. At least 12 of the dead were from the Weiguan Jinlong build-

change comes, they take it to their bureaux de change and give government the change.

“We had to stop the Federal Government from giving dollars to bureaux de change. I am explaining this to give a tip of the iceberg of the problem we inherited. We are getting so hard because we have no other [option] than to make everybody accountable.”

Though he did not identify the said saboteurs, sources confirmed that the government has already placed a number of big-

ing, CNA said.

As of Saturday night, dozens of children were among at least 153 people still unaccounted for in Tainan, according to reports, citing the local fire department.

A cold wave moving into the area added to their sense of urgency.

CNA reported earlier that a 10-day-old girl and a 40-year-old man had been killed in Tainan.

More than 60 people in

the city remain hospitalised, rescue officials said.

“This was strong enough to not only be felt here in the [Taiwanese] capital city of Taipei but also in the southern provinces of China, Elise Hu, an NPR correspondent who was in Taipei when the quake hit, said in an interview with CNA. “Taiwan is very used to earthquakes and tremors, but this is far more significant than the island has seen in quite a while.”

lice, National Emergency Management Agency, National Inland Waterways, Lagos State Waterways and local divers rescued eight of the 10 passengers on board the boat.

Two people, including the driver of the boat and an unidentified woman, were still missing as of the time of filing this report .

Sunday Tribune gathered that the boat left Idagba area of Badagry and discharged passengers at Iworo before leaving with another group of passengers.

The South West spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed the incident to Sunday Tribune.

He also stated that four out of the eight rescued passengers were putting

on life jackets, while the remaining four did not.

Meanwhile, more details have emerged on the identities of the victims of the Badagry boat mishap in Bafagry area of Lagos State.

The occupants of the boat were all said to be members of the same family and they were attending an event, when the accident happened.

The two missing occupants of the boat have also been identified to be children under the age of six years.

The Sunday Tribune gathered that members of the family negotiated with the driver of the boat and told him to take only them to their destination.

The police have also released the chairman of the Badagry jetty who was earlier arrested over the matter.

Emefiele, had hinged the decision on the ‘rent seeking’ attitude of the operators.

He had said: “Despite the fact that Nigeria is the only country in the world where the central bank sells dollars directly to BDCs, operators in this segment have not reciprocated the bank’s gesture to help maintain stability in the market. Whereas the bank has continued to sell dollars at about N197 to these operators, they have in turn become greedy in their sales to ordinary Nigerians, with selling rates as high as N250 per dollar.

“Given this rent-seeking behaviour, it is not surprising that since the CBN began to sell foreign exchange to BDCs, the number of operators has risen from a mere 74 in 2005 to 2,786 today. In addition, the CBN receives close to 150 new applications for BDC licences every month.”

He added that the insatiable appetite of BDCs for forex “is a huge haemorrhage on our scarce foreign exchange reserves, and cannot continue especially because we are also concerned that BDCs have become a conduit for illicit trade and financial transactions.”

Meanwhile, Sunday Tribune can authoritatively reveal that the 2,786 BDCs in the country earned over N356 billion in 2015.

According to the CBN governor, the bank allocated a sum of $60,000 to each of the BDCs weekly, which translates to $167 million for the 2,786 operators.

However, it was gathered that though the BDCs were supposed to mark up their sales by a naira or two to sell to their customers at N199, all of them sold at far higher prices than what the apex bank recommended.

In January 2015, the CBN sold dollar to BDC operators at N168 but the parallel market rate for that month was N200.

So, BDC operators made N21,376,000,000 above the recommended gain.

In February, the CBN depreciated the naira to N197 to the dollar but it sold at the parallel market for N220.

So, the BDC operators raked in N14,696,000,000 more than their recommended gain.

In March with the dollar being sold at an average price of N220, the BDCs still made N14,696,000,000.

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news

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Anti-corruption war: OBJ tackles Buhari, asks him to begin fight from Presidency •Says Chibok girls cannot be found again From Dare ADekanmbi And Oluwole Ige

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ORMER president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to begin his anti-corruption crusade with himself, the vice president, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, before extending same to other Nigerians.

Obasanjo, who described corruption as a ‘hydraheaded monster’ that must not be allowed to live, said the fight against the monster must begin from the apex of the power pyramid in the country.

He spoke as special guest at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State, on Friday, during the institution’s Staff Club’s interactive programme tagged “Seventh Roundtable with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Reflections of an Elder Statesman.”

The former president, responding to a question from a student on his view about the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, however, said the president had left no one in doubt that he was willing to combat graft.

“The president promised he will fight corruption. And there is no doubt that he has shown that he is willing to fight corruption. Corruption is a hydra-headed monster.

“I believe very much that fighting corruption just has to start from the top.

That is, from the president, the vice president, the senate president, the speaker of the House, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).”

Just as Obasanjo mentioned the CJN, one of the participants, who was lat-

er joined by others, asked the former president to include himself and other former presidents in the list of those to be probed for corruption.

Reacting, he said: “Did I hear somebody say and you? Oh, you mean and

former presidents? Former presidents have either done their bit when they were in office or they did not.

“The instruments we are using today (to fight corruption) were all fashioned out by me when I was in of-

fice. We did not have anything like the instruments (ICPC, EFCC) before. Not only did I bring up these instruments, I also looked for the right people who could make the instruments work.

“Nuhu Ribadu was in

From left, Chairman, Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, Senator Sam Egwu; Vice President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Michael Olawale-Cole; President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki; President of LCCI, Chief (Mrs) Nike Akande and Deputy President of LCCI, Ruwase Babatunde, during a courtesy call on Senator Saraki by LCCI in Abuja during the week.

Ex-Senate President, Nnamani dumps PDP Leon Usigbe And Jacob Segun Olatunji-Abuja

FORMER Senate President, Chief Ken Nmanani, has written to the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) informing it of his decision to temporarily quit the party and partisan politics.

Nnamani appeared to have been frustrated after hitting a brick wall on his pressure on the former ruling party to reform itself.

Giving his reason in the letter, he said: “We need to become a party of tech-

nocrats and professionals and not a party of mercenaries and rent seekers.

“We need to become the party of young men and women with new ideas and not a party of political dinosaurs. It is clear now that these pleas have fallen on deaf ears.”

In the letter entitled “PDP, the Burden and My Conscience,” he stated: “Without any iota of bitterness in my heart, I have decided to disengage from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and consequently step aside from

partisan politics in the interim.

“I wish to express my profound gratitude to the party that gave me the platform with which I attained the height I did in the politics of our country.”

The letter further read: “How I wish the efforts I mounted with some of my colleagues (many of whom have left the party) to keep the PDP on the path of its noble vision and values had been supported by those who were privileged to be at the helm of affairs of the party, it would have

Boko Haram kills 4 during raids on 2 communities in Borno SUSPECTED Boko Haram terrorists, on Friday, raided two villages, Mairi and Malari in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State, killing four persons and razing houses in the communities.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that the attacks came barely one week after the Dalori incident in which some 100 persons were killed.

Some residents in Mairi told newsmen that the attackers arrived the village on bicycles at about 8.30 p.m. ``The attackers came

charge of the EFCC and then, the fear of Ribadu was the beginning of wisdom. For ICPC, I specially head-hunted somebody like Justice Mustapha Akanbi to run it,” he said.

Chief Obasanjo, while speaking on the hope of

on bicycles and started shooting sporadically.

“The community was taken unawares as many people were relaxing after the late night Muslim prayers,’’ Malam Baana Bukar, a resident said.

Bukar said that the attackers set ablaze buildings as they ransacked the community.

He said, “we took to our heels to escape the attack.

“When we returned in the morning we discovered that four persons (three women and one man) had died. ``The women were

roasted after their houses were set ablaze by the attackers but the man was shot dead with a gun during the attack.’’

Malam Ahmed Tijjani, the Vice Chairman of the civilian JTF in charge of the Konduga Local Government, confirmed the incident.

He said that the attackers also raided an adjourning village, Malari.

“They attacked Malari village after leaving Mairi but the people had escaped before their arrival when they heard gun shots,’’ he said.

Tijjani said that the terrorists set ablaze all private and public buildings in the village.

Alhaji Babakaka Garbai, the senator representing Borno Central at the National Assembly, who also confirmed the incident, expressed shock at the development.

“Yes, they killed four persons here and burnt all the houses,’’ Garbai said when he paid a sympathy visit to the communities.

He said that the surrounding villages had been deserted as the villagers had fled en-mass for fear of attacks by the insurgents.

been a different day for the PDP. It would have been a day of victory and pride not of defeat and shame.

“I recall that the virus of corruption of values and mission was what those my colleagues and I set out to cure through the formation of the PDP Reform Forum in 2010/11.

“We worked hard to draw up a new direction for the party. This was to help steer the party away from illegality and impropriety so that PDP can fulfil its promise of being a vanguard of Nigeria’s political and economic development.

“A direction defined by strict adherence to basic rules and morality in the management of party affairs. Chief of these values is respect for choice of party members in electing party candidates for elections.

“With more than half a decade of championing such a fundamental but simple idea, I regret that the PDP leadership continues to rebuff internal democracy.

“The party allowed itself to be blinded by hubris to believe that it will remain in power and influence for 60 years in spite of several gross missteps and grievous misnomer.”

rescuing the abducted Chibok girls, said it had been dashed, declaring that Nigerian leaders should stop deceiving parents of the girls and the nation that they would find them.

He chided the immediate past Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government for procrastinating on the issue, noting that failure to swing into action 72 hours after the girls were abducted about two years ago in Chibok, Borno State, was an impediment to their freedom.

According to him, “searching for the Cbibok girls would be in vain because nobody can bring back the girls, for they are nowhere to be found. Nigerian leaders should stop deceiving the populace as Chibok girls cannot return again.

“The disappearance of the Chibok girls is as a result of nonchallant attitude of the previous leaders who did not switch to action immediately, which constituted impediment to their return.

“Seventy-two hours after the Chibok girls were abducted was too late for their rescue, talk less getting to two years by April.

So if any leader is promising bringing back Chibok girls to Nigeria, he is lying. Majority of these girls would have died, while those alive would have been married off, sexual violence and human traffic king would have affected others,” Obasanjo asserted.

Commenting on the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, Obasanjo said “Soyinka is slippery and he is no man to be trusted. I will trust Wole Soyinka as an “aparo hunter” (partridge hunter) than trusting him as a political analyst. I have no issues with him.”

When asked to explain why he refused to release some money for the National Assembly when he was the president of the country, he posited that “you don’t know so many things that transpired during my administration. So many things were not resolved, so don’t attack my intelligence and personality.”

Obasanjo recalled that while he was in office as president, he was threatened with impeachments by the members of the National Assembly for not releasing some money they had appropriated for themselves which he said were odious and for which there were no revenue to back up such huge funds.

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7 February, 2016

crimereports

Sunday Tribune

edited by Oluwatoyin Malik 0807 889 1950, 0811 695 4633 praiseboy01@gmail.com

How we formed new robbery gang inside SARS cell —Suspects Stories by Oluwatoyin Malik

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EMI Rasaq, a suspected notorious armed robber, who was paraded on July 16, 2015 at police headquarters, Eleiyele, Ibadan, after he was arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ibadan in connection with armed robbery, but who was granted bail when charged to court, is back in the SARS cell, as he was recently nabbed with others over a case of burglary.

It will be recalled that Femi was apprehended in 2015 while driving an unregistered Toyota Highlander skillfully decorated with ribbons, with the inscription “GROOM” on the number plate. But investigation revealed that the vehicle was snatched at gun point in Idi Iroko, Ogun State. Other vehicles, including a Toyota Highlander, a Toyota Camry (muscle) and a Honda Accord car, were also recovered from the suspect.

Though released on bail after he was arraigned in court, Femi decided to toe the familiar pathway to crime, almost immediately after he regained his freedom, by forming a gang with other criminals he met in the cell while at SARS. But the hawks within the state police command soon picked him and his gang members on their way to disposing of their loot.

Speaking with Crime Reports on the arrest of the three-man gang, the state Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade gave the names of other gang members as Adenle Olusola and Paul Olaitan. Also arrested was one Sani Abdulahi, said to be the one receiving stolen goods from the gang and other criminals.

According to Oyebade, the suspects broke into a house at Egbeda area of Ibadan and stole electronics and other items.

“Though the house had no occupant when they broke in, they had intended to attack the victims if there was any, as they were

From left, Sani Abdulahi, Femi Rasaq, Adenle Olusola and Paul Olaitan armed with a gun,” he said.

Crime Reports had an interview session with the suspects. Below are the excerpts of their confession: Femi Rasaq (23) I was once arrested by the Oyo State Police Command and three vehicles were recovered from me.

I was charged to court on December 8, 2015 and granted bail. The case is still in court and the next adjournment date is February 24. I was arrested again by the police on January 9, 2016 for burgling a house at Oluwo area of Eg-

beda Community, Ibadan.

I formed a robbery gang with Olaitan Paul and Adenle Olusola. We met inside the cell at SARS. We came there based on different cases. I had no discussion with Paul then. When he was being taken to court, I gave him my father’s number for him to assist me in calling and asking him for his forgiveness.

But while telling each other the story behind our arrests in the cell, Olusola told me that after I must have regained freedom, I should look for vehicles to snatch, promising that he would help me perfect the documents and secure new

number plates for them.

Actually, I don’t like the situation I have found currently myself. It is not that I desired to go back to crime.

What happened was that after my arrest in 2015 and subsequent release on bail, it was difficult returning to Badagry where my home was before my arrest.

This was because leaders of Ajara community where I lived with my father held a meeting with my family and excommunicated us.

They said they watched me on the TV and heard the news of my robbery escapades. Sola and Paul were at the meeting also.

On the day I was charged to court, Olusola came to court. He used to call my father before then but didn’t tell him we met in the cell. I started living with Olusola in Ikire after I was granted bail I went to Idi Iroko to procure a locally-made gun for N10,000. I also got nine live cartridges from two of my friends.

The three of us left Badagry for Ikire but I was afraid of going back to crime. I was further discouraged when Olusola’s girlfriend came from Lagos and offered to get us jobs, but Olusola hurriedly dis-

missed her, saying he didn’t want her to stall our plans.

It was Paul who suggested we go for burglary and was the one who located the house we went into. The first time we went to the house, we scaled the fence and took three laptops which we gave to Olusola. He sold them to someone at Sabo.

We went the second time with Olusola’s car and packed the items we stole in the car. In the morning, when we wanted to leave, the car did not start. I called Olusola and he came with a mechanic. We managed the car to an auto workshop, but later called a taxi into which the items were transferred.

It was while we were taking the items to Sabo that policemen stopped us.

They searched the vehicle and saw the gun I bought in my bag. They discovered that we stole the items after they interrogated us. I would not have gone back to crime if not for Olusola who encouraged me.

Paul Olaitan (20) I first found myself in SARS cell after I was arrested for burglary at AlaContinues pg 7

AIG preaches peace, community partnership during familiarisation tour AN essential ingredient in carrying out police duty of ensuring peace and security is partnership with members of the public the law enforcement agents are protecting, since the criminals elements live among them.

In a bid to ensure effective policing and robust relationship between officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force in Zone Eleven, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Mrs Kalafite Adeyemi, was recently in Oyo State Police Command where she addressed salient issues concerning security.

The AIG, who was received at the command headquarters at Eleiyele, Ibadan by the state Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade, gave

From right, AIG Kalafite Adeyemi; CP Leye Oyebade; DCP Sowemimo Efunsola; DCP Sanusi buba; DCP Sunday Odukoya and ACP Janet Agbede at the stakeholders’ meeting. kudos to the the police commissioner and his management team for using the number of policemen in the command to control crime and criminality.

In his welcome address, Oyebade described the coming of the AIG to his

state command as very significant, saying that it was aimed at reinforcing the need to connect with the public. Oyebade pointed out that the proximity of Oyo State to Ogun, Lagos, Osun and Kwara States made armed robbers to use it as a

transit point, thereby posing a great challenge to security.

But he said that his command had not been deterred by this, as it regularly reviewed its operational and management strategies which include: 24-hour visibility polic-

ing of the highways and strict monitoring of Safer Highway Patrol teams, identification of entry and exit points and manning them effectively, constant intelligence-led raiding of Continues pg 7

7

crimereports

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

I joined fake number plate syndicate to feed my pregnant wife —Suspect Stories by Oluwatoyin Malik

A

27-year-old man, Muyiwa Durojaiye, who is one of the two suspects arrested by the Ogun State Police Command in connection with the production of fake number plates, has said that he was forced to join the syndicate because he lost his job and had a pregnant wife to take care of.

Durojaiye and one Idowu Adebajo (33) were arrested by police detectives attached to Sagamu Division on January 10 at about 12.30p.m, after the police received information that some people were operating commercial motorcycles with fake number plates.

According to the Police Public Relations Officer in Ogun State, DSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, while speaking with Crime Reports, the syndicate specialised in producing fake number plates for motorcycles in Ogun, Lagos and other South West states, using forged documents.

“The police detectives acted on a complaint received from the task force established by Association of Commercial Motorcyclists and intercepted the two suspects at Awolowo market, Makun, Sagamu. They were handed over to the Monitoring Unit of the command for further investigation.

“The Monitoring Unit moved to Lagos in search

of the leader of the gang, one Nzeribe (surname unknown) who is currently at large,” the PPRO stated.

Recovered from the suspects were two printing machines, one old typewriter, a Bajaj motorcycle with fake registration num-

ber PKA 903 WG, one IBM laptop, two stamp pads, one stamp, 17 fake number plates of motorcycles, one laminating machine, different types of fake motorcycle documents.

Crime Reports learnt that the syndicate had per-

fected the art of making the number plates that it might be difficult to know the difference between a fake and genuine number plate.

In an interview, Adebajo claimed that he was not aware that the number plates were not genuine.

The suspects

kia area of Ibadan. No one taught me house burglary.

It was a guy who suggested it to me after I destroyed some plasma TVs and other items in a sachet water factory where I worked, when my boss refused to pay my salary arrears.

I was taken to Airport police station where I met the guy. He told me that I should have planned to steal and sell the TVs, instead of destroying them. He disclosed that buyers were always available at Sabo. After my release, I started to steal phones from where they were being charged.

I met Femi in SARS cell and we used to eat together.

When I was charged to court from SARS in 2015, I was remanded in prison until

know the exact place where the fake number plates were being produced.

“My role was to collect money from a potential client and hand the number plates over to him whenever the job was ready.

We used to get between 25 and 30 clients in a day and my boss used to pay me N1,500 after a day’s job.

“I decided to join Debo because I lost the job I was doing and I have a pregnant wife. I was working at the maintenance section of Minaj Hotel before it was demolished and the site used to erect a structure for Shoprite.”

DSP Adejobi however said that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as the command completes its investigation into their activities.

AIG preaches peace, community partnership during familiarization tour Continued from pg 6 criminal hideouts, community partnership, interagency collaboration, zero tolerance for corruption, capacity building through training and re-training as well as diligent investigation and prosecution.

CP Oyebade also enumerated some of the achievements of his command since he assumed duly on September 1, 2015, stating that many armed robbers had been arrested while

many stolen vehicles had been recovered. He added that the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the command had engaged kidnappers and had been able to make some arrests of kidnappers terrorising the Oke-Ogun/ Ibarapa axis of Oyo State.

Saying that the modest achievements were just a tip of the iceberg, the police commissioner assured the visiting AIG that his command would not rest on its oars but would continue to pull human and mate-

rial resources at its disposal together to ensure that the feat already achieved is sustained and surpassed.

He expressed appreciation towards members of the public, stakeholders and other strategic partners, whom he said had been supportive of the command.

During her meeting with police officers and men at the police headquarters, Eleiyele, as well as Iyaganku, Agodi, Oyo and Ogbomoso Area Commands, AIG Adeyemi said her visit was to

How we formed a new robbery gang inside SARS cell Continued from pg 6

According to the suspect, “I didn’t know anything about fake production of number plates. It was one Tope who gave me N5,000 that I should go to Nzeribe at Oyingbo area.

“Nzeribe told me that he was going to do the number plates at the licensing office. Unfortunately, he brought fake number plates to me. I later learnt that the original number plates go for N12,500. This is the first time I would be involved in such deal.”

The second suspect, who said he was pushed into joining the syndicate to get a means of livelihood, told Crime Reports: “I have a boss, Debo Idowu, who used to produce the fake number plates. I just joined the syndicate about three months ago. I didn’t

my mother came to perfect my bail two months after.

She pleaded with the complainant and the case was withdrawn from court. It was that case that my made my stepfather to divorce my mother. I am the only child she had for my father before she remarried.

I went to court on the day Femi was to be arraigned and saw Sola. I used to see him in Agodi prisons. He offered me accommodation so I went to join him.

When Femi came out, the three of us planned how to go and burgle a house I had noticed at Oluwo community as unoccupied. This was after each of us complained of lack of money.

Adenle Sola (38) I was arrested in 2015 for buying a stolen car from

a friend. I was arraigned in court and remanded in prison when I could not fulfil bail condition. I left prison after a month when the bail conditions were perfected.

Before then, Femi and I had discussed in SARS cell on how he could dispose of stolen vehicles, and I told him that I knew someone who could do a perfect job of it. I was charged to court before him. I saw Paul when I went to court on adjournment date. That was how he lamented that he had nowhere to live, and I asked him to join me.

I knew when Femi went to purchase gun. He didn’t tell me when he and Paul first went to burgle, but they brought three laptops to me and I helped them to sell them for N10,000.

We used the money to feed ourselves.

My car was used by Femi and Paul to load the items stolen from the house they burgled the second time. It is not as if we enjoy being in police cell but as things are now, we are just asking for forgiveness.

Sani Abdulahi (23) I have been engaged in buying stolen properties for four years. Paul had once sold a Samsung LED TV 32” to me and he gave me the receipt. He called me recently, saying that there was a Yahoo guy who wanted to sell some items.

He promised to bring the items to me. I was surprised when he came with police to arrest me. I knew that some of those who bring items to me used to steal them.

encourage them in the performance of their duties.

Expressing the appreciation of the Inspector General of Police for the performance put up in 2015, the AIG said IGP Arase had started to actualise the promises he made during his visit in 2015.

She enjoined the police officers and men to harness all resources at their disposal towards information gathering, as crime could not be curbed within a society without an intelligencedriven policing. AIG Adeyemi urged them to be alive and vigilant to their responsibilities, in view of the security challenges being faced

by Nigeria. She also warned against the misuse of firearms, making reference to Force Order 237, which she said is very explicit on this.

She advised police officers to steer clear of politics, saying that politicians should be allowed to play their game. “Our duty is to provide an enabling environment for politics to thrive through provision of security; as uniformed men and women, you are to be non-partisan,” she stated.

She also held a meeting with stakeholders in the state including community, religious, ethnic and transport union leaders, as well as members of Police Community Relations Committees and vigilance groups.

Addressing the stakeholders who gathered at each of the area commands

and the police headquarters, AIG Adeyemi said it was necessary that they offer useful information to the police to ensure adequate security, stating that gone were the days when security was left in the hands of the police alone.

She warned parents to check on their children’s associates to prevent criminal relationship, while she further urged the stakeholders, especially hoteliers to give prompt information about suspicious lodgers.

She gave them assurance that the police would their best to put crime and criminality at bay, in order to create an atmosphere conducive to the thriving of lawful businesses.

AIG Adeyemi was also at the offices of two network service providers in Ibadan, Globalcom Limited and MTN Nigeria Limited. During meetings held with representatives of both companies, Mrs Adeyemi solicited their cooperation with the police to track criminal elements in the society. She appealed for quick responses to police’s request to aid prompt and proper investigation of cases.

The AIG also visited the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III; the Soun of Ogbomosoland, Oba Oladunni Oyewumi Ajagungbade II and the Onpetu of Ijeruland, Oba Sunday Oyediran where she got royal blessings from the monarchs.

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news

7 February, 2016

Stay in Nigeria, Buhari tells citizens Says Nigerians have image problem

N

IGERIANS have an image problem abroad which makes it difficult to emigrate to the West, but they can stay at home where their services are needed, President Muhammadu Buhari was quoted as saying by a British newspaper on Saturday.

A former army ruler from the 1980s who returned to power as a civilian af-

ter winning an election in March last year, Buhari has the image of an ascetic disciplinarian keen to tackle his country’s persistent problems with crime and corruption.

“Some Nigerians’ claim is that life is too difficult back home,” he was quoted as telling the Daily Telegraph of UK. “But they have also made it difficult for Europeans

and Americans to accept them because of the number of Nigerians in prisons around the world accused of drug trafficking or human trafficking,” he said.

This is a contrast to some other Nigerian politicians, who often argue that their countrymen are unfairly victimised in foreign countries.

“I don’t think Nigerians have anybody to blame.

They can remain at home where their services are required to rebuild the country,” Buhari was quoted as saying.

The newspaper said Buhari thought a minority of his countrymen could do with improving their behaviour.

“We have an image problem abroad and we are on our way to salvage that,” he said.

Don’t stop people from getting pregnant over Zika, UN tells countries THE United Nations (UN) has called for the repeal of laws and policies that restrict access to sexual and reproductive health services in contravention of international standards.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Al Hussein, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen on Friday in New York, United States.

The statement said that the UN position was in response to advice to women by some governments to delay getting pregnant due to the possible link between the Zika virus and neurological disorders affecting newborns.

According to the statement, upholding women’s human rights was essential if the response to the Zika health emergency would be effective.

“Clearly, managing the spread of Zika is a major challenge to governments in Latin America.

“However, the advice of some governments to women to delay getting pregnant ignores the reality that many women and girls simply cannot exer-

cise control over when they become pregnant.

“The circumstance is made more difficult in environment where sexual violence is so common,’’ the statement said.

The statement noted that “in situations where sexual violence is rampant and sexual and reproductive health services are unavailable, efforts to halt the Zika crisis will not be enhanced by stopping women from getting pregnant.”

The statement stressed that amid the continuing spread of the virus, authorities must ensure that their public health responses were pursued in conformity with human health-related rights obligations.

“Upholding human rights is essential to an effective public health response.

“This requires that governments ensure that women, men and adolescents have access to comprehensive and affordable quality sexual and reproductive health services and information, without discrimination.

“Health services must

Ooni visits Alake of Egbaland today Olayinka Olukoya - Abeokuta THE Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, will on Sunday pay a visit to the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo.

This will be the second time that Oba Ogunwusi will be visiting Ogun State within two weeks.

He was in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, last week to visit the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona.

According to Ake palace source, the monarch will

be received by the Alake of Egbaland at the Ake Banquet Hall with support from members of the Egba Traditional Council.

It will be recalled that the 51st Ooni, since ascension to the throne, had been going round to visit prominent traditional rulers in Yorubaland.

The Ooni had visited the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Kayode Adetona and the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran.

be delivered in a way that ensures the woman’s informed consent, respect for her dignity and the guarantee of her privacy.

“Laws and policies that restrict her access to these services must be urgently reviewed in line with human rights obligations in

order to ensure the right to health for all in practice,’’ it stated.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a public health emergency on the spread of the virus.

Sunday Tribune

Residents of Kwara to get identification numbers B iola Azeez - Ilorin RESIDENTS of Kwara State have been promised greater access to government services as Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed kicked off the state Residents Identification Number (KRIN).

According to the senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media and Communication, Dr. Muideen Akorede, in a statement made available to journalists in Ilorin, the identification number would serve as an additional source of identity to the people.

The governor’s aide also disclosed that the governor would tomorrow, perform the inauguration of the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) headquarters in Ilorin.

Quality education, solution to Boko Haram insurgency —Babalakin

By Adewale Oshodi and Saheed Salawu CHAIRMAN of Bi-Courtney Services Limited, Dr Wale Babalakin (SAN), has identified qualitative education as the solution to the Boko Haram insurgency in the country, while charging the Federal Government to do everything within its power to ensure that every child is given the best of education.

Dr Babalakin stated this while delivering a lecture entitled: “Education: Panacea to Insurgency” during the second education summit of the University of Ibadan Muslim Graduates’ Association (UIMGA) on Saturday.

Going down the memory lane to the glorious years when public education in Nigeria was at par with those of the developed countries, Dr Babalakin lamented the state of education in Nigeria today, while admitting that every rot in the country stemmed from the decay of education.

“There was a time when the University of Ibadan was among the best universities in the world; same for the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU),” he said.

Akwa Ibom govt to sponsor 310 on pilgrimage TEN widows from each of the 31 local government areas of Akwa Ibom State are to be sponsored on pilgrimage to Israel.

The state governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel, announced this during a solidarity rally by Akwa Ibom Women at the Governors Lodge, Government House, Uyo. He said that the next phase of Small and Medium Scale loan in which the women are beneficiaries has been increased by 65 per cent to enable the women access more funds to do their businesses.

He also announced plans to launch a Cocoa Plantation Scheme and urged the women to take advantage of the programme to engage in agricultural production, assuring that government would supply the seedlings at subsidised rate to the farmers.

Ibadan City Polytechnic congratulates Olubadan-designate

By Olaide Sokoya THE management, staff and students of Ibadan City Polytechnic have felicitated with Olubadan-designate, High Chief Saliu Adetunji, on his proposed elevation to the stool of the Olubadan.

The Ibadan City Polytechnic team, led by the proprietor, Mr Amos Ajanaku who visited the Popo Yemoja home of the Olubadan-designate, prayed that his time would bring peace and more development to the entire Ibadanland.

In his remark, the Olubadan-designate thanked the management and students of the polytechnic for their visit. He further said that he was proud to be associated with Ibadan City Polytechnic.

9 news

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Corruption fight must start from Presidency —Obasanjo Excerpts of his dramatic interactive session at OAU, Ile-Ife

By Dare Adekanmbi

Q

UESTION from a professor: The stoppage of the feeding and catering services in the universities in 1984 by Buhari and the fresh plan to feed school pupils, premised on the accusation that the ruling elite has collectively messed up the country.

OBJ: My dear Professor, who is teaching about planting flowers. I think we will talk about flowering of ideas and flowering of development. When the first university was established in this country, that is, the University of Ibadan, there was only one university then. And as the vice chancellor has said, when I got to power, there were only 53 universities and when I left, we had 153.

There is no way the government at the state or federal level could have sustained such feeding programme.

(The professor shakes his head in disagreement) OBJ: You can shake your head from now till eternity because you don’t know. What do you knowwwwwww, Mr Professor?

The Professor: I know that in China, they have thousands of universities.

OBJ: Yes. The population of China is 1.3billion. You see, you don’t know and this is part of the problem of this country.

If people like you, who make Cathedral pronouncement do not know.

(The gathering erupts in laughter) OBJ: Listen. Please, please. I went to… please. This is very important. I went to Cuba and met with Fidel Castrol. I said to him that I came to his country to learn on three issues: agriculture, education and health. And quickly, Fidel Castrol said to me: education is free from the cradle to the grave. Since that is settled, we can’t be arguing. Then I started asking him questions. Yes, education is free but people go to school in the morning and go to work in the afternoon. Or they can even go to work in the morning and resume at school in the afternoon. That is similar to what they have in China. Can we afford, in this country, to have 1.5 million students in (such programme) when we are not even providing enough space for students who want to go to the universities for tertiary education?

When you raise these issues the way you have raised them, please, for God sake, let us think deeply, with all due respect. (applause) Let me say this. I have no regret whatsoever for what I did(as president) in the area of education for this country. If the opportunity presents itself again, I will do the same thing so that education can be made popular and available to every Nigerian child. When I was military head of state, I established the Universal Basic Education (UBE). When I came back as elected president, I re-established UBE. There is no way you could do this and feed all your children in the universities three square meal a day unless they are making some contribution, either working part-time or making one form of contribution or the other.

Question from a lecturer: I am from Ake and I greet my father. It is not easy for a generation to have this kind of opportunity twice. For all of us who are students of history, whether you like it or not, whatever you may say, we have an opportunity to interact with a man who is a political…

Chorus from the gathering: Ask your question now.

Obasanjo OBJ (interrupts): Aaaask your question oooooooooo.

The lecturer: My question is very simple and straightforward. I teach English, I am a Literature teacher in the Department of English. I want to find out from Baba Obasanjo, the real issue between him and Professor Wole Soyinka.

OBJ: I don’t understand what you mean by that. But I will tell you what I do know.

If any man is gifted, Wole Soyinka is gifted.

That is number one. Number two, Wole Soyinka is a [inaudible]. Number three, Wole Soyinka is a citizen of the world. But I have nothing against Wole Soyinka more than what I have written in my book (My Watch), that Soyinka as a political analyst, is always missing the mark. I have said that and jocularly, I will trust Soyinka as an aparo hunter (partridge hunter), more than I will trust his comment or analysis on political developments in the country. And I still stand by that. You may disagree with me; Wole himself may disagree with me. I am entitled to my opinion and that’s my opinion.

People have asked us why we are studying political science, that what are the opportunities there for us, especially with the godfather syndrome, if we decide to go into politics.

OBJ: I was in India after soon after [in-

audible] has won the election and then upsetting the Congress Party which had been in power for many years. I asked the leaders of the party where they would go next. They said they had decided where they were going, that they were going to the universities and colleges to build a new generation of party members. That way, they are not looking only at a five-year plan; they are looking at a 10-year plan.

The political parties in Nigeria must be doing the same thing. Universities and colleges should be veritable areas of recruitment of party members for the future of the country. One unfortunate thing though is that we don’t even know stable these parties are. You will remember that some years back, PDP believed they will rule Nigeria for 60 years. Maybe we thank God that they did not have the opportunity to rule us for 60 years. With what we have got from the last ruler of the PDP, we should thank God that they did not have the opportunity.

But let me say this to you, in my government, I had six people who were under 40 years. People don’t remember that thing.

Oby Ezekwesili, Frank Nweke, Nenadi (Usman), in fact, in council (Federal Executive Council) they would be arguing who was older than who. The unfortunate thing is that…we are not consistent…

What you call godfather, I don’t know. I did not have a godfather and if anybody says

I believe very much that fighting corruption just has to start from the top. That is, from the President, the Vice President, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN)

he is my godfather in politics, let him come out. But I do know that many people came to me when I left prison and pleaded with me to contest election. I told them to let me think about thing and put certain things together. What should it be, what should it not be? I had been a military head of state and running government as a military leader.

Because I could not keep my mouth shut, I was put in jail and I would have been killed.

And when I came back and they asked me to contest, I said “Come again?”

When I decided and contested, I did my best. Now, if what you are waiting for is for somebody to prepare the ground for you to move, you may have to wait till eternity. You have to be there. You have to get your hand dirty and your feet wet. in the rough and clean political water of Nigerian politics, because there is rough and there is clean water in politics. And the fact that you bring them (into government and politics) young does not mean that they will perform. Though, there are still those who are young and have performed well.

Age is not a measure of how somebody will perform in government neither is it a measure of performance. But we need them young.

Each of our political parties should have strong youth wing and they should really go out to the universities and colleges to recruit.

(The parties may go for) Maybe only students of political science; maybe all students; maybe only those who are interested. And there are other things that will have to happen. We have to reduce the cost of election and get people who don’t have big pots of money to contest election. We have to do this.

Let me give you an example. In 1998/1999, we ran three elections at the state level-local government, state House of Assembly and the governorship elections and three elections at the federal level. The man who raised the money for our election in PDP in 1998/1999, said he raised $7 million for all the six elections.

In 2003, it went to the equivalent of $9 million. The last elections, I was told by somebody who knows, that it cost more than $4billion We can’t go on like this.

Otherwise, it will fail. But I do agree with you that something must be done to allow the youths take more active role in the political parties and the country.

On effort by President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

OBJ: The President promised he will fight corruption. And there is no doubt that he has shown that he is willing to fight corruption.

Corruption is a hydra-headed monster and I believe very much that fighting corruption just has to start from the top. That is, from the President, the Vice-President, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).

(A participant interrupts) And you (Obasanjo).

OBJ: Did I hear somebody say and you?

Oh, you mean and former presidents. Former presidents have either done their bit when they were in office of they did not.

The instruments we are using today (to fight corruption, EFCC, ICPC) were all fashioned out by me when I was in office.

ICPC, EFCC we did not have anything like these instruments and not did I bring up these instruments, I also looked for the right people who could make the instruments work. Nuhu Ribadu was in charge of the EFCC and then, the fear of Ribadu was the beginning of wisdom. ICPC, I specially head-hunted somebody like Justice Mustapha Akanbi, to run it.

10

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

11

interview

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

There’s a link between Boko Haram and Fulani attacks —Ovie A traditional ruler, the Ovie of Umiaghwa, Abraka, Delta State and retired two-star Airforce General, Lucky Ochuko Ararile, in this interview with CHRIS AGBAMBU and ADETOLA BADEMOSI, speaks on corruption, the evils bedevilling the country, how the Amnesty programme became and politicised, among other issues.

A

S the pioneer coordinator of the Amnesty programme, what is your view about the whole idea and its implementation?

Only a few Nigerians know that I headed the Amnesty programme while some who knew had forgotten.

The Amnesty programme ab initio was supposed to last for not more than five years and it was supposed to be winding down gradually and by the fifth year, it is only those who are at the university that will still be attended to. By this time, those who have acquired some skills would have gone off the programme. So if you went to a skills acquisition centre for instance to learn to be a welder, that programme is supposed to be for nine months or one year maximum. So, at the end of that period, you would have been out of the programme. So what we have today is that almost everybody was captured in the programme from the beginning. I said at that time that there was a window; we created a window for which all the ex-militants should surrender. Those who chose not to surrender at that period were supposed to be on their own but later on, being a Nigeria matter, they started talking of batch 2, batch 3 and I said the batches will not end and it is compounded with the fact that the whole programme has been bastardised. You see, the Amnesty programme is not about the people that were disarmed only, it comprises the whole Niger-Delta and Niger-Delta by definition includes nine states. Henry Okah even came at a point and said as far as MEND is concerned, they didn’t have more than 5000 militants but later on, politics came into it and they now made it 10,000; from 10,000 it went to 15,000, then to 20,000 and 30,000 and even beyond 30,000. We still have some people saying that they have not been captured.

So if we have such a flexible definition of who a militant is and the time frame, then even Boko Haram will join and say I am a Niger-Deltan. So, a line has to be drawn, a decision has to be taken because what we are talking about now as of last count we have 30,000 people in the programme, but that is not the number of youths that are unemployed in the Niger-Delta. We have millions of them. And the original programme had in view people who did not carry arms.

President Umaru Yar’Adua was very passionate about that, that we cannot be addressing only those people that carried arms; let us equally address those who did not carry arms, so that they won’t think that the government only reacts when people resort to violence; that was the strategy, but that other aspect was not addressed when we left.

So when people like Timi Alaibe and Kingsley Kuku came into it, I will say that the whole programme was tribalised, not just tribalised, it was even bastardised because if we follow the original programme where you terminate your own training, you won’t be talking of paying stipends to 30,000 people today. Probably at best, we won’t have more than 500 and I will even challenge anybody to bring the data. We don’t have up to 200 people in the whole of that list that have the prerequisites to go to a university.

So people going for flying training, unless it was done in the concept of addressing the whole Niger Delta issue, militancy or no militancy, but what I am hearing is that those people who went to South Africa to learn to fly, who went to Sri Lanka to learn to do whatever were militants, no. We didn’t have up to 200 people who had five credits to qualify to do such types of learning as of the time I left.

Is that then a justifiable reason for the present administration to want to scrap the programme?

Well, I don’t know whether that was the plan of the present administration. But the fact is that as I have said earlier, this programme was designed for five years. And indeed, if we continue the way we are going, we will encourage those who were not militants to go into militancy and ex-President Yar’Adua’s fears then will be validated, that the government attends only to those who are militants, those who carry arms. So that programme cannot be in perpetuity.

If the programme had been bastardised, then what is the way forward?

Well, we have a new president; he must have his own plans and programmes. His own attitude to the Amnesty programme, I cannot suggest now. I have been out of the Amnesty programme since 2010. So if the government plans a review and needs my input and suggestions, I will do so.

But what is your reaction to perceptions that the abrupt end of the programme may bring in youth restiveness and other vices?

Let me tell you very honestly, for those people who have agreed to the Amnesty programme, they cannot go back to any creek. They have signed the undertaken, the Federal Government has spent over N400 billion, if not more on the programme, on 30,000 people. Do the arithmetic, how much does that come to per capita perperson. It is the most generous Amnesty programme in the world. Talking about a place like Rwanda for example, when they finished - that was even more bitter - when they finished, what did they give to the militants?

They collected their weapons, compensated them with $750 and everybody went home. If you do the arithmetic of what we have done now, it is even scandalous.

In the original concept of the Amnesty programme, were there provisions to send some people abroad?

Everything was supposed to be localised. Yar’Adua even insisted for it to be in the Niger-Delta. Now people came, by the UN conventions that they should be taken outside their immediate environment. So we were looking at taking them to Taraba State, taking them to Jos (Plateau State) for the reorientation programme so that they can leave their immediate environment and it is equally the part of the demobilisation process that will now win them out of their entrenched leadership.

So if you leave them in Niger-Delta, you know Tompolo, Boyloaf, all of them will be calling them on phone, they are still under control. So the idea is to bring them out of the environment and break the linkages so that by the time they come back, they are now independent individuals that are not operating in groups as per camps. So the real idea is to make them independent of their bosses’ control and that was what we were doing because when we were paying them, we were paying directly into their accounts.

We made them to open accounts and were paying them but the militant leaders were not agreeable to that. And immediately Timi Alaibe was appointed, the first thing he did was to cancel that programme and reverted to

paying the boys through their leaders. By the time I was the coordinator, I had established a mechanism that if the money comes, it doesn’t even hit my account, straight it goes to the various banks. So everybody had their accounts, because we had problems with their leaders, they will remove their own and say it is the Amnesty coordinator and I said no problems, all of you go and open accounts so we started paying directly into their accounts. But immediately I left, they cancelled the system and started paying through their leaders so we saw them riding jeeps.

Is there any link between the Niger-Delta amnesty and the cause of Boko Haram insurgency going on in the North East?

I don’t think that the president has said anything about amnesty for Boko Haram insurgents in the North East.

What I have heard from the media is that the North East is going to be developed and people are going to be resettled. I don’t think the president is going the way of Yar’Adua’s approach.

When the former administration left and the new administration came in, nobody thought that by now we would still be fighting Boko Haram.

What is the present administration not doing right that is causing the problem to continue?

Let me say that the present administration has done very well in the war against Boko Haram. Boko Haram is not one war. If you look at how they started, they started with terrorism, they were bombing churches, mosques, killing people, initially they were abducting the Igbo in the North East, they were killing them and I said if they are done with the Igbo and they run back to their states they are going to face the Northerners and of course, the most popular person they killed was General Shuwa, one of the prominent persons we had during the civil war. Now when they were bold enough, they went to the next level which is insurgency.

Insurgency is a regime change, you want to impose your culture on a certain territory, so the sad thing with us at that period is that with all the resources we have committed to defence all these years, a group of insurgents could actually capture one inch of Nigerian territory, very sad.

It is unimaginable, it is so painful and for people to be identified to have diverted the money meant for arms is treasonable. As far as Dasuki is concerned, the main issue is that it is treason; if he was tried for treason, we won’t be talking about bail. Those people are still subject to military law; after they finish with the fraud, they should be handed Continues pg 46

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7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

feature Rivalry: New generation music acts taking over from the old

Competition creates rivalry whether in business or among people. In the entertainment industry, this is more pronounced in the music sector, but not limited to it. Until recently, stiff competition between two musicians had mellowed but the rivalry in the industry reared its head again at the Headies Awards in Lagos State where Olamide spewed vituperations against Don Jazzy. TADE MAKINDE traces the trend.

Pasuma/Osupa BOTH cut their musical teeth at Mushin where they both grew up. Right from the start of their career, the two saw each other as rivals. Anytime either of the two acts had an event, fans of the other would show up at the venue to disrupt the show.

This animosity fuelled the rivalry that soon began in full swing. From one album to another, both used words to jibe at each other. It got so bad that FUMAN had to hold an emergency meeting as the en-

mity between the two was negatively affecting the already tainted image of Fuji musicians. It wasn’t that heady even in the days of Kollington Ayinla and Ayinde Barrister rivalry. This was much more that just making money via the sales of their albums and videos. It was a dog-eat-dog war. The intervention of FUMAN, after issuing stern warnings to all warring sides that culprits stood the risk of not being marketed, eventually brought peace to the Fuji music industry which pervades till date.

J

Olamide/Don Jazzy ANUARY 1, 2016, was the date hip hop rave, Olamide, perfectly chose to display pent-up anger against producer, Don Jazzy. Apparently, the YBNL record label boss could not stomach the attitude of the award-winning producer and couldn’t hide it anymore. At the 10th edition of the Headies Awards, Olamide got on the stage to protest the emergence of Jazzy’s act, Reekardo Banks, as winner of the Next Rated Award category, over his own protege, Li’l Kesh. Olamide not only took the award organisers to the cleaners, he did what he thought was right when he complained that Jazzy treated his acts like his ‘boys’, rather than his own artistes. He added that Jazzy’s days as a producer were behind him as most of his artistes produced most of their own songs, while Jazzy only adds his voice and still takes credit which he didn’t deserve. The social media was awash with hot exchange of words for about 48 hours until Olamide finally apologised to his fans for his demeaning behaviour. Many are of the opinion that it was a marketing strategy to buoy up the fading influence and respect the public had for Headies Awards, while few believed it was to pave way for a future production business between Olamide and Don Jazzy.

Bobby Benson/Victor Olaiya BOBBY Benson, an elite highlife musician, was the hottest in his time. He held sway in the 50s and 60s. He leveraged on his elder brother’s position as a federal minister to get high net worth gigs and was making more money than the others despite not recording successive hits. As a new comer on Lagos music scene, Victor Olaiya an Ekiti man worked for about two years with Benson. Trouble began for Olaiya when he left to form his own band.

Olaiya could speak Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa fluently. This helped him to win the hearts of military personnel back then and he started getting more local and national gigs than Bobby. Bobby was not comfortable with this. He was particularly irked that an Ekiti man was eating into his Lagos social circle pie and allegedly soon began to hound his former band member all over Lagos. Olaiya desirous of exploring his popularity left Lagos for a round country tour to the North, East and finally back to Lagos. By the time he returned to Lagos after almost two years, Benson had soft-pedaled, while Olaiya came back with enough cash to set up his music empire. The rivalry was not about album sales, but territorial conquest.

Cynthia Morgan/Davido SEEING that stealing allegations gets the needed attention, up-coming act, Cynthia Morgan, who saw what happened at the Headies Awards when Olamide attempted to ridicule Don Jazzy, promptly acted. Wisely, she chose Davido as a launch pad following the latter’s endorsement of Lil Kesh as his favourite Next Rated artiste. She used derogatory words to describe Davido and also took jibes at his HKN label mates. Davido replied: “I hope you reach where I have conquered.”

Ruggedman/Mode 9 In the late 90s when rap started to grow as a music genre in Nigeria, one of its earliest propagators, Ruggedman, who had earned himself a name in the industry, was berated by up comer, Mode 9. He faulted Ruggedy Baba’s attempts at promoting what he called ‘Nigerian rap.’ For Mode 9, there was nothing like Nigerian rap as it was a music genre made popular

by Americans and that there was no way the concept would catch on with Africans

unless it was done like the originators.

This was not acceptable to Ruggedman.

He was convinced that rapping in ‘Mother Tongue’ could be the way to sell Nigerian rap music to the world. Soon enough, both began to attack each other through their music. Ruggedman had an edge when Ehen, a dissing track, eventually won him awards. That victory opened the door for local rappers who began to rap in local dialects. Notable was Lord of Ajasa, Dagrin, MI and now, Olamide and Phyno.

Fela/Geraldo Pino Geraldo Pino was a handsome Sierra Leonean who had Nigerians taken in by his good looks and highlife music. Fela, who had trouble making headway into the highlife music circle of greats, quickly saw Pino as his rival and he needed to go the extra mile to win the heart of Nigerians, especially the women who were in his grips.

Anywhere Pino performed, Fela attended. He noticed that Pino always got the girls going whenever he sang James Brown’s and Beatles songs, especially

Twist and Shout and I’m black & Proud; so he stepped up his jazz by incorporating African chants into his songs. This was however not until he ran to Ghana with Zeal Onyia in 1967.

When Fela eventually got it right with Jeun Kooku in 1973, Pino stopped coming to Nigeria. The previous year, Fela had been outplayed at the popular Sigma Club, University of Ibadan-owned musical concert where he promised to come out bigger if he had to chase Geraldo out of Nigeria for good. He made good on this promise.

Wasiu/Obesere The rivalry between Obesere and K1 goes beyond commercial gains. The Asakasa exponent from the start of his career was determined to prove he was a rebel and never hid his disdain for Wasiu’s claim to kingship of Fuji music. Obesere, who is far younger than Wasiu, would not bow to Wasiu’s supremacy like other younger acts. Industry watchers believe that because he had money to go all out in his anti-Wasiu stance, he began to have followers, especially among young acts who did not like Wasiu’s lordship, even when Alhaji Ayinde Barrister, whom many saw as the undisputed King of Fuji, was alive and never rode roughshod on other Fuji musicians. With Obesere able to call Wasiu’s bluff, the young Fuji acts soon polarised Fuji music circle membership. The likes of Pasuma and Taye Currency took side with Wasiu, while others, though they dared not go public with their affiliation because Wasiu still either helped them with shows or money, supported Obesere. Obesere never saw Wasiu as the undisputed king of Fuji and has never hidden this feeling from Wasiu. Acting out his headship role though, Wasiu has always said he bears no grudge against Obesere or any other Fuji musician who didn’t like his success or his headship of Fuji music as a whole.

Continues pg 46

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7 February, 2016 last week

Y argument that the creation of the Mid-West Region was bound to intensify agitation for and acceleration the creation of the Middle Belt State and the COR State was rejected.

At the Calabar Congress of the Action Group, I advocated certain policies for adoption of foreign affairs and the organisation of the armed forces. These portions of my presidential address were torn to shreds right in front of me, by one speaker after another. Two of those who now accuse me of dictatorship were among those who delivered what I later described as brilliant speeches for which I congratulated them. All my true and faithful friends – old and new, in and outside of politics – will testify to my love of debate, respect for democracy, and abhorrence of dictatorship in any shape or form.

Why, it may be asked, did I resign my posts in the Federal Military Government in 1971? One of the posts was the highest any civilian had thus far held in the Federal Military Government. One of the reasons why I resigned was, as publicly stated, that I could not, in peacetime Nigeria, work in an unelected government in a military or any other setting.

The second sub-group consists of three. One is a very able person whose performances as a Minister in the old Action Group Government were excellent. He has always had unprincipled and misguided obsession for office.

And he used to treat anyone who was likely to be his rival, or stood in his way as an enemy. But some years ago, I discovered that this obsession has grown to revolting and dangerous proportions. As a result, I have felt estranged from him, and he has reacted by launching a vilifying campaign against me, and against my supporters in his home state.

The other, by his past performances in government, was thoroughly incompetent, but appeared loyal. He worships Mammon. He sees political association only as an avenue for attracting good business. Because he failed to use me for this end when I was in the Federal Ministry of Finance, he teamed up with some of my sworn adversaries including one of the star prosecution witnesses in the treasonable felony case to calumniate me all over the place. When I discovered this, and when it also came to my knowledge in my official capacity that he had betrayed the trust of a personal friend of his for money, I thought I had had enough of him. Since then – some seven years ago – there has been mutual antipathy between us.

The third has no past performances to his credit. He

Awo’s thoughts PATH TO NIGERIAN GREATNESS

Perspective of free education policy at all levels appeared a fine and dependable man from the time of our association far back in 1951. But not long after his election into the Constituent Assembly, he became a changed man. He started a most vicious campaign against me among our mutual friends and former colleagues in his home state. The reason is, as he unabashedly and selfconfidently disclosed to two of our mutual friends, that he too could be President of the Federation. Why must it be Awolowo all the time? His own original ambition, he had confessed, had been Governorship of his State, but with fourteen States ready to back him, he saw no reason why he should be expected to give his support for Awolowo. In my view, his is a most tragic case of illusion of grandeur.

The remaining two members belong to the third subgroup. Both of them aspire to the Governorship of their respective home states, but imagined that I was certain to prefer others to them. One performed well in his previous governmental assignment and is certainly qualified like others to be Governor. Why he should imagine that I would prefer someone to him, especially as the choice will be that of the people’s nomination committee and not mine at all, I don’t know. Anyway, he decided to project himself, and believed that the best way to go about it was to remove himself from my circle of influence, and do everything in his power to discredit me. He has accused me of many petty offences including, in the main, allow-

Sunday Tribune

ing one of my colleagues to starve to death. The colleague in question was, however, quite affluent, with a number of houses in three cities, a business organisation, many wives and many grown-up children some of whom are doing well in their respective spheres. The other charges are too petty to repeat here; but they are all false.

The last of the two is a plain bombast. He is educated; but, he is extremely egoistic, incapable of application and of getting along with his compeers. By his past political acrobatics, he is confirmed Vicar of Bray. He knows that I do not respect or accept his grandiose claim to be the best politician in his home state. And since he is bent on being the future governor of his state, he concluded that “Awo’s camp” is not a safe place for him. He has levelled many charges against me, but they are also petty and false. The only charge of substance is that I continue to profess socialism. But since he is now a capitalist, we cannot be in the same camp.

The second main group consists of former members of the Action Group who broke away in 1962. Together with some NCNC dissidents they later banded themselves into the NNDP. It is this group that is responsible for the charge of vindictiveness against me, and for its active dissemination all over the country. They assert that I am vindictive and unforgiving, but they carefully refrain from giving particulars of this charge. They should, if they are honest and truthful, have told their hearers who and who had offended me, and what was the nature of their offence or offences which I failed to forgive.

My reaction to this accusation is very simple. I know that forgiveness belongs to God and He alone can give it.

The process of attracting it, as far as my understanding goes, is this. The offender realise that he has offended his fellow man; he truly repents his offensive act; and asks to be forgiven. When this is done, God forgives even if the offended person does not. Besides, I know, theoretically and practically, that anyone who harbours revenge or rancour against his fellow man, for any cause whatsoever, does himself harm, physically, mentally, and spiritually or psychologically.

Furthermore, in the circumstances of my case since 1962, I fully realise that to nurse revenge or rancour against any of those who persecuted me almost unto death, is to commit an act of gross contempt and rank ingratitude against God Who, by His sheer Providence alone, has gone to an unlimited extent to vindicate my cause so openly and so completely.

To be continued

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photo

Sunday Tribune

7 February, 2016

Familarisation tour of the Oyo State Police Command by the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone XI, AIG Kalafite H. Adeyemi

Photos: Oluwatoyin Malik

The Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone XI, AIG Kalafite Adeyemi (second left) with the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, CP Leye Oyebade and the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Administration, DCP Asuquo Amba (second right) on arrival of the AIG and her entourage at the police headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan.

AIG Adeyemi (left) and CP Oyebade welcoming the Serikin Sasa, Alhaji Haruna Maiyatsin Katsina to the stakeholders’ meeting at Eleyele, Ibadan.

AIG Adeyemi with CP Oyebade saluting the sentry guards mounted in her honour at Iyaganku Area Command.

AIG Adeyemi being welcomed by police officers at Agodi Area Command while CP Oyebade watches.

AIG Adeyemi and CP Oyebade with the National Sales Coordinator, West, Globacom Limited, Mr James Akpomiemie during a courtesy visit to the telecoms company at Challenge, Ibadan.

AIG Adeyemi and CP Oyebade with the Customer Relations Manager, MTN, Ibadan, Mr Bajo Onafuwa and Regional Security Manager, Lagos and South West, during a visit to MTN’s office at Ring road, Ibadan.

Sitting: The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi (third left) flanked by AIG Adeyemi (second left); CP Oyebade (third right); DCP Sunday Odukoya (second right); ACP Yemi Oyediran (right) and Dr Adeyemi (left) when the AIG visited the Alaafin.

AIG Adeyemi receiving a plaque from CP Oyebade while other officers look on.

AIG Adeyemi and CP Oyebade with the Soun of Ogbomosoland, Oba Oyewunmi Ajagungbade in his palace.

AIG Adeyemi and CP Oyebade with the Onpetu of Ijeruland, Oba Sunday Oladepo Oyediran in his palace.

AIG Adeyemi and CP Oyebade with other officers in a group photograph at Soun’s palace.

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7 February, 2016

homes&interior s r Spice up your home with outdoor, indoor wall plants

T

HE new modular design features of the wall plants considered for homes has made it a necessity for people to make it a rare choice aside all other home accessories to beautify and make homes classy.

This class of design has

witnessed various innovations in recent time. One of the most interesting things is that wall plants are only found in outdoors in homes, but recently it has found its way into the hearts of wall planters in creating more comely designs which could be

mounted in indoor, as it will make any home a top notch any moment.

This, no doubt, will also complement the green revolution in Nigeria as it will charge every home involved in planting stylishly. It comes in various dimensions including a

decorative container, of a variety of sizes and shapes, for growing flowers or ornamental plants.

It also beautifies home when it is made with a hard vented shell, a sturdy shape or equipped with a self-watering tank, all designed to make planting easier.

Sunday Tribune

Remi Anifowose And Seyi Sokoya oluremi_anifowose@yahoo.com seyi_sky@yahoo.com 09090652322, 09090402865 08075166585

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7 February, 2016

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NE assignment no one runs with regret is God’s.

I must, however, quick to add; running it conscientiously, staying permanently on the track and having all focus on heavenly rewards, including making the rapture. God also doesn’t send a man on errands without making provision for his comfort.

And when it is about his most desirable assignment of soul-winning, such a genuine messenger can forget himself in God’s hand and still suffer no lack. God can and will do all the necessary for His genuine messenger. To show His commitment to such covenant, He even issued a decree in Psalm 105:15, warning mankind not to touch His anointed and do His prophets no harm.

The short homily above is for both the embattled Rev. Fr Ejike Mbaka and the Catholic authorities in Nigeria who have been interchangeably hurling stones since the latter uprooted the former from his “shrine” in what should be a routine apostolic movement but made a national politics by Mbaka and curiously the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

With politics completely dominating our national life today, it is always easy to take sides in contests that appear political and it would be delusional to pretend that Mbaka/Catholic leadership tango isn’t political. Would the Catholic authorities claim ignorance of Mbaka’s gradual transformation of the pulpit to soap-box? Was he tolerated for the long he “reigned” on Adoration Ground, because his political exhortations were comforting enough? Did he become a target for punitive shift for being unequally yoked with “unbelievers”? Why was he not considered for transfer for 20 solid years when the church rules recommend maximum of five years at a parish? At what point was Mbaka’s cup full with Catholic authorities? Why demoting him to an assistant priest at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Umuchigbo, if the transfer is routine?

Too many hanging questions would not justify the excuses of Mbaka’s bosses. Suggestive whining and ululation will also not justify the oratorical priest. I went for a slightly corrupted version of his name, to imaginatively capture what he has become. Ibaka (parrot) is a bird associated with verbal negativity in Yorubaland. Its distinguishing characteristic of talking endlessly is generally known. The verbal diarrhea is usually without sense. Human comparison for a child is to restrain him from talking endlessly. For an adult, it is to point out tomfoolery.

THE Federal Government has made it crystal clear to all Nigerians that financing the 2016 N6 trillion budget won’t be a tea party. The main factor forcing this situation on the nation is the dwindling revenue from oil occasioned by the slump in oil prices. With the $38 per barrel benchmark used for the budget, there is already a N2.2trillion deficit. But going by the current price of crude, which is around $30 per barrel, the deficit has scaled up to about N3trillion; that is about 50 per cent of the budget.

The deficit may even rise further considering that when the price of crude is low, operators of some oil fields may stop production because it is not profitable for them to produce at a price higher than the selling price. This, in essence, will mean that the target of 2.2million barrels per day production would be missed and this will translate to lower earnings and automatically a higher budget deficit. So, funding the budget is a serious cause for concern for the government and, as a result, it is looking at two ways of raising revenue to fund the expansionary budget; borrowing and taxation.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, during her visit to the country in January, Nigeria currently spends about 35 per cent of her income on debt financing. While she noted that there was still a window of opportunity for Nigeria should it opt for borrowing, she was reluctant to recommend that option. Rather, she suggested an upward review of taxes, specifically advising the government to consider increasing VAT rate.

Although Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, acknowledged that the country had been in talks with a number of multilateral agencies about the possibility of raising low-interest loans, the government’s body language suggests that it has resolved to raise revenue for funding the budget through taxation.

In December, Power, Works and Housing minister, Babatunde Fashola, intimated the country with government’s plan of reintroducing tolling on roads as a way of generating revenue for road maintenance. Then in January, the CBN instructed banks to charge N50 per deposit of over N1,000 made into current accounts. Currently, there is a bill at the National Assembly calling for a review

0811 695 4647

olanreade@yahoo.com

Rev Fr Ibaka’s travails

For the embattled priest, glib can replace tomfoolery, to fit him properly. Mbaka should ordinarily be in good company. Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie and Archbishop Hassan Matthew Kukah made their names speaking politics from the pulpit. Today, these are seen more as conscience of the nation and not ruling party apologists, even when they were blatantly partisan. So, why is Mbaka different?

Far above others, Nigerian Catholic priests have been prominent in political interventions. The Pope himself speaks in political authority and expectedly, some of his priests must revel in such candour. Are we judging Mbaka harshly for being unconventional by endorsing a Fulani Muslim over and above his Christian kin for the presidency? I figure Mbaka is the poor manager of talent of endorsement and of his tongue. The vision of 2015

With Sulaimon Olanrewaju 08055001708

lanresulaimon@yahoo.com

2016 budget, taxes and the people

of some taxes and the introduction of others.

At a retreat for tax administrators during this past week, the Finance Minister gave a marching order to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to meet the target of generating N4.9trillion set for it by the Federal Government. The minister pointed out that meeting the target was critical to stabilising the economy. From all indications, the government’s hope of financing the budget is hinged on taxation.

However, as understandable as the government’s position is, it could be counterproductive for the economy.

Sunday Tribune

presidential election outcome was six-a-dime. If Mbaka was that unrestrained in celebrating a blanket prophesy of “Buhari will win”, what does he expect the one who pointedly prophesied the emergence of Professor Yemi Osinbajo as Vice-President, a year before he was chosen, to do? Jump on the rooftop to celebrate?

Mbaka projects himself as a profiteer of a prophecy that wasn’t even exclusive to him. True, God warns against judging others but Mbaka’s fruit is too poignant not to be known by it. The preponderance of opinions is that the man of God is straying from his original calling for which he was anointed. The touch-not divine cover may no longer extend to his ways. If Adoration Ground is continually reserved for election campaigns instead of soulwinning, sermons being nothing but endorsement for political offices and shuttles between Enugu and Abuja done by presidential jet, Mbaka would be touched, even dangerously, and heaven would not lift a finger contrary to his conviction in his needless response to his transfer.

Since he scored with Jonathan’s defeat and subsequent romance with Buhari, up to the lamentation point over transfer, one common denominator has run through his priestly carriage; PRIDE. His excessive consciousness of self-worth, which is founded on vainglorious worldly accomplishment, will certainly rankle even the celestial. In his protestation rant, there wasn’t anywhere Mbaka alluded to God’s grace in his advertised accomplishment.

His scriptural knowledge should have raised the red flag on the fate of the called of the old who thread the same destructive path. The one that didn’t die became an animal for seven years.

Did Mbaka listen to himself complain of likely suffering at his new duty post? Is he mainly in the ministry to “enjoy”? Did Jesus who he claims to represent not pay the ultimate price for Mbaka and other faithful to have hope?

Paul stood out among the disciples because he sacrificed comfort. Is Mbaka’s definition of bearing the marks of Jesus all about presidential election prediction and media klieg light? Did Jesus not come for the downtrodden who the priest is trying to avoid in Umuchigbo? Mbaka should suffer if that would rescue his calling from destruction.

Let me finally commend Proverbs 17:27-28 to him: “He that hath knowledge spareth his words and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”

Tax is a tool used to regulate the economy. In many advanced countries, when there is an economic downturn, the government reduces taxes paid by individuals and companies to stimulate growth. When taxes are low, individuals are left with more disposable income to buy all sorts. Similarly, companies have more money to plough back into their businesses, create more employment opportunities and increase the Gross Domestic Product of the country. When the trend changes, the government tinkers with the taxes to get the effects it wants.

However, in Nigeria, the government is determined to increase taxes when the economy is struggling hard to stay afloat. The immediate effect of this is a further contraction of the economy. Already, sequel to the parlous economic state, many companies are retrenching while some are on the verge of shutting down. Increasing taxes will make the situation of many of the nation’s companies which, are already overburdened by the multiplicity of taxes, go worse.

While I will not subscribe to further borrowing because it could take the country back into the era of mounting debts, neither increasing taxes nor introducing new ones is the way to go.

What the government should do instead is to bring as many people as possible into the tax net. FIRS staff should be more creative with their tax collection drive and not make a routine of going after the same set of people. They should, instead, seek out others who do not pay and ensure compliance.

The second thing is that the government should make it easy for those who want to pay to do so. The process of tax payment in Nigeria is cumbersome, especially for those who do not get their taxes deducted at source. This is a disincentive to tax payers. To get more people to pay, tax administrators should adjust the process to make it more people-friendly.

The government can be guaranteed of a ceaseless flow of huge tax revenue when the private sector is empowered for improved productivity. Attempting to overburden the sector because of the current pressure is akin to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. Once the goose is dead, the hope of getting golden eggs is gone.

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7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

How I took 9ice’s apology —Ruggedman

My greatest asset is...

—Ijeoma Richards

2Face has created lifetime royalty income for Blackface —Efe Omorogbe

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7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Tope Alabi ready for ‘Praise the Almighty’

By Seyi Sokoya GOSPEL artiste, Tope Alabi, has concluded plans to set the city of Lagos agog with her much-anticipated music concert tagged: ‘Praise the Almighty’ concert 2016 on February 21.

The singer will be joined on stage by Chief Ebenezer Obey, Goke Bajowa, Big Bolaji, Bois Olorun and a host of other gospel musicians as they will be looking to entertain guests at the popular Blue Roof auditorium, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos State.

Tope Alabi will be seeking to use the event to usher her fans within and outside Lagos into the year. The event is expected to be attended by dignitaries from all walks of life as Pastor Wole Oladiyun and other ministers of God have been billed to make the event memorable.

Ruggedman to 9ice:

Your apology came too late

By Segun Adebayo

T

HE entertainment industry has continued to dominate public discussion since the beginning of this year. From Olamide/Don Jazzy Headies drama to Davido and Dele Momodu's child custody brouhaha and with the latest one coming from 9ice to his ex wife, Tony Payne and Ruggedman.

Days back, ‘Gongo Aso’ crooner, 9ice, tendered a public apology to Ruggedman over their strained relationship in the last six years, which was occasioned by the singer's famous song, 'Once bitten twice shy' that was said to have been misconstrued by many who were made to believe 9ice was referring to Ruggedman for allegedly having amorous relationship with his wife.

All efforts by Ruggedman to make 9ice clear his name from the public embarrassment that trailed his career for six years fell on deaf ears, as 9ice was said to have insisted on many occasions that he would not want to be dragged into the matter.

At a time many people believed

that the matter had finally been laid to rest following 9ice's apology to Ruggedman weeks back, the latter believes the former's apology came rather too late.

In an open letter to 9ice on Thursday, Ruggedman said his

erstwhile friend's apology came too late.

Excerpts from the letter read:"To 9ice, bro you left it a bit too late. You had your chance to clear this matter up six years ago when it really mattered, but you

did not take it. I do not know why and exactly what it was that made you keep quiet all that while. I did my best to clear my name without you and I have moved on since.

Anyways I accept your apology and thank God we are all alive."

Reggae presenters’ association emerges

By Segun Adebayo AFTER several years of failed attempts to float an association of On-Air Reggae Presenters in Ni-

geria, a new association has finally birthed in Lagos with On-Air Personality and ace promoter of Reggae music, Convenant Child

announced as the president for the next three years.

The new association which would now be called Reggae Presenters Association of Nigeria (REPAN), according to Convenant Child is about unity among Reggae presenters in Nigeria.

He said that the essence of this association was to fundamentally protect the interest of reggae presenters in Nigeria and to also ensure compliance with the ethics of reggae music presentation.

“The time has come for us to unite under one umbrella speaking with one voice with hands on one microphone. We believe that with reggae music in our airwaves, Nigeria would be a much better society with the wellbeing of its citizens in full

focus by our leaders. “REPAN is a deep-rooted association but in practice it is actually a movement to change the face of this genre as propagated in Nigeria.

In advocating the principles of this association we must understand that there will be changes across board from us as broadcasters and also artistes including other practitioners.”

Each region was fully represented during its first meeting held at Rumours Nite Club in Ikeja G.R.A with popular OAPs such as Steary Jay (Peace FM-Jos), Lord Kenny (Splash FM-Ibadan), Murphy Dread (Raypower-Abuja), Pixy P (Hot FM - Owerri) and Covenant Child (Rhythm FM Lagos). The Board of Trustees include Michael Akpologun, Doreen Ekong and Yomi Dada.

19

razzmatazz

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Ogun @ 40: Obey lauds Amosun, releases album on HID Awolowo

By Seyi Sokoya

Fred Amata, Lancelot, Kingsley Omo-Efe vie for DGN Presidency

FOLLOWING the ongoing 40th celebration of the existence of Ogun State, which drew the presence of the President Muhammadu Buhari Vice and Professor Yemi Osinbajo among other icons, Evangelist Ebenezer Obey, who led other musicians to the state to make the anniversary memorable, has backed the anticorruption fight of the President, calling for more support from Nigerians.

Obey also disclosed that a new album for the late matriach of the Awolowo dynasty, Chief (Mrs) HID Awolowo and a special al-

bum for the 40th anniversary of the state have been completed and released to the delight of his fans.

According to him, as a proud son of the state and one who is very close to the Awolowo's family, it became neccessary for him to release an album to appreciate the life and times of Chief (Mrs) Awolowo.

Speaking with R at the weekend, Obey said: “I have just released a special song for the 40th anniversary of the state and for my very good mama, HID Awolowo. I am really proud and also grateful to God for this opportunity. I sincerely appreciate

Governor Ibikunle Amosun for his giant strides in the state and I pray that he will be able to complete all the projects he has executed."

Obey's performance at the ceremony which also had in attendance former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and other prominent Nigerians, would not be forgotten in a hurry by those who were in attendance.

ANUNCA set to release theme song

By Seyi Sokoya THE Director’s Guild of Nigeria (DGN) is expected to herald a wing of change as diffent candidates are vying for the post of the president.

Presently ace movie director, Lancelot Odua-Imasuen, popular actor, Fred Amata and co-consultant of Yabatech Film Academy (YFA), Kingsley OmoEfe are in the race for the election which holds this month.

Armani J. Arman is the fourth candidate in the race for the next president that will pilot the affairs of the Director’s Guild whose president is Andy Amenechi.

Kingsley Omo-Efe with 15 years membership of DGN has served as National Secretary, Public Relations Officer and Vice President of the guild.

“The desire for change and repositioning the profession of the directing and the director has inspired my resolve to become DGN President. My leadership will be hinged on good and quality leadership based this four cardinal points. They are Commitment, Service, Loyalty and Respect for members,” says Mr Omo-Efe. His rival, Lancelot, who also plans big for the transformation of the guild also promised to solicit for the support of the government and private sectors.

“It’s in my character to dream and desire great things, I want to make every individual Nigerian film Director to overcome the century challenges of filmmaking, globalise and draw National and international attention to our DGN, engage government and private sectors with interests in our craft.”

The election holds on Friday, February 26.

Ramsey Nouah, Rita Dominic , Chidi Mokeme star in ‘76’

By Joan Omionawele A new chapter in Nigerian filmmaking is being turned as Africa Magic, in partnership with Adonis Productions and Princewill’s Trust, produces 76, a tale of love, trust, faith and family set against the backdrop of war and nation building.

Set six years after the Nigerian civil war, 76 tells the story of a young officer from the Middle Belt who gets entangled in a romantic relationship and eventually marries a beautiful student from the SouthEastern part of Nigeria. Their budding romance is threatened by endless military postings, and they face the ultimate test when news of the soldier’s involvement in a botched coup attempt hits the headlines.

Speaking on the movie, the Director, M-Net West Africa, Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, said: “76 is an adventurous foray into filmmaking in Nigeria. It’s an exciting, compelling storyline that many Nigerians and indeed Africans will relate with. The directing and production quality are top notch, and the themes celebrate values including courage, loyalty, patience, trust and sacrifice.

76 takes filmmaking up another level in Nigeria and we at Africa Magic are indeed excited to partner with Adonis Productions and Princewill’s trust in bringing this movie to viewers across Africa.”

Directed by award winning director, Izu Ojukwu, 76 is inspired by events which led up to and followed the botched 1976 coup d’etat, and features real life, archived, actual footage that contributes to the movie’s overall authenticity. The execution of the movie was also done with approval and support from the Nigerian Army.

The director of the movie, Izu Ojukwu, said: “76 tells a tale of love in the time of war. The movie deals with a range of issues including the plight of the African woman, and the usually invisible pain of a soldier’s

wife. 76 highlights the enduring Nigerian cultural values of courage, resilience, patience, loyalty, faith and family and the nation’s ability to surmount all challenges.”

The release of 76 comes 40 years after the actual events, and follows four years of work by the director and the production duo of Adonis Productions and Princewill’s Trust. 76 stars renowned Nollywood names including Rita Dominic, Ramsey Nouah, Chidi Mokeme, Ibinabo Fiberesinma, Ada Ofoegbu, Daniel K Daniel and a host of others.

THE organisers of Annual University Crest Award (ANUCA), have concluded arrangements to drop its first official theme song for the year 2016 as it prepares for this year’s award celebration, which will feature fast-rising artistes such as Ajanaku, Ycee, Dotman, Respect, Young P and Viruz Zamora.

After releasing 2016 nominees list on major blogs in the country, the organisers of the award disclosed that the reason for the new theme song stemmed from their resolve to keep increasing the standard it has created in the country as one of the leading award organisers in the past few years.

Speaking with E on the new project, the brain behind the award, Dabira Ayotunde, said it was neccessary for them to keep up the standard and make sure that the event is well packed for their audience. “We have confirmed that Ycee will be on the theme song.

Seyi Shay ready to lock down Tanzania THINGS are looking good for Superstar singer Seyi Shay and she appeared to have concluded plans to take her music out of the shores of the country.

Seyi Shay took to her Instagram to announce that she would be headlining a concert in Tanzania later this month.

The Pepsi ambassador has recently spoken in series of interviews about her intention to go on tour round Africa to promote her recently released album “Seyi or Shay” and the trip to Tanzania would mark the beginning of her tour around Africa.

The Muzika Festival will take place in Mwanza and will feature stars in Tanzania and beyond, superstars Seyi Shay and Teckno have been confirmed as headliners for the concert.

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7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune With Segun Adebayo &Seyi Sokoya tegbollistic@yahoo.com seyi_sky@yahoo.com 08116954644 08132577840

2Face has created lifetime

royalty income for Blackface —Efe Omorogbe In the last few weeks, 2Face Idibia and his former partner during the days of the defunct Plantashun Boiz, Balckface, have been embroiled in twitter rants which have put their hitherto smooth relationship in jeopardy. In the wake of the accusations and counter accusations, 2face’s manager, Efe Omorogbe, opened up in this interview on Blackface’s theft claims. SEGUN ADEBAYO brings the excerpts:

H

OW I felt when I heard about Blackface’s claim When my attention was drawn to Blackface’s twitter rant about the theft of his songs by his ex-band mate 2face, my initial reaction was to ignore what I perceived as an obvious marketing gimmick for his new single.

The social media reactions...

The reactions from a vast majority of people on so-

cial media who read about the allegations were evident that the ploy had backfired.

Why I am coming out to speak Blackface’s press interviews since the twitter rant

The reactions from a vast majority of people on social media who read about the allegations was evident that the ploy had backfired.

has made it necessary for me to set the records straight. It is very important I come out now to set the record straight and put this issue to rest.

2Face and Blackface co-wrote many songs It is true that 2Face and Blackface do have a bunch of songs they co-wrote in their days as Plantashun Boiz. They did write songs as a group and individually, that is something that is expected from a group of talented musicians. Both artistes have collectively and individually recorded and commercially released materials from this collection.

Continues on pg21

21 glitz

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

‘Blackface not in 2Face’s league as a songwriter’ Continues from pg20

2Face has always given Blackface credit 2Face has always given Blackface (Austin Ahmedu) co-writing credit every time he recorded any song that has Blackface’s input . No matter how minimal.

That’s one thing you can’t take away from 2Face and I appreciate him for that.

Blackface has never extended same gesture Blackface has neither given 2Face co-writing credit nor sought permission to record any of the materials they jointly wrote. This is something 2Baba has never raised an eyebrow over. Blackface has earned royalties off his shared publishing rights for about a decade.

Blackface should be thankful to 2Face Instead of accusing 2Face of theft, Blackface should rather be grateful to him because a huge chunk of the income he has made in the last few years came from royalties earned by the commercial exploitation of the successful materials performed/recorded by 2Face.

The truth about Let ‘Somebody Love You’ 2Face did not and couldn’t have stolen “Let Somebody Love You” from Blackface. The song was released about two years ago.

Blackface claimed his name was wrongly spelt on the CD sleeve It is true that his name was misspelt on the CD sleeve of the song and we apologised to him for the error. When he complained about his name being misspelt on the CD sleeve, we personally apologised to him. It was not a deliberate thing.

How he contributed to the song Yes, Blackface contributed to the writing of the first

Blackface has earned royalties off his shared publishing rights for about a decade.

verse of the song. The second verse was entirely written by 2Face. Bridget Kelly wrote her verse and I wrote the outro verse. I was not 2Face’s manager on “Let Somebody Love You” but a co-writer.

Where the song was recorded The outro verse was lifted from the song “How?” written in 1997 and recorded in 1999 at Dolphin studios, Surulere. Blackface didn’t write that bit. He couldn’t have written it. Blackface cannot in 2016, touch Efe Omorogbe’s writing from 1997.

Blackface should be proud of 2Face’s success Blackface should be honoured and proud to have shared co-writing credit with 2Face. I am very honoured and proud to have been part of the success we recorded on each and every song we have collaborated on.

Why I think he should also be grateful Blackface should be grateful that 2Face recorded their co-authored materials to ensure a lifetime of royalty

income for him. I think he should be grateful for this.

He should record and release his own version of “Let Somebody Love You” and keep 100 per cent publishing on that version. I can tell you that 2Face will still be entitled to a share.

Who he thinks is the best songwriter between the duo Blackface is not in 2Face’s league as a songwriter. Their post-Plantashun Boiz’ catalogues speak for them. 2Face has grown to become one of Africa’s most celebrated artistes. That is a big feat that many African artistes will want to achieve.

Blackface should go to court I urge Blakface to seek redress if he indeed believes he has a case. He should know that nobody ever secured a court judgment via a twitter rant or media tour.

The tirade is unfortunate Blackface must have realised by now that the unfortunate tirade has not made “Killa” a hit. At least, not at the moment.

22

Sunday Tribune

7 February, 2016

entartainment

with Segun Adebayo tegbollistic@yahoo.com 08116954644

o t n a l p o I have n y m r e v o relax yet y o B a n r u B — music o- TELL. 2016 has already ar and had his Gl ye st la L IA deal begun!!!” wrote Burna.

O N TR O VE RS m endorsement co ba l al ased his eh nc gin to see Nigerian da Burna Boy rele renewed, can be y, m ‘On Bo bu a al rn xt Bu singer, sophomore ans in the ne pl w ne s hi e Novemwho is now th A Spaceship’ in s. ek we w fe ar s or of M re- ber. There seem to be brand ambassad ‘Soke’ singer e Th of the ge sa es am deal with more on the sleeves tell Cognac has vealed his new r, but t ge ou sin lls ro ed snt he In young tale for his fans as ll Cognac on his te ar M reto . s he would not want account saying hi his plans for 2016 am gr ta nco en he be as ve e. veal much even Those who ha was never to settl an pl nt wa a d rn ul Bu wo at tell Car- firmed that waiting to see wh “715 We The Mar r de un ce s sin an g pl in s of do to keep hi llo to your he Boy has been y Sa l!! te , . the year tell Ambassador wraps for now. the beginning of ned ficial Mar sig he AR ce #M sin ly AS especial actere #O ing deal #car his mouth-water

C

2Baba drops ‘Coded Tinz’ video 2BABA continues his run in 2016 with the release of the visuals of ‘Coded Tinz’; his first single of the year. It features a verse from hip hop act, Phyno and the voice of comedian, Chief Obi. The video, directed by Moe Musa, is a lively, entertaining one that was shot for lovers of dance; it sees a lot of synchronized dancing in a proper dancehall, with 2Baba right in the centre of it.

The latter part of the video features scenes of 2Baba and Phyno performing on a stage. The exciting video is generally fun, and it has everything you would expect from a 2Baba dancehall video, with cameos from artistes and celebrities.

Coded Tinz was originally released exclusively before being made available to the public. 2Baba has also been giving out ‘Coded Gifts’ weekly to winners of the Coded Tinz Dedication Competition who dedicated the single the most to family and friends - since

the release.

Meanwhile, After giving out a 50-inch TV to the first winner of the ongoing Coded Tinz Dedication competition last week, 2Baba gave out more ‘coded gifts’ to this week’s winners.

The presentation of gifts took place, Tuesday, at the Airtel shop, Silverbird Galleria, Victoria Island, Lagos where the winner went home with an iPhone 6s

while the runner-up got an Airtel modem.

The competition, which began after the exclusive release of his new single “Coded Tinz”, involved the dedication of the single to friends and family using www.musikgenie.com.

Coded Tinz was released online two weeks ago. The Sarz-produced track features Phyno and comedian Chief Obi.

Val’s Day: Domino’s Pizza pla ns special treat for Nigerians

AS Nigerians are graduble one for their guests from ally getting in the mood all walks of life. for this year’s Valentine’s According to Ogeleka Day, which is just one week “Apart from constantly away, Dominos Pizza Nirunning attractive menu geria has set aside special deals, starting from the 1st sales activations to celof February, there will be a ebrate and show love to all buy one get one free promo its guests across the nation. tion in select locations every Speaking at a press briefweek.” ing to announce what it It will be recalled that called special sales activafrom the 1st to the 3rd of tions, Dominos marketFebruary, over 1000 guests ing coordinator, Ufuoma trooped into the SakaTinuOgeleka, disclosed that the bu VI and Magodo (in Lamonth of February comes gos) and Gwarimpa restau with a special feeling rants (Abuja) to enjoy the among Nigerians such that love feast offered to them. it has become the tradition Speaking further on the of Dominos Pizza Nigeria sales locations, Ogeleka said over the years to make the “From the 8th – the 10th, it love season an unforgettawould be the turn of Agungi ,

Apapa (both in Lagos) and Ring Road (Ibadan) restaurants to enjoy the Buy one get one free offer. We want to urge our guests to take advantage of this promotion to give themselves and loved ones an amazing treat of a hot and fresh meal, especially those who live and work around these areas,” she said.

Mr 2kay to headline next Industry Nite GRAFTON Entertainment sensation, Mr. 2Kay, will headline the next Industry Nite edition on the 10th of Frebruary, 2016.

The show, which will be held at Spice Route, Victoria Island, Lagos, will be the official listening party for his EP scheduled for release the next day.

The fast-rising star is expected to deliver a thrilling show which will be hosted

by Spanky with DJ Consequence handling the music.

The 2015 Niger Delta Artiste of the Year recently released the lead single off the highly anticipated EP titled “Count It All Joy”, which is also the title track. The song, a motivational one, preaches positivity and details Mr. 2Kay’s journey in the entertainment industry.

23

7 February, 2016

sundayzest

Sunday Tribune

With Victory Oyeleke victoryoyeleke@yahoo.com

Why we love to hate Dabota Lawson, ex-Miss Nigeria UK S HE Is beautiful, thin and bagged herself a billionaire. But it turns out those who loathe ex-Miss Nigeria UK, Dabota Lawson, do it for the same reason they would possibly dislike a real-life friend and even at this daunting time of her life, they are unrelenting on their campaign of mockery.

The end of any relationship is distressing even moreso for a marriage and as the parties involve experience a mixture of sadness, anger, exhaustion, frustration and anxiety, the last thing they need is undue stress but unfortunately for Ms. Lawson, the breakdown of her marriage has made her yet again, the object of scorn.

Having met Ms. Lawson once at the office of the official organisers of Miss Nigeria UK in Edgware, North West London, before she won the title, I must admit I know why she is disliked though I do not agree with it or feel the same way.

She came across as very religious, and God-fearing who vehemently disagreed to wearing a swimwear during the competition. After much pleading, she reluctantly agreed. However, I noted she really did not have any competition. She was much taller and confident than any of the other girls. She had the ideal body for a beauty queen and it was no surprise she won.

Ms. Lawson contrary to what she might even think is not loathed for her beauty nor for marrying into money, people love to hate her for the simplest of reasons.

1. Inconsistent: for someone who has the fear of God, I expected her to be more couth than she came across on social media. Even with real-life friends, we cannot stand inconsistent people. She portrays one image and when taken like that, she cried wolf.

“A lot of people are carried away by the pictures of me they see online. It’s just few minutes of my life all dressed up and edited with filters. Especially when it comes to being a wife, no man wants an airhead or 24 hours Barbie for a wife.

No man who has worked and experienced real life and has made his billions will acquire a beautiful mannequin for a wife. I am educated. I work hard in business and in my home I clean, cook, go to the market, take care of my husband and kids.”

Yet, she did not post pictures of her cleaning the house, or shopping at the market. If she wants to create the woman next-door image then she should post more pictures without filters and the gilts of a fictional wonderful world. Yes! Pictures only say a part of a story but when that is the only story being told then that becomes your storyline.

2. Too much social media: she overdid it on Instagram and came across as someone with too much time on her hands. With the amount of posts she has

on Instagram, it is as if she sleeps and wakes up on it. Too much of everything is bad and for someone with as much qualification as she claims to have, she should know better.

2. Untrusted: in 2015 a supposed hater left a comment on Ms Lawson’s picture and even her followers came after her.

Majority of them felt she wrote the comment herself to get attention. Since no one knows much about her apart from being a beauty queen who likes playing dress up, her fans really do not know what she stands for. We all know she is interested in beauty and fashion but we do not know who she is. What she did in office as a beauty queen, if any, is lost in irrelevant social medial shenanigans.

4. Defends a lost cause; it seem Ms Lawson never got the memo about picking the right battles to fight and ignoring the rest. She decided it was prudent to pick a bleaching fight with two well-known self-made bloggers when they called her out for having black knuckles. It is a provable fact that Ms Lawson is a lot lighter now than before and dark knuckles, though common among blacks, is more noticeable on those who use lightening creams which majority of us are guilty of.

5. Too much information. Ms Lawson never fails to give a documentary of her life. If she is not thanking God for

giving her something she never prayed for as she could get it herself; “throughout last week everyday God gave me unexpected breakthroughs and open doors I didn’t even know I needed to walk through. I even didn’t pray for something that I’ve wanted for three years now. It’s not that I couldn’t go out and get it but it always just felt impossible at the back of my mind for some strange reason . I had created excuses upon excuses and fear too had play a huge role in my not pushing for it .. BUT GOD, hmmmm THIS God gave it to me today.”

She is bombarding the internet with pictures of her perfect relationship.

Though posting a couple of pictures can be cute overdoing it is in bad taste as a good relationship does not need that much publicity to defend it and most times it can come back to hunt you as Mr. Aku must now know. During an interview with City People Mr Aku gushed about his wife like a love struck schoolboy.

“I thank God I found Dabota. I love her so badly. She plays the role of a wife to me. She is also like a girlfriend in that she knows how to spice up our marriage.

She makes me feel young. She is my all in all. That’s why I spoil her silly. Most of the time she appears more matured than I am. She is always advising me. That is why I consult her on every step I take. She encourages me. She is like the blood ton-

ic to me and my business. Very soon the world will see the multi-billion business I will dedicate to her. She is always advising me. She once told me something I found very very deep and very philosophical. She said your mother and father will leave you and die. Your brother and sister will leave you and move on. Your children will leave you and marry but your wife will not. She will grow old with you. The good thing is that she is also in love with me. As an international businessman, I have come to see that this is true. History has shown this to me. She likens marriage to business. It will have its ups and downs,” he disclosed He spoke too soon because wives do leave their husbands. After marrying four wives one would have thought he would not miss such an important fact.

I especially like the part where he said “She likens marriage to business.” I respect that and just like every business, relationship, once it stops being beneficial to one party, they reserve the right to void the contract using any obvious excuse.

It is of no consequence how you feel about Dabota Lawson after all she is not the first woman to marry a senior billionaire. Anna Nichole Smith married oil tycoon Howard Marshall in 1994. Nichole was 26 and Marshall was 89. She too said she was in love…..

24

7 February, 2016

makeover

Sunday Tribune

Rita Okonoboh 08053789087 rosarumese@gmail.com

6 flawless skin natural ingredients for

Y

our skin is the indicator of your overall health. If you are not healthy, it will be reflected in your complexion and that is one major reason you need to take good care of your skin. Though there are many skin care products in the market that can to give you smooth and flawless skin, many of them are quite expensive and some even have harsh ingredients that can damage your skin. The good news however is that they are some natural ingredients which are quite affordable that can give you a flawless skin. If you want to flaunt a flawless skin on Val’s Day, below are six skin care ingredients you can use.

ful natural ingredient used in a number beauty recipes to maintain smooth and clear skin. It helps treat acne, fade blemishes and reduce wrinkles and fine lines.

• Extract the gel from an aloe vera leaf and apply it on your skin a few times a week.

• Alternatively, combine one tablespoon of aloe vera gel, two teaspoons of lemon juice and one teaspoon of honey. Apply this mixture on your face and neck and rinse it off after 15 to 20 minutes. You can use this face mask a few times a week

Water One of the most important things you can do to get a smooth and glowing skin is to drink plenty of water. Your aim should be to drink eight to 10 glasses of water a day. Water helps the body flush out toxins and waste.

You must however avoid sugary drinks, alcohol and carbonated drinks. Also try to eat fruits and vegetables that are high in water content. Washing your face at least twice a day with water will also help improve your skin’s health and appearance.

Honey Honey is another natural ingredient that you can use to get smooth skin.

• Apply raw honey to your face and neck, leave it on for about 10 minutes and then rinse it off with cold water. This simple remedy will make your skin soft and smooth.

• Another option is to mix an egg white with honey and apply it to your face for 20 minutes.

Wash it off with cold water and a soap to remove the smell from the egg white.

• You can also make a thick paste with three teaspoons of honey and one-half teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Apply it to your face and leave it on over-

night. In the morning, wash it off with warm water.

Tomatoes Fresh tomato is an excellent natural skin toner. It can also help treat pimples and blemishes.

• To make your skin soft and smooth, put some fresh tomatoes in a blender or grinder. Apply the tomato paste to your face. Leave it on for 10 minutes and then wash it off with water. Daily use can help shrink enlarged pores and give you smoother, glowing

skin.

• You can also use tomato paste to heal pimples. Apply it to the affected area and leave it on for an hour, then rinse it off.

Aloe Vera Aloe vera is another wonder-

Pawpaw Pawpaw contains a natural enzyme known as papain that has antibacterial and healing abilities. The enzyme also aids in removing dead, damaged skin.

To use pawpaw as a skin toner, mash a few pieces of ripe pawpaw and apply it as a facial mask.

Keep it on for about 15 minutes and then wash it off with warm water.

• Also, regular application of pawpaw juice helps reduce freckles or brown spots due to sun exposure. For extra skin lightening effect, mix a little lemon juice in it.

Cucumber Cucumber contains great hydrating, nourishing and astringent properties. They have the same pH as skin so they help restore the skin’s natural acid mantle, which protects it from bacteria and other contaminants.

• Regular use of a cucumber face mask can prevent pimples, blackheads, wrinkles and dry skin. To make the face mask, mix two tablespoons of oatmeal, onehalf pureed cucumber and a little milk. Apply the mask to your face and neck area, leave it on for about 20 minutes and then rinse with warm water.

• You can also use cucumber as a cleanser. Just mix cucumber juice with milk and use it instead of other cleansers.

25

7 February, 2016

relationships

. . . issues, family, sex

Sunday Tribune

Rita Okonoboh 08053789087 rosarumese@gmail.com

How to make

Valentine’s Day memorable!

I

t is seven days to Valentine’s Day and by now, many people are already planning on how to make the day memorable for that special man or woman in their lives. For those who have not made up their minds on what to do on that day, here are some ideas on how to put smiles on your partner’s face on lover’s day.

Spend quality time together Thank God that this year’s Valentine’s Day falls on a weekend, so you will be able to spend quality time with your partner.

For married people, drop the children at their grandparents or get one of your

Photo: google.com relatives to babysit so you can enjoy the day together as a couple. Once you have your partner to yourself, take her out for lunch at an upbeat restaurant in town after the church service. You can also go to the cinema to watch a movie before heading home. If the children are not around you can end the day on a romantic note by having a candlelight dinner for two at home. After dinner, give your spouse a massage before heading to bed.

Day celebration on Friday. To organise a special getaway, make reservations at an inn or hotel then give your partner two days notice so she can make necessary arrangements but keep the venue a secret.

On Friday evening, pick her up from work and whisk away to your destination and give her the experience of a lifetime. This will not only make the Val’s celebration one of your best so far, it will leave room for bonding.

Surprise your spouse with a special getaway Since you have the whole weekend to yourself, you can start your Valentine’s

Have picnic with your children in the confines of your home.

Order food from a take-out restaurant and have a picnic with the children on your living room floor. After eating, exchange gifts, everyone must get at least one gift, then watch a movie together. The children will surely love to be part of the celebration.

Win a gift this Valentine’s Day

Dear Readers, In celebration of 2016 Valentine’s Day, Sunday Tribune will reward the best love notes.

To qualify, simply write a note to your loved one (maximum of 50 words), followed by your full name, address and phone number and email to tribunelovenotes@gmail.com or by text to 08053789087.

Deadline: 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, 10th February, 2016.

Gifts to be won include:

• Hotel Gateway for a couple • Swarovski heart necklace + earrings by Comely Hands • Dinner ticket for a couple • Movie tickets from Filmhouse Cinemas • Makeover Session by House of Nsoleke • Photoshoot session by Illusionz Photography • Valentine’s Day Cake by Macrobakes.

• Dress by TOSANNE Vogue • Facials by Dove Spa & Wellness Resort

Give your partner meaningful gifts.

Make this valentine special by giving your partner a valuable and thoughtful gift. Let him or her know through your gift how much you love, appreciate value and adore him or her. So, this year, when you are thinking of what to get for your partner, don’t think of boxers, perfumes, roses or candies. Rather, think of gifts like iPad, car (if you can afford it), expensive jewellery, phones, suit, and laptops. Buy only

So, this year, when you are thinking of what to get for your partner don’t think of boxers, perfumes, roses or candies... things that cost you a small fortune; this will prove to your partner that she is truly loved and appreciated.

Surprise her with a wedding proposal.

If you have been dating a lady for a while now and you are convinced that she is the one you want to spend the rest of your life with, why not make this Val’s Day celebration memorable by popping up the question: “Will you marry me?” For most ladies, this will be a dream come true and the response you are likely to get is a resounding yes. Proposing to your lady on February 14 will surely make the day “A Val to Remember.”

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7 February, 2016

With Akintayo Abodunrin akinjaa03@yahoo.co.uk 08111813058

AVRS begins issuing licenses to film users

Taiwo Ajai-Lycett: Dancing through life@75

Relatives and friends joined veteran actress, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, to celebrate her 75th birthday with a book presentation.

Mahmood Ali-Balogun THE Mahmood Ali-Balogun-led Audio Visual Rights Society of Nigeria (AVRS) has started licensing users of audio visual content across the country.

A statement from the organization explained that the step was in line with the approval given to it by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC).

Nigeria’s sole collective management organization for films disclosed that it has opened discussions with the management of broadcasting organizations and owners of hospitality facilities including hotels on how to obtain licenses. AVRS added that advertising agencies, telecommunication and transport companies, airlines, fast food joints, hospitals and banks amongst others will also be licensed.

The organization, which urged users of audio visual works to pay AVRS in order to avoid litigations that may arise from unlicensed use of works, also reiterated its commitment to building the capacity of its members.

“Quality assurance is part of the fundamental issues confronting Nollywood as an industry. Beyond our core mandate as a CMO, AVRS is committed to promoting individual development of its members as well as the development of Nollywood as a corporate entity. We shall therefore continue to seek growth opportunities that would benefit our members and stakeholders both at home and abroad, given that film making and collective management of copyright in audio visual works are inter-related areas constantly driven by new innovations,” AliBalogun said in the statement.

T

HEY didn’t wait for her death before celebrating her. On Wednesday when veteran actress, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett (OON), clocked 75 and decided to mark the occasion with the presentation of ‘Just Sharing’, a collection of her essays, family, friends and people of goodwill came around to prove the truth of the Yoruba saying, ‘eniyan laso mi’ (people are my cloth) It was an intimate occasion at the Agip Recital Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos where speakers wouldn’t stop highlighting the positive values of the celebrator who shows no signs of slowing down yet.

Ex-Ogun State governor, Chief Segun Osoba, former director at Mobil, Mr. Pat Okpuzor, Nigeria’s first female permanent secretary, Francesca Emanuel and the 80-year-old brother of the celebrator, Akintola Ajai, were among those who showered her with praise.

“She is a good example of the saying black is beautiful,” began Osoba in his remarks.

“It is not every day that you see a beautiful woman of 75 years old that men are still trying to chase. She has contributed so much to art, music and the development of theatre not only in Nigeria but in Africa and the world. We are proud of her talent; we are proud of her exemplary life.”

Okpuzor, chair of the occasion, was concise in his assessment of Ajai-Lycett, noting that “It’s not every day that you find a beautiful woman at 75. God has implanted something unique in you and has given you the grace to write a book at 75.”

It was further commendations from Emanuel, herself a formidable Amazon.

“I’m a great admirer of Taiwo Ajai-Lycett. I got to see her so many years ago in her TV series in England and I used to wonder who is this? She acted beautifully, too. She hon-

Femi Odugbemi, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett and Bolanle Austen-Peters oured me a few years ago by performing in one of my events and she stole the show. I admire her greatly and I have respect for her. I want to thank God for you and the contributions you are making to our society.

From the excerpts read, ‘Just Sharing’ is a must read book. I wish you long life. TAL is a forthright, no nonsense, graceful, caring and elegant woman. She speaks very well.

I wasn’t surprised when Chief Osoba said she’s still being chased by men.”

Ajai-Lycett’s brother, Akintola, described the occasion as a momentous day in his sister’s life and that of the Ajais. He said, “I m happy that the rascality of her earlier years have evolved into something worthwhile. She is outspoken, bold and adventurous. This got her into troubles but what she has evolved into has given pleasure into many people.”

Earlier, publisher of the book, Dr. Omolola Omoteso, disclosed that the presentation is the first of seven programs lined to highlight the celebrator’s contributions to

Family, friends honour Abubakar Gimba in death IN commemoration of the one year anniversary of the death of one of Nigeria’s celebrated writers and former National President Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) the late Alhaji Abubakar Gimba (CFR), his family members and friends have concluded arrangements to honour his memory with the presentation of a book, Oh Uhud: Thy Haunting Spirit.

According to a statement signed by a former Military Head of State, General Abdulsalami A. Abubakar GCFR, Oh Uhud: Thy Haunting Spirit, which is the last book written by the prolific author, even while on the sick bed, will be launched on Thursday, 25 February by 10.00 a.m at Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre,

Gimba opposite the Government House, Minna, Niger State.

The chief host of the event, which is expected to attract eminent Nigerians is Niger State governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, with a former Minister of Sports , Barrister Gimba Abdulraham Hassan supporting him to host the guests. The Emir of Suleja, His Royal Highness, Mallam Muhammad Awwal Ibrahim, will chair the event just as the Emir of Lapai, His Royal Highness Alhaji Umaru Bago III, is the Royal Father of the day is.

Gimba during his lifetime was seen as the literary beacon of not just northern Nigeria, he was one of those who infused the nation with his ideas with books like Sunset for the Mandarin; Witnesses to Tears; Sacred Apples, among others.

Nigerian arts. She called for sponsors to key into the remaining events which include a tour of theatre arts departments in Nigeria and launch of a foundation.

Three excerpts were read from ‘Just Sharing’ by way of whetting people’s appetite at the event where young soloist, TK Okobia performed. Dele Adetiba read ‘Controling your body’; Akin Fatunke read ‘Will you play our music’ and Iretiola Doyle read ‘Becoming a son’.

In a review of the book read on her behalf by Adaeze Diana, screen writer and director, Samantha Israel- Iwowo, away at the University of Bristol, England, for her PhD in film, said that, “the entirety of Taiwo Ajai-­ Lycett’s Just Sharing is soul food, streaming with witty lines stirring insight and smiles and tears and laughter.”

Speaking at the occasion, Ajai-Lycett began on a note of gratitude. “Thank you for honouring this invitation. I am from very humble beginnings but as you honour me, may you enjoy honour all your life. Some people ask me, how do you feel at 75? But I say how does a child feel? I’m just beginning; the best is yet to come. You are nudging me in the right way; you give me the focus; the joy; you made me dance. I’m dancing through life; life is all about music.

The music gets sweeter with age.”

Continuing, she said: “Don’t despair about our country, but we must be conscious of what Mahatma Ghandi said; that the change begins with you. We scapegoat our government or somebody else, but we make our world and it is our responsibility to make this country remain great.

“Nigeria is a blessed country with all the resources that anybody needs to live a successful life and we are fortunate, but we can do better. I’m looking forward to what I’ll be at 80. May your journeys be more musical; filled with joy and happiness. Thank you for making my 75th a dream.”

27 arts&culture

7 February, 2016

The Three Wise Men gets BOI’s support

F

RESH from supporting Kunle Afolayan’s ‘The CEO’, Okey Ogunjiofor’s ‘Queen Amina’ and Emem Isong’s ‘Anyama’, the Bank of Industry (BOI) has thrown its weight behind another movie.

Opa Williams’ ‘The Three Wise Men’ is the latest movie the bank is supporting under its initial N1.0billion loan scheme tagged NollyFund.

Featuring actors Richard Mofe Damijo, Zack Orji, Victor Olaotan, Tina Mba and Ebele Okaro amongst others, the movie is currently being shot in Parafa, Ikorodu, Lagos State under the supervision of director, Patience Oghre Imobhio.

‘The Three Wise Men’ is a comedy that centres on three men in their mid/late 60s who struggle to relive their lost youth. After years of service in different government parastatals, the trio retire and settle in a suburb to enjoy their retirement benefits.

How they decide to spend these gratuities is the funny and dramatic part of the movie.

Williams, who revealed more about the movie, disclosed that, “The pack is led by Irikefe (Richard Mofe Damijo) 64, a divor-

Zack Orji; Okey Madu; Teju Talabi; Victor Olaotan; Uche Nwuka; RMD and Stanley Onugu, during the visit of Bank of Industry’s officials to the set of The Three Wise Men. cee with three failed marriages after five children and refuses to re-marry. Irikefe decides to live alone as his covetous children

are now grown and also live on their own while patiently waiting for him to die so they can swoop on whatever he leaves.

Tade Ogidan hails Kunle Afolayan’s The CEO KUNLE Afolayan’s yet to be released ‘The CEO’ has been commended by screenwriter, cinematographer, film director and producer, Tade Ogidan.

Writing his impression of the movie in a private message to Afolayan a day after seeing a rough cut at the producer’s studio in

Ikeja, Lagos, Ogidan wrote: “I woke up quite excited about the story telling strength and the creative and technical qualities in the CEO movie. You have done your dad proud with each new project. You have done your family proud. You have done your industry proud. You have done your fore bearers in

Lanre Balogun (left); Afolayan and Tade Ogidan

Group reads for Okediran THE Society of Young Nigerian Writers (SYNW), will honour ex-national president of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Dr. Wale Okediran, with the first edition of its ‘Read Across Nigeria’ project on April 14.

The body explained in a statement signed by its coordinator, Wole Adedoyin, that it chose to honour Okediran “for his enormous contributions towards the growth and development of reading culture in Nigeria” with the maiden edition of the initiative, adding that it chose the April 14 date because it is Okediran’s birthday.

On the objective of the project, Adedoyin said, “our goal is to promote book reading culture through reading activities and exercises.”

A medical doctor, politician and writer, Okediran is the founder of the Ebedi International Writers’ Residency, Iseyin, Oyo State. His last novel, ‘Tenants of the House’ was joint winner of the 2010 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa with South Africa’s Kopano Matlwa’s ‘Coconut’.

the film industry proud. You will do your nation and the rest of Africa proud, especially with this new project, CEO. I am sincerely proud of you.”

Ogidan, who further saluted Afolayan’s courage in a challenging film making environment like Nigeria said, “You are now like a bull that has charged into a chinaware shop of film obstacles. You demolish all the myths, fears and film making challenges with insane dare, grit and unstoppable determination. Now, that is good. God will always make all good things doable for you.”

The CEO is Afolayan’s biggest movie yet, with part funding of N50 million as loan from the Bank of Industry’s NollyFund.

The pan African movie is Afolayan’s fifth after ‘October 1’,’Phone Swap’, ‘The Figurine’ and ‘Irapada’. The filmmaker disclosed that the movie which will be ready before the end of February will be distributed in Nigeria by Silverbird Cinema and that he is also targeting g South Africa’s over 50 cinemas and other African countries.

“Irikefe is aware of his children’s intentions and wants to make sure he exhausts all his savings before he dies. When he retires, he refurbishes his flat, buys a laptop, a sport car, and goes for shopping for jean, t-shirt, papa’s cap, sneakers and everything a young-man could dream of.

“The three men become an item as Irikefe introduces them to his world of fun; from tracking girls on social media, joy riding and picking the finest of young girls’ home for a nice time, to clubbing. Irikefe is the yippeehappy-go-old guy man, who sags and wears tattoos; he loves snapping selfies and posting them on his social media pages.”

To prove that its support for Nollywood extends beyond just funding productions, a team of BOI officials including Group Head, Creative Industry, Uche Nwuka C. Nwuka; Assistant Manager (CI), Okechukwu Madu; Assistant Manager (LE Credits) Stanley Onugu; Tejumade Talabi, and Toyin Oyekanmivisited the film set recently.

They were received by Williams who took them round the set and also told them more about the movie.

During her interaction with the actors on set, Nwuka expressed satisfaction with the level of work done so far. She said that the BOI is encouraged by the efforts of filmmakers who have benefitted from the scheme so far, hence it is expanding its chain of exhibition outlets around the country.

MTN Foundation musical arts powers Kakadu, Wakaa

By Seyi Sokoya IT was an all round entertainment for lovers of theatre, dance, drama and music, when award-winning hit musicals Kakadu and Wakaa hit the stage at the popular Agip and Shell hall of Muson Center in Lagos.

The event which was sponsored by MTN Foundation as part of its contributions to arts and culture, advancing theatre and performing arts in Nigeria, Kakadu and Wakaa the musical from the stables of Playhouse Initiative and Bolanle Austen-Peters Production were among the very few entertainment concerts that closed out 2015 on a good note.

Commenting on the Foundation’s sponsorship of the musical dramas, the Executive Secretary for the MTN Foundation, Ms. Nonny Ugboma, said the Foundation is excited to see a crop of beneficiaries of its music scholarship programme in partnership with MUSON distinguishing themselves in their chosen careers and applying what they have learnt in the course of their programme.

“It is worthy of note that some of the ben-

eficiaries of the MTNF-Muson Scholarship programme who have excelled in their chosen careers are part of the two plays. For instance, two of the beneficiaries - Ayo Ajayi & Lawal Seyi who graduated in 2008 & 2014 respectively were part of the cast and crew for ‘Wakaa, The Musical.’ While the former is the play’s Music Director, the latter is the Tenor Sax. We at the Foundation are really excited about these bold moves from our beneficiaries,” she said.

Inspired by the outstanding performances recorded by the beneficiaries, Ugboma said, “The MTN Foundation will not relent in its commitment to the development of arts and culture, grooming the next generation of music scholars in support of the performing arts industry in Nigeria.”

The MTNF music scholarship programme which is implemented in partnership with the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON) is targeted at students with a flair for music.

The scholarship provides the beneficiaries an opportunity to acquire quality music education leading to the MUSON Diploma in Music. In its nine years of existence,

over 200 students have graduated from the programme while another 60 students are presently under going training.

Wakaa! The Musical is a play about the trials, successes and experiences of six young graduates with varied backgrounds. A bet among them after graduation had a twist when the realities of life and the folly of their choices hit them. Eventually, they unite, coming full circle. The story revealed the struggles and challenges young people face in Nigeria and abroad. Wakaa! The Musical could be described as an emotional roller-coaster and is a strong satire on Nigerian politics.

Also, moved by a need to reconnect the old with the young, Kakadu, the Musical was a journey back into history. It gives the audience, particularly the younger generation, an insight into the early life of Nigeria as an independent nation. Chronicling the social and political life of Nigeria, Kakadu tells the story of Nigeria starting from the early sixties and terminating with the end of the civil war. The two musical drama presented unbelievable stage spectacle and magic to the audiences.

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Sunday Tribune

Sunday Tribune

7 February, 2016

glamour

I

Growing up grew up in Lagos. Growing up was beautiful. I had a mother who was an incredible woman. My siblings too were great. My childhood was like a story book; I remember that at Christmas when everybody had one dress, we had two. We had so much love growing up. Though our mum was strict, growing up was fun.

Educational background I have a first degree in Business Administration, an MBA in Marketing and I have done several courses. I have attended workshops pertaining to Production and Television.

How I started writing Writing came first because my favourite pastime is reading, I love books. I can stay alone in a house for months once I have books I can read. When you read that much, writing is a natural progression if you want to take it further. My first book, The Successful Girls Rule sold out and I have another one which is fiction entitled: Nut Country. It’s a fictional book about a fictional country. Also, I worked in a magazine for young people as an editor. I thought being the editor of a magazine would be fun but I discovered that being an editor is not just about books, there are deadlines to meet and meetings to attend. You are so busy that you don’t even have time to read books again. Doing that took me away from the things I really loved to do. It was a nice experience, I did that for two years then came back to writing and acting as well.

—Ijeoma Richards Ijeoma Richards is an actress and a writer who has to her credits books like The Successful Girls Rule and Nut Country. TAYO GESINDE met her at a location in Alagbado area of Lagos State, where she speaks on her passion for reading, why acting is not for lazy or unserious people and her fashion preferences. Excerpts:

Challenges faced The challenges are that your time is not yours. For instance today, we set out early so that we could end early but that was not the case. Sometimes, you make plans or commitments which you are not able to keep because you work late. I have come across a lot of people who looked down on you because you are an actress. I had to tell somebody recently that acting is not for an unserious person. If you want to become an actress, you must be able to read, sometimes you have a script that is bigger than a textbook and you have to master it and deliver it well so that the person watching you at home won’t think you are just reading from a book.

Most times, you have to leave your house as early as 5: 30 a.m because shooting is will start by 10.00 a.m but you don’t get to start until 5.00 p.m because there were technical issues. Some times when you are acting a particular character, you have layers of make- up on that you feel you are drowning in mud. It is not something an unserious person can do.

If you are not serious, you will fall by the way side. It takes a lot of hardwork and dedication as well as suffering.

What I enjoy about being an actress For me, I have been lucky because every character I have played is so different from the other one. One is grateful to the make-up artist who turned you to an old lady in one scene, the next one you are allowed to be yourself and the

With Tayo Gesinde temiligali03@yahoo.com 08054727801

My greatest asset is...

Foray into acting Well, acting was something I tried not to do because I didn’t want to lose my privacy. I met the person I will call my father in the industry, Zeb Ejiro, when I was in the university and he wanted me to act but I was worried about losing my privacy that I said no. However, after several years of travelling, writing, I found myself in the movie industry, that was about two years ago, and one of the first movies I did was for Mnet.

Coping with competition It is difficult to say that there is competition in the industry and that is because we are all different. For instance we are built differently, we sound differently. Sometimes when a director sees you, he knows you are going to be very good for this role then if you are able to carry it off, that role naturally comes to you. It will be difficult to take the role that belongs to someone who is short and slim and give it to me.

So, it is not competition. If you do what you do well, you get what you should get. It also depends on how much you persevere. When you have a lot of people who want you to work for them but they are not ready to pay what they are supposed to pay. But if you know what you are doing, you will overcome it with time.

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Definition of style Your body has a lot to do with your style. I don’t believe in trends because some trends might not work for some body shapes. That is why one must take into consideration one’s body type. If you have a big tummy, there is no need to wear something that exposes your stomach. If you have big arms you don’t need to wear sleeveless dresses and so on. Know your asset and try to wear what will flatter it.

Beauty regimen I am naturally big so I exercise a lot. I have boxing gloves, which I use for boxing. I believe in exercise and eating healthy foods. Make-up for me is minimal except I am on set. Before now, I was using baby oil but when I discovered my skin was getting dry, I switched to moisturising cream.

Favourite designers Lisa Folawiyo because of the way she works with the African print and Data Okorodudu because she makes really nice dresses for red carpets. For foreign labels, most times, I go for whatever fits me. next one you are playing the role of an unschooled village woman. I saw the picture of one work that I did with Wale Adenuga’s WAPTV and I didn’t know it was me, I looked like a witch from the stone age. But that is what has to be done to make the role believable. Being able to be different people at different times and then you are back to being yourself.

Sometimes it is not easy, I remember when I had to play the role with make-up of a bar owner, they had to keep touching my cheeks to make it look bleached, at the end of the day, my skin got tender, it actually got burnt because of the sun and too much make-up, after the shoot, it took about two weeks for my skin to return to normal. These are some of the things that one has to go through as an actress. But it is nice when people watch the movies and they find them

entertaining and educative.

Philosophy of life For me, it is having compassion for the underprivileged.

It breaks my heart to see people suffer. I have a small Non Governmental Organisation that raises money for people who need operation, and financial assistance. I believe we should do the little we can wherever we are. In the environment we have found ourselves in, there is no welfare programme for the people. If you drop dead, that is it. So, I believe we should be a little more compassionate towards one another because somebody might look healthy on the outside but is battling with one ailment nobody knows anything about.

Fashion obsession I like shoes, bags and wrist watches.

Special treat I like getting massage. Also, I like to travel when I can afford it and I love shopping for books.

Opinion on cosmetic surgery I really don’t have an opinion on it. If you want to do it, if you can afford it and you know the risk and it works for you, go ahead. As for me, I have the philosophy of minding my business. If it is not my business, I don’t let it worry me.

My take on provocative dressing

I have found out that Nigeria is a terribly hypocritical country in the sense that when a 15-year-old wears a mini skirt, why don’t you mind your business, tie your wrapper and go instead of insulting her. By the time she gets to the age where that is no longer age appropriate, she will learn.

A lot of people who point fingers at them, when they were that age they dressed the same way. I am not saying that you should be naked on the street but there is a dress code for 18, 20 year- old girls and when they wear such dresses then they should be left alone. A girl cannot be 20 and be dressing like an 80-year-old. I think Nigerians are too nosey. It is not true that actresses are the ones who promote indecent dressing. As you can see, my dress is knee-length. Most of us dress decently.

Opinion on toning I know that when you go from one extreme to the other (when you go from being dark skinned to light skinned) you are destroying your skin. It is hazardous to your health so it is not good.

Accessories I can’t do without Shoes and bags. You can buy a N2,000 or N3,000 dress, if you get a good bag and a pair of shoes to complement it, it transforms everything. So I can’t do without my shoes and bag.

Favourite colours My mum once asked me why I was always in black. It is not my favourite colour but I tend to wear a lot of black. I love red as a colour and I love accentuating my dress with orange accessories. Maybe one of the reasons I got into that rut is that when you are wearing black, you can use any other colour with it.

Favourite perfumes Alien by Thierry Mugler. That was my signature per-

fume for a long time. I still wear it. But I have other ones now like Boucheron and Narciso Rodriguez for her.

I love strong perfumes. I don’t like flowery ones.

Favourite holiday spot I love Holland and the reason is that it is the only place where almost everybody is about my size (six feet) so nobody notices me when I’m there and because of the islands around. The people are really hospitable.

What I will like to change about myself The fact that I worry too much. Every other thing about me, I can deal with.

Greatest physical asset My brain because I love to read. If I don’t read, I feel I want to grow crazy.

Favourite authors Gloria Naylor, Malcolm Gladwell, Paulo Coelho, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka and Chimamanda Adichie.

How I handle male admirers Most people are disciplined so it is not usually a problem.

It is all in a day’s work.

Advice for up-and-coming actors and actresses It is not easy, you have to work hard. Sometimes you turn up for work and you don’t get to do anything all day and you have to come back next day. You get slapped in movies, real slap and sometimes you get punished by the directors but when you watch the movie on TV everything look nice. But if it is what you want to do, deal with it.

Parting words to my fans Thank you for watching us. Thank you for buying our films. Keep watching us.

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aspire

7 February, 2016

BY OLAIDE SOKOYA 0807 449 7425 (sms only)

BB pin: 290B9652

‘Financial risks you must avoid in your business’

S

ome chief executive officers and business owners go through years of making mistakes before they master the art of lowering financial risk. Knowing some of the common mistakes many successful entrepreneurs have made will help you make wiser business decisions. Use these five financial risks as it was written in tolmanandwiker. com as a basic outline to keep you on track to reducing your overall business risk:

Never under-price your solutions Some people have a tendency to price their products or services low during the beginning days of their businesses. The idea is that low prices will set them apart in their market. However, as operating costs increase, so will the need to increase prices. When this happens, your loyal customers may be offended, feeling that price increases are unfair. The wiser route would be to come up with a more effective way to differentiate your solutions from your competitors’. That way, you’re able to justify your increasing prices. It’s impossible to make a profit if your solutions are priced too low. To avoid this financial risk, do some extensive market research. Then, price your solutions near or just above the market average.

Don’t hire until you have the funds to afford it Another common financial risk is hiring employees based on contracts and promises. In the business-world, there are times when contracts become promises of future revenue. Yet, contracts are not equivalent to actual money in the bank. When it’s time to pay your employees, you’ll need to have the funds in your account to cover the payroll costs. So, resist the urge to hire more employees than you can afford before your promises are actually converted into money.

Never borrow money you don’t need Qualifying for a business loan can feel like a great accomplishment. But, just because a lender approves you doesn’t mean you need to take on the debt. Banks make money by collecting interest on various types of loans, including business loans. The best way to lower this financial risk is to pay little to no interest at all. Therefore, if you don’t truly need a loan, don’t sign for one. And, if

If you don’t truly need a loan, don’t sign for one. And, if you do find yourself in need of funds, borrow only what you need to help your business grow.

you do find yourself in need of funds, borrow only what you need to help your business grow. Paying interest increases your financial risk, decreasing your overall ROI. Don’t depend on just one revenue source Think of your business revenue like you would your stock portfolio. When it comes to the investments in your portfolio, the majority of your company’s revenue needs to come from more than one source. Oftentimes, as a startup, you spend most of your time serving your early customers. This makes it hard to venture into other markets and build new accounts. Those early streams of revenue tend to die off over time. So, avoid this financial risk by concentrating on building other revenue sources as well.

Don’t fill too many overhead positions Every person within your company who receives paid compensation should have a justifiable position. Some of these types of positions include those who serve customers, develop products and convert leads into sales. Hiring “overhead” people can be a serious financial risk, especially if they don’t produce anything or make the company money. This will effectively decrease your company’s overall ROI. Not all financial risks will have a negative impact on your business. Yet, there are those that could mean the difference between building a successful company and closing up shop early in the game. Reduce your company’s overall business risk by avoiding these five mistakes and financial risks from the very beginning. tolmanandwiker.com

Your Life Counts

Sunday Tribune

by Tunde Jaiyebo 0803 406 2013

Swim upstream YOU need not be a prophet to see the myriads of problems that bedevil this world which we live in. The media daily and ceaselessly brings to the fore and bombards us with the reality of wars, economic downturns, poverty, famine, natural disasters, suffering and crime.

The outlook is that of gloom and doom and most people get swept away by the fierce tide of life. Countless people are focused and consumed with trying to make ends meet - survival is their primary preoccupation.

Many lives have been sentenced to a lifetime of insignificance. They are so enmeshed with survival that the thought of making their lives count does not even cross their minds. They will rather be led than be the leader on whose table the buck ends. They will rather follow than be the one to give direction. They would rather consume than be the producer. They are concerned about their primary constituency only – the constituency of self preservation and survival. Consequently most people live a tragic life, passing through life without registering any appreciable impact. They live in an unending cycle of crisis and defeat instead of facing life headlong. “Aversion is a form of bondage.

We are tied to what we hate or fear. That is why, in our lives, the same problem, the same danger or difficulty, will present itself over and over again in various prospects, as long as we continue to resist or run away from it instead of examining it and solving it.” Patañjali The radical approach to living a life of significance is to swim upstream, swimming against the tide. If you are going to make any impact with your life you must not conform to the general approach of the majority.

You must learn to properly discern problems, crisis and obstacles. “For thirty years now, in times of stress and strain, when something has me backed against the wall and I’m ready to do something really stupid with my anger, a sorrowful face appears in my mind and asks... “Problem or inconvenience?” I think of this as the Wollman Test of Reality. Life is lumpy. And a lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the throat, and a lump in the breast are not the same lump. One should learn the difference.” Robert Fulghum. You are alive on a mission, a mission to affect, influence and impact lives. You are alive to make a difference. You are not to just spend time here on earth but you are alive to leave indelible marks on the sands of time. You are alive to make history. You are not just to pass through history but to make history. At the end of your life you should not just be history but must have made history. “Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement - and we will make the goal.” Jerome Fleishman You have not been called to conform but to transform your environment. You have been called to influence your society. You have not been called to be swallowed up by the environment but to give direction. You have been called to stand out. You are designed to live a life of significance and to register maximum impact. “An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means it’s going to launch you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming.” Author Unknown Now, more than ever before is the time to face up to life and be determined to make a difference. If you unduly focus on the state of things you will lose heart and vegetate and surrender to live a mediocre, unfulfilled life. You must be determined never to be despondent or throw your hands up in despair. Life is simply a choice – we choose how we respond to issues and we can always choose to respond in hope.

“We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, “Why did this happen to me?” unless we ask the same question for every moment of happiness that comes our way.” Author Unknown

For enquiries/comments please send email to urlifecounts@yahoo.com

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7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

thepolity Saraki: Now, the fireworks begin On Friday, the Supreme Court asked the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, to return to the Code of Conduct Tribunal for the trial of the asset declaration suit against him. The judgment has thus provided opportunity for a fresh round of fireworks, writes GROUP POLITICS EDITOR, TAIWO ADISA.

President Muhammadu Buhari

Dr Bukola Saraki, Senate President

Danladi Umar, Code of Conduct Tribunal Chairman

IS trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) starting from the last quarter of year 2015 was the talk of the town in political circles.

The implications of the suit, which remains as confusing as the intent behind the trial itself, were issues for discussions in major political spots. But the decision of the Nigerian Supreme Court to adjourn the matter till February 5, 2016 removed it from the centre stage for a while.

On Friday, the appeal was heard at the apex court, which nonetheless returned a verdict that confounded the Saraki camp. The Senate President had raised issues against his trial at the CCT and was quoted as saying that he would not have been brought to trial if he had not vied for the Senate presidency and won against the interest of some power blocks in the party. The arguments and counter arguments had at some point almost degenerated into personal conflict with the Chairman of the CCT, Danladi Umar and the prosecution Counsel, Rotimi Jacobs. It nearly almost appeared like the duo had personal score to settle with the Saraki camp and the Senate President’s counsel looked a bit relieved to have the case out of Umar’s court.

But the apex court, on Friday, returned the ball to the CCT’s court when it ruled that the Tribunal was competent to hear Saraki’s case and that it was properly constituted for that purpose. In his immediate reaction, Saraki had said that he would be vindicated eventually after he might have had his say in court.

In September 2015, the CCT slammed a 13-count charge on Saraki, accusing him falsely declaring some assets in his form as a public office holder in 2003, 2007 and 2011.

But Saraki had countered immediately that the 13-count charge slammed on him were political moves against

him.

“We, therefore, conclude that this is not an anticorruption driven case and cannot be part of the moves aimed at fighting corruption. It is simply a pure malicious and politically motivated prosecution aimed at undermining the person and office of the Senate President,” his media office said.

Some of the 13-count charge prepared by M.S. Hassan, a deputy director in the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation in the charge number ABT/01/15, dated September 11, 2015 alleged that Saraki acquired assets beyond his legitimate earnings; operated foreign accounts while being a public officer as governor and allegedly breached Section 2 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, which is punishable under paragraph 9 of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution.

Saraki had thereafter challenged the CCT action in another court. After which the case went appeal before it finally got to the Supreme Court. After the Supreme Court ruling retuning the matter to the CCT on Friday, Senator Saraki said he would fight on until he is vindicated. A statement by his Media Adviser, Yusuph Olaniyonu, read: “After listening to the ruling of the Supreme Court in the appeal he filed to challenge the process of arraigning him before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, hereby states as follows: “He expresses disappointment over the judgment of the apex court in the country on the six grounds of his appeal “He however will like to put it on record that the facts of the substantial matter are not before the Supreme Court since the apex court was only invited to rule on some preliminary issues in the process of commencing the trial. The Senate President believes he will have his day in the court to prove his innocence of the charges preferred

against him during the trial proper.

“Dr Saraki will like to thank everyone who has expressed support for him from the beginning of the case. He assures everyone that at the end of the day truth will prevail and justice will be served.”

With the restart of the case at the CCT, a lot of frenzy is expected to grip the political circles, especially the Senate, where some members had been angling to benefit from the possible outcome of the suit. Members of the Senate Unity Forum (SUF) opposed to Saraki had instituted suits at the Federal High Court seeking to nullify his emergence as Senate President on the grounds that his emergence did not follow due process, alleging the Senate rule book was forged.

Besides, the same group had been living in the hope that if the suit at the CCT succeeds against Saraki, he would possibly lose his seat, and then pave the way for the emergence of one of them. Thus, while the opponents are expected to kick-start their agitations, the law courts would also become theatre of arguments and counter arguments.

Saraki’s men had argued that the trial was badly instituted as it did not follow the procedures laid down in the constitutional provisions setting up the CCT. They had also objected to several procedures, especially the decision of the prosecution to rely on operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); thus alleging that rather than have a CCT trial, it was appearing more like an EFCC trial. But the prosecution had wished to push ahead, insisting on alleged violations of the CCT Act. Legal luminaries working in the defence of the Senate

H

continues

pg 34

32

interview

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Why all election cases must get to Supreme Court —Aduwo Mr Femi Aduwo is the national coordinator of the Rights Monitoring Group and Centre for Convention on Democratic Integrity.

In this interview with DARE ADEKANMBI, the IMF/World Bank assessor on SDGs advocates electoral reforms, speaks on Edo and Ondo governorship elections, the anti-corruption crusade, among other issues. Excerpts:

W

HAT do you make of the revelations from the arms deal probe and the modus operandi of the anti-graft policy of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration?

The revelations so far make me sad. It is baffling how state funds were stolen and spent by a few individuals. It is a national embarrassment. Some of us, who genuinely supported former President Goodluck Jonathan, thinking that he meant well for the country, felt highly embarrassed when the revelations started coming to light. I have no regrets for supporting Jonathan at all because I never looked for money from him. I was screened in 2010 by the Department of State Security (DSS) for appointment as Special Adviser on Civil Society Organisations. I turned down the offer after I realised the screening was for such appointment and this is on record.

It was an honour for me who was never a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). I supported Jonathan because I knew the party called APC is not a party properly so-called. It is an amalgam of tendencies which just came together to send Jonathan packing. I later realised that Jonathan had this laissez-faire attitude which led to his exit from power.

Without the rule of law, democracy is dead. If the law says black is yellow plus red, then that should be the interpretation. When we apply the rule of man as we are seeing now, the whole aim of fighting corruption will be defeated. This is why we are telling Mr President it is not about arrest and getting some of members of the judiciary to give some kind of ridiculous bail conditions. Whoever is standing trial for corruption must be under the rule of law and not the rule of man. If the crime is a bailable offence, then bail should be granted. But if it is not, then it should not be given. Let the EFCC conclude investigations first before taking people to court and sending them to jail afterwards, even if it will take them up to six months to do a thorough investigation. The idea of splitting cases and charges, arraigning Olisah Metuh in court A today and taking him to court B tomorrow, on the same case, is very embarrassing. I want any government official, even if the person is a former president and he tampers with the common-wealth, the person should go to jail. But what we are saying is that their trial must follow due process and the fundamental human rights of suspects must not be trampled upon. The western countries, whichi today appear to be giving President Buhari their support, will withdraw such support if they see overwhelming evidence that human rights are flagrantly violated. If that happens, Nigeria may return to being a pariah state as it was under the late maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha. While the controversy over the legality or otherwise of

Mr Femi Aduwo

the continued detention of those already granted bail by the court was raging, the Attorney-General of the Federation and many senior lawyers who perhaps are still angling for appointment from Mr President maintained criminal silence. For somebody who has been granted bail to be denied his temporary freedom, President Buhari should send a bill to the National Assembly to first amend the law to take care of that before he will be using the DSS to deny people who are on bail their freedom. The bill should also include the need for speedy trial of corruption cases.

It is only a mad man that will oppose effort to send those who looted our patrimony to jail. However, the rule of law must guide such conduct. They should be jailed if found guilty and their properties confiscated and banned from holding public office for life.

You condemned some of the judgments given by the tribunals and the appellate courts, particularly on the Rivers and Akwa Ibom governorship elections. What do you make of the Supreme Court verdicts which quashed the decisions of the lower courts on those matters?

The judgments of the Supreme Court which affirmed the election of Nyesome

Wike as Rivers governor, Udom Emmanuel as Akwa Ibom governor give us a ray of hope that we still have some men of integrity in the judiciary, men who are independent and can stand on their own on any matter anywhere in the world.

This is why every right-thinking Nigerian should applaud the judgments. The Chief Justice of Nigeria and the President, Court of Appeal should set up a panel to review all the judgments given in relation to the state houses of assembly, House of Representatives and Senatorial elections.

What the appeal court and the tribunals did in respect of petitions on these elections was nothing but charade. The plank on which they based their judgments was wrong. In Agbaje versus Ambode, the appellate court held that the issue of card reader was inconsequential as it was not reckoned with in the Electoral Act. But the judgments in Rivers and many other national and state assembly cases were based on non-compliance with the card reader usage and consequently led to the voiding of elections in many states. It is high time we made the card reader to reflect in the Electoral Act and other relevant laws.

It was because of the petition against the election of Chief Segun Oni by Dr Kayode Fayemi, particularly the act perpetrated by the ex-PCA, Justice Ayo Sala-

mi, that warranted the extension of guber petition to the apex court. If Wike’s matter had ended at the appeallate court, that would have been injustice for the people of Rivers and the PDP candidate for life.

People have lost confidence in the abilities of election petition tribunals and the appellate court doing justice to petitions brought before them. The judges empanelled for tribunal and appeal courts have shown that they can be manipulated.

This is why I advocate all election matters should be extended to the Supreme Court.

If the governorship election matters in Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Abia, Taraba and others had terminated at the Court of Appeal, justice would have been denied the governors of these states who triumphed at the Supreme Court.

President Buhari should work hard to ensure that nobody is going through the back door to influence the judiciary and INEC. He had said it countless times how the judiciary was used to rob him of victories in the past. He should correct the lapse he noticed then, now that he is in the saddle.

Don’t you think this proposal will add to the workload of the already overstretched apex court with just 15 Justices handling many cases?

I agree that the Supreme Court is overworked. But my proposal is in the interest of justice. William Shakespeare says the evil that men do lives after them. I jokingly tell my friends who are medical doctors that the evil that doctors do dies with the patient. And in this instance matter, the evil that biased judges do at the election petitions tribunals and the Court of Appeal will die and be buried with the termination of some election cases at the appeallate court. Why don’t we get more incorruptible judges promoted to the Supreme Court to strengthen it and make speedy dispensation of justice possible?

This, I am convinced, is the right way to go.

Is INEC ready with arrangements for Edo and Ondo governorship elections, as someone who is close to the commission?

One thing the Professor Yacoob-led INEC has done, which though may seem to be little innovation by some Nigerians, is the introduction of simultaneous voting and accreditation. It was used in the supplementary election in Bayelsa State and it worked wonder. It is a welcome development that should be used in Edo and Ondo governorship polls as well as election subsequent. We recommended this in our report on the 2015 elections as observers. Most of the nefarious activities associated with our electoral process take place under the cover of darkness. So, if voting does not extend till late in the night, there will be less likelihood of politicians manipulating the outcome of the election.

For me, I think INEC is prepared for continues

pg 33

33

interview

7 February, 2016

How FG should handle pro-Biafra agitations —Imo lawmaker

Sunday Tribune

Lawyer and human rights activist, Honourable Innocent Egwim, represents Ideato North in the Imo State House of Assembly and chairs the House Committee on Finance, Judiciary, Local Government Affairs, Chieftaincy and Autonomous communities. He speaks with MOSES ALAO on the government-workers’ faceoff in the state, efforts to increase the state’s IGR and how Federal Government should handle the pro-Biafra agitations.

T

HE Imo State government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have been in a running battle over the sack of about 3, 000 workers. As the arm of government saddled with the responsibility of checking the executive, what step has the House of Assembly taken on the face-off?

I thank you for bringing this issue up; I think this is an opportunity to make some clarifications. You just said that the Imo State government sacked about 3,000 workers; this is a misconception. As far as I know as a member of the House of Assembly, the Imo state government has denied sacking any worker. However, let me remind you that the workers in question are in the employment of the Imo State government and I tell you that legitimately, an employer has the right to dictate to his employee how and where they will work for him and that is the issue at stake.

You see, we must acknowledge that we are facing hard times owing to the global fall in oil price. The revenue allocation to the state has drastically fallen and the government cannot deliver on its responsibility if it keeps channelling all its resources only to paying salaries. So, the governor in his wisdom decided to do away with the lazy and unproductive work system. The government decided to make these parastatal-agencies to become viable and to be able to generate revenue. He said the days are gone when one comes to work by 9 a.m., sleeps and leaves even before 4 p.m. and by the end of the month, the government has to pay for the indolence. To this effect, the Imo State government decided to introduce the Concession Policy in which some parastatal-agencies that are supposed to generate revenue will be managed by private hands. This was done to make sure that they generate revenue and not just to pay salaries but to improve the IGR of the state, since oil is becoming old-fashioned.

The government has barely announced their suspension from work in order to perfect its concession policy and that is as far as I know. But as far as I know as a legislator, I can say that there is no cause for any alarm yet. As legislators, we owe it a duty to care for Imolites, especially workers, be them civil or public servants. But it is a matter of fact that things are difficult now and it is regrettable; it is most unfortunate. I can imagine the pain one will go through if he or she, for instance, a family man or woman (with children to feed, rent and school fees to pay) has to go for a month or two without salary and to this effect, I urge the state government to ensure a quick and speedy implementation of the Concession Policy. I also advise that no innocent worker be left out at the end of the day.

Non-payment of salary has been another major issue in Imo State. There is this belief that the House is in cahoots with the governor and so cannot defend the workers’ interests. How true

the diversification of the state economy, given the present state of things?

As chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Judiciary, Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Autonomous Communities in the eighth assembly in Imo State, I have initiated bills that have gone through second reading, which will help the state increase its internally generated revenue (IGR) base. We have a mandate to look towards ways in which the IGR base of the state can be improved. I tell you, these committees are working tirelessly to achieve an increase in monthly revenue generation. We are working day-in-day-out to see Imo State revenue increase beyond oil. The “plant a tree policy” of the state is something that other states across South-East and South-South are emulating. Currently, I have bills in this direction.

Honourable Innocent Egwim

is this?

Well, since you asked a direct question, I will give you a more direct answer and the answer is: it is not true at all.

The issue of late payment of salaries, which was witnessed, somehow almost after the general election last year was not peculiar to Imo State. The oil prices had fallen almost at a time the country ended her general election, so as I have been emphasising, many states of the federation became indebted and this was settled immediately the federal government came up with the bailout funds.

Now, to the allegation of the House working in cahoots with the governor, what if I tell you that the issue of late payment of salary also affects me as a legislator? Sometimes, a new month will run close to half before we get our salary and emoluments of the previous month. So, how does that suggest that the lawmakers have been compromised?

Since you appear to be on the same page with government on salary and revenue issue, have you particularly sponsored any bill to encourage

What is your view on the agitation for Biafra and what step do you recommend to end the agitation both as an Igbo man and current member of the House of Assembly in a major Igbo state?

I have to tell you that the issue of pro-Biafran agitation is something that must be tackled seriously, decisively and yet humanely. In its attempt to maintain territorial integrity of Nigeria, the Federal Government must realise that the issue of Biafra agitation is a delicate one that does not necessarily need to be resolved by force or through the barrel.

In my own observation, the agitation is yet non-violent and the government has to tread with caution, since the use of force may cause these youths to resort to violent selfdefence. So the government must apply dialogue. The government must, as a matter of necessity, assuage the feelings of these youths. What are those conditions that make them think they are better off being in Biafra than being Nigerians? Is it marginalisation? Is it lack of opportunities or unemployment? Is it ineffective government? Is it hatred and wanton destruction of means of livelihood of Igbo traders outside the shores of Igbo land? Is it threats of annihilation? Is it religious violence? Is it unjust repatriation of Igbos from other parts of the country? The government must show the Igbo youths that they belong to Nigeria. If you want someone to stay with you, this is 21st century and you do not have to enslave the person to achieve that. You must show the fellow love, care and affection. You must give the person a reason to stay, especially where it is apparent the person is better off.

On the other hand, parents should advise their children to avoid being used as tools by people with sinister motives. Let no youth resort to violence. Caution must be applied. For me, I am a Nigerian; I believe in Nigeria and will die a Nigerian, because I believe in the slogan, united we stand, divided we fall. But let there be job and let food be on the table of these youths who parade themselves as Biafrans and you will see a change of mind.

‘The mistake PDP, APC must avoid in Ondo, Edo’ Continues from

pg 32

the two big elections coming up later this year. I only feel concerned, at times, about the fact that INEC is not properly constituted. There are still some commissioners that need to be appointed following the expiration of the terms of others members.

In Ondo State, which is my own state, the election is not going to be won by parties but by the right candidate. Candidates will determine where the majority votes will go.

Ondo people are very determined. They know one another.

For instance, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu is not new to Governor Olusegun Mimiko because he was a member of the legal team that handled Mimiko’s case against Olusegun Agagu. If not for the fact that Chief Olusola Oke just joined APC, he would have been the right candidate for APC. People like Senator Bode Olajumoke are credible and sound.

People like these may make impact. Mimiko is my brother and I think only two members of his cabinet are worthy to

succeed him. They are Chief Sola Ebiseni and Jegede, the chief law officer for the state. Many of others have never moved beyond the political space of the governor. Mimiko has said he will not sack any worker in the face of dwindling oil receipts and this is commendable. Some APC governors have sacked thousands of workers silently.

In Ondo, the issue of godfatherism will not work. So, the APC candidate that will emerge should consider the state of the global economy before making promises to the people. Let the APC godfathers steer clear of Ondo election if they want their party to make any impact at all. Neither the PDP nor the APC must impose candidate.

If they do, it will not work. If APC should toe the path of imposition this time around, they will get the same result they got in 2012. Accord Party is also on ground in the state. Dr Jimoh Ibrahim is the leader of the party and he is most likely going to be its governorship candidate. If PDP and APC fail to do the right thing, then Accord will profit from their indiscretion. But by and large, the kind

of candidates puts forward by the parties will determine where the votes will swing. I don’t know what PDP and APC will tell the people of Ondo differently from what we have been hearing from them.

In the case of Edo, it is natural that the next governor of the state should come from Benin. A lot of PDP leaders supported Adams Oshiomohole of the then ACN to win in 2012. If the governor wants to achieve the feat of installing a successor, he should steer clear of imposition and allow internal democracy to prevail. Before he moved from the ACN to PDP, General Charles Airhiavbere has a very formidable structure in the state. We have done a lot of studies. I think he can make a wave. He still has a lot of supporters in APC and a lot of friends in PDP who can swing votes in his favour. PDP in the state is very strong, even though the party has its own problems at the national level. If the national crisis of the PDP is not resolved soon, the party may go under and a new party will emerge.

34

thepolity

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Saraki: Riding the horse of legislation

H

E was referred to more or less as a child of circumstance, whose hold on the nation’s number three seat was only tenuous. On June 9, 2015, Senator Bukola Saraki, who represents Kwara Central Senatorial District in the upper chamber, surpassed the records of his father, Senator Olusola Saraki (Second Republic Senate Leader) to become the helmsman in the Senate.

He not only beat the family records in achieving that feat, he also beat the well-crafted script of the political juggernauts in his party, the All Progressives Congress(APC), who had their eyes on another contender to the seat and appeared to have cleared the way for that candidate.

The drama that played out in the process leading to Saraki’s emergence was astonishing. His main contenders stayed out of the Senate chambers as time ticked towards the critical moment. They claimed to have been summoned to a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

Calls and text messages sent by their loyalists who were observing the proceedings at the chamber refused to drag them out of the failed meeting. They only realised what had befallen them when the game was up.

The resultant effect of their absence on the floor was that Saraki was elected Senate President unopposed. He was already sworn-in before a number of them sauntered into the chamber and they only met the election of the Deputy Senate President, which went to Senator Ike Ekweremadu, of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), the man who occupied the same position in the immediate past administration.

Leaders of the APC immediately rose against Saraki and his crew in the Senate, especially as a similar scenario had played out in the House of Representatives. Some of the leaders vowed to get Saraki out in a matter of days. Former Lagos governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, who was seen as the architect of the plot against Saraki in the APC, told newsmen that he would see to the Senate President’s ouster in a short while.

And the troubles came in torrents for the Kwara Senator. Many who opposed his emergence had alluded to the largerthan-life image the immediate past holder, Senator David Mark left on everyone and the fact that he stabilised the Senate with his calm disposition. The Senate produced five presidents in eight years under former president Olusegun Obasanjo. Mark is on record to have completed two unbroken terms as Senate President. Many had also observed that Saraki, being one of the “politicians on the floor of the chamber” had not taken time to study the rules and that if he emerged, he would get impeached in a matter of months.

Indeed, the dilemma amongst National Assembly pundits, ahead of the emergence of Saraki, was that whoever emerges the Senate President after David Mark would not last more than six months. They believe that the records left by Mark and the temperament of the new administration would combine to frustrate the senate helmsman and culminate in the loss of confidence in him by his colleagues. Eight months on, Saraki remains in the saddle, soldiering on with remnants of the battles at hand.

At the start, his case appeared not to have been helped by the emergence of the proverbial “axis of evil” in the name of Senate Unity Forum (SUF), which had

Senator Kabiru Marafa

Senator Ike Ekweremadu

coalesced to project APC’s stand on the floor of the Senate. The undoing of many senate presidents in the past has been allowing the emergence of axis of evil in the chamber.

A day after Saraki’s emergence, Senator Kabiru Marafa of the APC emerged as the spokesman of the Unity Forum and he immediately launched at the Senate President’s jugular. He attempted to nullify the proceedings that brought in Saraki based on the allegation of “forged” Senate Rule Book. He raised several controversial motions, which ended up dividing the lawmakers. The months of June, July and August were pretty tough for Saraki. Not even his closest allies believed he would survive the storm. But in July, he succeeded in

winning the first of the two votes of confidence, winning 81 of the 108 senators to his side. Less than two months after, he secured another vote of confidence winning 84 lawmakers on that second round.

The atmosphere that pervaded the first Vote of Confidence was, however, instructive. Many had arrived the Senate with serious fears for the institution that day.

The SUF, actually led by Senator Ahmad Lawan, APC’s candidate for the Senate top job, whose spokesman, Marafa had threatened fire and brimstone heightened the tension in the chamber. The SUF had raised the tempo of agitations through the revelation that the Police had started investigating the alleged forgery of Senate Rule Book and that anything could hap-

pen. The SUF had also gone to court to prevent Saraki from constituting the committees. A final resolution expected on July 26 from a meeting of the APC Governors on the latter was not forthcoming as the governors , led by Edo’s Adams Oshiomhole and Kebbi state’s Atiku Bagudu inside the Room 301 of the Senate Chambers could not bring the SUF to a table with Saraki’s group, the Senators of Like Minds.

On the fateful day, July 28, the atmosphere was more than tense. Will Saraki give in to his traducers and yield the seat to them? That was the question on the lips as Senators filed into the chambers. But underground, his camp, the Like Minds had expanded to 32 APC members while PDP’s 49 Senators remained in solidarity with him. Thus, contrary to the Armageddon widely expected that day, Saraki came out with a vote of confidence from 81 senators.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, who moved the motion attached a list of all the 81 sponsors. A signal was sent to the executive to the extent that the Senate had accepted Saraki as its leader. In September, a similar scenario played out with 84 Senators backing the motion.

Why was the battle that intense?

That is the question many continued to ask, especially as President Buhari had acknowledged the emergence of Saraki and Speaker, Yakubu Dogara as somewhat a constitutional process. What happened afterwards however was the U-Turn

by Mr President, who immediately after continues

pg 35

The battle this time...

Continued from

pg 31

president had noted that the allegations mainly dated back to Saraki’s tenure as Governor of Kwara State and that they relate to asset declaration upon assumption and vacation of office.

They claimed that at no point were any purported discrepancies raised by the Code of Conduct Bureau after it had verified the assets as declared by Senator Saraki.

They claimed that the declarations by Saraki had been received and verified in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 adding that t was shocking that the CCT suddenly woke up and dug into the past just to “raise dust.”

A legal opinion compiled by Saraki’s counsels indicated that “the current management of the Code of Conduct has ignored its legally laid down procedure for conducting an investigation in the event of any allegation of a breach of its Act by public officers covered by the Act. Specifically, S16 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act provides thus, with emphasis on subsections (2) & (3) which reads: “(1) Any complaint that a public officer has committed a breach of or has not complied with the provisions of this Act shall be made to the Bureau. “(2) Upon the receipt of any complaint, the Bureau shall cause a notice to be served on the public officer concerned to appear before it within a period of fourteen days

from the service of the said notice. “(3) The Bureau shall upon the commencement of investigation serve a notice debarring the public officer concerned from disposing of or otherwise dealing with any property which is the subject of investigation.

By virtue of the above section, the Code of Conduct Bureau is required and mandated by law to service notice on any public officer against whom a complaint has been made.”

They also stated that Senator Saraki up till the time of his arraignment did not receive any notice or complaint from the Code of Conduct Bureau against his asset declaration. According to the legal team, the above is a condition precedent even before commencing investigation into the alleged breaches.

The legal brief indicated that “This legal requirement is in tandem with principles of law and equity, specifically, fair hearing: ‘Audi Alterem Partem’ – Listen to the other side. This is particularly applicable to Administrative Tribunals that have strict procedure to comply with.”

They claimed that what was being displayed at the CCT was “a rampant disregard for law and procedure” as the Senate president only got wind of the charges after it had been published online.

The counsels insisted that the prosecution was using underhand tactics to rope Saraki in, adding that media trial in itself “expunges any and all elements of fair hearing.”

So far, the prosecution had insisted in relying on the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, which was signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan, a decision Saraki’s men had resisted.

The legal luminaries to Saraki had further submitted that the claim of the senate president using credit card was false, adding that the prosecution was seeking to magically convert an American Express card to a bank account.

“It is public knowledge within enlightened circles that the American Express Company operates strictly as a Credit Card company, offering purely credit services to its customers. It is not and has never operated as a Commercial or Private Bank offering account services to its customers. A little investigation and research would have saved them this embarrassing show of ignorance. Again, it is evidence of their desperation to cook up non-existent charges against the Senate president in order to destabilise the administration of the 8th Senate and National Assembly. A ploy which has failed,” the legal opinion had indicated.

A lot has been said and would still be said about this contentious matter. More will be said and revealed during the court proceedings. Opinions are, however, divided as to whether a purely political issue is not being dragged into the legal arena. But having travelled this far on the legal train, many would expect that it is only legal terms that can be applied in the court in correctly reading the compass of the interesting litigation train.

35

thepolity

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Without opposition, APC’ll not succeed —Bishop Johncleanton The President of South-South Ministers’ United Forum and Presiding Bishop of Zion City Christian Revival Ministry International, Lagos, Bishop Mike Johncleanton, speaks with MOSES ALAO on the victory of Governor Emmanuel Udom at the Supreme Court and what he should do urgently, among other things.

T

HE Supreme Court, on Wednesday, declared Governor Udom Emmanuel as the winner of the April 11, 2015 governorship election, setting aside the decision of lower courts that called for rerun election in 18 local governments. How do you see that judgement?

The Supreme Court’s ruling on this matter has proven the court as the hope of the common man; it was what it knew to be the truth. For us who are stakeholders, we can only applaud the decision of the Supreme Court. Mind you, it is not a Supreme Court of any political party; it is for all Nigerians and so the people’s interest must always come first and not the interest of any party. In fact, any court should be for the nation.

But the opposition party members in Akwa Ibom see the Supreme Court verdict as a travesty of justice.

How can it be a travesty? We saw the earlier rulings on the election as manipulations and acts of intimidation and humiliation. If election did not take place, how come INEC made the announcement? As a matter of fact, INEC testified and proved beyond reasonable doubt that election took place. Though the lower courts felt they had the powers to do whatever they wanted, we are happy that the highest court has ruled in favour of justice. So, if anyone was expected a different outcome from what the Supreme Court did, it was his or her right to do so but such expectation would have been against the cause of justice.

You see, Akwa Ibom is a peaceful state; the people are well-focused and everyone knows that when they follow one political party, it is difficult for any other party to make inroad into the state. The APC never had a root in Akwa Ibom. Akwa Ibom people know their leaders; they always follow their conscience. So, even if the Supreme Court had followed the lower courts in condemning 18 local governments and calling for a rerun, the PDP would still have won, because you cannot take the children’s bread and cast to the dogs. The PDP in Akwa Ibom is a stronghold. The APC was only trying to force itself to power in Akwa Ibom, but if you check their style, you will see that it is not about leadership or service; they are more interested in taking over power. They have not prepared a solid platform for leadership and service.

manuel would still have won, are you really in touch with home and are you aware of the grievance of some people that Udom was forced on them?

They didn’t force Udom on the people; he was presented by the party and the people embraced him. Akwa Ibom is divided into three senatorial districts comprising Uyo, Ikot Ekpene and Eket districts. The zoning system in Akwa Ibom is clear; after Ikot Ekpene presented former Governor Godswill Akpabio; Eket presented Udom and after him, Uyo will be expected to present the next governor. Everybody cannot be governor; so if Udom has been given the opportunity to become governor, then he has God’s backing. If God had not been involved, he would not have succeeded. So, for him to be there it is a call to service and I see him as pragmatic and competent person who has listening ears. I also discovered that he is a friend of God, His ministers and the people. His name Udom means the right and Emmanuel means God is with us; so if you look at him, he has a destiny to lead people and you cannot say how good a man is until you give him an opportunity. Now that he has the opportunity; Akwa Ibom people should give him maximum support.

Bishop Mike Johncleanton

Another thing is that the APC should learn to handle losses, because the way the APC went about things in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and even Bayelsa, you could almost see that it wanted to gain those states by all means. Unfortunately, if the APC succeeds in taking over everywhere, it will not do well, because it needs a strong contender to make it focused and on its toes. The APC needs a strong opposition party to contend with it for it to always be in line; if it does not have opposition, it will not succeed.

The APC should not think it has become the greatest; God is the greatest. It should do its best to reposition Nigeria instead of striving to win everywhere.

You said if the court had ordered a rerun, Em-

Now that he has won; what advice do you have for him?

I see government as a continuous exercise. The former governor, Akpabio might have done 70 per cent or more; I expect Udom to look into things that Akpabio wanted to do but did not finish or he could not do and improve upon them or add whatever he wants. I expect him to bring together people of like minds, people who have the passion to develop Akwa Ibom and turn it into a world class centre of development, so that we can tell our children in the future what we were able to do. In terms of infrastructure, the last time I travelled home, I saw what Akpabio did.

There are many roads; the state is beautiful and peaceful.

I expect Udom Emmanuel to build on that. Akwa Ibom people are well-organised, so I expect Emmanuel to do things that will have impact on the citizens in terms of infrastructure and human capital development. Our people are not privileged to be counted among many of the millionaires who can support themselves and others and empower them; so I expect Governor Emmanuel to see how he can empower people.

‘Why battle against Senate President was intense’ continues

pg 34

realising that the seat of Deputy Senate President had gone to the PDP, took offence and adopted the argument of his party chiefs to the effect that Saraki and co were planning to hand over the Assembly to the PDP. Even though Buhari continue to restate his neutrality, it was clear to insiders in the Senate that the president was giving some backing to the SUF, whose members eventually emerged household names in the Villa, even as the Senate and House of Representaives’ presiding officers were virtually declared persona non grata in the power House.

It was gathered that the key issues that procured opposition for Saraki in his party was the insinuation that he would be difficult to dictate to and that his emergence could help in preparing the way for future shots at the presidency. He was also seen as one Senate President who would oppose the president in a bid to position himself for bigger roles in the future.

It was understood that Saraki’s travails upped in ante as Independence Day, October 1 drew close. Those who claimed to be in the know said that the Senate President’s traducers had concluded that he would not be allowed to preside over the

screening of would-be ministers so that the government would not face undue embarrassment. Perhaps, in line with that script, a suit at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) surfaced in September 2015, seeking to convict Saraki of alleged false asset declaration. It has to do with alleged false declaration of assets and it is a suit that has remained in court all the while. On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that Saraki should appear before the CCT for trial, a situation that has opened the channels for his trial at the CCT. Understanding his strategies Though it cannot be said that Saraki has scaled all huddles in his way, the fact that he has survived thus far should earn him some credits as one Senate President who, in spite of challenges, has stayed on course. That would raise some pertinent questions: what is his staying power thus far? How has he succeeded in winning and weaving the Senators around him?

One strategy Saraki has deployed since coming into office is his desire and passion for the work. Despite the huge distractions he has had to face since coming to office, his speeches have always been laced with desire to work for the country. He has practically been saying, let’s be allowed to

do our work. In many ways, that disposition has helped in not adding to his challenges and even when his traducers are not retreating, he seems to cut the image of a man focused on leaving a legacy.

It was a big surprise when Senators of the PDP announced less than 24 hours to the June 9 election on the Senate floor that Saraki would be their choice for the top job in the red chamber. The surprise was as a result of the fact that he was one of the leaders of the New PDP, whose departure to the APC strengthened the opposition and eventually swept the PDP out of power. Many had expected the PDP to take a pound of flesh against Saraki and back Senator Ahmad Lawan, who is reputed to be in the National Assembly.

But Saraki has also defied the stereotypes around him ahead of his emergence.

Though he was allowed to enter the Villa only on October 1, 2015, four clear months after he emerged the number three man, Saraki participated actively in the Independence anniversary, notwithstanding.

When the ministerial list was unveiled in October, it emerged that it was the first time a Senate President would not make input into the composition of the Federal Executive Council. In the days of the PDP, it was a taboo, equal to an impeachable of-

fence. Such a conduct in the previous dispensations could lead to the rejection of several of the nominees.

Saraki had handled the screening with some sort of maturity, refusing to orchestrate any moves against the nominees.

Indeed, he was reputed to have hosted Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the nominee from his state who had issued some negative statements from the party’s headquarters in the heat of the ‘war.’

But one thing many Senators have spoken about as a major Saraki magic was his conduct at the official visit of the Senate to the Presidential Villa late last year. Saraki had led his colleagues to the Villa to a diner that was hosted by President Buhari.

At that dinner, the Senate President reeled out the names and constituencies of each of his colleagues without making reference to any paper. President Buhari was said to be the first to jump up and give the Kwara senator a standing ovation and he was joined by the senators themselves.

Though for him the battles still remain on hand, the fact that he has survived the first eight months, contrary to projection of powerful forces looks like a huge achievement in itself. But nothing in his conduct is indicative he is tired of leaving the stage just yet.

36

thepolity

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Who’s in charge of PDP? DARE ADEKANMBI looks at the state of affairs in the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of its congresses and convention in the next few weeks as well as the raging issues in the party as its the national caucus meets this week.

Governor Mimiko

W

ILLIAM Butler Yeats’ famous poem, The Second Coming, aptly captures events in Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Apart from the crisis triggered by its sack from power, after 16 unbroken years of its rule, the party has become enmeshed in further problems, as gladiators battle one another for the control of the party under the guise of battling to save its agonising soul.

Consequently and as the 20th century Irish poet observes, things continue to turn and turn in a “widening gyre” in the party. “The falcon cannot hear the falconer; things fall apart; the centre cannot hold…The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”

The crisis in the PDP is expected to drag, particularly as the party prepares for its congresses which are scheduled for later this month, an event that will culminate in the holding of its convention where new national officers will be (s)elected and its amended constitution subjected to ratification and in line with the trumpeted reforms in the party.

So confusing are events in the party today that many observers ask the question: Who is in charge of the PDP? Almost all the organs that combine to make the PDP a body appear diseased and dysfunctional. From the National Working Committee (NWC) to its Board of Trustees (BOT), the party is entangled in one crisis or the other.

On December 16, an Abuja High Court ordered Chief Uche Secondus to vacate office as acting chairman of the party within 14 days. In granting the order, Justice Hussein Buba noted that since the chairmanship of the party had been zoned to the North-East, a replacement for Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, who resigned shortly after the election, should have come from the same zone. Secondus is from Rivers State in the South-South.

When, after the expiration of the 14 days, Secondus refused to comply with the court order, a former presidential aide on political matters, Ahmed Gulak, in favour of whom the order was issued, dramatically stormed Wadata Plaza, headquarters of the party, and declared himself acting national chairman. He was in company with a former presidential aide, Dr Doyin Okupe and others.

According to Gulak, “the court order of December 16, 2015 was that within 14 days, my humble self or any other person from the North-East Zone should be appointed to replace Dr Adamu Muazu who resigned his position as the national chairman of our party on May 20, 2015.

“My assumption of office is to prepare the ground for the NEC of the party to meet and take the most appropriate decisions for our great party. It should not be seen as a contention against anybody or group of persons. I crave

Secondus

Gulak

the indulgence of the other NWC members to partner positively with me in our efforts to pick up the pieces and rebuild our party,” he said.

But in a swift response, the national legal adviser of the party, Victor Kwon, said the judgment being brandished

by Gulak did not ask that he be made the party’s chairman, dismissing the former presidential aide as a fifth columnist working for some extraneous forces to further destabilise the party. “The PDP acknowledges the right of our members from the North-East to finish the tenure of Adamu Mu’azu. Consultation is ongoing to produce a person that will be acceptable to members nationwide to assume the office.”

Four national officers of the party, in a statement, called on the acting BOT chairman, Mr Bello Mohammed and the spokesperson for the party, Chief Olisah Metuh, to step aside following the trial for corrupt enrichment.

The officers who signed the statement are: the deputy national youth leader, Dennis Alonge-Niyi; the deputy national legal adviser Bashir Maidugu,; the deputy national organising secretary Okey Nnaedozie; and the deputy national publicity secretary, Abdullahi Jalo. They called on other organs of the party to save the party from those they called “fortune hunters who have hijacked its very soul.”

“This is a declaratory ruling where order of stay of execution from any other court has been granted. The NEC must do the needful by selecting a suitable national chairman from the North-East to complete their tenure in accordance with our tradition and the party’s constitution. In pursuance of this therefore, Prince Uche Secondus should revert back to his constitutional position of deputy national chairman of the party as a matter of urgency,” the officers said.

Rising from an emergency meeting in Abuja recently, the PDP Governors’ Forum (PDPGF) under the chairmanship of Ondo State governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, directed the acting national chairman of the party, Chief Uche Secondus to vacate office in compliance with the December 15 judgment of Justice Hussein Buba of an Abuja High Court, which asked Secondus to step aside as acting chairman within 14 days. In order that a vacuum would not be created with such decision, the PDP governors directed the national secretary, Professor Adewale Oladipo to assume the headship of the party’s secretariat.

The governors, who condemned Gulak’s action, described it as an invasion. They disclosed that machinery that would kick-start the process leading to the emergence of a new national chairman for the party would soon be set in motion through the appropriate party organ.

“We take cognisance of the judgment by the court in Abuja which ordered the acting chairman to vacate office for any other person from the North-East zone of Nige-

ria. Our party’s constitution has enough provisions for that and the necessary process has been put in motion.”

Mimiko added that “in recognizance of the judgment the court gave, we call on the National Secretary to take over the leadership of the party immediately and that is in line with the provisions of the PDP constitution.”

But Secondus, while reacting to the governors’ directive, said he remained the acting national chairman of the party, adding that he was not aware of leadership change.

He disclosed that the National Caucus of the party would meet this week to review the situation in the party and appoint Mu’azu’s replacement from the North-East. According to him, the status quo ante in the composition of the leadership of the party remains until a replacement is appointed from the North-East.

As national caucus meets…

The National Caucus of the PDP is meeting this week and the outcome of the meeting is expected to be deliberated upon by other organs of the party, including the National Executive Council (NEC) later in the week. What will however shape discussions at these meetings are the goal of the various camps within the party and the outcome of the meetings in Adamawa and Gombe states over a consensus candidate to fill the vacant position.

There is a group in the party that considers the PDP a heavily discredited brand, particularly with the revelations coming to light from the arms deal probe. For this, this group is pushing for a name change as well as a radical reform of the party. There is another group that is angling for the rebuilding of the party through a broadbased coalition with other parties and groups. Leaders of this group are already in talks with some disgruntled leaders of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) and other parties on the possibility of coming up with a new party. The third group does not see any reason for a change of brand name in the light of the Supreme Court verdicts that affirmed the elections of the governors of Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Abia states as well as the re-election of Governor Seriake Dickson in Bayelsa State. To this group, the possibility of the PDP winning Edo State later this year to increase the number of states in the party’s control to 13 makes name change an unthinkable option.

The common denominator is the various positions being canvassed by the groups within the party is the need for sweeping reforms and this observers expect to reflect from the way the party will conduct its congresses scheduled to begin nationwide by the end of February. Will the PDP allow internal democracy to prevail in its affairs?

Will the reform demolish the old order for a new one?

Time will tell.

37

opinion

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Remita-TSA: Partnership for accountability and good governance

By Remi Adebayo

F

EW if any follower of President Mohammadu Buhari would argue that his message of change could not have come at a better time than now considering the state of the Nigerian nation. It is an obvious fact that the nation was ripe for change, having reached a point where corruption was assuming a kleptomaniac trend; voting for a man, with an antecedent for zero tolerance for corruption was the certificate required to restore the nation to order.

Charting the path for his government in a highly challenged economy, already battered by the free fall of the price of crude oil and endemic corruption, only a disciplined government led by Buhari could sail through such difficult period.

President Buhari has not for once hidden his passion to fight corruption, believed to be the bane of the Nigerian nation. In doing this, all loopholes must be blocked while pursuing various legal processes to bring looters of public treasury into justice.

The Honourable Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, aptly captured the mind of the President at a media briefing on Tuesday, January 26, with these words: “We all know that ICT is now redefining how we live, how we do business, how services are delivered both in terms of Government to Government; as well as between Government and Citizens”.

According to him, “the time has now come to leverage the bountiful opportunities in the Communications Sector to generate additional revenue for government, now that the prices of oil have been on rapid decline at the international market, create employment for our teaming youths, improve access and enhance quality of service delivery and affordability in the country. Undoubtedly, this will ultimately enhance transparency and good governance in line with our CHANGE agenda on which this government rode into power”.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the advent of information technology has changed the global space. When President Buhari directed all government ministries, departments and agencies to immediately join the Treasury Single Account (TSA) scheme with September 15 deadline in 2015, it was greeted with commendations and uncertainty.

The TSA is one intervention through which payment and collection is made centrally to the coffers of government. It is worth noting that the company behind this feat is an indigenous company that has been widely misunderstood in view of misconceptions around its earnings. SystemSpecs, fully owned by Nigerians, is the copyright owner of Remita, a software designed to provide shared services technology platform for companies, individuals, government agencies and banks to make and receive payment with ease. Through a technology anchored by savvy minds, Remita is integrated with all commercial banks in Nigeria including over 500 OFIs, ERP systems and portals of many organisations for the stated purpose.

Verifiable records indicate that Remita indeed passed through rigorous processes to outwit other firms, including foreign ICT providers, before it was selected to

provide the electronic payment technology to power the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account initiative. The process which began in October 2011 included an open, competitive and due process evaluation involving the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), with support from their foreign consultants.

On December 14, 2011, the contract between CBN and SystemSpecs for the provision of Remita as the gateway for the payment and collection of government revenue was consummated at an event where the CBN Deputy Director Operations and the Director ICT signed for the apex bank with the Executive Directors Business Development and Technology Services signing for SystemSpecs.

Preceding the engagement of Remita by the CBN and the OAGF in 2011 to implement the TSA initiative of the Federal Government, the apex bank had written to the OAGF foreclosing the feasibility of the project due to inadequate technology, even from their foreign options. However, after three competitive presentations, the evaluation panel became convinced that a wholly Nigerian- conceived and developed Remita met all the requirements highlighted by the OAGF and its foreign consultants to support the e-payment and e-collection of government receipts being the main mandate of the TSA. Remita was successfully deployed in January 2012 to directly pilot 108 MDAS. That effort has grown to over 900 ministries, departments and agencies, together with all commercial banks and over 400 micro finance banks already linked to offer seamless payment to government with ease, both for the payee and government.

The fact that a fully indigenous software solution, Remita, could be chosen where

others failed; and for SystemSpecs to emerge through a transparent process in a lawful and competitive business transaction for unprecedented technology solution deserves some commendations. The Remita story is one that must be encouraged as a pathway towards the quest for wealth creation via information technology and intellectual property, as applicable in the developed world.

The success of Remita is in tandem with the mandate of the present administration’s quest to electronically track and monitor all inflows and disbursements, thereby enhancing transparency in government business. Through the process, government designated officials to track all MDAs’ individual balances on a single screen at any given time.

The Remita platform also assists to monitor outflows, keep and present comprehensive log of all approving officers, to whom payment is made and the purpose for which the payment was made. The software, no doubt allows government to centrally monitor all inflows and outflows.

It also allows each organ of government to monitor who is paying what amount, where the payment is made and the purpose for the payment.

Additionally, Remita has proved valuable in ensuring online validation of receipts through designated officers with the mandate to confirm any presented online receipt to curtail false presentation of receipts in government business transactions.

Moreover, these processes are user friendly.

In collaboration with other industry players, Remita allows payers to walk into any bank, including the growing micro finance banks in Nigeria, make their cash payment and the TSA domiciled in

the CBN is instantly credited. Payers can equally opt to log into the Internet Banking Platform of their banks or use their Visa, Verve, Union or MasterCard to remit payment online. Such can also be made through payers’ Mobile Wallets or at Remita.net, including integrated website of participating MDAs. Having successfully implemented the first phase, the second phase in line with the contract, has since commenced with a meeting of stakeholders where a 2.5% fee was suggested to be charged by stakeholders. The committee which had representatives of the CBN, OAGF, banks and SystemSpecs rejected the suggested fee but pegged it at 1%. This was contained in a CBN letter written to SystemSpecs detailing the renewed contract, including the sharing ratio of the 1% accruals, with SystemSpecs, the Platform Providers receiving 50%, collecting banks - 40% and CBN - 10%.

SystemSpecs came to the spotlight due to the accumulated accruals when President Buhari ordered the closure of all Federal Government’s accounts held in commercial banks. Prior to this period remittances came in trickles. However, in full compliance with the Presidential directive, the surge triggered by massive accrual around September and October 2015 unsettled the contract agreement, making government to demand payback and downward renegotiation of the contract with SystemSpecs.

As a result, over N3.8 billion representing 50% of the 1% contracted fee was returned to the CBN in obedience to the instruction of the apex bank through its letter dated October 27, 2015.

There is no doubt that the Remita software is one of the best things to have happened to the anti-corruption drive of this government, in that it provides a ready working template upon which government can block loopholes and conduit pipes from where corruptible public officials drain the nation’s resources.

In line with the roadmap clearly mapped out by the Federal Government as contained in the SMART initiative of the Ministry of Communications, SystemSpecs should be embraced as a patriotic corporate citizen positioned to answer some, if not all of the posers for which government intends to get answers.

As an indigenous firm, government ought to reward excellence and protect this global brand. In the place of reprimand, SystemSpecs should be celebrated and be treated as a responsible partner in the national effort to scale up accountability in government, human capital development and job creation in this trying phase of insurgency and ethnic agitation.

Already, testimonials attesting to the success of the Remita solution is beginning to gain attention as a few African governments are already making enquiries preparatory to them enlisting this success story to be replicated in their countries in appreciation of the use of technology to combat corruption and promote good governance.

Nigeria can be spotted on the global space for achieving this creative and noble feat, this time by exporting the “Made in Nigeria” software technology to solve global financial and remittance challenges. This is indeed a feat!

38

opinion

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Of corruption, NASS and Obasanjo’s antecedents

By Dare Atoye

F

ORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo’s latest attack on the eighth National Assembly is misplaced. Granted that Obasanjo had an axe to grind with the fourth and fifth National Assembly, especially the fifth session, for frustrating his planned tenure elongation through his ill-fated third term agenda, should he then commit himself, for as long as he lives, to a selfish project of whimsically and continuously denigrating the institution of the legislature?

Obasanjo would appear, from the outset of his administration on May 29, 1999, to hate the legislature. Such disposition was in tandem with his dictatorial approach as a retired Army general and former military Head of State, who would love to rule without checks and balances. He had indicated his intention to subjugate the legislature by influencing its choice of leadership. In the Senate, he had ensured the emergence of Senator Evans Enwerem as senate president at the expense of a more popular Chuba Okadigbo, while in the House he had pushed through the candidature of Salisu Buhari as speaker.

But for legislators like Okadigbo, who succeeded Enwerem, and later lost the seat in the supremacy battle with Obasanjo, and Ghali Umar Na’Abba who replaced Buhari as speaker and served out his term, Obasanjo would have put the federal legislature in his pocket for eight years. Indeed, Obasanjo had fancied a situation in which he would issue orders and the legislature would merely rubberstamp them. However, both Okadigbo and Na’Abba had galvanised the institution to fight for and defend the independence of the institution.

But the question to ask at this juncture is: what qualifies Obasanjo to continue to lambast members of the National Assembly on the issue of accountability and corruption? This question becomes imperative against the backdrop of the ignoble role he played in the N50million-bribe per legislator in 2006 to vote for elongation of his tenure during the ill-fated constitution amendment that was facilitated for that sole purpose.

THE recent face-off between Dr. Tope Aluko, the former Ekiti State Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Ekiti State governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose once again goes to confirm that Nigeria politicians are just one complicated piece of work.

Aluko had alleged that the military was used to influence the outcome of the June 21, 2014 governorship election in the state that made Fayose the governor. And to think that this same Aluko was a trusted aide of Governor Fayose until things fell apart between them! So why is Aluko now singing like a canary? According to the Fayose camp, Aluko is gripping because Fayose refused to appoint him as his Chief of Staff as “he could not be entrusted with such a sensitive position.”

Fayose added: “From Aluko’s ranting, one could see that he wants to poison our waters because he did not get the position he expected in our administration. He complained that he was not made the Chief of Staff, how could somebody with great lust for money and insatiable drive to jump from one camp to the other be trusted with such a sensitive post? I was advised by well-meaning Ekiti people not to trust him with sensitive positions because of his greed.”

Yet, Fayose trusted this Aluko so much that he was made the chief agent during the infamous election, he was trusted well enough to get the waiver that Fayose needed. He was trusted well enough to serve as head of security and intelligence for Fayose’s campaign and to do the dirty work on the Election Day. He was trusted well enough to be Fayose’s principal and only witness during the tribunal hearings and obviously; he must have been trusted with a lot more that are yet to be disclosed.

Reading the interview that Dr. Aluko granted Sahara Reporters, an online newspaper, and the details of the planning and funding that went into the said rigging, one could not but wonder at the extent people would go to occupy a political office. It also portrayed Aluko as a character with integrity problem, despite his level of education.

To me, Aluko’s motive can be encapsulated thus: “he left me dry and cold…I wasn’t given the post I wanted…I must bring him down with all the dirty details to which I am privy.” Why did he not talk before things went sour

Now, is it right for OBJ to point a finger of guilt at another supposedly corrupt person? Obasanjo is disqualified in all ramifications to pontificate about anti-corruption war and should no longer relish in putting others on the spot on the issue of corruption. It is indeed preposterous that he is trying to re-write history, thinking he can pull the cloak over our faces. Nigerians, especially those who were direct victims of the corrupt practices that were redolent in the Obasanjo administration, cannot be deceived by his seeming sanctimoniousness.

The truth remains that it is the height of moral corruption and insincerity for Obasanjo to selectively deploy the EFCC to hunt down perceived political enemies and those who were not in his good books. This, however, is not to excuse those hapless victims.

The point being made here is that selectivity in the fight against corruption which was the bane of the Obasanjo methodology and which President Muhammadu Buhari is now being accused of, is a dubious way of prosecuting the anti-graft crusade. For Buhari, he has the opportunity to rejig the strategy to drive the anti-graft war. But unfortunately for Obasanjo, whose opportunity to recreate a new Nigeria has come and gone without taking it, he no longer has the moral voice to criticise the National

frontrow with Toyin Willoughby Muyi 0805 500 1769 toyeenz@yahoo.com

This Fayose/Aluko face-off

between them?

And why did he come out at all, knowing the enormity of what he was saying? Obviously, he knew that with the revelations he was making, he had conveniently walked himself into jail for perjury, which I am told attracts three years imprisonment. Perhaps, it is this knowledge that made him decide that if he was going to jail he was not going alone. But it is only in Nigeria that such a thing would happen and the person would still be walking about freely. In saner climes, he would have been arrest-

Assembly or any arm of government for that matter on the issue of corruption.

The legacy of corruption in Nigeria would appear quite evident in the squandering of over $16 billion on the power sector under the Obasanjo administration at the end of which the administration left Nigeria in darkness. In the oil sector in which Obasanjo was the minister, the massive fraud in the award of contracts at the NNPC remains one of the filthiest in the annals of corruption in Nigeria.

Was it not for his pecuniary interest that he established the so-called Transcorp Conglomerate and sold Nigeria’s prime assets to this group?

Besides, how does one relate with the report that under his administration, as much as N231.4 billion was allegedly withdrawn from the Federation Account without due process or National Assembly’ authorisation? (Daily Sun of February 5, 2009). How does one describe his N7­ -billion-library purportedly built with illegally acquired public funds? Is it not particularly curious that Obasanjo’s latest attack on the National Assembly came at the time there were indications that the Federal Government may revisit the Halliburton and Siemens cases involving some foreign nationals and in which some former public officials have been indicted and yet to be prosecuted; whereas those involved and indicted in other countries are already serving jail terms? The questions to ask are: did these scandals not take place under Obasanjo’s government?

Was one of his aides not indicted in the scandals?

Indeed, rather than wax sanctimonious on corruption issue, which I think is a lame strategy to divert attention from himself and his past, Obasanjo should submit himself to a public inquiry to answer for his years of public service in Nigeria. It is after he has come out clean that his attacks on the National Assembly and, indeed any other arm of government, will be meaningful in the context of driving the anti-graft war on the strength of his so-called record of accountability in office.

• Mr Atoye, General Editor of The Congresswatch magazine, contributed this piece from Abuja (aristotle001us@yahoo.com).

ed for being an active participant in such illegality.

Having said this, what then is the essence of Aluko’s revelations? What is going to become of Fayose? Truly, the man has survived more intriguing situations in the past; is he going to survive this too? His immunity (for now) protects him from prosecution and impeachment is not in the reckoning since he has members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly in his pockets, having chased the minority opposition APC members out of town and replaced them with his own people. However, as someone rightly pointed out “immunity does not last forever”.

On Aluko’s part, he has obviously engaged himself in a very dangerous adventure. Yet, he has stuck his neck out. Is it because he had no choice seeing that either way, he loses? My take on this is that this goes beyond mere desire for revenge for being short-changed by Fayose, I think there is a divine force behind Aluko’s revelations.

What the Yoruba call eedi (taking actions, even selfdestructive ones) while under inexplicable esoteric influences. But for his allegations, Nigerians and Ekiti people in particular would not have had concrete evidence of what actually transpired in that 2014 election.

And perhaps it was designed to open our eyes to the fact that God will not come down with his army to fight for Nigeria. We will have to make the change ourselves.

God might have used an evil-minded person as Aluko to expose the ill that goes on in the quest for power. And if you ask me, very few politicians across Nigeria’s political landscape are not guilty of corruption. What this government can do is to build on the military investigation and prosecute everybody involved in order to recover our money.

FROM MY MAILBOX Re: You see yourself now IT is true that a father has the right to beat his child, but he has no moral justification to prevent him from crying?

We should first thank our foreign “friends” for admitting that the funds were stolen. We have a saying that the bigger thief is the one who receives stolen goods.

—Dayo Oladeji, Saki, Oke Ogun: 08027278748

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7 February, 2016

ON THE

Sunday Tribune

With Bolanle Bolawole turnpot@gmail.com 07052631058

lord’sday NDDC: Marginalising Ondo, others

I

T is only in the Nigeria of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where impunity reigned supreme and clearlystated constitutional provisions were trampled underfoot, that the mindless marginalisation of Ondo, Edo, Imo, Abia (to some extent) and Cross River states in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) could have flourished.

Four out of the nine members of the NDDC, namely Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers (the so-called “Big Four”) have maintained a vice-like stranglehold over the three key management positions of the commission to the total exclusion of the “Small Five”. This is one instance in a democracy where majority did not carry the vote! Worse, it has not even been allowed a voice! Those who thought this glaring injustice would be corrected under an APC “CHANGE” administration must have been jolted when Mrs Ibim Semenitari, erstwhile Commissioner for Information under Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State (now Minister of Transportation) was named the new NDDC Managing Director/CEO by Buhari. Is this the hand of Amaechi or simply ignorance of the facts on the part of Buhari?

Have the oppressed “Small Five” slept on their rights, as it were?

One: NDDC was created by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration on June 5, 2000 with headquarters in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State. It has nine members. But since its creation, only four of the nine have monopolised the key management positions of Managing Director\CEO, Executive Director (Finance and Administration); and Executive Director (Projects). The four monopolists are Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers states. Delta has occupied all three positions for a total number of 15 years. Bayelsa has been MD and ED, F&A for total number of eight years.

Akwa Ibom has bagged the ED (Projects) twice and MD/CEO once for a total number of 11 years while Rivers State has bagged all three positions for a total number of 10 years.

The so-called minnows; Ondo, Edo, Imo, Abia, and Cross River have not smelled any of the three positions, not for one fleeting moment. As for the post of Chairman, which the law stated must be rotated amongst the members in an alphabetical order; this has been scrupulously adhered to. I suspect this to have been so because the post is likely more ceremonial than executive.

Two: Obasanjo, who started NDDC, played by the rules. If other presidents who came after him have done likewise, we would not have had the lop-sidedness that has all but vitiated the raison d’être for the NDDC. Three: Following the alphabetical order rule, it also favours the “Big Four”, two of whom (Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom) have thus also been chairman, in addition to their monopolising the three management positions. This is not only unjust but also a sure invitation to anarchy. It is in breach of the provisions of the law setting up the NDDC and stands in clear contradiction of its vision and mission. The NDDC was established “with the mission of facilitating the rapid, even, and sustainable development of the Niger Delta into a region that is economically prosperous, socially stable, ecologically regenerative, and politically peaceful”. The marginalisation of five out of nine member-

rectly read the times and put the interest of Ondo people over political considerations by reaching out to the Presidency firmly on this issue. Charity, they say, begins from home; therefore, Mimiko should mend fences and enlist the full force of the South-West in this fight. He does not need to cross-carpet to do that. Four: This is one task for the energetic, purposeful, and forward-looking new Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi. He should waste no time in rallying the entire South-West to robustly engage the Presidency on this issue.

Finally, the other marginalised states of Abia, Edo, Cross River and Imo should rally round Ondo to call the bluff of the so-called “Big Four” and get justice. The time to act together and shun divide-and-rule is now!

Re: MTN’s belated penitence states negatives the “even development” of the region while also threatening its “social stability” and “political peace.” If the top management positions were this unrepresentative, it is better imagined what the commission’s staffing, citing of development projects, and contract awards would be! Were the aggrieved states to resort to militancy to press home their demands, the peace of the region; nay, of Nigeria as a whole, will be breached. One of the NDDC’s mandate is “identifying factors inhibiting the development of the Niger Delta region and assisting the member-states in the formulation and implementation of policies to ensure sound and efficient management of the resources of the ... region.” This marginalisation is one of such “inhibiting factors” and redressing the imbalance is one sure way to promote and “assist ... even and sustainable development” of NDDC member-states.

Ondo State, being the fifth in the order of “importance” as per the quantum of crude oil produced from its soil, should produce the current MD/CEO of NDDC, rather than Rivers state producing it the second time; the first being in 2009. Interestingly, whereas

both Ondo and Rivers are PDP-controlled states, the former is the only NDDC state that gave APC/Buhari majority votes in the last presidential election. I suspect that the clout of Amaechi and the reticence about or hostility of APC leaders from the South-West towards Ondo’s Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who is the chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, must have cost the state the NDCC plum post. But the South-West APC as well as the Presidency would be making grievous mistakes to politicise or reduce this crying case for fairness and justice to selfish motivations and petty political squabbles.

First: I, therefore, recommend that the APC/Buhari presidency do justice as well as compensate Ondo State for its support in the last presidential election by giving it the well-deserved MD/CEO position of NDDC. I hope Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is listening! Fair is fair, as they say. Two: The entire political leadership of the South-West must rise up as one man and rally round Ondo to make this fight that of the entire region. Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu should please lead the way. Three: Governor Mimiko should cor-

INSURGENCY: Are we winning this war?

OFFICIAL government explanation is that since Buhari assumed office last May, the tempo and tenor of the war against Boko Haram has changed; the fight has been taken to the insurgents and no more do our forces cut and run from the criminals. The momentum is now with us and levels have changed; or, as they say, power has changed hands and we are now firmly ensconced in the driver’s seat. Evidence of this is that, whereas Boko Haram under erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan controlled a swath of territory in the North-East of the country bigger than many countries in Europe, it has now been flushed out of such territories. So audacious was Boko Haram in those terrible days that it sent advance notice to communities to be attacked and also hosted its flag over captured territories, which included the villages of very important military and civilian leaders, among whom was erstwhile Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh. Mercifully, no more!

We recognise and salute this achievement by Buhari and our gallant armed forc-

es. However, it is too early to rejoice or get complacent over Boko Haram. If anything, the war is far from won yet. Apart from the fact that the Chibok girls are yet to be rescued and Boko Haram leader, Shekau smoked out of hiding and brought to justice, the bombing campaign Boko Haram still conducts all over the place with audacious impunity (pardon, is there any grammar like that?) is unacceptable. Buhari says the insurgents’ resort to “soft targets” is evidence that its ability to go on the offensive has been degraded; maybe, but the “soft targets” they pick at will is unacceptable.

Hardly a week passes without Boko Haram wreaking havoc on so-called soft targets.

Only last week, it stormed Dalori, a village just four kilometres outside of Maiduguri, and operated unchallenged for hours, leaving death and destruction in its wake. I say this is unacceptable! Add the burgeoning Biafra resurgence and come-backing Niger Delta militancy to the bill and we could, truly, be sitting on gunpowder kegs.

I feel obliged to let you know that I felt greatly impressed by your write-up in last week’s Sunday Tribune. What with the comprehensive catalogue of do-goods that our country did for fellow Blacks, our kith and kin (?) in South Africa in their critical times of need! I remember that apart from what our leaders did, which you rightly highlighted, our artistes, led by the irrepressible Sonny Okosun, with his hit song “Papa’s Land”, did a great job of sensitising and mobilising the world against apartheid. As you pointed out, it is sad that the Blacks, after their emancipation, repaid us evil for good. And regarding the actions of our leaders on the fine imposed on MTN, I concur with your words of exasperation that “what specie of human beings are we?”

One can only pray God to imbue our leaders as well as the led with a true sense of patriotism, commitment to “Papa’s Land”, and the fear of God. For therein lies this country’s march to true development.

– 07088548496 It is reasonable to suspect foul play (concerning the “discount” offered MTN by some officials). Many Nigerians still have not yet come to terms with the fact that South Africa will pull Nigeria down at the drop of a feather. MTN, with the connivance of some Nigerians, is just doing the South African thing: Snob and rubbish Nigeria! But God is our refuge. Well done!

—08022269809 I read your piece “MTN’s belated penitence.” For once, you did not write like an APC card-carrying member. Well done!

Please can you advice Nigerians on what to do in the event MTN fails to pay the fine?

—Destiny, Benin City Great thanks for your beautiful “MTN’s belated penitence!” EFCC needs to investigate the waiver of US$1.3 billion. Also, the Presidency needs to monitor NCC’s operational commitment to both national security and telecom consumers’ interests. Nigeria needs to be secure.

—Tayo Onanuga

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7 February, 2016

language&style

by Samson Dare 0805 500 1770 samsonadare@yahoo.co.uk

A reader writes…

H

ERE is the opinion of one of our readers: “The good work you are doing in this column is well appreciated sir. One only hopes that the authority of Nigerian Tribune realizes that the column is doing so much to boost the sales of the Sunday editions. It hasn’t been long since I started reading the column but have resolved never to miss the Sunday Tribune as long as the column remains. While we are awaiting the treatment of ‘Sample 1’ of the last edition, kindly help to explain the difference between ‘job’ and ‘work’ and also ‘in spite of’ and ‘despite of’. Thank you sir. Yemisi Ajala.”

I’m profoundly grateful to our numerous readers for finding the time to read our modest efforts. The motivation and inspiration to forge ahead have come from positive responses from our readers. I thank Yemisi Ajala and numerous others for their kind words. God bless you all.

Now what is the difference between ‘in spite of’ and ‘despite of’? Please note that the particle of in ‘despite of’ is not part of the expression. It should be dropped.There is actually no semantic or usage difference between ‘in spite of’ and ‘despite’.

Please read the following sentences: 1) In spite of his reputed brilliance, he has no flair for language. 2) In spite of his poverty, he donates generously to humanitarian causes. 3) The lawyer has lost many cases in spite of his competence and industry.

4) In spite of the curfew, a few people were seen transacting business. 5) In spite of repeated encouragement, the family was living in perpetual fear. 6) He loves beautiful shoes in spite of his simplicity. 7) The country is experiencing peace and stability in spite of the hate campaigns that characterized the pre-election period. 8) The team gained the upper hand in spite of its initial lacklustre performance.

9) Nigerians love their country in spite of their leaders’ insensitivity to their welfare. 10) Security is still a challenge in spite of the ubiquitous presence of the police.

Please note that ‘in spite’ should be treated as two words.

Some writers erroneously render it as a single word: *’inspite’. This is wrong.

Now we illustrate the usage of the word ‘despite’. As we have noted, there is little or no semantic and usage difference between ‘in spite of’ and ‘despite’: 1) We were able to trace our way to the palace despite the darkness. 2) Some cases of armed robbery were reported despite the police presence. 3) The building collapsed despite the high quality of the materials used. 4) Nigeria is experiencing economic failure despite the huge human and natural resources it is blessed with. 5) The teachers went on strike despite the Governor’s threats and promises. 6) The police are bent on taking the case to court despite the parties’ decision to resolve the case amicably. 7) She loves her husband despite his wellknown extramarital affairs. 8) The food went round despite the initial fear that it might not. 9) The villagers stood their ground despite the soldiers’ invasion and brutalities. 10) He refused to accept the offer despite the passionate appeal.

Mr Yemisi Ajala would also like to know the difference between ‘job’ and ‘work’. The semantic area of each of the words is so vast that the best we can do in the situation is to illustrate the usage of each of them in our own sentences in the hope that illustrating sentences would help clarify the difference:1) The president has promised to create one million jobs. 2) Most of the fresh graduates want to secure jobs in the banking industry. 3) He has no plan to marry now because he has no job. 4) It is your job to ensure that the environment is clean all the time. 5) Increased technology has led to loss of numerous jobs across the globe. 6) There are similarities between the job of a policeman and that of a soldier. 7) The job assigned to me is quite challenging.

8) The Nigerian youths should be taught how to create jobs. 9) When you finish that job, I’ll give you another one. 10) He received all the training on the job. 11) This job is not meant for lazy people. 12) The

Sunday Tribune

line

life

with Niyi Osundare

Random Blues jobs that are available should be advertised in the media.

Let’s illustrate the usage of the noun ‘work’: 1) Work as a form of exertion is meant to bring satisfaction to the people who undertake it. 2) This work is highly demanding. 3) Some ignorant people do not regard intellectual activity as a form of work. 4) Work does not kill; it could even be a form of healing. 5) In many government offices, little work is done throughout any given day. 6) The boy had not completed the school work before electricity went off. 7) This assignment requires hard work and diligence. 8) Work should be commensurate with pay. 9) The youths who can’t find work to do in the city should go back to the village. 10) The works of William Shakespeare, like all literary works, are meant to give readers pleasure. 11) My work requires me to collaborate with other people. 12) The common slogan among employers of labour is ‘no work no pay’.

Let me hope that those sentences have helped to answer whatever question may be bothering the mind of Mr Yemisi Ajala and those of others who are anxious to understand the difference between ‘job’ and ‘work’. There are contexts, as the sentences illustrate, in which they can be substituted for each other. In other words, there are contexts in which they are synonymous. One major difference that is worth noting is that while the noun ‘work’ is generally treated as an uncountable noun, which it is, the noun ‘job’ is a countable noun.

The only exception to the rule of the noun ‘work’ being an uncountable one is sentence number (10) where it refers to literary ‘works’.

Sample 1: “Due to some dint of good luck and fate, Yohanna was rescued from the rubbles of his home by a good Samaritan, who later handed him over to his mother.”(Our Ordeal at the Hands of Boko Haram Boys, The Nation on Sunday, January 10, 2016) We are interested in the expression, “due to some dint of good luck and fate.” The expression ends with the words: good luck and fate. I had thought that ‘good luck’ and ‘fate’ belong to the same semantic field. How possible is it to talk about fate without thinking or talking about good luck and bad luck and vice versa? It is my well-considered opinion, therefore, that the last part of the expression, ‘and fate’ should be struck out. We are now left with the chunk, “due to some dint of good luck.”

Even the initial part of the expression, “due to some” is a strange attachment which is alien to the English idiom. The idioms available in the English lexicon are: by virtue of; by dint of; in virtue of. We must relief the expression of that encumbrance (“due to some”) Now read the following sentences: 1) He secured that job by virtue of his knowledge of French. 2) He is loved by everyone by virtue of his humility. 3) He was able to stay for so long in England by virtue of his citizenship of that country. 4) The General Manager earned a third term in office by virtue of his managerial acumen. 5) The new newspaper took over the market within a short time by virtue of high quality package and production. 6) Wole Soyinka won the Nobel Prize for literature by virtue of a highly fertile imagination and profound language. 7) He became prominent in the political party by virtue of craftiness and patience. 8) Mohammadu Buhari became the president of Nigerian by virtue of integrity and transparency. 9) He became a billionaire by virtue of talent and sheer industry. 10) He was able to gain the hearts of many people in the town by virtue of generosity.

Again, read the following sentences: 1)The lady became a judge of the Supreme Court by dint of hard work and determination. 2) By dint of threats and bullying, he became the leader of the gang. 3) We were able to ward off the spiritual attacks by dint of relentless prayer. 4) I survived the economic hard times by dint of frugality and severe self-denial. 5) The family overcame the limiting forces of poverty by dintof strategic thinking and determination.6) He escaped being killed by armed robbers by dint of vigilance.

Mr Yemisi Ajala would also like to know the difference between ‘job’ and ‘work’. The semantic area of each of the words is so vast that the best we can do in the situation is to illustrate the usage of each of them in our own sentences in the hope that illustrating sentences would help clarify the difference

We nurse, every one of us, Invisible wounds of the war of life Hear? We nurse, every one of us, Invisible wounds of the war of life A few moments of fleeting calm Many months of inexplicable strife

One inch of jubilant smile Trailed by furrowsof malignant frown Say, one inch of jubilant smile Trailed by furrows of malignant frown In the thicket of the wildest thorns Lies the rare, coveted crown

Want to know the secret of the bird?

Ask its feathers Say, want to know the secret of the bird?

Ask its feathers The tree which stands like a lone sentry Is the silent veteran of many weathers

“Because I can not see it It does not exist”, says the fool Say, “Because I can not see it It does not exist”, concludes the fool But how many drops lie hazed and hidden In life’s wide and wondrous pool?

Envy not the man with the sprawling etu* Who knows what hides beneath his flowing robe Say, envy not the man with the sprawling etu We never know what hides beneath his flowing robe Life’s verdict sometimes lurks in a little lane Like a vengeful executioner with a hidden rope

*A rich woven Yoruba cloth.

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7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

With Rita Okonoboh rosarumese@gmail.com 08053789087

tribunechurch Adoration Ministry Prayer Ground.

Father Mbaka

Mbaka: The fiery cleric from the East

Controversial Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka came into the news again last week following the mixed reactions that trailed his transfer to another parish. JUDE OSSAI chronicles how the reverend father received the transfer news by the authorities of the Catholic Church, various comments and the involvement of political party towards the development.

T

O some, the founder of Adoration Ministry of Enugu (AMEN), Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka, is not only a charismatic preacher, but a gospel singer. But to others, he is a controversial social crusader who is undecided whether to pull off his cassock to join politics or not.

It was observed that recent event has again brought Mbaka to the front burner in the media as his transfer by the Catholic Church has continued to generate mixed reactions.

The development, however, got more attention when politicians waded into the matter, describing Mbaka’s transfer as uncalled for. The Southeast caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC), reacted that the transfer of Mbaka to Our Lady Parish, Emene out of Christ the King Parish, GRA, where he had served for over a decade and had established a popular prayer ministry, the Adoration Prayer Ministry is a punitive measure.

True prophets are not materialistic —Anifowose

Pg44

The Spokesman of the party Osita Okechukwu said, “Our people need more liberation clergy, especially when one is endowed with healing powers like Father Ejike Mbaka. The liberation clergy were instrumental in returning Latin American countries back to democracy in the 70s and 80s. They pulled down Pinochet in Chile and toppled dictators across the globe. We should harvest and culture them instead of hounding them.”

Reacting to Reverend Father Mbaka’s farewell speech where he said he was going to suffer as a result of the transfer, the party said it was wrong to punish the fearless priest for his prophecies which has proved to be from God. Okechukwu noted, “Whereas we accept that the transfer of priests is a routine exercise of the great Catholic Church; however, we do not wholly accept a situation where the church allows external forces to influence transfer as the Mbaka’s case suggests. Otherwise, future liberation

clergy who speak truth to power will be hamstrung to the detriment of the society.”

“Our major concern is about his security and the fate of his flocks who are mostly the down trodden who may find it difficult to go to Emene for salvation and healings.

We frown at anything that will put Father Mbaka in harms way or deny his flocks healing.”

“As a party we have watched with concern and trepidation the criticism, the attack, assault and unpleasant comments hurled against Mbaka since he providentially prophesied that President Buhari would win the 2015 elections. Even the church did not spare him; he was called unprintable names, yet his prophecy came true. We are happy that he was vindicated,” Okechukwu said.

“We had thought that His Lordship, Bishop Calistus Onaga could have retained him at the Adoration Ground, as the Bishop Emeritus Gbuji did, because of

Those who call me Babangida Aliyu’s errand boy are ignorant —Rev Dada, Niger State CAN chairman

Pg43

security of his life and easy access by his flocks,” he added.

Part of the lamentation of the cleric was his concern about the quantum of the assets of the adoration ministry. He noted that was his main burden for now; “where am I going to keep the assets of the ministry? And I am going to stay in one small room; that has only one small bed, and one small table and little toilet and bathroom. Where I am going to keep all the adoration assets, the cleric asked.

Although, the Secretary-General of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Reverend Father Ralph Madu had told the media that the said transfer of priests within the catholic church is a “normal church procedure, he pointed out that “Mbaka’s own is not an exception”.

“The Bishop has the right to post any priest wherever he feels his service would be more useful to the church” he was reported to have said.

However, when Tribune Church visited the relocated ground of the Adoration Ministry of Enugu at Umuoji, Emene, a suburb in Enugu-East Local Government Area of Enugu State last Wednesday, the premises was not filled with people as it was not a day for worship. However, few of the worshippers who addressed themselves as workers said they had kept aside the issue of the transfer of their Reverend Continues on

pg44

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7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

With Olaide Sokoya ollydesanmi@yahoo.com 08074497425

churchnews

Vatican: My elevation not by merit but honour from God —Abia Catholic Priest Celestine Ihejirika -Umuahia

T

HE parish priest of St. Michael’s Catholic parish, Very Reverend Monsignor Dominic Okechukwu Ibe, has said his recent elevation as a papal chaplain by Vatican was not because of his merit, but an honour done to him

by God. Reverend Monsignor Okechukwu Ibe who stated this shortly after the thanksgiving and reception in honour of him by parishioners of St. Michael’s Parish Catholic Church Ugwunchara, Umuahia Abia State dioceses noted he was overwhelmed by the elevation. Bearing in mind that he never expected it even as he offered himself to the service of God. According to him, it was the Lord’s doing having been chosen among four other parish priests in the state by the Vatican, adding that, “I will use the elevation to win more souls for Christ, especially on the younger generation.”

In his message the Catholic priest thanked the entire parishioners and friends of St. Michael’s church for honouring him in his lifetime and urged them to remain committed in the service of God. In a welcome address, the occasion chairman, planning committee of the event, Reverend Ndudi Izuagba, noted that Monsignor, indeed, deserved the honour, just as he said it will add another mile stone in the history of St. Michael’s Church Parish.

According to Izuagba, the honour of Monsignor is an

appointment that is given, not to the most intelligent priest, nor the most holy priest or hardworking priest, but to those who have distinguished themselves in the area of faithful commitment to their pastoral works and those who have promoted the activities of their dioceses, he said.

Other parishioners who spoke with Tribune Church at the event include: chairman on the

occasion, Honourable Nkem Okoro, Chairman parish council Chief James Ngwu and Mr. Emmanuel Eke Kalu, all hail the elevation and appointment of Monsignor Ibe, just as they described it as an honour ordained

by God. According to them, God has done the parish proud by indicating the parish priest to be among those chosen by Vatican for the prestigious elevation.

From left, chairman Fortune Games Limited Senator Ayodele Arise; Executive Secretary, National Christian Pilgrimage Commission (NCPC), Mr Kennedy Opara; chairman of the commission, Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh and Director-General, National Lottery Commission, Mr Adolphus Ekpe, exchanging the contract agreement between NCPC and Fortune Games Limited in Abuja. PHOTO: SUNDAY OSUNRAYI.

Ex-NUJ chief for consecration as Bishop today FORMER Chairman of Osun State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Pastor Seun Adeoye, has become the Bishop of Sufficient Grace and Truth Ministry (SGTM).

He is expected to be consecrated today in the church.

Adeoye’s emergence as Bishop was officially announced by Bishop Isaac Ibitayo and Apostle Laolu Oyediran during a special church service recently at SGTM’s National Headquarters, Rehoboth Arena, Oba-Road, Okinni in Egbedore Local Government of Osun State.

In his message, the President of Liberty International College of Bishops, Bishop Adeyemo-John Ojekunle, explained that the new Bishop-Designate was elected based on his commitment and dedication towards the work of God. Quoting from the Book of Galatians Chapter 2, he charged Adeoye to use his wealth of experience as a

journalist in the propagation of the gospel of Christ and to live an exemplary life of holiness.

Bishop Ojekunle described the calling into the office of a bishop as a highly noble and worthy assignment while urging all Christians to honour God’s anointed servants no matter their age or educational qualifications.

In his response, the ex-NUJ Chairman, who is also the founder of SGTM, promised to use his elevation as a Bishop-Designate just like Bishop Desmond Tutu of South-Africa to serve God and humanity and to always fight against all forms of injustice anywhere in the world.

“God has given me the message of grace and comfort to all people. And I am going to be selfless in my service to God. I will use my new office to fight against all forms of spiritual and physical oppression of people anywhere I found myself,” he added.

From left, Vice Chairman, Karu Local Government, Nasarawa State, Honourable Aaron Moses; Methodist Bishop, Diocese of Nyayan Right Reverend Samuel Nortey and Methodist Bishop Diocese of Kubwa FCT, Right Reverend Rufus Babalola, exchanging pleasantries, during the 6th Annual Synod of Methodist Church Nigeria, Dioese of Nyayan, in Abuja recently. PHOTO: SUNDAY OSUNRAYI.

From left, Pastor Joseph Olumide Makinwa, Oyo Area Chairman; Pastor Samuel Oladele, General Superintendent of Christ Apostolic Church Worldwide and Apostle Ibiyemi A. Olagoke, Oyo Area Secretary, during the 5th edition of the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN), Oyo Area Founder’s Day Ministers Conference, held at Molete Baptist Church, Molete, Ibadan, on Friday. PHOTO: D’TOYIN.

Christians in Kansas fight back when atheists remove God bless America sign WELL known atheist organization, Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), targeted a small midwestern post office in Pittsburg, Kansas, but it couldn’t imagine that the removal of one “God Bless America” poster would incite the posting of some 1500 similar signs.

Local newspaper The Morning Sun first reported the incident in late January and just days later Jake’s Fireworks, a retail store located in the area, responded by printing 1,200 “God Bless America” yard signs and 300 similar banners, 1500 in total. Within 45

mins, residents snatched up all 1500 signs.

“Obviously, we’re among the majority that didn’t agree with the decision to take the sign down (at the post office),” Jason Marietta, the store director, told the Sun. The original “God Bless America” poster was re-

moved from the post office when FFRF on behalf of a Pittsburg resident forced it to be taken down by legal means, claiming the banner “violated the separation between church and state.”

The original banner was put up at the post office after Sept. 11, by

postal employees, many of whom were reportedly veterans. Many took to social media to express their anger.

“It is outrageous that some would aim to divide a community over a banner that has been proudly displayed since Sept. 11, 2001.

I commend the Pittsburg

community for rejecting this decision and I stand with them,” U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) wrote on Facebook. “The Constitution guarantees a right to freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. This banner is not only an expression of faith, but of love for country.”

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OW will you describe the last Christmas and New Year celebrations in Niger State unlike in the past when there was insecurity in parts of the country, because of the activities of Boko Haram in the state?

Thank God that the atmosphere was very conducive; we had a peaceful celebration in all the nooks and crannies of the state.

We thank God for answering our prayers, because we have been praying for this before Christmas and it is no more news that Niger State has been peaceful recently and that was what we enjoyed during the Christmas and New Year celebrations. We also appreciate the State government, because they supported us with some honourarium which makes the celebration memorable. We, indeed, thank the governor for that even though there were some issues came up, but we still thank God. Have you been able to draw the attention of the present government on the area of non-employment of Christian Religion Studies (CRS) teachers by the last administration?

The answer is a yes or no, because during the government in power’s campaign tour, he was recognised our office and he came twice. And we made him realised that these are one of the problems we were encountering with the immediate past administration. I remember the words of Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello. He said he did not know why the past administration was silent over the employment of the CRS teachers, because to him, it is very important that what people are lacking was the religious education. He added that if people are well trained and well educated, it is for the betterment of the society and promised that he was going to take it up personally if he was elected into the office.

He really showed so much concern about the issue and said he was going to take it up personally on assumption of office.

Now that he has become the governor, we have been making efforts to see him to bring up all the things agitating our minds on his table for solution, but we have not succeeded in getting an appointment with him. So, we are still waiting, anytime he allows us to see him then we will present all these things to him. Up till now, there has not been any improvement on the employment of CRS teachers in Niger State, because the government is yet to lift the ban on employment for now. Although, I learnt that the present governor has given his consent for the employment of some civil servants into the state’s civil service though I do not have the correct information or records to prove this.

I think if the ban is lifted, I believe the Christian Religion Studies teachers would also be employed and deployed to the State’s public schools.

Apart from the non-employment of CRK Teachers in the state’s public schools, is there any area whereby CAN is experiencing some challenges in the state?

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State chapter, has moved forward compared to what it used to be in the past. I should also appreciate people for their support. We have not relented in our effort to create more awareness as well as educate people on the activities of our organisation. There are some things people are saying publicly about CAN which is not true. So, I am calling on Christians and some people who did not know about our activities to come to the office to make enquiry so that they can be inform about our activities. We also call on well-meaning Nigerians, especially

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Those who call me Babangida Aliyu’s errand boy are ignorant —Rev Dada

Reverend Musa Dada is the outgoing Chairman, Niger State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). In this interview with ADELOWO OLADIPO, he speaks on his challenges as the CAN leader in the state, among other issues. Excerpts: challenged him many times when there were reasons for us to challenge him, especially for the betterment of the larger society. I have tried to explain our situation to people that we are for the constituted authority. I want people to understand that we are not against anybody; we support any constituted authority. Furthermore, I am not a card carrying member of any political party, but I have my voter’s card and that is a constitutional right that every individual or citizen should have a voter’s card. I insist, I am not a member of any political party. The law did not allow us, but we have the right to cast our vote for any party or any candidate of our choice.

Reverend Dada Nigerlites to support CAN. You can see that we are trying to develop our State secretariat from what it used to be. In fact, we will have our own permanent office soon.

Also, plans are ongoing to build an auditorium where people will hold different lawful activities. I want to use this medium to call on people who God has blessed to come to our aid and give us their supports so that we will be able to move the organisation forward.

What would you describe as the achievements of your administration now that your tenure is about to come to an end?

I am thinking that by March this year we would hand over to the new executive. I would not want to blow a trumpet about my achievements. As I have said earlier, we have really succeeded. Before now, the leadership of the CAN has been operating from their homes or rented offices, but today we have a CAN Secretariat. This is one of our achievements; we were able to build an office block, because we never had any office in this state. I think this is a welcome development. There are some other achievements recorded through this administration, but this one alone is enough for now, because they are physical thing people can see or confirm.

What is your reaction to the accusation in some quarters that you were a lackey of the immediate past Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu?

I know that there are some insinuations

about that. I see this as efforts to score cheap political point against me. I have said that those who were making the allegation are doing that out of ignorance.

Basically, our association, CAN, is a registered organisation with the Federal government and any registered organisation with the Federal government or even with the state government cannot afford to go against such government. The constitution says we must or we are to support constituted authority. And that is the fact.

What people don’t know is that the constituted authority at that time I came into office was Talba’s regime. So, you should not have expected me to go against him, although, we did not support everything that he did while in the office. I usually told him whenever he made mistake, because part of our responsibilities is to tell him nothing, but the truth. It was not that we were just supporting him blindly. We

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State chapter has moved forward compared to what it used to be in the past.

What is your take on the recent local government election in Niger State?

We thank God that the election went well. I would say it was peaceful, rancorfree. It could be described as a very successful election, because we never heard of any problem anywhere with regards to pre-election or post-election violence except in Suleja Local government where the election had to be postponed to forestall break down of law and order by the opposing supporters of some political parties. And for the Niger State Independent Electoral Commission in conjunction with the state government to have been able to conduct election in some 24 Local government councils of the state out of the 25 local government councils every right-thinking citizens would agree with me that it was a very successful election, although there might have been pockets of complaints here and there by some opposition political parties. I guess that is normal in any democratic dispensation. So, I think the electoral commission has done a very good work. But prior to the election, we as a religious group, we were praying for the peaceful conduct of the election.

And now that it has been done successfully and peacefully, I think we should just thank God, because He has answered our prayers. Also, in an election one party must win, while the other must lose.

Are you satisfied with the participation of Christians in the just concluded local government election?

Well, to a certain extent, because those Christian politicians who contested as Chairmanship candidates of some political parties won the election and I thank God for that. There was improvement unlike in the past. About four Christians contested chairmanship on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) and they won. So, to me, it is a very good development, because in the past, Christians were not participating and I remembered that I told them to go out and participate because democracy has come to stay not only in the state, but across the country.

So, if our people had refused to participate, some other people who had participated would have done it for them and in that respect we cannot complain. If you want to make any meaningful change, you must get involved and this is a prove that God has answered the prayers of Christians that participated and won at the election and that or ours.

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HAT has God revealed to you concerning Nigerian in 2016?

God is looking for people like Cyrus to rule this country. Cyrus is a king that built Jerusalem without any reward. God is not looking for politicians who will rule because of money. He is in search of people who will rule not because of posterity.

God said if Nigerians want peace, they should go back to His message. The problem we also have is that we are fighting with God. God also said. He warned the late Ya’Adua not to rule in October 2009, has also told the immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan, not to rule beyond October 2014, God is telling the present president again not to rule beyond September 2016 and that everybody in this government must hand over.

But it is not four years already?

That is their own time; the way of man is not the way of God, but the way of God is a way of peace and destruction.

Are you sure they are aware of this and if they do not adhere what would be the consequence?

I think I have passed the message already and it is left for them to adhere to it. On the consequence, that is only open to God. How did you receive your calling?

I received my calling in 2004. But before then, when I was 10 year old, there is a ministry that used to come to our locality; their ministry is to win soul for Christ by showing films of crucifixion of Christ. Whenever I got home, the whole house would not be at rest. I always carried, because I would be seeing the crucifixion of Jesus Christ I watched. My mother would try to pet me and take my mind off the film. Unknown to me that it was a divine nurturing while growing up in other to become a servant of God; I became born again at 15 when I was in JSS3 and started preaching in public transport with the message of repentance. God eventually revealed Himself to me in 2004 that He was going to put an end to the world and that before He accomplishes that He wants to recreate the world, make it a holy, righteous and prosperous place.

How can we identify a true prophet?

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

True prophets are not materialistic —Anifowose Prophet John Crown Anifowose is the founder of the Jerusalem Ministry Worldwide (JMW) based in Ibadan, Oyo State.

In this interaction with OLAIDE SOKOYA, the cleric made shocking revelations about the country.

Excerpts:

God is not looking for politicians who will rule because of money. He is in search for people who will rule not because of posterity.

The qualities of a true prophet are that they are not materialistic. He would uphold the word of God even in the face of hunger, trials and temptations.

In your own view as a prophet of God, what is your take on the happening in Nigeria?

What is happening now in Nigeria happened during the creation of the world. The first sin recorded in the creation of the world in heaven was disobedience. The Bible says obedience is better than sacrifice. The problem we are facing now is because of the fact that satan has refused to go down to the first creator, Adam so that the dominion can be given to men. It was because God casted him out from the heaven to world. Satan now swore to God that inasmuch as he remains on the earth, he will face the earth with tribulations. That is why death, destructions and misinterpretation of languages among problems are now rampant on earth.

Mbaka: The fiery cleric from the East Continued from pg41

Father to chart a new course.

Speaking to Tribune Church on Wednesday, the Adoration Site Engineer, Livinus Uchenna Udeh said the only set back was the drop in sales of their products, pointing out that their customers are finding it difficult to

Father Mbaka

come to Umuoji near Emene to buy their manufactured products such as Aqua Raffa table and sachet water.

He, however, noted that with time, they would overcome the challenges, adding that, “There is a large space of land in the new place and we have to build our structures here. There is security here. We have police post and people are moving in here in great numbers. The weekly adoration will soon start. We are going to provide buses to covey our members to and for here”, he added.

Indeed, a lot is going positively for Father Mbaka and his followers as already the Enugu State Government is reconstructing the major road leading to the Adoration ground.

Bishop Onaga

The Reverend Father who seem to have accepted the transfer in good fate as well as bending to the verdict of the church authority, later had a chat with newsmen saying, “God is wonderful. You can see that I am smiling, filled with cheers and the joy of the Lord. I have the feeling that God’s hand is in my going out of GRA. No matter what caused it or what led to this, I am seeing everything as the will of God. “When I remember that my providing God is with me and for me, I am filled with joy and comforted. The ways of God are divine and mysterious and at times when he wants to do a thing, we humans may not understand it”.

Mbaka who claims he had survived several assassination attempts said he is not new to controversy since March 2002. News also had it that gunmen stormed his weekly prayer meeting then held at Government Technical College premises in Enugu, triggering a stampede by hundreds of worshipers that left at least 12 people dead.

At the point, the cleric was a strong critic of the then Dr Chimaroke Nnamani’s government in the state.

Also, before Mbaka’s fierce attack on ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, on the New Year eve, he was a supporter of the presidential policy and had even endorsed him for the second term.

In November 2014 the cleric welcomed the First Lady, Patience Jonathan, and the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, others to his Enugu parish. He told Mama Peace that her husband had “done well” and deserved a second tenure at the Aso Rock.

Today, Mbaka is regarded as great apostle of President Muhammed Buhari having predicted his victory in 2015 presidential election.

As it is, Mbaka no doubt, has become a rallying point in the East even as he has not been visible in the pro-Biafra struggle.

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7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

dawnofanewera

firmfaith:rightreason

with Most Revd J.O. Akinfenwa Bishop of Ibadan Anglican Diocese

with Bishop Emmanuel Badejo, fradebadejo@yahoo.com

Unity and commitment (3)

Lent: The service station

Refreshment Rest, break, refreshment, restoration, pause are all concepts which elicit relief in our daily lives. Taking time off from the hustle and bustle of life is always welcome and necessary in most human endeavours, because we are finite beings and cannot keep going at the same pace for ever.

Academics, labourers, soldiers, politicians sportsmen, businessmen, entertainers, and even priests, all wisely create a period for the recuperation and realignment of strategies for optimization. Creation is not exempt from this law. Rain breaks up the dry season and daylight breaks the night.

In stark acknowledgement of this fact Jesus Christ told his disciples: “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I shall give you rest (Matt 11:28). That call approximates what the period of Lent is about, the restoration of the human soul and spirit for the purpose of optimizing man’s vocation as one who has come from God and will one day return to Him. Is Lent just about me?

The surrounding culture which we live in today privatizes and personalizes everything. From personal cars to personal computers, phones, personal websites and personal space we hear of a personal God and a personal Lord and Saviour. It is a culture which, though attractive, flies in the face of the nature of authentic Christianity as a uniting force and a religion of communion. Did Jesus not pray that “they all may be one”? (Jn.17: 21). One often wonders really if “The Lord’s Prayer”, “Our Father”, composed

by Jesus in plural terms still makes any sense. In such an environment it is possible to see Lent as nothing more than a private, personal exercise, oriented only to self-renewal and self redemption, only about the individual. How misleading that would be! To begin with, all true Christians know that no one person can save himself. Sinners as we are, we simply do not possess the capacity to do it without help from outside of ourselves. No less a person than Saint Paul expressed that view clearly in the Scriptures: “I do not do the good I want but I do the evil I do not want... Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 7: 19, 24-25).

Lent is about Jesus In other words, our focus during Lent therefore must be on Jesus, as appropriately expressed in the suave Christian hymn: “Take me, deeper in love with you Jesus, hold me closer in love with you Jesus, closer in love with you”.

As Christians we have a head start. For many in today’s world, there are serious challenges to the understanding of lent

However, the Christian’s union with Jesus at Lent still does not end with Jesus as the Saviour alone. It is a union with Jesus and his mission, which is to transform the temporal world into God’s kingdom (Lk 4: 18-19). In other words, the deeper we fall in love with Jesus at Lent, the more we identify with his mission of touching and transforming other people’s lives.

Just think here of our displaced, wounded brethren, victims of insurgency and interethnic clashes! Herein lies the idea of the “Lenten Transfiguration” which Pope emeritus, Benedict XVI expressed in his writings. That experience of the believer’s, a participation in the vision of the apostles on the mount of Transfiguration, imprints in the heart of the Christian, those words which Peter, James and John heard on Mount Tabor: “This is my Son, the Beloved, Listen to him” (Mk. 9:7). Of course, no one can live on Tabor while still on earth for our life is always in motion, a journey, but a glimpse of Tabor affords us the gift of listening to God’s beloved Son as he speaks through those whom we daily encounter: our wives, husbands, children parents, teachers, neighbours, prisoners, the poor, the ignorant, the homeless, etc.

Reaching out is the objective of Lent Such “penance of Lent” represents the right strategy for unleashing the love of God which is in us on the world. Our supreme model on this path is Jesus Christ himself who did not begin his ministry simply with a Triumphant Entry but through a humble birth and 40 days of fasting and prayer in the desert (Matt. 4). It is a big lesson for Christians that even Jesus did not embark on his mission by his own strength. He first received the Spirit of God. For us therefore, choosing this way of self-giving, and out-reaching existence, simply brings us invariably to the very spot where Saint Paul made his declaration about the pull of the flesh. Even if we mentally admit that this Lenten “exodus from oneself” brings true liberation and maturity, the material forces of gravity of our needs must be put under control. The traditional observances of Lent, namely prayer, Scripture, Fasting, almsgiving etc. are the “spiritual blood-thinners, the pain killers and the antibiotics”, that can prevent the blockage of our spiritual veins and arteries thus enable the blood of goodness to freely flow through them to others. To this end, constant interaction with God’s Holy Spirit, is therefore indispensable.

With a head start As Christians we have a head start. For many in today’s world, there are serious challenges to the understanding of lent. I mean many who have never even felt the need for a Saviour in the first place. Such a deficiency explains the inexplicable Godlessness, worldliness, violence, brutality, belligerence and stubborn adherence to evil and sinful ways in many people. Such people need our thoughts, prayers and solidarity during Lent as well.

That disposition guarantees miraculous refreshment and restoration for our soul on the way to heaven.

Continued from last week Exodus 36:5-7 And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make.

And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.

What was the result?

The work was completed. Exodus 39:42 - 43 says: Exodus 39:42-43 According to all- that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the LORD had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.

I believe that God has new commandments for every institution from time to time. And with total commitment, we shall accomplish all the new targets that God shall set for us. There is strength in commitment. Anywhere the people of God commit themselves to the work of the Lord, you can rest assured that the conclusion would be “ ... and the work was

finished”. We shall finish our work in Jesus’ name.

In the letter of our Lord to the seven churches (Rev 2 - 3), there is a recurring refrain, viz, “t know thy works ... /I Our works, our labour, our charity, are important to the Lord. They are the evidence (or otherwise) that His church is alive, and that the work of redemption is advancing. We may feel that we have very little strength, and we may be intimidated by the challenges before us, or we may feel that because age is telling on us, it is time to “slow down”. But hear the word of the Lord to the Church that has little strength: Revelation 3:7-8 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

The Lord has set before us an open door.

Let us renew our zeal, and let us re- unite in focus as we seek to advance the kingdom of our Lord. Let that unity lead to renewed commitment to the work of the Lord. As we do these, the Lord shall open great new doors unto us, and He shall bless us abundantly as we do his work.

livingword

By Bishop David Oyedepo Call 7747546-8; or e-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

Engaging the power of sanctification for fulfilment of destiny! (5) Over the past weeks, we have been unveiling the mystery of sanctification and how it engenders the fulfilment of our glorious destiny in Christ Jesus. In the course of this teaching, we discovered that the Holy Spirit is the person Who empowers us to walk in holiness on earth. This is because sin manifest itself through the Lust of the Flesh, Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life, and only the Holy Spirit can guarantee our victory over them. In this concluding edition, we shall explore CHANNELS THROUGH WHICH THE HOLY GHOST SANCTIFIES US, which include: By the Impartation of the Spirit of Holiness: This impartation could come to us directly, as we crave and thirst for Him (Luke 11:13). We can also access impartation of that Spirit through apostolic and prophetic ministries (Romans 1:11).

By the Revelation of the Truth: It is so important for us to know that revelation empowers for sanctification and the Holy Ghost is our access to revelation. That means He enhances our access to sanctification (John 17:17; Psalm 19:7-9; Psalm 119:9-11).

The Holy Ghost Releases the Spirit of Prayer and Supplications; so we can overcome all Temptations: Prayer is a channel for overcoming temptations. In Matthew 26:41, the disciples could not pray because their flesh was weak. Thus, the Holy Ghost empowers us on the prayer altar, so we can overcome temptations always (Matthew 26:41-44; Ephesians

6: 18; Romans 8:26-27).

In addition, please understand that destiny is at a risk without sanctification. Solomon lost it all on the platform strange women. Samson became a toy in the hands of his enemies: they plucked out his two eyes and asked him to dance for them. Judas, an apostle, lost it on the platform of greed. Achan lost his entire lineage. Ghazi became leprous. In weakness, they all crashed; but we shall not crash in the name of Jesus! We shall all fulfil destiny in a grand style, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ! You are blessed!

Are you born again? This means, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord? If you haven’t, you can do so by saying this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood.

Deliver me from sin and satan to serve the Living God. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now I know I am born again!”

For further reading, please get my books: Conquering Controlling Powers, Over Coming the Forces of Wickedness, satan Get Lost, The Force of Freedom, Winning Invisible Battles and Walking in the Newness Of Life.

I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. We have five services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:35 a.m., 9:10 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 12:20 p.m. respectively.

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interview

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Amnesty programme has been tribalised, bastardised’ Continued from pg 11 over to Nigerian military so that we will sort it out the military way. We cannot be given that kind of responsibility and fail the country to the extent that two million Nigerians are internally displaced, to the extent that pilots flew planes that were already unserviceable, to the extent that Nigerian troops were running to Cameroon and Chad. They have brought the country to serious ignominy.

On the spate of kidnapping of traditional leaders, what are traditional leaders in Niger Delta doing about this?

We are meeting, we have not come out with a strategy but let me correct the view that traditional leaders are being targeted, it is just a coincidence that two of them were involved in a matter of two weeks and if you look back at kidnappings, you will see that how many of them are actually traditional rulers, not as if it is a plan that kidnappers just sit down and say okay let us kidnap traditional rulers, no. Most of the kidnappers are actually opportunists. Having said that, whether it is a traditional ruler, or a school child, it is worrisome and for us in the Niger Delta, it started as part of ‘militancy’ but I knew even at that time, I was commander in the Air force in Benin and I was involved in the Operation Restore Hope and I was advising all the militants at that time, I said look, when you keep kidnapping all these white people, when they run away you will start kidnapping your fathers and your mothers. And that is exactly what is happening and Nigeria is an environment of copycats, so a

lot of people see that in the Niger-Delta they are kidnapping and getting money, the youth elsewhere will copy. Whether it’s in Lagos or Nasarawa, they will copy. So that is the stage that we are in. But the most worrisome is that of the Fulani herdsmen. I think despite all the anti-social activities that are happening in the Niger Delta, the Fulani herdsmen top the league. Whether in terms of rape, murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, destruction of people’s farm, name it. For me, I link this phenomenon; we have not done our analysis very well. I am of the strong view that this Fulani menace is linked to Boko Haram. I will give you a simple explanation. There is

I have been seeing them since I was growing up, they were not killing people, they were not carrying AK-47, they were not raping, so why all of a sudden, 2012 to 2015 that the Fulani have just metamorphosed into a very violent group?

this phenomenon we refer to as climate change. Before, in the North, our fear as Nigerians as far as the environment was concerned was desertification with climate change, we are now having flood in Sokoto, Maiduguri. So the whole of the North is now having rain more than before. The phenomenon when I was growing up was that by December, you have these Fulani cattle rearers. In fact, what tells us that they are coming is the presence of cattle egrets; once you see cattle egrets, you know that Fulani people are coming. Now, there is rain even in December in the North so there is grass there; so why are they trekking thousands of kilometres to the South to look for grass? So in our analysis, we must think outside the box and think deeply. It is not the traditional Fulani herdsmen that we are seeing. In fact most of them are not Nigerians.

The average Fulani herdsmen are not violent. I have been seeing them since I was growing up, they were not killing people, they were not carrying AK-47, they were not raping, so why all of a sudden, 2012 to 2015 that the Fulani have just metamorphosed into a very violent group?

What is the way forward?

The way forward is what I cannot articulate here, I will articulate it at the appropriate forum, but to give you an idea, I think those that are not Nigerians should be sent back to their countries, they have abused and misused the goodwill and the open handedness of Nigerians. People will hide under the ECOWAS protocol. ECOWAS protocol allows the free movement of people across boundaries, they didn’t say you should come and start trespassing and damaging properties because you have the right to move from point A to B.

feature Taking rivalry to another level Continued from pg 12 Dammy Krane/Wizkid AS if the other young hip hop acts had been waiting for first person to bell the cat, Dammy Krane, 2Face Idibia’s protege, who is still struggling to make much impact in the industry accused Wizkid of stealing, and using his lyrics in one of his songs. Things got so bad that when the two showed up at the same night club in Lagos for a footballer’s gig, Wizkid allegedly hit Dammy in the face. But for the quick intervention of the hosts, it was believed that the two would have treated guests to something more than music. Stakeholders and some elders at the gig eventually got the two to sheath their swords.

KSA/Obey FROM the late 70s through 80s, the rivalry between Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Ade was the most pronounced. It was such that a rival record label signed on a Juju artiste, Emperor Pick Peter, whose major assignment was to attack KSA in his albums.

He only partially succeeded with the first album as he failed to live up to expectations

in his second album. Later in their career, both would agree that the rivalry was an imagination of fans as there was no competition between the two. Both also at different occasions said the perceived rivalry was good for their album sales as fans not only wanted to hear the two tear each to pieces in their songs, they were also enjoying the jibes. Both are best of friends now.

Barrister/Kollington FOR the almost three decades that a supremacy battle between the Late Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and his contemporary, Ayinla Kollington lasted, the general impression on their fans was that the two were arch enemies. The media fuelled this belief, which also helped the duo to sell their albums. Both Fuji acts were products of the Nigerian military. Barrister quit the army to pursue a career in music. He had been singing in barracks and other events and was convinced that he would be better off than ‘soldiering.’ Marketers also benefitted

Blackface/2FACE WAITING in the wings for an opportunity to get back at his former group member, whose runaway success with African Queen, a song Blackface claimed was jointly done by other members of Plantashun Boiz, but solely released by Idibia, and which gave the Benue boy an edge over the others, Blackface, after Dammy Krane was assaulted by Wizkid, took to the social me-

from the rivalry between Barrister and Kollington as fans always wanted to be informed, via foul languages mostly, on situation between the two.

Barrister and Kollington took rivalry to another level. At the height of their ‘war,’ Barrister, consistent with his style, was always diplomatic in his responses to Kollington. Kollington, on the other hand, couldn’t care less. He gave it to Barrister at every given opportunity. They battled over everything; who went on tour first?

Who made it to the USA first? Who slept with whom first? Everything! And one could tell

dia alleging that 2Face stole another of his songs. This time, his former partner may have a case at hand as Blackface has begun to explore legal options this time round.

Blackface claims that a song on 2face’s Ascension album was his. 2face has described the allegation as frivolous and baseless. “It is just so unfortunate. I got nothing but love and respect for him and it is just so unfortunate that he is coming at me like that.”

what the latest bone of contention was.

Over the years, they both have taken on several aliases and titles. Kollington was at a time General Kollington, a title bestowed on him by ex-president Ibrahim Babangida after he sang about and created awareness for the Census. Barrister was at different times Alhaji Agba, Mr Fuji, Barry Wonder, Legend. The rivalry was good for business as both acts smiled to the banks for taking each other to the cleaners on every album they released until Wasiu Ayinde waded in during the funeral of Kollington’s mother.

47

life&living

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

‘I’ve spent 50 years in colony’ Continued from pg 3

I have hope because I know that God is aware of my predicament.”

Madam Deborah Oladoja, another patient, when asked how old she was, simply smiles and responds “ona jin!” (which implies she can’t remember).

According to her, she has been at the centre for about 10 years, noting that “It started with my leg and I went to the hospital; I’m from Igbeti. From there, I was referred to the centre and I received treatment.”

Mrs Christiana Young, who has spent seven years at the centre, doesn’t really seem like a woman of many words. From her expression, one can tell that she has resigned herself to fate, especially with the smile she has on.

“I am from Edo State. I discovered that there were certain things on my skin and I wasn’t really myself anymore. I was thereafter referred from the hospital in Benin to the centre and I have been receiving treatment ever since. I’m still undergoing treatment as you can tell from my legs. Although my husband is dead, my children come to visit me sometimes.

I hope that government, as well as wellmeaning Nigerians can assist us as well, so that we can cater better for ourselves, as well as for our children so that they can have a better future,” Mrs Young stated.

I was based in Lagos and I fell ill. I was about 10 years old then. Then, I met an Indian doctor at a medical centre at Yaba, who disclosed that it was leprosy. Then I had ulcer as well. The Indian doctor referred me to Dr William Norman, here in Ogbomoso. When I got to the Baptist Hospital at Ogbomoso, I was sent to this centre for treatment. This was in 1988.

I’ve been here ever since. I’ve finished my treatment here but I’m trying to find a better job to be able to settle down in society. My brother visits me sometimes.

My message to other patients who have the disease is that they should be prayerful and persevere because the disease is not one that is easily cured. Sometimes, people do not use the drugs as prescribed and after years, it may resurface.

“I want to call on government and well meaning members of the society and Nigerians in general to work with the centre to assist us. Things have not been so easy, as I have lost my leg because of the ulcer. I asked the doctors to amputate the leg because it was already paralysed from the ulcer as a result of leprosy. I really appreciate the Baptist health centre medical board for their efforts, as well as Damien Foundation, which has also been very supportive.”

‘How I found love at the Leprosarium’ Showing the reporter his son, who had just returned from school, Mr Apeh stated that “I met my wife at the centre. We both live on the camp and now. We have three beautiful children. It has not been so easy caring for them and I want to plead for more assistance from government, especially as both my wife and I have had our legs amputated. I want my children to have the best in terms of education.”

Mrs Adijat Apeh, from Oyo State initially refused to speak. However, after encouragement from her husband, she decided to talk, with her husband a few metresaway, for support. She told Sunday Tribune that “I first discovered the disease when my face was discoloured – one part was fair and the other part was dark. My family is based in Saki, and someone introduced the centre to us and my father brought me here. I met my husband at the camp and fell in love with him. I’ve completed my treatment, but I’m here because I have a family here now. The leg bothered me so much that’s why it had to be amputated. My family visits me sometimes and I also go home to visit them too. I also speak to them on phone and, in fact, I visited them recently. I really appreciate the efforts of the Baptist mission but government needs to do more.

We used to get government support in terms of N3,000 monthly allowance but it’s not been regular. Nigerians also need to be more receptive of us.”

‘I have been here for almost 50 years’ Madam Mopelola Atoke, who also refers to herself as Felicia Adeyeye, does not know her exact age, because according to her, “when I was born, there were no records of birth. However, I think I’ve been here for about 50 years. I’m not really sure how the disease started. I just

Madam Mopelola Atoke

saw some strange things on my body, but we didn’t know where to go. I lived at Iwo then and we tried traditional methods of curing it but nothing positive came of it and instead it worsened. Later, somebody told my family about this place and that was how I sought treatment here. My husband is dead and my children are far away but they visit me sometimes. One of my children is in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, while another is in Akure, Ondo State, I would really want government input because things are not easy. As much as the church is really trying in its efforts, in line with the foundation, as treatment is free of charge, government must also come in. There are many things we wish we had, and I hope that government treats us well. I have no regrets because I really can’t blame anyone for my predicament.”

I think I’ve been here for as long as 50 years. I’m not really sure how the disease started. I just saw some strange things on my body, but we didn’t know where to go

‘I pray I leave here with good news’ Mr Alade (full name not given for patient confidentiality), who had earlier deduced that it was a press interaction with patients and had gone into his room quietly. Few minutes later, the reporter approached his door, and using one of his crutches to open the door, ever so slightly, inquired what the reporter wanted. After listening for a few minutes, he simply shrugged and asked for help to get comfortable. After being satisfied with the arrangement, with strict instructions to the reporter not to take his photograph as he stated that he is quite popular in Ibadan, he decided to share his experience.

“I was diagnosed with the disease about a year ago. When I realised I was feeling certain sensations on my hands and feet, and my hands started to fold in, I went to the University College Hospital, Ibadan. It was from there I was referred to a medical office somewhere around secretariat, and I was eventually referred to this centre. In fact, today makes it my seventh day here. I speak with my family on the phone regularly, and, in fact, after you leave, before I sleep, I’ll call them. I pray that my treatment is successful and I leave here with good news.

“I was told that there’s nobody who is not susceptible to the disease and when I was first diagnosed, I had already spent so much treating it before I came here.

The treatment here is free of charge.

Government should support us because for someone like me, I don’t have a job.

‘Government support is vital to our survival and that of our families’ Mr Ayo Adenle, a former patient, who is approaching 50 years, noted that he had spent almost 20 years at the centre, and though he had completed his treatment, he had lost his lower right leg to the disease.

Speaking with Sunday Tribune, he stated that “I am from Ilesa in Osun State. I discovered the disease through light spots that broke out on my body and someone referred me to the centre. Although I have completed my treatment, I wanted to go home, but the disease resurfaced so I had to remain at the centre to complete treatment. My wife and children come from Osun State to visit me sometimes.

With my leg gone, it is hard to really say I can do much to support myself, so, we really need government’s assistance to complement the efforts of the church. I also want to tell Nigerians that the disease is not contagious as people think. I have no regrets as it is only God that understands.”

As Nigeria steps up its efforts at reducing the damning consequences of leprosy by partnering with non-governmental organisations and church missions, it is obvious that more can be done, especially with regard to public acceptance, which can ensure successful reintegration into society.

With the rate of unreported cases, it is not unusual that many people still assume that the disease is extremely contagious, especially as a result of the pronounced disabilities that occur. As such, efforts must be made to ensure that the society is better informed of the disease so that people can get prompt and quality access to treatment.

More focus must go into putting patients on the priority list of accessing healthcare, during and after treatment, as well as working towards making one of the oldest diseases in the world have reduced negative significance as soon as possible, especially by helping patients reintegrate into the society without feeling like outcasts.

48

7 February, 2016

children’sarena Words from the kids

Sunday Tribune

Olaide Sokoya ollydesanmi@yahoo.com 0807 449 7425

Respondents are students of TAAS College, Apata, Ibadan.

Our worst experiences in school Afolabi Sadiq Adeyemi, 17 yrs old, SSS 3 It was the day the school had a quiz competition between girls and boys and the girls won which indicated that they are more serious than us. In the following term, the quiz came up again and the boys won. The school commended us due to our improvement in our studies. So, the worst experience later became a good experience for me. We had to work and read harder to achieve this. With the zeal, I made my GCE and NABTEB exams.

Adekunle Muhideen, 16 yrs old, SS 2 It was the day football was banned in my school. Unfortunately, I was the best player in my school which made it very painful. That day, I couldn’t sleep and was thinking all night. All the boys in the school especially we players were not happy because we had a competition ahead of us with AMIS. So, we didn’t have the opportunity to play at the game; it was another team from another school that we could have beaten that eventually won the competition. The ban of football was as a result of our poor performance in our academics for the 2014/2015 session.

Yuusuf Zainab, 16 years old, SSS 3 It was on November 7, 2015. Some students were caught with provisions which were prohibited in the school. It was given to them by their parents during the visiting day which led to an emergency meeting between the parents, teachers and the management. A lot of issues were discussed at the meeting as the act was clearly stated in the school principle as being prohibited. A lot of parents were accused of aiding their children in such illicit act. It was discussed that the next time such happens, the students involved would be asked to hawk the provisions in the hall and they would also be suspended.

Asamu Fatiah, 14 yrs old, SS 2 It was on the 14th of January, 2016. We had already gathered at the mosque to observe the morning prayer; as we were praying, most of us were dozing while reading the Qu’ran, so we were asked to stand and recite the 99 names of Allah as a punishment. While standing, I just looked out through the window and discovered that the school’s generator was on fire, I immidiately called the matron’s attention to it. Everyone was very scared, because by then, the mosque was already dark and students were already saying their last prayers.

The house mistress then told us to call on almighty Allah to save us which we did. Later on, the security men were able to put the fire out.

Compiled by Temitayo Iliasu k ild ee h w C e th f o

Brief history of hawks are: • Hawks have hooked beaks that they use to cut up their food.

Hawks can see eight times better than humans. Hawks are able to see colours.

Hawks have powerful scale-covered feet with very sharp talons that they use to kill their prey. They stand with three toes forward and one toe backwards.

Hawk’s eyes are on the sides of their heads. This allows them to see almost all of the area around them.

Hawks use their excellent eyesight, fast flight speed and powerful scale-covered feet to catch their prey.

Hawks eat insects, toads, frogs, snakes, mice, voles, rats, shrews, chipmunks, and even other birds.

While hawks eat, they mantle over their food. This means that they hide the food with their outstretched wings and tail.

Famousinvention Longcase clock A longcase clock, also tall-case clock, freestanding, weight-driven penduinside the tower, or waist of the case. monly 1.8–2.4 metres (6–8 feet) tall. rately carved ornamentation on surrounds and frames the dial, or maker William Clement is credthis form in 1670. Until the earclocks were the world’s most technology, and longcase superior accuracy, served for households and busiToday they are kept rative and antique The advent of the longinvention of the annism by Robert to that, pendulum older verge escapequired very wide penduLong pendulums with such within a case, so most freestanding

floor clock, or grandfather clock, is a tall, lum clock with the pendulum held Clocks of this style are comThe case often features elabothe hood (or bonnet), which clock face. The English clockited with the development of ly 20th century, pendulum accurate timekeeping clocks, due to their as time standards nesses. mainly for their decovalue. case clock is due to the chor escapement mechaHooke around 1670. Prior clock movements used an ment mechanism, which relum swings of about 80-100°. wide swings could not be fitted clocks had short pendulums.

Oluwafikayomi Treasure

Adeyemi clocked

1 recently

49

news

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Ajimobi’s wife calls for strict enforcement of VAPP Act

Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel (third left); his wife, Martha (fourth left); deputy governor, Mr Moses Ekpo (second left); Speaker of the House of Assembly, Honourable Onofiok Luke; Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio (second right) and his wife, Unoma (right), at the reception ceremony in honour of Senator Akpabio by his senatorial district (Ikot Ekpene), on Saturday.

Prices of bread go up in South-West

As bakers roll out new prices on Monday

By Moses Alao

T

HE effect of the foreign exchange is set to bite harder beginning from Monday, as the prices of bread are set to be increased in the South-West depending on the size of the commodity, Sunday Tribune can report.

The new prices of bread will carry between N10 and N50 increment, with bread sizes hitherto sold for N50, N60 and N70 attracting an increment of N10 each while those sold for N80 and N100 are now to be sold for N100 and N120 respectively.

Breads hitherto sold for N120 will now sell for N150; those sold for N150 will increase to N200 while those sold for N200 will become N250. The categories of bread sold for N250 before Monday will now come at a new price of N300, Sunday Tribune gathered.

While speaking with Sunday Tribune yon Saturday, the chairman of the Master Bakers’ Association of Nigeria, SouthWest zone, Mr Lukman Adewale, stated that the new prices, which will take effect from Monday, became imperative following the increase in the prices of ingredients for baking bread.

According to him, the increasing dollar rate has been affecting bread bakers since October 2015, noting that the association’s leaders had gone to meet the Federal Government to complain about how the prices of every ingredient for making bread, including flour, sugar, yeast and flavor, among others, had

been going up.

But Adewale informed Sunday Tribune that the government’s position had been that the bakers should sell at the prices that match what they buy, a development he said warranted the bakers to

meet and agree on the need to increase the prices of bread.

Also speaking on the development, an Ibadanbased bakery operator said the bakers had no choice but to increase the prices of the commodity, noting

that bread bakers had been running the business at a loss for several months.

Bread remains one of the most accessible and affordable to most Nigerians, especially those on the lower rungs of the societal ladder.

Lassa fever deaths hit 101 THE Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria has killed 101 people, as West Africa battles to contain a flareup of the virus, according to data from the nation’s health authorities released on Saturday.

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) statistics show that reported cases of the haemorrhagic disease— both confirmed and suspected— stood

at 175 with a total of 101 deaths since August.

“As of today, 19 states (including Abuja) are currently following up contacts, or have suspected cases with laboratory results pending or laboratory confirmed cases,” the NCDC said in a statement.

Deaths from the virus were recorded in the nation’s capital, Abuja, Lagos, and 14 other states,

FG’ll soon begin process to establish new national carrier —Minister THE Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, has assured that government would soon start the implementation of the recommendations on the establishment of a new national carrier.

Sirika gave the assurance on Friday evening in Abuja, at the inauguration of the Ministerial Committee on Assessment of Security Situation in Nigeria’s Airports.

The minister said that President Muhammadu Buhari demonstrated his commitment to establishing a national carrier by setting up a committee for it even before appointing ministers.

According to him, the committee had since submitted its report, which had also been forwarded to the ministry for further action.

“The committee has done its work and its reports and recommendations have been forwarded to us; it is in the ministry and we are working on it.

“I want to tell you that we are on it and I want to add that within my purview of the management of this ministry, the committee report will not be swept under the carpet.

“It will be implemented and anywhere we do not agree, we will indicate so.

We will be modest and courteous enough to inform the members of the committee and the public about it,” he said.

The minister also assured that payment for the use of trolleys at the nation’s airports would stop as soon as the current contractual agreement on the handling of trolley was over.

the NCDC said.

While health authorities assure Africa’s most populous country of more than 170 million that they have the virus under control, there are fears the actual scale of the outbreak is under-reported.

The NCDC said officials had distributed large quantities of drugs, including Ribavirin tablets, and bottles of hand sanitisers across the country to tackle the disease.

It, however, reported that logistics support and delayed reporting of cases by states are dogging the fight against Lassa fever.

The outbreak was only announced in January— months after the first case occurred in August— with subsequent deaths reported in 10 states, including Abuja.

Last year, 12 people died in Nigeria out of 375 infected, while in 2012, there were 1,723 cases and 112 deaths, according to the NCDC. In neighbouring Benin, at least nine people have died in a Lassa outbreak, with a total of 20 suspected cases, health authorities said last Tuesday.

The number of Lassa fever infections across West Africa every year is between 100,000 and 300,000, with about 5,000 deaths, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

THE wife of Oyo State governor, Mrs Florence Ajimobi, has advocated strict enforcement of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, 2015.

Mrs Ajimobi stated this on Saturday, in Ibadan, at an event to commemorate the international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation.

The governor’s wife, addressing a group of women in the state, said that the law prohibits female genital mutilation and other unwholesome practices against women, noting that it was the duty of everyone to ensure that the traditional harmful practice of genital mutilation is stopped.

She explained that victims of the harmful practice suffered a great deal “socially, psychologically, physically emotionally and sexually,” adding that eradicating female genital mutilation and other related practices is one of the key elements of the fifth United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Mrs Ajimobi called for continuous education and adequate information dissemination on the dangers inherent in the practice, stressing that all hands must be on deck to ensure that perpetrators of the practice were brought to book.

Enugu APC tackles gov on LG caretaker committees Jude Ossai -Enugu THE Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the Enugu High Court to set aside the recent appointment of caretaker committees to run the affairs of the 17 local government areas of the state.

In a motion on notice filed at the high court with Suit No E/362/2015 by the 17 chairmanship candidates of the APC as claimants/applicants against the governor, the speaker of the House of Assembly, State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) and 23 others as defendants/respondents, the party insisted that the appointment of the caretaker committees negated the provisions of the constitution and ought to be reversed without further delay.

In an affidavit in support of the motion on notice deposed at the high court by one of the chairmanship candidates of the party and a former member of the House of Assembly, Hyacinth Nsude on behalf of the claimants, it was observed that the party initiated action in December 2015 to restrain the governor from appointing the said committees.

Ex-minister applauds admission of Lagos into Odua Group

By Dare Adekanmbi A former Minister of Health, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, has commended the governors of owner states of Odua Investment Limited for admitting Lagos State as the sixth member of the conglomerate.

Adelusi-Adeluyi, who is also an erstwhile chairman of Odua Group, described the initiative as ‘pleasing’, saying it would further the economic interest of the Yoruba nation in the ethnic configuration of the country.

In a statement issued in Ibadan, Oyo State, the former minister recalled how the process for admitting Lagos into the fold of Odua Group was initiated by the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, in October 2008 during a breakfast meeting at his palace.

According to him, the meeting had in attendance himself, as the then chairman of the group, the Group Managing Director (GMD), Mr. Adebayo Jimoh and other board members of the conglomerate.

“The initiative by Oba Akiolu led to other discussions at various political and government levels and later metamorphosed into the birth of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria.

“It is pleasing to now see that the Yoruba nation, through the focused leaders in the states, are working closely despite political differences to actualise a strong socio-economic and political development of the region with this latest unity of purpose,” the statement read in part.

Adelusi-Adeluyi said the membership of Lagos State in the Odua Group would enhance cross-fertilisation of ideas as regard the business and economic activities of Odua Group, especially in the generation of employment for teeming Yoruba youths.

Before the admission of Lagos, Odua Group was jointly owned by Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states.

50

news

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Supreme Court rulings: PDP chieftain congratulates Ajimobi, Udom, Ikpeazu

By Moses Alao

From left, Chief of Protocol to the Ekiti State governor, Mr Muyiwa Akin-David; Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose; musician, Mr Yinka Ayefele and Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Pastor Kola Oluwawole, during the reception of burial ceremony of the mother of Mr Akin-David, held at Aiyedun Ekiti, on Friday.

Rousing welcome for OBJ in Iwo Says Yoruba unity indispensable

T

he city of Iwo was, on Friday evening, thrown into excitement as former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, visited in solidarity with the newly crowned monarch, Oba AbdulRasheed Adewale Akanbi, just as he described his visit to the town as a necessity.

Speaking at the palace, Obasanjo said his visit was aimed at paying a homage to the new monarch and to strengthen the existing peace among Yoruba.

Obasanjo, who attributed the existing peace and tranquility in Yorubaland to continuous efforts being exhibited by the peace loving people in the West, said the time had come for all to be united.

He commended Yoruba monarchs for the peaceful coexistence, explaining that the only tool that could make a nation great was peace and love.

Obasanjo, who described the new Oluwo as a distinguished technocrat, said his emergence as Oluwo was a manifestation of his sincerity and passion for development.

He implored the monarch to use his exalted position to reposition the town and foster togetherness among his subjects, Yoruba and Nigeria as a whole.

“I am here today to show that we Yoruba are one and as far as we are concerned, we shall continue to be more united and mutually fostered.

“I believe that nothing is as good as living in peace and I also believe that the

existing peace in Yorubaland can only be continually enjoyed if we be our brother’s keepers.

“Iwo has chosen a right man as king and I am optimistic that his reign will usher in development, peace, unity, progress and tranquility. I want the new Oluwo to prioritise peace, unity and togetherness as veritable instruments to culminate all-round success and transformation.”

CBN forex restriction on imported goods to stay —Saraki Ayodele Adesanmi -Abuja Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, has ruled out the possibility of reversing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy excluding some imported goods and services from the list of items valid for forex in the Nigerian foreign exchange market.

Saraki, while responding to a request by the Tomato Sub-Sectoral Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) seeking his intervention to lift the

exemption by the CBN on certain imported goods, said based on the present economic realities, difficult decisions were necessary to be taken to overcome the challenges.

He told the tomato paste producers that it was time they started telling Nigerians the home truth that as a nation, “we are where we are because of our refusal to take hard decisions.

“As a country, we have to chart a new way, different from the past, and that path is going into manufacturing

Agency demolishes make-shift stalls in Abuja market Officials of Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) on Saturday demolished some make-shift stalls in Area 1 market.

The affected traders were seen lamenting their plight, reported the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

They claimed that their stalls were demolished without formal notice from the AEPB. Bola, one of the affected traders alleged that the

In his remarks, Oba Akanbi extolled the virtues of the ex-president in keeping peace among the Yoruba nation.

Oba Akanbi, who described Chief Obasanjo as an agent of peace, promised to maintain the existing peace and place Yoruba’s image on global pages.

The royal father said the visit depicted the high sense of love, peace and unity reigning among the Yoruba.

management refused to inform the traders of the notice given three months ago by the AEPB to demolish make-shift stalls in the market.

She said that the leadership of the market had been warned by the FCT authority not to erect stalls under high tension wire, adding that the failure of the management of the market to inform the affected traders might have prompted the demo-

lition.

Malam Suleiman Dairu who sells beverages and other assorted drinks at the market, accused officials of AEPB of being insensitive to the plight of the affected traders.

He said that the exercise had deprived them of their means of livelihood.

He blamed the management of the market for not disclosing the outcome of its meeting with officials of the AEPB.

as we cannot continue to remain an import dependent country,” he said.

He challenged the paste producers to focus more on how to be full fledged manufacturers of the product, using local raw materials.

He expressed surprise that despite the high level of local cultivation of tomatoes, the producers were still importing the triple concentrate used in the production of tomato paste, which, to him, could be produced locally by raising the production level of tomatoes in the country.

“You have to be serious in the area of massive investment and research in the sector for government to consider any concession for you,” Saraki said.

Leader of the group, Mr. Femi Gbadegun, said they were not against the policy restricting forex to some imported items, but that they needed time to raise the level of tomato production in the country to eliminate the need for importation.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and immediate past Deputy Senate Whip, Senator Hosea Ayoola Agboola, has congratulated the Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi; the Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel, Abia State governor, Okey Ikpeazu, on their victories at the Supreme Court on the governorship election petition cases.

This is just as he praised the judiciary for remaining “courageous” in giving justice in the cases, noting that the apex court has restored the confidence of people in the judicial process.

Agboola, who represented Oyo North Senatorial District in the seventh National Assembly, in a chat with Sunday Tribune stated that Ajimobi’s victory was a confirmation that he had the support of the people at the poll, calling on him to embrace everyone needed to move the state forward.

The senator also commended the resolve of governors on the platform of the PDP, whose victories were validated by the apex court, weathered the storm to retain the mandates given to them by the people of their respective states. He urged them to deliver on their electoral promises and provide good leadership.

“Looking at the recent decisions of the apex court, it is clear that the judiciary remains the last hope for the common man. I salute the courage of the highest court in giving justice to all parties despite the belief that it would be favourably disposed to the ruling party,” Senator Agboola said.

Lagos lawmaker to receive chieftaincy title

By Seyi Sokoya For his immense contributions to the development of his constituent and its environs, preparations have been concluded to honour the Lagos lawmaker representing Kosofe Constituency II, Honorable Tunde Braimoh, with a chieftaincy title as he will be installed as Otunba Bamofin of Ketu, Kosofe in Lagos State.

According to a statement signed by the palace secretary and made available to Sunday Tribune, the monarch noted that Braimoh had distinguished himself as a lawmaker who has contributed to the development of the area.

The installation of the lawmaker will be in commemoration of the fifth coronation anniversary of Oba (Dr) Isiaka Adio, Balogun Oyero, Ilufemiloye I, Oba of Ketu.

The investiture will hold from February 10 to 14 with visits to various shrines, installation of chiefs, Jumat service, visit to motherless homes and thanksgiving service.

Police expose operations of car snatching syndicate in Enugu The Enugu State Police Command has alerted commercial drivers to the activities of car snatching syndicate that specialises in dispossessing drivers of their vehicles by drugging them while on hiring.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Ebere Amaraizu, gave the warning in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Enugu.

According to the statement, members of the syndicate offered drugged edibles to unsuspecting commercial drivers and robbed them of their car while drowsy.

“This is in view of intelligence gathered by the command on activities of suspected hoodlums under the guise of a hirer or passenger.

“They pretend to be engaging commercial vehicle operators for hiring and dispose them of their vehicles by offering them edible items like fruit drink.

“Most of their victims have been drugged and leaving them (drivers) unconscious and weak, while at times sleeping off, thereby paving way for the suspected robber, robbers or even their syndicates to disappear with the said car or vehicle.”

51

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7 February, 2016

Rivers govt begins empowerment of local SMEs

R

IVERS State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has assured the less-privileged that his administration will take concrete steps to empower them through micro-credit schemes that will grow small and medium scale businesses across the state.

Flagging off the N2billion Rivers State Micro, Small and Medium Scale Entreprises Development Fund in Port Harcourt on Saturday, Governor Wike said the programme, which is being funded through a facility from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, would assist small businesses to have access to capital so that they could develop faster.

The governor remarked that the state government would serve as a collateral for the small business owners so that they would play more positive roles in resuscitating the economy the state.

According to him, his administration would ensure that the conditions for issuing out the loans by the Rivers State Micro Finance Agency (RIMA), would be friendly enough for small and medium-sized businesses to have access to funds.

He said: “The aim of this empowerment programme is to reach the Mama-put operator, the onion seller, the barber, the table water manufacturer and owners of medium-sized businesses for them to expand, employ more people and grow the state economy.

“With the present reality, it is no longer feasible to rely solely on oil revenue.

Therefore, my administration will ensure that these businesses have access to funds without stringent conditions. This is the first batch. Those not accommodated in this batch will be accommodated in the second batch.”

The governor added that his administration would also extend credit facilities to farmers in the state to enable them expand for the

purpose of the state’s food security and the empowerment of a greater percentage of the people.

Governor Wike promised

that the N2billion fund would be administered judiciously.

In his remarks, chairman of RIMA, Hon. Austin

Opara said Wike administration sourced the N2 billion for the purpose of empowering the less-privileged.

THE founding national chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie, has described the electoral misfortunes suffered by the party in recent times, particularly the losses at Supreme Court, as being more spiritual than

Benue rerun: Tsav tells Idoma people to vote wisely Johnson Babajide - Makurdi FORMER Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav (rtd) has advised people of Benue South senatorial district to vote wisely in the coming re-run election scheduled for February 20.

The Appeal Court had in November 2015, annulled the election of Senator David Mark, making the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to fix February 20 for the re-run election between Senator Mark and Daniel Onjeh, the senatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress APC. Speaking with newsmen at the weekend, Tsav explained that it would be fool hardy for Idoma people to abandon Senator Mark who he said had been a protective shield of Idoma people.

He said, “leave it or take it, Mark is an asset, not only to Idoma nation, but to Benue and Nigeria as a whole, considering his contributions to the stability of our political system.”

Okowa condoles with Mgbakor family over death of patriarch

Widow of Chief Fola Sogbetun, Florence (centre) with her daughters, Folakemi (left) and Tobiloba (right) at his interment in Ode-Remo, Ogun State, recently.

Kwara sensitises people to Zika fever THE Kwara State government has called on the people of the state travelling outside the country to keep off the Zika fever-infected areas, especially, Latin America.

The state Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Sulaiman Alege, who made the call on Saturday in Ilorin, said that the people should also inculcate personal hygiene and keep their environments clean.

Alege, who spoke to newsmen, said that people need

to take active measures to prevent mosquito bite always.

According to him, the disease had yet to come to Nigeria, but he emphasised on the need for people to take precautionary measures to keep the disease in check and prevent outbreak.

Also speaking, the state’s epidemiologist, Dr Michael Oguntoye, said that the disease is caused by Zika virus, a member of the genus flavivirus similar to dengue

fever.

Oguntoye said that there were concerns that pregnant women who became infected with Zika virus could transmit the disease to their unborn babies with potential serious consequences.

He said that most infected areas demonstrated an increase in several foetal births defects and poor pregnancy outcomes in babies whose mothers were infected with Zika virus while pregnant.

APGA’s misfortunes are spiritual than judicial —Chekwas Okorie Christian Okeke - Abuja

Sunday Tribune

judicial.

The party, against hope, lost at the Supreme Court in cases involving its governorship candidates in Abia and Nasarawa states.

Okorie said it was nemesis that was catching up with the party after it was used to hurt those who were instrumental to setting it up.

Speaking exclusively with Sunday Tribune while responding to a question on whether he plans to join forces with the new chairman of the party, Ike Oye, to build the party, by possibly returning to the APGA fold, the founding chairman stated that the party had remained a cursed environment, adding that he

said those who rushed to pick its ticket never knew they were running into a curse that could not be broken without restitution.

The former national chairman recalled the rate at which those who set up the party were stabbed in the back, noting that there was no way the party should expect justice after the hurt.

DELTA State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has commiserated with the Mgbakor family of Owa-Alero in Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State on the demise of their patriarch, Pa Benjamin Mgbakor, father of Mr. Raymond Mgbakor who is the Senior Special Assistant, Special Duties to Governor Okowa.

In a condolence message to the Mgbakor family, and the people of Owa-Alero, Okowa described Pa Mgbakor’s death as a great loss, not only to the Mgbakor family and Owa-Alero community but the Ika nation and Delta State in general, given his invaluable contributions to the cause of humanity.

Governor Okowa’s condolence message was contained in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu, where he described the late Mgbakor, a Knight of Saint Christopher, as a technocrat, community leader and a devout Christian who retired from the Ministry of Agriculture in the defunct Bendel State Civil Service.

Illegal call for street protest by labour over tariff threatens power sector devt —Experts INDUSTRY experts at the weekend expressed concern that the call by organised labour to shut down the power distribution and generation companies over the multiyear tariff order that came into effect in February would impact negatively on the power sector and the nation’s economy.

According to the experts, the planned disruption of the operations might have more severe consequences than the new tariff which is aimed at ensuring cost recovery in the power sector value chain, removal of the fixed charge, encouraging power conservation by focusing on metering before billing and insisting that consumers are billed for only what they consumed.

Some of the experts argued that any disruptions at this time would negatively affect the steady progress being made in the sector in spite of challenges posed by gas pipeline vandalism and other acts of sabotage recently being recorded in the petroleum and power sector.

Bayelsa civil servants lament delayed salary Austin Ebipade - Yenagoa PEEVED over the recurring delay in getting their monthly salaries, civil servants in Bayelsa State have continued to groan, as most of them are already indebted to petty traders in the state.

It would be recalled that some of them have not been paid November/December 2015 salary, as well as the emolument for January 2016.

The situation is such that some of the civil servants were left with no alternative than to purchase food items on credit in order to survive and fend for their families.

Worst hit by the salary debacle are lecturers of the stateowned Niger Delta University (NDU), as most of them were not paid in November/December 2015, just as they are yet to get alert of payment from their bank for the month of January 2016.

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sport

SUNDAY

Sunday Tribune

Editor: Ganiyu Salman tribunesporteditor@yahoo.com 08053789060

Gold Cup: Kwara Utd, Sunshine Stars clash at Gold Cup tourney

From left, Governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode; first runner up, Kenyan Hosea Kipkembo; winner of the race, Abramham Kipton also from Kenya; second runner up, Debebe Tolsa from Ethiopia and the Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Mr Herbert Wigwe at the Access Bank Lagos City International Marathon held on Saturday in Lagos. PHOTO: SYLVESTER OKORUWA.

Lagos City marathon has come to stay —Ambode

As Kenyan Kipton wins $50,000 star prize Nurudeen Alimi in lagos

L

agos State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Saturday said the 2016 Lagos City Marathon has come to stay, just as he assured that the state government will work towards making the competition the best of its kind in the world.

Ambode who spoke at the finish point of the marathon at the Eko Atlantic City, expressed delight at the massive turn out of international and local athletes for the marathon, saying that Lagos was proud to join major cities in the world to promote marathon.

“Lagos State is glad to host athletes from different parts of the world today as we flag off the Lagos City Marathon. The last time this event was held 30 years ago. I stand here to tell you today that this event is here to stay. We are committed to sustaining this event and ensuring consistent improvement to make it one of the best marathons in the world,” he said.

Ambode said his administration remains determined to make the state the hub of sports in Africa, adding that it will embrace other international sports, while Lagos State will bid to host continental and international sports tournaments

going forward.

Speaking with journalists shortly after presenting prizes to the winners, Ambode said government with the Marathon, combined entertainment, sports and hospitality to create jobs for the people and allow the youth to engage themselves positively.

“We are proving it, this is just the beginning. We would double the scale of it next year and then we would make it more interesting than ever before. This is a world-class event and Lagos is back on the map of the world as a choice destination for tourist and investment, as a sports centre and as an entertainment hub and that is what we are committed to doing,” he said.

Vice President of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF), Col. Hamad Malboum in his remarks thanked the organisers for putting up a sterling show and assured that the IAAF will partner with the state to make the marathon the most remarkable athletics event in Africa and in the world.

Also, Minister of Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung, lauded Ambode, saying that the governor by his actions is trying to repossess the lost glory of the state in

sports.

He recalled that during the yuletide period, Ambode spent a whole night at a fiesta held in Lagos, which according to him has launched the state to take the lead in the entertainment industry.

“I believe this is not an accident, but rather a part of the concerted efforts of the Lagos State government to play a major role in leading sports. The turn out and registration for this event attests to the fact that Nigerians love sports and that all Nigerians need is an enabling environment to express their potential,” Dalung said .

On his part, the Managing Director of Access Bank, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, whose organisation is the major sponsor of the Lagos City Marathon, said they were proud of the opportunity to collaborate with the state government to empower the people with a sense of history.

He said his organisation will continue to collaborate with the state government to make the tournament bigger and better, adding that next year’s edition will take place on February 11, 2017.

In the male category, Kenyan Abraham Kipton was first to breast the tape at 2 hours, 16minutes and 19 seconds to win the grand prize of $50,000, while his compatriot,

Kipkemboi Hosea came second in a time of 2 hours, 16minutes and 34 seconds to cart home the $40,000 prize.

Debebe Tolosa of Ethiopia finished third with a time of 2 hours, 16 minutes and 40 seconds to grab $30,000 prize money.

In the female category, Halima Huseen Kayo of Ethiopia finished first in 2 hours, 38 minutes and 32 seconds, as Kenyan Alice Timbilil came second in a time of 2 hours, 38 minutes and 49 seconds, whileAberash Feyase from Ethiopia finished third in a time of 2 hours, 39 minutes and nine seconds.

Kwara United will today at the Akure Township stadium take on OLMC Team in the second match of the Sunshine Pre-season Super Four Gold Cup competition introduced to prepare the teams for the forthcoming season.

The match is scheduled to kick off at 3pm after the first match of the competition at 10am between Sunshine Stars and Ekiti United.

Kwara United under a new coach, John Obuh, will play its second match against Ekiti United on Monday by 10.00 am at the same venue, as OLMC takes on Sunshine Stars in the second game of the day.

The first and second placed teams after the round robin will play the final match of the competition on Wednesday evening, while the third and fourth placed teams will play the third place match the same day by 10.00 am.

The Harmony Warriors which got relegated from the Glo Premier League at the end of last season, are at present in Akure preparing for the 2016 Nigeria National League season.

Meanwhile, Obuh who once handled Kwara United said he is almost through with his preparation for the season, hoping that with the level of preparedness and support from government and people of Kwara State, the team will return to the Premier League.

The club’s chairman, Prince Oladimeji Thompson said that the welfare of the players will be topmost priority of his administration so as to ensure that the team achieves its aim this season.

I will revive sporting activities in the Army —Buratai The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.Gen. Tukur Buratai on Saturday in Lagos, reiterated his commitment to reviving intensive sporting activities in the Nigerian Army.

Buratai stated this at the maiden Lagos City Marathon, in which the Army fielded 17 personnel.

He said the Army was already in partnership with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) to facilitate the revival

of Army sports.

Buratai said long distance races and other track and field events would be focal areas.

He expressed satisfaction with the participation of the Nigerian Army athletes at the maiden edition of Lagos City Marathon.

“More military personnel would be encouraged to participate in subsequent national and international sporting events,’’ he said.

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7 February, 2016

THE

Sunday Tribune

Fabio Lanipekun 08050498512 lanipekunfabio@yahoo.com

Bolaji Oni, Austin Akosa, Olu Akoja…

T

he last time I met Sir Anthony Bolaji Oni was March 3 last year, the day Lagos held a night of tributes in honour of Sir Chief (Dr) Alexander Molade Okoya-Thomas, the business mogul who single-handedly sponsored the Asoju Oba table tennis championships for more than four decades.

We had all gathered at the Molade OkoyaThomas Sports Hall inside the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos when Bolaji Oni, a former National President of the Nigeria Wrestling Association, made a late entry and squeezed a seat to my left and greeted: “Fabio Salafia ni, oju e re” Hi Fabio how are you?

Then the shocker came last Thursday when I read a half page obituary of the noble Chief who devoted a large chunk of his life to sports administration, particularly wrestling – Olympic wrestling, the greco-roman wrestling, as distinct from the traditional wrestling.

The colonial masters did not bequeath to us, high medal infested sports like wrestling which has been in the Olympics since 1904.

It was when Nigeria gained independence that Director of Sports, Issac Akioye head hunted people like Bolaji Oni for wrestling, M.A. Arogundade (athletics) Dr Olu Asekun (swimming) Abis Akerele (boxing) Dr Efunkoya (table tennis) Alhaji R.A. Adejumo (Tennis), Dr Ashley-Dejo (badminton) Dr Joseph (weightlifting) e.t.c. The common trend among all these appointed chairmen was that they were all self made professionals who spent their time and resources to develop their sports with little or no infrastructure from the government.

There were many occasions Nigerian wrestlers to major Games did not have mats to work on, and for medication, many depend on taking care of self. When people like Chief Bolaji Oni became the Chairman of Nigeria Wrestling Association, it was the glamour of the office that kept them going, rather than the foundation they met on the ground. Yet they persisted and won some accolades within the continent. Rio Olympic Games 2016 seems like the year Nigeria may genuinely look forward to our first gold medal with Daniel Igali in charge, and if he won a gold for Canada some years back why not for Nigeria this year, if only to commemorate the effort of pioneers like Bolaji Oni. Is it not a shame that since he passed on four days to last year’s Christmas at the age of 84, no official condolence has been sent out by the Nigeria Wrestling Association nor by the National Sports Commission nor by the Nigeria Olympic Committee.

AUSTIN AKOSA: There are some people who spend their entire life in the service of sports. Austin Akosa was one of them, and he was so passionate about sports he earned a sobriquet Suzie. Born into a royal family in Onitsha, Anambra State, Akosa was bred in Oshodi area of Lagos an at the height of his prodigious social life gave himself the

name,”Olanbiwoninu Omo Akosa”.

It would have been difficult for anyone born into the same circumstances as Akosa that would not lead a sports life. He schooled at the Holy Cross Catholic School and on to St. Gregory’s College, Obalende, Lagos two sports suffused Catholic institutions. He played football, of course, joined the P & T Club and later became a coach.

On gaining employment into the National Sports Commission (NSC), under the directorship of workaholic Issac Akoye, Akosa himself became a workaholic and made a name as all-rounder. Give Austin Akosa any job as Organising Secretary, he would deliver excellently and by the time the Midwest Governor Samuel Ogbemudia began the Ogbe Hard Court International Lawn Tennis Tournament, Akosa was right on top.

Back from the 1973 tournament in Benin, Akosa took the Nigerian team to the West African championship in Lome, Togo, and later to the first African tourney in Khartoum, Sudan returning with the highest accolades. Akosa was basking in the glory of success when the Murtala Mohammed gale of retirement swept him out of NSC into the glorious embrace of Alhaji Adejumo and the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club. When he made to be very popular once again. But Austin Akosa had his eyes fixed on football and like onward Christian soldiers marched on to war.

After his adventure at the Tennis Club was over, Akosa used the platform of the Nigerian Football Coaches chairmanship which he

Akoja

Akosa

won to become a member of the NFA and on to WAFU and CAF. When Nigeria hosted the 2003 All Africa Games Akosa had a prominent role to play. He was a pleasant, amiable, friendly guy who would give anything to help and comfort you without asking for return.

His death at the age of 75 is painful to all those who had the fortune of knowing and meeting his. So Long Suzie.

OLU AKOJA: The death of Olu Akoja of the sports ministry is equally painful. I have known him at the Ministry or NSC, if you like for more than

two decades and he died recently as a Deputy Director, aged 53. Even when it was fashionable to belong to a clique in the NSC, Akoja did not cling to such efforts and on many occasions he had to handle international trips, he did it respectfully and efficiently. “Olu Akoja was a hard working officer that spent his career to raise the standard of sports in the country to a higher level” So said Akoja’s boss, Mrs Hauwa Kulu-Akinyemi, the Director (Federations & Elite Athletes Department who is the first woman that attained that high post.

Amokachi dreams big with Finland team JS Hercules coach, Daniel Amokachi has promised to improve the Finnish thirdtier league team and make them one of

Wikki keeps Agba, Obaje in suspense DESPITE training with Wikki Tourists for the past month, the duo of Godwin Obaje and Samuel Agba have not put pen to paper for the Bauchi-based Glo Premier League side.

Obaje, who played for the team last season and was their top scorer with seven league goals, recently returned from Slovakia where he trained with AS Trencin but did not get to sign a deal.

Agba, a former Kaduna United striker, played at NPFL club, Enugu Rangers, last season.

The players have teamed up with Wikki Tourists and reports suggest that they have both signed deals with the Bauchibased side, but according to their manager, Rukayatt Yunusa, nothing is formal yet.

“Obaje and Agba haven’t signed any deal yet with Wikki Tourists, we are waiting for Wikki to meet our demands,” Yunusa told Supersport.com.

the best in the league.

The ex-Super Eagles forward and assistant coach said he will make the team competitive after he doubled their training schedule.

“First, doubled the team’s training volumes,” said Amokachi.

“Our goal is to be a series of tough condition and most competitive team.”

The former Everton star has introduced two training periods a day (morning and evening) to the squad.

The league will commence on May 3.

Amokachi

Ex-Eaglets star, Akinsola returns to Spain Former Golden Eaglets striker, Kabiru Akinsola has returned to Spain and says he hopes to lift his new club Merida AD. Akinsola said he is delighted to return to Europe after playing for Sunshine Stars last season.

“I am back to Spain where I joined Merida AD on a year’s loan deal,” he said.

“I signed the contract on Monday and was given jersey number 9. I have started training with the team. I want to help my team go higher by scoring many goals and also assist-

ing my mates for goals.”

Akinsola said he is grateful to Sunshine Stars for the opportunity given to him last season to play for the team.

“I thank Sunshine Stars for the opportunity they gave me to play for them last season, especially coach Kennedy Boboye,”he said.

He has played the better part of his career in Spain for Salamanca, Zamora, Granada, Cardiz, Cartagena and L’Hospitalet.

He also played for Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia) and CSMS Lasi (Romania).

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Sunday Tribune

Super 4: Enyimba not superb —Aigbagun Enyimba head coach, Paul Aigbogun says his side was not 100 per cent convincing at the justconcluded Glo Super 4 tournament in Uyo. The reigning Glo Premier League champions who paraded Christian Pyagbara, Joseph Osadiaye, Andrew Abalogu and Daniel Etor, among others were pegged to the second spot after the hostilities ended on Friday at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium,Uyo. The Federation Cup champions, Akwa United under a new coach, Maurice Cooreman claimed the first trophy of the season with nine points as Enyimba finished second with eight points.

Aigbogun said Enyimba basically contested the two-legged Super 4 in Kaduna and Uyo with an entirely new set of players.

“Enyimba performed below par in the Super 4 because

Super Eagles Usman Mohammed (left) struggles for ball possession with a Tunisian player during their CHAN 2016 group C clash in Rwanda.

we played with a completely changed team.

“However, we still achieved our goal of trying out new players and we hope to excel in the league and continental assignments.

“I think it’s still okay as we finished the tournament strongly in second spot with a point separating us from the winners.

“I know it will not be easy managing the quality in our fold, but we will strive to get results, which is quite important,” the former Warri Wolves coach told Supersport.com.

Aigbogun said the key for him at the moment is to win the CAF Champions League preliminary clash against Ugandan side Vipers in Kampala next weekend.

“Right now our attention has shifted towards getting past our CAF Champions League first round opponents,” said Aigbogun.

AFCON: Oliseh okays Kaduna for Egypt cracker N igeria head coach, Sunday Oliseh has agreed for the Super Eagles to welcome the Pharaohs of Egypt to Kaduna in a crucial Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2017 qualifier next month.

Media reports have suggested that Oliseh rejected Kaduna, arguing instead that the all-important AFCON showdown be played in Port Harcourt.

However, a source close to the embattled coach said this was not true.

“Oliseh did not reject Kaduna.

He only argued that he has won all his matches in Port Harcourt and may be it would have been better if the Eagles stayed put there. He was only rubbing minds with the top NFF officials,” revealed the source.

Kaduna was picked as venue for the clash against Egypt soon after a 2-0 home win there against Chad last June.

That was a month before Oliseh was appointed in place of Stephen Keshi.

Then Eagles skipper, Vincent Enyeama sparked off a controversy when he openly kicked against the choice of Kaduna,

saying it was not safe for the national team in the wake of attacks by the terrorists’ group Boko Haram.

The Kaduna State government has approved for match

A player of Enyimba (right) beat a Rangers opponent to the ball during their Glo Premier League game last season in Enugu. The new soccer season kicks off later this month.

against Egypt to be staged at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna.

The match will be played on March 23 with the return leg four days later in Egypt.

CHAN Eagles captain, Akas hooks Akwa Utd Nigeria captain to the 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN), Chima Akas, has joined Glo Premier League side, Akwa United, ahead of the 2016 season for an undisclosed fee, Supersport.com can report.

The deal to bring Akas in was concluded this week by The Promise Keepers, and he will stay at the club for two years, club sources informed.

The Akwa United deal with Akas also has an option of another year.

Akas’ move to Akwa United puts to rest speculation over the future of the left-back, who had been reported to have joined the reigning Glo Premier League champions, Enyimba.

Akwa United head coach, Maurice Cooreman, who guided his team to win the Super 4 on Friday, believes the signing of Akas

underscores a statement from the Uyo club’s ambition to compete on all fronts - the league, the Cup and the CAF Confederation Cup. “It is good for us to have signed the captain of the Super Eagles at Chan 2016 . He will add to the quality we have. Already we

have signed Jude Aneke too; remember he was with me at Kaduna United and he did great things there, and will come good here to help us with goalscoring,” Cooreman told Supersport.com.

Akas was part of the Sharks setup, which got relegated on

the last day of last season, before switching to the Federation Cup champions.

However, Akas might not be eligible to play for Akwa United in the CAF Confederation Cup playoff rounds unless the Uyobased side reaches the group stage.

... As Usman joins Portuguese club

Akas

Super Eagles midfielder, Usman Mohammed has joined Portuguese club, Associacao Desportiva Sanjoanense on a twoyear contract.

Usman, it will be recalled, was a member of the Eagles squad to the fourth African Nations Championship (CHAN) which ends today in Rwanda.

His new club is based in Sao Joao da Madiera and was founded in 1924.

According to his agent Pedro,

Usman has subsequently been loaned out to first division Uniao Madiera, where he will play alongside compatriot Shehu Abdullahi.

Last season, the Sokoto Stateborn star played for relegated Glo Premier League side, FC Taraba. Usman moves to Europe a free player after the League Management Company (LMC) declared Taraba players free following a huge backlog of salaries owed them by the Jalingo club.

55

photonews

Minister of Power, Works & Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (second right); Ambassador of Finland to Nigeria, Prijo Suomela – Chowdhury (right); Under - Secretary of State, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Matti Anttonen (middle) and Manager, Business Development of Wartsila, K. S. Narasimha (left), during a visit and discussions focusing on infrastructure development at Mabushi, Abuja, recently.

From left, Justice Idris Haroon (retd), Grand Khadi of Kwara State; Sheikh Yakubu Musa, chairman, Board of Trustees, Jibwis and Minister of Communications, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu, at a Dawah function in Katsins, on Saturday.

Rivers State governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike (middle); deputy governor, Ipalibo Harry Banigo (right) and chairman of Rivers State Micro Finance Agency, Mr Austin Opara, at the seminar to commence the disbursement of N2 billion loans to micro, small and medium enterprises in the state, in Port Harcourt, on Saturday.

President, University of Ibadan Muslim Graduates Association (UIMGA), Dr Saka Adewumi (second right), presenting an award to Dr Wale Babalakin (third left), during the launching of 2nd decade of UIMGA Education Summit, held at the Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, on Saturday. With them from left are former Oyo State Head of Service, Alhaji Tajudeen Aremu, Justice Mashud Abbas and Justice Wasiu Oladejo Akanbi. PHOTO: TOMMY ADEGBITE.

7 February, 2016

Sunday Tribune

From left, Managing Director, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Clay Neff; Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Mr Phillips Oduoza; Group Executive Director, Finance & Services, NNPC, Mr Isiaka Abdulrazaq and Ms Nike Kolawole, Manager Project Finance, NNPC, during the presentation of the Thomson Reuters /PFI Magazine “Africa and Middle East Oil Deal of the Year to the Joint Finance Team (JFT) of NNPC, Chevron, UBA and Standard Chartered at a ceremony held in London, recently

From left, Managing Director, Media Crush, Mr Kayode Adegbite; General Secretary, Outdoor Advertising Association Of Nigeria (OAAN), Mr Femi Ogala; Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Muhammed; Managing Director, E-Motion, Mr Paul Onyi and Managing Director, Ripples Media Ltd, Mr Kolade Owolabi, after a meeting of the minister with OAAN, in Lagos, on Saturday.

From left, Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Boboye Oyeyemi; Corps Legal Adviser, Mr Wole Olaniran and Head, Media Relations and Strategy of FRSC, Mr Bisi Kazeem, during the FRSC appearance before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions, at the National Assembly, in Abuja.

From left, bride’s parents, Professor Yemi and Mrs Laide Akinseye-George; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the couple, Mr and Mrs Ayo Quadri and the groom’s parents, Mr and Mrs Quadri.

SIDELINES NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER

no 2,032

7 FEBRUARY, 2016

www.tribuneonlineng.com

n200

The anti-corruption war of President Muhammadu Buhari has not even taken off yet, and personnel of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are already being placed under security watch and getting arrested over $1.5m bribe. Is the hunter becoming the hunted (apologies to Ngugi Wa Thiong’O) already?

What we Yoruba want for Nigeria

I

N the Yoruba contribution to the Nigeria debate, the Yoruba elite of various political parties and persuasions have always generally projected for the Yoruba Nation the image that is true of Yoruba history and culture – the image of a thoughtfully constructive builder. We, the Yoruba Nation will continue to struggle with all other Nigerian nations for Nigeria’s orderliness, improvement, and prosperity. We are not a nation that contributes to disorder or destruction. Our own type of national genius works best in producing progress, strength and beauty.

But we Yoruba are not inclined to uphold anything by simply surrendering or abandoning reasonable and well-considered principles – in this case, principles that have great potential in making Nigeria orderly, strong and ultimately prosperous. In the horrendous mess that has ruled Nigeria’s life since 1960, no Yoruba man or woman can subscribe to the statement: “Let us just preserve Nigeria as it is; no change or amelioration is necessary”.

We Yoruba would rather say, “Let us make a big effort now, with other Nigerian nations, to shift Nigeria onto the path of orderliness, stability and progress”. Simply straining to hold up a ramshackle and disintegrating entity without doing anything to improve its capability to stand, is not the kind of thing we Yoruba people do.

All of us Nigerians recognize that Nigeria is set on a horrible path, and we are often heard lamenting that fact. The Yoruba response is, “We can change the trend if we work together and hard at it”. But even little Yoruba girls have enough wisdom to say, “It doesn’t make sense to ignore the lice in a girl’s hair and just go on and plait her hair; her digging at the lice with her nails will soon undo and scatter the plaiting”.

This is why it is that, since the debate started in the late 1940s over how to structure the Nigerian federation, the elite of the Yoruba nation have consistently advocated that the best way to make the Nigerian federation orderly, peaceful, strong and prosperous, is to accord due recognition to the fundamental units of Nigeria – that is the various nations of Nigeria – and make these fundamental units the basis for the federating units of the Nigerian Federation. The greatest of our modern fa-

thers, Obafemi Awolowo, put it very simply and clearly in the books he wrote; and throughout his life, he continued to make it clearer and clearer. Our then leading elite organization, Egbe Omo Oduduwa, wrote a detailed and highly respectable paper on it in 1949 for the consideration of Nigeria’s British rulers. Since then, various agencies of Yoruba leadership, though of different political persuasions and parties, have repeated the same principles – even if in slightly different ways.

When the Federal Government convened a Political Reform Conference in 2005, the Yoruba Position Paper, put together

by Yoruba elite of various political persuasions, and presented at the conference,

gether, by giving each people some leeway to manage much of its unique needs and concerns in the Nigerian federation – so that each people will thus be able to make its own kind of contribution to the overall progress and prosperity of Nigeria. This principle is not directed at hurting, and it cannot possibly hurt, any of the peoples of Nigeria. On the contrary, it is a principle that can be very beneficial to every Nigerian people and to Nigeria as a whole.

These are the fundamentals of the Yoruba contribution to the Nigerian debate.

At the National Conference held in early 2014, the Yoruba delegate again spelt out the Yoruba position and presented it as a “Yoruba Agenda”.

diranapata@yahoo.com

stated the same principles unequivocally and clearly. Members of the Yoruba elite living in the Diaspora have restated this principle of rational Nigerian federalism over and over again. A leading Yoruba intellectual in the Diaspora once put it simply as follows: “The simple answer to the question “What do the Yoruba want?” is this: The Yoruba want a Nigerian State which respects its multinational character and gives adequate recognition to the inviolability of its federating nationalities, no matter how small or big, a Nigerian State that promotes equal justice for all its citizens and makes a sacred commitment to the secularity of its character. - - - - The Yoruba have always wanted a Nigeria that practices and is committed to the principles of true federalism”.

We, the Yoruba nation, have been stating and restating this principle because we are absolutely convinced that only it has the capability to make the peoples of Nigeria live in reasonable harmony to-

Some details of the Yoruba proposals: For federating units of the Nigerian Federation, constitute the existing six zones into Regions – with minor boundary adjustments to make sure that none of our nationalities shall be split up between units of the federation.

Re-adjust the balance of powers between the federal authority and the Regions – so that the Regions should have more powers, more resource control and more funding than hitherto to promote and implement development. This shifts the burden of development mostly to the Regions. In this, a return to the sharing of powers as enshrined in the independence constitution in 1960, and the pattern of relationship between states and local governments in the 1960 constitution will be sufficient change.

The fiscal structure of the Nigerian federation should match its constitutional structure. That means that, in revenue al-

I rejected £300,000-a-week deal in China —Ighalo Nigeria international, Odion Ighalo says he almost moved to the Chinese Premier League at the start of the season.

The Watford attacker revealed that he rejected a summer move to China that is worth almost £300,000-a-week to chase his Premier League dream.

Ighalo, who has 14 goals in the English Premier League, had the chance to join the money-spinning Chinese league over the summer.

The Super Eagles striker was promised a sum of £40 million over the course of a

four-year contract as the Hornets were on the brink of returning to the top-flight.

Ighalo declined, but the offers kept coming, each increasing his pay packet. The latest was double the original.

The Edo State-born player admitted he almost made the switch when he was given permission to speak to Hebei China Fortune last summer, but is glad he remained at Vicarage Road.

“I was very close,” he told the Daily Mail. “They made a £10 million bid and were offering me over £200,000 a week;

a four-year contract. I couldn’t sleep for three days. That kind of money is not easy to turn down.

“Some team-mates in the dressing room were saying, ‘You can’t miss this chance.’

But I don’t jump into decisions like that.

“I prayed about it, and God said it was not for me, no matter how much money it was. I knew God would direct me. When I said I don’t want to go, they offered me more money, almost £300,000 a week. I told them it’s not about the money,” Ighalo said.

location, more should go the states than to the federal (in the Indian Union, it is 85% to states and 15% to the federal). It also means that the principle of derivation should be given scope; that revenue generated by a state (such as state business taxes, sales taxes, etc) should belong to the state; and that most of the VAT derived from a state should return to the state.

There should be a federal police; and each Federating Unit should have its own police. The reason for that is obvious. In our federation, the Federating Units are significant centers of authority and development, and they should command their own police apparatuses. This is not a question of whether we Nigerians are mature or immature; it is simply the way human societies worldwide work. No people should think of creating such a significant center of authority as our States or Regions and then deny it control over the public peace apparatus called police.

In summary, the Yoruba Nation in Nigeria wants a Nigeria that works – a Nigeria in which our many nationalities will live in harmony; where Regional and local energy and morale will revive again to boost the overall Nigerian economy; a Nigeria which can fulfil its destiny as the leader of Africa and as the Black man’s world power of modern times. We Yoruba believe that these goals can be achieved by this country. That is why we find it difficult to stop urging Nigeria to adopt the changes that can open the door to such achievements.

President Buhari’s war against corruption is a step in the right direction. He is eliminating one of the most destructive symptoms of our country’s chaotic structure, and most of us Yoruba strongly support what he is doing. But we want him to begin to address the fundamental issue of our federation’s structure too.

Dreams of ethnic dominance by any Nigerian nationality, and dreams that some Nigerian peoples can and will be subdued – and strategizing and manipulating in order to reach these ignoble goals – can only rob Nigeria of its manifest destiny. No Nigerian people can be subdued or suppressed in the building of Nigeria; trying to do so can only destroy Nigeria. What the Yoruba want is that Nigeria should become a prosperous and great country.

EPL Results:

Man City

1

Leicester

3

A/Villa

2

Norwich

0

Liverpool

2

Sunderland 2

Newcastle

1

West Brom 0

Stoke City

0

Everton

3

Swansea

1

C/Palace

1

Tottenham

1

Watford

0

Southampton

1

West Ham

0

Pools: 4, 9, 15, 17, 19, 22, 28, 29, 40, 47.

Today’s Matches: 02, 03, 23, 27, 30, 48, 49.

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