10th July 2016

NO 2,054

SUNDAY, 10 JULY, 2016

www.tribuneonlineng.com

Nigerian Tribune

Panic in Abuja over deaths by pg4 electrocution

@nigeriantribune

N200

Nigerian Tribune

•NERC set to demolish hundreds of houses under high-tension cables

17 schools to remain shut as Ajimobi reopens others tomorrow pg8

N5m defamation suit:

Ebenezer Obey wades into

Okoroji-Onwenu feud

•Strike continues —NLC List of the 17 schools:

•Baptist Secondary School, Senior and Junior, Oke-Ado, Ibadan.

•Ansar-ud-Deen Secondary School, Liberty, Ibadan.

•Ansar-ud-Deen High School, Liberty, Ibadan.

•Ibadan Grammar School, Senior and Junior, Molete, Ibadan.

See page 8 for others

RCCG faithful welcome Adeboye to Ibadan today Pg4

Stop giving bailouts to govs, NUPENG tells FG

pg43

Brexit: Fate of Nigerians married to Europeans hangs in Pg23 the balance

Police foil fresh attack on Lagos community Pg4 •Arrest suspected militants

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Panic in Abuja over deaths by electrocution Adetola Bademosi - Abuja

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HE Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Saturday visited the scene of a recent explosion of a 750kv transformer that killed about six residents and left several others injured.

The explosion which happened at the Tundun Wada part of Lugbe, in Abuja penultimate Saturday electrocuted a pregnant woman, among others, who were trying to turn-off their electronic sets during the incident.

Eyewitnesses who spoke with Sunday Tribune explained that prior to the explosion, some officials had come to disconnect wires of electricity debtors, adding that few minutes after they left, the explosion took place.

They explained that the explosion was traced to an electrical fault resulting from poor power infrastructure in the community and inadequate maintenance of electricity cables by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).

Acting Chairman of NERC, Anthony Akah who

led a delegation which included top officials of the AEDC to the site and to condole with the families of victims, queried instances where residential structures are built directly under transmission lines.

According to him, transmission lines are supposed to be built far away from residential areas to prevent fatal electricity mishaps.

In an argument that ensued between the NERC acting Chairman and a top official of electricity distribution company, the AEDC explained that residents had already been compensated to leave the environment but this had yielded little or no results.

They suggested that perhaps, if the Federal Capital Development Authority FCDA wades into the matter, the problem could be promptly addressed.

Akah further condemned instances where despite the dangers, the distribution company still bills customers who live directly under the power lines.

According to him:”You people should not electrify zones that are clearly dangerous and you are collecting revenues from these people. This network is

very dangerous and people are still paying bills under a dangerous zone.

It is wrong; revenues are being collected along this route, that is what we are talking about.”

He further decried poor power infrastructure and dangerous connections made under the nose of AEDC. The Chairman, who said this was inappropriate, blamed the electricity distribution company for permitting such, adding that it was AEDC’s duty to

ensure that substandard electrical materials were removed and replaced with approved electricity materials.

The acting Chairman however assured that investigations would be conducted to ascertain the cause of the explosion.

He quickly pointed out that, where the AEDC is found wanting, necessary sanctions would be metted out.

“What necessitated the visit of NERC is as a result of the accident that

THE Lagos State Police Command said it has arrested two suspected militants, who attempted to attack Igando community, a suburb in the state.

Spokesperson of the command, Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Saturday.

Badmos said that the suspects were nabbed on Thursday while three guns and ammunition were recovered from them.

She said that some residents of Igando alerted the police of the attempted attack by suspected militants, who came in a boat through the waterways.

“Immediately, the Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, deployed more men to the area. Two suspects were arrested with some weapons.

“The security of the area has been beefed up; the command has begun investigation into the attempted attack.

Johnson Babajide - Makurdi FEDERAL commissioner of Public Complaints Commission in Benue State, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, has stated that a petition containing money laundering allegation against Governor Samuel Ortom to the tune of N2.4billion was forwarded from his office to the headquarters and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Abuja for proper investigation.

Tsav disclosed this to

our correspondent who probed the allegation that had been making the rounds in the state in which the governor accused the former commissioner of police of inciting the public against him.

According to Tsav, “as a commissioner of Public Complaints Commission in Benue, I receive a lot of complaints about the activities of people both in government and private sectors; when this petition got to my office and I discovered that it is very weighty, what I did was

“The police will find out who they are, where they came from and their mission.

“We advise members of

the public in the area and other parts of the state not to panic as the police are on top of the situation,’’ she said.

to forward it to our headquarters in Abuja and also EFCC office for further investigation.”

The sum of N2.4 billion, according to the report was alleged to have been paid into a federal lawmaker’s account on behalf of the governor to launder for him.

The governor and the lawmaker at separate fora had denied such allegation, with the governor accusing Tsav of inciting people against him, while the federal lawmaker representing Ukum/Katsina Ala/Logo federal constituency, Honourable Emmanuel Udende, told our correspondent on phone that “it was a blatant lie,” adding that he would find time to address the media on the issue.

Governor Ortom at the meeting with dissolved council chairmen and Director General Service and Administration (DGSA)

Ijaw group accuses Buhari of plan to attack S/South with Saudi mercenaries AN Ijaw group, the Ijaw People Development Initiative (IPDI), has warned President Muhammadu Buhari against involving foreign mercenaries in the Niger Delta crisis.

In a statement signed by the group’s national president, Austin Ozobo and spokesperson, Daniel Ezekiel, the group said that engaging Saudi mercenaries with the oil money worth $258m obtained from the Niger Delta region would only “aggravate and teach aggrieved youth better warfare.”

Such a move, the IPDI said, would also embolden the militant groups to acquire modern arms and

ment.

“With us here we have the top management of the AEDC and we will take necessary steps to send our team to investigate and get to the root of the accident.

We assure the community that where there is any negligence or any fault on the distribution company, “we as a regulator will apply necessary sanctions but we want to commend the community for the peaceful way they have handled the situation.”

Why I sent N2.4bn petition against Ortom to EFCC —Tsav

Police foil fresh attack on Lagos community, arrest suspected militants Lekan Olabulo - Lagos with Agency Report

happened in this community; it was gathered that a transformer got burnt and there was electrocutions.

“As the sector’s regulator which is saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that we have a safe, reliable and affordable electricity, we felt that it is necessary that we come to see what happened and commiserate with victims and make sure that the survivors have an immediate best medical treat-

ammunition to ‘fight back tomorrow’ and that it would not kill the quest for selfdetermination by the Niger Delta.

“We want to reiterate that bombing Niger Delta communities or wasting $258 million to hire fighters to fight the Niger Delta Avengers will not stop Niger Delta quest for self-determination.”

“Rather, it will aggravate and teach aggrieved youths better warfare and how to go about acquiring modern equipment to fight back tomorrow,” the statement said.

The group described the military contract as a waste of money and noted as wor-

risome, report that President Buhari would engage his allies to fight the people of the Niger Delta, especially when the region has fed the country for the past 56 years.

“We wonder why the government is so bent on wasting such huge amount of money to hire fighters from Saudi Arabia to fight a region that has fed the country for the past 56 years.”

“We are also surprised at the president’s decision to hire his Muslim allies to fight Niger Delta people.

“Why not Nigerian soldiers? What happened to the 100 gunboats, five warships and three fighter jets earlier deployed to the

creeks to fight Niger Delta Avengers, which turned into a venture of intimidating innocent people and invading communities?,” the statement read further.

from the 23 local government areas of the state last week said, “I learnt that the old man, Tsav, was the one who reported me to EFCC that I diverted N2.4 billion through someone. This came to me as a surprise, if not that the man is an old man; I would have said he is a useless old man.”

All efforts to get the House of Representatives member, Emmanuel Udende during the Sallah holiday were futile but he later sent a message to our correspondent saying: “my brother, I have an emergency and had travelled out of the country.”

Tsav noted that despite the fact that the immunity of the governor may prevent him from being arrested, there was hope that the anti graft commission would investigate the matter, adding that “others involved will surely be investigated and if possible arrested soon.

“I expected him to pray thus, ‘forgive me my sin, put me on the right path and grant me wisdom to rule over the people.’ This is better, rather than dramatising the whole situation,” he said.

Adeboye in Ibadan today GENERAL Overseer, The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor E. A. Adeboye, will be in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, today, July 10, 2016 to dedicate the stadium-like RCCG Covenant Sanctuary, opposite Zartech, Oluyole Estate, Ibadan.

Time is 8.00 a.m. Chief Host is Pastor Dele Balo-

gun, the pastor-in-charge of Region 21.

Pastor E. A. Adeboye

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crimereports

Sunday Tribune

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

Village head leads robbery, kidnap gang to his community Adamu Amadu - Dutse

Recovered AK-47 rifles, AK-47 magazines, live ammunition and bales of money

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WELVE members of a kidnapping syndicate ran out of luck last week in Jigawa State when they were arrested by the Inspector General of Police (IGP)’s anti-robbery squad attached to the renown hunter, Alhaji Ali Kwara Azare.

The gang of kidnappers was arrested after they attacked some Fulanis in Madabe village in Buji Local Government Area, Jigawa State, where they beat most of their victims and robbed them of N1.3 million.

Speaking with Crime Reports, the gang leader who gave his name as Ali Bello, an indigene of Itas Local Government Area of Bauchi State, said it was one Mai Unguwa Ali that invited him to the village to rob.

The gang leader explained that “this is my first time of involvement in kidnapping.

It was Ali who called me on phone and told me that there were some Fulanis who had plenty cows, saying that we should go and kidnap their children or wives to collect ransom.

“He took me round the area and showed me their houses. To my surprise, all of them were his neighbours and knew him. In fact, they were under him because he was the leader of the village.”

“I called his attention to the fact that attacking his neighbours could cause problem for us but he assured that there would be no problem. So, I called other friends and Ali welcomed them, showing them the area and all possible exits,” the gang leader disclosed.

He added that “we successfully operated, though we did not collect much from our victims the first day. We only asked them to arrange money for us, threatening that we would kill them if they failed to meet our demand. We decided not to kidnap anyone that day because they were scared.

“By the time we came back, they had gathered N1.36 million which we

The suspects collected. We gave the village head his share.

“Few weeks after, Ali called us for another job and after we invaded the hamlet, the dwellers promised to do as our former victims did. As we planned to go for the money, the

IGP’s squad, unknown to us, had arrested Ali, and he led the team members to my house. They went after others and arrested them.”

He disclosed that he came in contact with other gang members in grazing places since they were all

Fulanis.

“We formed a gang and started terrorising our fellow Fulanis. I started by stealing cows but later became an armed robber after I procured gun and found others who also have guns.”

Ali added that “I bought the gun from one man at the cost of N350,000. I don’t know him and his residence; I met him through this job (crime). I never killed anybody, I’m using my gun to scare our victims and collect money and cows.”

Speaking with Crime Reports on the arrest, Ali Kwara said that “the syndicate of criminals had been terrorising the Fulanis living in villages in Bauchi, Jigawa and Plateau States.

They move in a large number carrying guns and other weapons and storm any

village to collect money or kidnap either children or wives of their target after beating them.”

“When the victims reported to my squad, we swung into action, used our techniques and succeeded in arresting them one after the other. We recovered N1.439 million, two AK-47 guns, a locally made pistol and dozens of 7.2 mm ammunition.”

He said that the suspects would be handed over to Jigawa State police command for further investigation.

Man withdraws retired teacher’s N.5m at ATM, leaves N1,000 for her

By Oluwatoyin Malik

FOR the second time in less than two months, a suspect, Joshua Adejumo (40), who specialised in swapping Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards of bank customers with disused ones, in the guise of helping the owners, has been paraded by the Oyo State Police Command, as another of his criminal exploits landed him in police net again.

Adejumo was first paraded on May 26 at the police command headquarters at Eleiyele, Ibadan and was subsequently arraigned in court.

But his past deeds caught up with him again as he was arrested for withdrawing N543,000 from the account of a 64-year-old retired teacher, Mrs Aduke (surname withheld). He was among other suspects on whom the state Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade, briefed journalists on June 30.

The police commissioner had also disclosed that investigations by the Anti-Kidnapping Squad handling the suspect’s case revealed that he had

The suspect, Joshua Adejumo once been arrested by the Kwara State Police Command over a stolen Toyota Camry which was recovered from him.

Narrating her experience to Crime Reports, the 64-year-old retired teacher said: “On January 27, I went to a bank to withdraw money from ATM. After punching my pin number, the ATM card got stuck. I kept punching and suddenly, I saw a man at my back.

He stepped forward and punched the ‘clear’ button on the ATM, but I could not retrieve my card. The sus-

pect advised that I should complain to the security man at the bank. I went to the security man to do so and he said I should come back the following day.

“To my surprise, when I got home, debit alerts started coming in to my phone at about 9p.m. I went to the bank the following morning and told him I wanted to retrieve my ATM card back but I could not see it.

I was shocked when I was told that someone had been collecting money since the day before.

“I could not get myself

together again because I did not hand my card to anyone since it got stuck in the machine. I went to the bank on the third day and was told that they had located where he was withdrawing my money at an old generation bank at Bodija area of Ibadan.

“The total money he withdrew was N543,000, leaving N1,000 in my account. I went to the police station to complain and since January, people from abroad and Nigeria have been helping me.

The Oyo State police commissioner and the Anti-Kidnapping section also tried their best as they helped me to fish out the culprit with the information given them.”

The suspect however, said he fell into trouble for helping bank customers who had problems withdrawing money from ATM machines.

“I used to assist those who had problem withdrawing from ATM. That was how my past victims fell into my hands. On this particular woman, she was the one who called me to assist her. When the card

got stuck, she went to complain inside. That was when I pressed clear and the ATM card came out. The mistake I made was that I did not go inside to give her.

“She was the one who punched her pin in my presence before the card got stuck. I withdrew N150,000 on same night and the following monring respectively and used the rest to make purchases of clothing items and shoes at a store at Idi Ape area by using POS. “I stopped committing the crime since then but I was arrested based on what I did before. The other case is still ongoing at Iyaganku Magistrates Court.”

Adejumo said that his arrest in Kwara State was because he bought a Toyota Camry which was discovered to be a stolen car. “I bought it from one Alhaji Olaiya for N850,000 and paid N700,000, remaining a balance of N150,000 before I was arrested. I have stopped committing the crime but my past deeds are catching up on me. I have promised to repay the money,” he stated.

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We only pick pockets, snatch bags, not motorcycles —Suspects

By Oluwatoyin Malik

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WO suspected robbers, Afeez Lamidi and Monday Nwafor, whom the police said were snatching motorcycles, bags and purses from owners at gunpoint in broad daylight, have been arrested by policemen from Ashi Division in Oyo State Police Command.

The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Leye Oyebade, who spoke with Crime Reports on the suspects’ arrest, said that they were pursued and arrested on June 27 at 12noon, after they had snatched the purse of a lady who was walking by at General Gas area of Ibadan.

A locally-made pistol and a cutlass that the suspects were using to terrorise their victims were also recovered from them, Oyebade said.

Before the latest arrest, Crime Reports learnt that the suspects had dispossessed an okada rider of his motorcycle at gun point at Ashi area.

According to the victim, an okada rider who craved anonymity, “on Sunday, June 19, I picked a passenger at Basorun motorcycle park to Ashi area at about 3p.m. As she was disembarking, three men on a motorcycle just emerged from nowhere and blocked me.

“Two of them disembarked and started raining slaps on me. One of them pushed me off the bike and the second one drew a gun.

A security guard manning a neighbourhood gate, on sighting the gun, ran away.

I started pleading not to be killed. Before I could get up, one of them picked my bike and as I struggled with them, he went to join others and they sped off.

The suspects “As I ran after them, I didn’t know that their gun fell down. When I could not catch up with them, I stopped an okada rider but they had gone far. I reported at Ashi police station and it was when the police came to the scene that they discovered the

gun that fell.

“A week after the incident, the armed robbers came to the same neighbourhood to rob and they were caught. I went to the police station when I heard the news and to my surprise, I discovered that they were the same people

who attacked me and went away with my bike.”

The suspects, who admitted snatching a purse while speaking with Crime Reports, however, denied snatching a bike from their accuser. One of the suspects, Lamidi (22), who said he was a bus con-

THE Niger State Command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested 12 suspects involved in various crimes in different parts of the state.

The State Commandant of the NSCDC, Mr. Philip Ayuba stated this at the weekend, adding that his Command apprehended the suspects for their involvement in vandalism of

money and the purse had been returned to the owner when we were caught.

“We were not the ones who snatched our accuser’s okada, but we have accepted the accusation since he is insisting. I admit that I have made a mistake and I promise that it will not repeat itself if I get out of my present predicament.”

Also, Nwafor from Oneke, Ebonyi State (27), said: “I am an okada rider. It is true we snatched purse from its owner at General Gas axis of Ashi area. Before then, we usually attended parties with the sole aim of picking pockets. We never used a gun to operate and we were not the ones who snatched our accuser’s motorcycle. I believe God wants to teach me a lesson with my arrest.

I promise I will not commit crime again.”

Man who invaded military barracks to steal arrested

By Oluwatoyin Malik

A daring serial thief who had been invading the homes of army personnel within the barracks at 2 Division of the Nigerian Army in Ibadan, Oyo State, for the past nine months was nabbed on Friday, July 8 by the military police personnel, during another attempt to burgle a house.

Commander of the Military Police, Colonel Abdulahi Haruna Ibrahim, disclosed the arrest of the suspect to Crime Reports same day, few hours after the arrest.

According to the commander, the suspect had been on the military po-

Michael John lice’s wanted list for the past nine months, as he was said to have been dis-

turbing the Odogbo Barracks by passing through illegal routes to invade

Niger Civil Defence parades 12 suspected bike, cable thieves Adelowo Oladipo - Minna

ductor in Lagos State, confessed that it was the gang he was following in Ibadan that put him in trouble.

According to Lamidi, “I came in contact with the gang at Oke Dada hemp joint at Beere, Ibadan.

They are Tunde, Rilwan and Monday, but the first two have gone back to Lagos. It was Monday and I that went to Ashi to snatch a purse from a passerby.

We were pursued with motorcycles and cars until the riders caught up with us at Testing Ground area.

“Before that time, we used to pick pockets, but that day, he told me that he had instalment payment to make on a bike he bought and was not having money.

He suggested that we go to Ashi area to snatch bags and that was what we did before we were caught. We found N3,100 in it but the

electricity and water board armoured cables at different locations in Minna, the state capital.

According to him “we arrested 12 suspects who were involved in various crimes including theft and vandalism.

“Some of them who were involved in motorcycle theft were Fulanis, Bello Usman and Umoru Halilu from Tegina. They were apprehended, taken to court and have been sen-

tenced to three years imprisonment each without option of fine.”

Ayuba stated further that two of the three suspects involved in the vandalism of fibre optic and water pipes belonging to Niger State Water Board and power armoured cables were minors.

He said “we are still investigating their case. But the two minors, Bashir Sani (17years) and Aliyu Yusuf (16 years), both of

Universal Basic Education School in Minna had been arraigned in court.”

He called on the residents in the state to be vigilant, saying the act of vandalism by the suspects had affected water and power supply in the State.

One of the suspects, Aliyu Yusuf, confessed to the crime, saying that he had been involved in vandalism with his partner in crime, Basiru Sani ,who helps in selling their loot.

homes.

Explaining how John was able to access the military zone, Colonel Ibrahim said: “We have water pipe drainage by the fence of the barracks which he used to take advantage of to break into houses, carting away television, car stereo and laptops. He specialised in breaking into the houses officers on courses or those whose families are in the barracks while their husbands are away on duty.

“Unfortunately for him, luck ran out on him when we apprehended him about 4a.m. on Friday, July 8, as he was entering the barracks through a gutter. The suspect had given us a lot of concern before his arrest.

“We got to know that he once lived in the barracks with a relation who is a soldier; and having got to know the existing routes into the barracks, he has been terrorising and stealing items from people. He has no fixed address and initially claimed to be from Delta State before confessing that he is from Bayelsa State.”

Crime Reports also learnt that the suspect was arrested by the police in 2015 over a similar offence and was charged to court.

Responding to Crime

Reports’ question, Michael John (58) said: “I live around hemp joint at Oke Dada at Beere area, Ibadan. I was breeding fishes in Warri, Delta State but I resorted to stealing in 2015 when flood swept my fish pond away. The people I borrowed N400,000 from, on which I was paying N25,000 interest, started pestering me to repay the loan. My wife left and I had no choice than to come back to Ibadan.”

On how he knew the route he could pass through without being detected, John said he became familiar with the route he chose when he lived in the barracks with a brother of his in 1999. When asked why he decided to choose the path of crime, the suspect simply replied: “Too bad.”

He said his wife is currently in Benin, Edo State with his children.

The man confessed to smoking Indian hemp, saying he started about three years ago. He also disclosed that his buyer, one Bashakam, whom he met at hemp joint, also resides at Beere area.

The military police commander said that the suspect would be transferred to the police authorities in Oyo State for further investigation.

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Troops kill 16 Boko Haram terrorists, lose 2 soldiers Residents flee to neighbouring town, Cameroon From Chris Agbambu and Dare Adekanmbi with Agency Report

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O fewer than 16 Boko Haram terrorists were, on Friday evening, killed by counter insurgency troops in Kala Local Government Area of Borno State.

Two soldiers were shot dead, while three sustained wounds in the exchange of gunfire that resulted from the terrorists’ attack on the troops’ location at Rann.

Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Usman, in a statement on Saturday, said the terrorists came with Motorcycles Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (MCBIED), anti-aircraft guns and other weapons at about 5:00 p.m.

Usman explained that the gun duel between the terrorists and the troops lasted hours, adding that the attackers were overwhelmed by the superior firepower of the troops.

“Unfortunately, one of the terrorists’ suicide bombers detonated himself at a gun truck killing the driver and the gunner.

The truck and the mounted weapon were also dam-

aged beyond repairs.

“In addition, two soldiers were wounded in action, while three others sustained minor injuries. The troops killed seven of the attackers instantly, while quite a number escaped with gunshot wounds.

“During clearance operations this morning (on Saturday), the troops discovered nine more Boko Haram terrorists’ bodies

in the surrounding areas.

Therefore, the total number of terrorists killed was 16.

“The troops also recovered a General Purpose Machine Gun, Rocket Propelled Grenade, ammunition and captured two of the terrorists alive. The bodies of the two fallen heroes and the wounded in action soldiers have been evacuated to Maiduguri, while reinforcement was

sent from Gomboru Ngala,” the statement said.

In a related development, the troops have also discovered and detonated two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) planted along Gamboru-Rann road.

Meanwhile, an international online newspaper, Mail Online quoting AFP, said residents of the affected community had fled into Cameroon and the town of Gamboru,

28 kilometres away.

An eyewitness, Ari Ngamsu, said: “The Boko Haram gunmen planted two high calibre explosives on the way outside the town but soldiers from Gamboru succeeded in defusing them at daybreak.”

Both witnesses spoke on Cameroonian phone lines, the only means of communication available following the destruction of tele-

com masts by Boko Haram in previous attacks.

Rann and nearby villages have been targeted in a number of attacks by Boko Haram despite successes by the Nigerian military that have pushed the Islamists out of some areas.

The attacks have forced villagers to flee their homes, returning to them after they were clawed back by the military.

One of the suspected terrorists killed in the attack with the vehicle at the scene where the suicide bomber killed himself. PHOTO: NIGERIAN ARMY

17 schools to remain shut as Ajimobi reopens others on tomorrow •Strike continues —NLC

By Wale Akinselure

THE Oyo State government has directed that public schools in the state be reopened on Monday.

The state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Toye Arulogun, disclosed this while addressing journalists on Saturday evening.

According to him, the state government’s decision fol-

lowed consideration of appeals from several representations by the Parents Teachers Association, community leaders, traditional rulers, prominent and well meaning Nigerians at home and abroad, asking the state government to reopen the schools.

He however said that the 17 schools that participated in the demonstration by

students on June 6 were excluded from the reopening order.

The affected schools listed are: Baptist Secondary School, Senior and Junior, Oke-Ado, Ibadan, Ansarud-Deen Secondary School, Liberty, Ibadan, Ansar-udDeen High School, Liberty, Ibadan, Ibadan Grammar School, Senior and Junior, Molete, Ibadan, Olubi Memorial Grammar School,

Middle Belt nationalities condemn FG’s posture to herdsmen/farmers clashes Isaac Shobayo -Jos

ASSOCIATION of Middle Belt Ethnic Nationalities (ASOMBEN) has condemned the posture of the Federal Government to the incessant clashes between the herdsmen and farmers especially in the Middle Belt region.

The body accused government of doing little or nothing to end the menace beyond making empty promises.

Chairman of the group, Toma Davou who stated this at the summit of ASOMBEN, on Saturday in Jos, Plateau State, said the menace needed to be tack-

led for the development and progress of the zone.

According to him, the much-touted Grazing Reserve Bill has generated fear and tension all over the country, especially in the Middle Belt, because government has not been able to spell out the policy clearly.

Davou said public suspicion against the bill was justified, charging the Federal Government and other agencies responsible for it to put some factors into consideration.

On the clamour for the restructuring of the country, Davou said, while other parts of the country and

eminent personalities from other zones had voiced their opinions on the subject, little or nothing had been heard from the 14 Middle Belt states and FCT. “No one can say precisely what government is likely to do. However we should be proactive. In the eventuality that government decided to restructure the county we should have our blue print ready.

“It is imperative that we fashion out a position for the Middle Belt on the matter, document it well and give it a wide publicity now. No one should determine our destiny but we ourselves,” he said.

Molete, Ibadan, St Luke Grammar School, Senior and Junior, Molete, Ibadan, St Luke College, Molete, Ibadan, Yejide Girls Grammar School, Molete, Ibadan.

Others are Methodist Grammar School, Senior and Junior, Bodija, Ibadan, Methodist Secondary School, Bodija, Ibadan, Oba Akinyele Memorial High School, Basorun, Idi-Ape, Ibadan, Ikolaba Grammar School, Agodi, Ibadan, Ikolaba Secondary School, Agodi, Ibadan, Ikolaba High School, Agodi, Ibadan, Lagelu Grammar School, Agugu, Ibadan, Okebadan High School, Oluyoro, Ibadan and Ibadan Boys High School, Okebola,

Ibadan.

Arulogun noted that the affected schools would remain shut until the principals and the management of the schools submitted an undertaking to the government that their students will not engage in or be used for violent acts and that their safety will be guaranteed.

“Considering the need for strong character moulding and to emphasize the importance of good conduct and acceptable behaviour for the leaders of tomorrow, the students must tender a written apology to the government through the school management,” he said.

The public schools were shut by the state government after the destruction of government property and those of individuals and corporate bodies by students and teachers of some schools in the state on June 6, 2016.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the state, Waheed Olojede, has maintained that the state government’s order does not nullify the ongoing strike.

He enjoined workers to go on with the strike until their demands were met.

According to him, NLC had ordered the strike before government shut schools.

List of the schools: Olubi Memorial Grammar School, Molete, Ibadan.

St Luke Grammar School, Senior and Junior, Molete, Ibadan.

St Luke College, Molete, Ibadan.

Yejide Girls Grammar School, Molete, Ibadan.

Methodist Grammar School, Senior and Junior, Bodija, Ibadan.

Methodist Secondary School, Bodija, Ibadan.

Oba Akinyele Memorial High School, Basorun, Idi-Ape, Ibadan.

Ikolaba Grammar School, Agodi, Ibadan.

Ikolaba Secondary School, Agodi, Ibadan.

Ikolaba High School, Agodi, Ibadan.

Lagelu Grammar School, Agugu, Ibadan.

Okebadan High School, Oluyoro, Ibadan.

Ibadan Boys High School, Okebola, Ibadan.

9

10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

10

10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

life&living New survival strategies of Lagos street hawkers

Recently, the Lagos State government banned street trading, re-enacting a law capable of convicting both buyer and seller.

AKIN ADEWAKUN in this report writes on the survival strategies of street hawkers in their attempts to escape arrest by law enforcement agents of the state government.

Hawkers on the street

S

HE stood by the roadside, apprehensive and highly suspicious of the person next to her. But placed very firmly on her head was that bowl of chilled sachets of water and assorted soft drinks, from where she sold to customers often trapped in the long and heavy traffic on Iyana-Ipaja Bridge, desirous of quenching their heat-induced thirst while they endure the long tortuous journeys to their destinations.

But unlike before when Kehinde, the street trader, could openly move from one spot to the other, this time around even in the same environment, she was a bit discreet. Nowadays, she often stands in a corner, studying the situation to ensure there were no agents of the state in sight before launching out. But hawkers on Lagos roads were not this careful in the past until several days back. The events that prompted this new strategy happened at the end of June.

On that fateful day, no one had the premonition that an attempt by Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) officials of the Lagos State government to apprehend an errant street hawker along Maryland Bus Stop, would end in tragedy but it did. To escape arrest, the hawker dashed across the road, oblivious of an oncoming articulated truck which crushed him.

There were protests and of course the protesters turned on whatever they thought belonged to the state government, especially BRT buses, destroying many of them in the process.

The Lagos State government in response had to go back to the drawing board to reintroduce an extant law, though not often enforced, to ban hawking on major roads across the state.

According to the state governor, Akinwumi Ambode, while speaking on the incident: “It is not in our DNA to

allow someone to just die by road accident or the way it happened in respect of the incident. But beyond the fact that we lost one person while crossing the road as a result of evading arrest by KAI officials, I need to tell Lagosians that over 49 buses were actually destroyed and it is costing us almost N139 million to put those buses back on the road,” he said.

“What we are doing on traffic is that we are introducing new strategies to eliminate traffic but Lagos being a cosmopolitan city, you cannot totally eliminate it but now this is the case; in the next few days, you will see on the street of Lagos signs that will be warning you that buyers and hawkers should be aware that there are consequences,” Ambode added.

Consequently, Governor Ambode said the State ExecuContinues

pg 11

11

life&living

10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

‘We shall relocate to the outskirts’

Top and bottom: Keeping an eye on KAI officials while still plying their trade

Continued from

pg 10

tive Council has resolved to enforce the law, which according to him makes both the hawker and the buyer liable of the offence.

“The issue is we need to enforce our laws because we already have a law in respect of that and then there is a clause in it which says the buyer and the seller are both liable and that we are going to fine them either N90, 000 or a six-month jail term.

“We will be watching out for buyers and sellers and all we need is just scapegoat. Don’t buy plantain chips or any other item in traffic from July 1, buyers beware,” Ambode warned.

However, for Kehinde the street hawker and a mother of three who plies her trade in Ipaja area of the state, in spite of the grave implications of doing her business on Lagos roads glaringly written all over the place, she is torn between the proverbial ‘devil and the deep blue sea.’

She has to survive, and she is ready to take risks and in fact do anything, even at the risk of a jail term, to ensure she and her children do not die of hunger.

These are, no doubt, really challenging times for Kehinde and her ilk who daily throng Lagos streets, hawking their wares for a living. To them it was bad news that the Lagos State government announced its decision to begin the enforcement of the law banning street trading.

Since July 1, when the enforcement was supposed to commence, this class of traders have become people of “no fixed address.”

What started like a huge joke was fast becoming a reality. Events of each passing day confirmed the resolve of the state government which this time round seems poised to keep street traders off the streets, and would leave no stone unturned to achieve this. However, what seemed an impracticable policy, given the peculiarity of Lagos, might end up swelling the rank of inmates of prisons across the state if those arrested are found guilty and sentenced.

the major entry point from other parts of the country is that of hawkers, milling around the motor park and the main road and jostling for space and would-be costumers in this bustling area, considered to be one of the most fertile for the business in the state.

The same scenario also played itself out at Maryland, also considered as one of the most thriving spots in Lagos for street trading. The whole place was deserted by hawkers of different merchandise, as the whole environment looked strange due to the absence of those who used to make it tick.

Expressing her disgust and shock at the ban, Maryam, a soft drink hawker at the Iponri area of the Lagos Mainland, pleaded with the government to re-consider the policy, stating that with the latest development, the traders would have to re-strategise since they had no alternative means of livelihood.

Curiously, events of the last few days seem to be confirming the fact that the hawkers must have withdrawn from the major streets to re-strategise on how to survive even while the ban subsists. Interestingly, they had the threeday Sallah holiday period to experiment with their new strategies.

For instance, the spectacles on major Lagos roads during the period were quite different from those of the earlier days in the week, as traders and hawkers Governor Akinwumi Ambode returned fully to make brisk business.

In almost all the places visited by Sunday Tribune, during the period, street hawkers were seen meandering through the usually busy traffic, persuading road users to patronise them as they displayed their wares ranging from a popular brand of sausage rolls, sachet water, different brands of bread, ice cream and others wares.

Perhaps a reason for the sudden return during the sallah period was the absence of law enforcement agents on the streets to enforce the ban. Despite this, the traders are hell-bent on perfecting their strategies for long-term More worrisome is the fact that the law does not apply survival. to the street hawkers alone. Those who patronise them, For instance, Sunday Tribune’s investigations while especially those trapped in the notorious Lagos traffic, speaking with the traders revealed a tighter networking desirous of quenching their thirst, are guilty as well. in a bid to survive the onslaught against their businesses.

In the earlier days of the enforcement, Sunday Tri“What we do now is to network so that we will not be bune’s investigation revealed an almost total compli- caught unawares when officials of KAI are eventually ance with the ban on street hawking, with almost all the around to enforce the ban. We are not deceived that we streets free of the presence of hawkers in most of the ar- are not seeing them for now, we know they will eventualeas visited. ly come; that is why we are networking to ensure that we On Monday, the usual spectacle of hawkers on Third are not caught unawares,” explained one of the traders, Mainland Bridge in the morning was absent around 9.00 based in Abule Egba area who did not want to be named. a.m. when Sunday Tribune passed through the route But, beyond networking, some seem to be relocating to the Island. to the borders of the city for easy escape from the law, Besides, the Kingsway Road on the Island, which is which perhaps explains the upsurge in the ranks of those usually a beehive, was also free of traders hawking their trading along Berger end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expresswares on that road, at a time considered as one of the way and the toll gate area on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expeak periods. pressway.

Ojota was also another area which recorded a full com“We know quite sure that there are no such ban in the pliance on Monday. Traders there fully complied with neighbouring towns of Ogun State, and no KAI official the directive, contrary to what used to obtain in the ever- would dare arrest us there once we flee to that place,” anbusy area in the past. The usual spectacle in Ojota being other hawker named Martins, who sells confectioneries at Maryland told Sunday Tribune.

Martins is also one of those planning to relocate to the outer areas of Lagos in order to escape the long arm of the law banning hawking.

But Taibat, one of the hawkers, is not planning such a move. She is prepared to sink or swim with the business in ‘Ikeja Along’ area, on Agege Motor Road.

Her plan, for now, is to keep out of sight during the early hours of the day, when the officials of the state are likely to be on the prowl.

“I believe I can do without trading in the daylight for now. I’ll do it in the evening when workers are returning home and I will still make my money during that period,” Taibat told Sunday Tribune.

But how effective would these strategies serve Kehinde, Taibat, Martins and other hawkers on the long run?

What we are doing on traffic is that we are introducing new strategies to eliminate traffic but Lagos being a cosmopolitan city, you cannot totally eliminate it but now this is the case

Continues

pg 12

12

feature

10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Governor Ahmed: From China with prosperity

Governor Ahmed with Chinese officials

By Muideen Femi Akorede

A

major fallout of Nigeria’s shrinking economy in view of the global oil crises has been a recognition by governments at all levels in Nigeria to diversify the economy. A major component of this strategy is a renewed resolve to increase foreign investment in the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari demonstrated this resolve with his recent trips abroad aimed at attracting new investments, the development of Nigeria’s infrastructure, among others. Perhaps the most elaborate and promising of these trips was Buhari’s recent visit to China.

Building on existing talks, the Kwara State governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed, on June 8 also travelled to the city of Nimgbo, in East China to finalise planned investments in the state and secure fresh inflows.

It was a five-day trip that took Governor Ahmed and his team to three cities through a 12-hour drive. A typical day featured at least three meetings or receptions with separate sets of businessmen and government officials.

These high-level meetings all ended with the Chinese delegation expressing interest in investing in Kwara State for mutual benefit. The day after the team’s arrival in Ningbo, East China, our host, Mr. Shi Zengchai of Ningbo Jinsheng Star Limited, led the team to the 18th China CEEC Trade Fair which featured exhibitions from China, other parts of Asia, Europe and America on an expansive ground that covered the size of four football fields.

During his three hour stay at the trade fair, Governor Ahmed was particularly interested in processing equipment, diagnostic tools, and aviation training equipment stands where he exchanged ideas with the exhibitors.

The following day, the schedule was no less hectic. It opened with Governor Ahmed meeting a group of Chinese investors who expressed a desire to establish agribusiness ventures in the state.

Looking at these men dressed in T-Shirts, casual shirts and trousers, it was tempting to dismiss them. That was until they opened up about their investments in other African countries and their desire to come to Kwara.

Before holding further investment talks, Governor Ahmed and his team met with Mr. Wang Jianhou, Deputy Mayor of the municipal city of Ningbo at a major hotel

in the city, accompanied by party officials and other government officials.

The Deputy Mayor commended Ahmed and the Kwara State government for the interest in partnering with Ningbo city for investment which he described as a flourishing city with GDP per capita of $16,000. Ningbo, he said, is a city of three million people whose history dates back 6000 years. In the last decade, according to him, the city has flourished significantly with its port alone witnessing transactions of about $100m annually. The fact that the city alone is more populated and affluent than Kwara State was not lost on anyone at the meeting.

Governor Ahmed, speaking through an interpreter, said the state government was following the path of President Buhari to meet potential investors who can take advantage of opportunities in Kwara State for mutual benefit. He said the state was looking for investors especially in the area of manufacturing.

Kwara State, according to him, has a very youthful population which shows there is a strong workforce that can support industrialisation. He described the opportunities for investment in Kwara State as huge, and commended Shi, who he described as a “brother’, for his resolve to invest in Kwara State.

Any expectation that the day was over was dashed as the team marched into the hall downstairs for another engagement.

This event, which will turn out the highlight of the trip, was the 18th China Zheiland Investment and Trade Symposium, and had in attendance about 200 investors, businessmen and Chinese officials. Kwara State was the only delegation from Africa and the only one from Nigeria for the ceremony which was designed to formalise agreements for government-backed investments within China and abroad.

Specifically, the Ningbo Major Investments Signing Ceremony was organised by Ningbo Municipal People’s Government to provide incentives for Chinese companies to invest in other parts of the country and overseas. In all, a total of 31 projects worth $3.7 billion were consummated at the event. Of the amount, $1.42 billion was outbound, including the Kwara investment.

The Kwara State government signed an agreement with the Ningbo Jinsheng Star Import and Export Company for the establishment of the $56 million Kwara Chetex

Textile Park in the state. During the short segment, Governor Ahmed signed for the state while Zengchao signed for Ningbo Jinsheng.

Amid hand pumping and back thumping, an elated Governor Ahmed said he was pleased the deal had finally been signed. He particularly emphasised the fact the textile factory and park were expected to create 3000 direct jobs and transform the Irepodun/Edu Local Government axis of the state.

For him, the factory and other infrastructure projects planned for the area will stimulate growth and jobs in the area as part of his administration’s effort to develop Kwara North. This is part of an overall strategy designed to ensure even development across the state. It was the culmination of a yearlong effort involving Ningbo Jinseng, Chinese officials, Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment as well as the State Public Private Partnership Office.

Also speaking, Yomi Ogunsola, Chief Economic Assistant to the governor, and DG, PPP Bureau, said the state would provide up to N1 billion as counterpart fund, 400 hectares of land as infrastructure support as its own contribution.

The next three days saw the team undertaking a fourhour road trip to Anhui Guangxin Agric Chemical Company, another trip to Changxing City and finally to Shanghai. At every stop, the team was treated to full Chinese hospitality, including neon lights welcoming Governor Ahmed and the team at hotels and government offices as well as the almost statutory welcome reception.

In the process, Governor Ahmed and his team held talks on the establishment of an agro-allied factory and a farm in Kwara State as well as a visit to a factory to observe the kind of technology that will be deployed at the Kwara Chetex Textile Park in the state. The presence by Synochure, a Chinese government agency which underwrites and approves Chinese investment abroad, was a major coup for team Kwara as it signaled the company had an opportunity to conduct due diligence on the state and was likely to be more disposed to approving additional investment in Kwara State.

Going by the $56m investment and other talks by the team, it was clear that a sleuth of investments is Kwara State-bound and will stimulate more growth, jobs and economic development in the state.

life&living Ban on hawking: ‘Govt would have to build more prisons’ Continued from

pg 11

“I believe the government would have to build more prisons when enforcement eventually commences,” said Bolaji, a marketing communications professional, in his response to the a question on what might be the fate of

those who might be arrested for flouting the order banning street trading in Lagos.

Bolaji believes the peculiar terrain of the city would make enforcement of such laws almost impracticable.

“If the government is saying it would jail me for daring to quench my thirst in the traffic, when it is an

open secret that sometimes you spend hours in such traffic, then let us look at how that would work.

If you are coming up with such laws, there is that need to give those that would be affected an option. In this case, there is none, that is why the whole thing looks funny,” he said.

13 Continued from

I

10 July, 2016 last week

N our approach to the problem of inflation, we have, in our mental indolence, tended to base our solution mainly on monetary manipulation and price control.

The Unity Party of Nigeria will strive to do much better than these. Firstly, we will, under our integrated rural development scheme, produce much more food at home.

Fortunately, most of our foodstuffs are yearly or twiceyearly crops. We will abolish price and other controls and produce more foods, more houses, more clothing material, and more consumer goods generally. Experiences over the years have demonstrated beyond any doubt that much control breeds much inefficiency and much corruption.

Secondly, we will deliberately seek to export part of our international inflation to foreign countries.

This brings me to the issue of bans on various items of imports, the aim of these -bans is to conserve our foreign exchange; but in the process we have intensified the inflationary pressure at home.

We have even done worse; we have encouraged smuggling on a large scale, which ipso facto involves illicit dealings in foreign currencies also on a large scale, to the utter detriment of our foreign earnings and the frustration of our aim to conserve Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserve.

In spite of all the bans on imports, in spite of all the controls and monetary manipulations, our inflationary rate is steadily on the increase, and our balance of payments position is continually on the decline.

In the circumstances, the Unity Party of Nigeria will have no hesitation at all in lifting all the bans on imports, and abolishing all the existing controls. We will also bring about a radical change in the direction of our international trade. At present, we are too vulnerably’ exposed to the ruthless onslaughts of certain countries. And as soon as the Unity Party of Nigeria is in power, we will invite the countries concerned to bilateral talks, with a’ view to future balancing of the trades and payments between us and them. With these countries, it must be two-way traffic or no traffic at all. It is criminal folly for Nigeria, economically emaciated as it is, to submit meekly to being cannibalised by economically sleek industrial countries.

Similarly we will remove all the prevailing restraints on trade, as well as governmental interference in commercial activities. In other words, government owned companies and corporations like Nigerian National Supply Company will be folded up. Their operations have proved to be unwarranted interference with and inhibition on commercial activities, and they have more than any other institutions promoted colossal waste, scarcity, and cor-

Awo’s thoughts PATH TO NIGERIAN GREATNESS

On the campaign trail Whither the poor under the new dispensation*

ruption in the economy.

We will do more. We will sedulously encourage the lo-

In other words, government owned companies and corporations like Nigerian National Supply Company will be folded up. Their operations have proved to be unwarranted interference with and inhibition on commercial activities, and they have more than any other institutions promoted colossal waste, scarcity, and corruption in the economy

Sunday Tribune

cal manufacture of commodities for which we have raw materials. For instance, why should we be importing even as much as one bag of cement into this country, when we have more than enough limestone deposits in the country to satisfy all our wants in the matter of cement? Accordingly, we will make a clean departure from the present policy of the Ministry of Industries by allowing any group of Nigerians with or without the association of expatriate investors to establish cement works, beer breweries, distilleries, textile mills, finished-lace factories, etc., anywhere in Nigeria. In this connection, I would like to state that what indigenously owned Nigerian industries need is not injudicious tariff protection which does more harm to many more people than the good it does to a few. What they need is assistance in various forms to enable their products to compete effectively with imported goods.

Such assistance will take the form of cheaper and more dependable infrastructures, lower customs duties on imported materials, lower excise duties on finished goods, subsidised technical assistance; direct financial subsidy for food production, and so on and so forth. We will even do more than these. It will be possible, under the UPN Government, to obtain expatriate quota with absolute ease. Why should any Government department have the power to determine and limit the number of expatriates which a business concern should have? And why should it take weeks rather than minutes for anyone, who is certified to be in the employ of or connected with any business ,established or to be established in Nigeria, to obtain a visa to travel to Nigeria?

These measures were brought into being when our colonial masters were in charge and wanted to prevent their rivals from entrenching themselves here. Today, the measures constitute veritable clogs in the wheels of industrial and economic progress, and they should and will be removed.

Another instance of a facile approach to the solution of a knotty problem is the enactment last December of Decree No. 36 of 1978. This Decree makes provision for the pre-shipment inspection of imports. The aim and object of the inspection, which aim and object are undoubtedly laudable, are to stamp out the practice of invoice- loading, which is damaging both to our foreign reserve and to our economy.

The point I want to take up on this Decree is not its aim or object or reason. This, as I have said, is unexceptionable. But the method adopted and the underlying basic reason for the method are not easy to understand.

To be continued

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14

10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Onitsha: Capital city of filth, pollution

Quick air pollution facts * Each year, between 7 and 8 million people die prematurely throughout the world due to poor air quality. * 4.3 million deaths are attriuted to cooking: this is mostly in low and middle income countries. * 3.3 million die in South East Asia and western Pacific. * 600,000 die in Africa.

Suzy Oruya - Onitsha with additional report by Bayo Alade

I

N May, a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicated that Onitsha in Anambra State is the most polluted city in the world. Three other Nigerian cities, Aba, (number six), Kaduna (number five) and Umuahia, (number 16) also featured in the top 20 of the unenviable list.

In other words, among the top 20 most polluted cities in the world, four of them are Nigerian cities and that is one fifth of the total number. Other top most-polluted cities in the world include Peshawar, Pakistan (2), Zabol, Iran (3), Rawalpindi, Pakistan (4), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (7), among others.

According to the WHO’s Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution report, “Of the 3,000 cities in the WHO’s air quality database, the most polluted at the time of measurement was Onitsha, a fast-growing city in Nigeria, which recorded roughly 30 times more than the WHO’s recommended levels of PM10 particles.

“Onitsha is number one because it produced pollution levels of nearly 600 microgrammes per cubic metre of PM10s – around 30 times the WHO recommended level of 20 microgrammes per cubic metre.”

The WHO report stated further that a study of Onitsha’s water pollution “found more than 100 petrol stations in the city, selling low-quality fuel, many rubbish dumps, fuel spills along with high levels of arsenic, mercury, lead, copper and iron in its water.”

It also noted that the city’s metal industries, private hospitals and workshops were heavy polluters emitting chemical, hospital and household waste and sewage.

The WHO report also said, “The level of pollution in Onitsha is getting increasingly serious. It is difficult to get accurate measurements in Africa. You can get super-high readings, but ideally the measurements should be done over a year to include different seasons and times of day.

The reading in Onitsha may be representative but not altogether reliable.”

To many people, the WHO report did not come as a surprise. Onitsha is highly populated, having doubled its population to over one million people within a few years; it is also noted for commerce. Its markets are so big they rank among the biggest in the West Africa sub region.

There is the popular Onitsha Main Market (the largest market in West Africa), followed by Bridge Head market, Ochanja market, Mgbunka Obosi market, Ogbaru main market, Building materials market, Osa-Okwodu market, among others.

Apart from these major markets, Onitsha also has up to about 20 other smaller markets making it the city with the highest number of markets in the whole of Anambra State.

As a result huge garbage dumps litter the whole city, especially around the markets where open air burning of refuse often takes place, thereby contributing to the pollution. Sometimes, the garbage spills over from the markets to motor parks and at just any available open space.

For those who want to live in an exciting, affordable and vibrating city as a result of cheap housing, Onitsha happens to be the ideal place.

Despite the efforts by the state’s ministry of environment, the garbage is hardly taken care of, even as residents often blame the ministry for not being alive to its duties. Most of the time, it seems the ministry is simply overwhelmed by the daunting task of keeping the city free of garbage.

According to a ministry official who would not like to be named because he was not authorised to speak officially on the matter, “despite sanctioning those who fail to keep their environment clean and take care of the rubbish they produce, yet garbage seems to have made a home in Onitsha.”

The air often stinks of burning waste from rubbish dumps, coupled with smoke from old ships on the River Niger and discharges from the numerous metal workshops in the city

* 200,000 die in Eastern Mediterranean. * 81,000 die in the Americas. * 19,000 die in high income countries. * 2 million deaths every year caused by respiratory infections because ofindoor air pollution; 800,000 of these are children below the age of five.

Although, the present administration of Chief Willie Obiano has been rated high in its efforts at keeping the state safe as crime has reduced considerably in Onitsha, especially around the famous Upper-Iweka Road and other areas, keeping garbage off the street had been a big headache.

Thankfully, the state government has been working hard to ensure steady evacuation of garbage and to discourage burning of refuse; however, more needed to be done as the inner streets had largely been neglected. In some areas, refuse had even blocked the roads, making it difficult for motorists, motorcyclists and even passers-by to have smooth passage.

Onitsha’s traffic situation is also said to be one of the worst in Nigeria. In 2013, two people died of heat exhaustion after a six-hour gridlock on the city’s bridge over the River Niger. Cars and trucks releasing fumes from burning low-quality diesel often pollute the air even as the air often stinks of burning waste from rubbish dumps, coupled with smoke from old ships on the River Niger and discharges from the numerous metal workshops in the city.

However, there are some people who fault the Onitsha ranking as the most polluted city in the world. Some point to the fact that China, well known for its air pollution problems, however, had only one city on the list – Shijiazhuang.

A respondent on twitter by the name Nekky while reacting on the story online said:”I’m carrying out a research on air pollution at Onitsha; Please which areas in Onitsha are polluted by open waste burning?”

Solomon Okechukwa, a state government official, agrees that there is pollution in Onitsha but does not believe that it could be worse than that of Lagos. “We know pollution is very bad here. But (the pollution in) this city must be much better than Lagos,” he said.

There is, however, cheery news about positive steps being taken by most polluted cities to combat the problem.

According to Assistant Director General of the WHO in charge of Family, Women and Children’s Health, Dr. Flavia Bustreo, “air pollution is a major cause of disease and death” but added that it was “good news that more cities are stepping up to monitor air quality.”

15

10 July, 2016

children’sarena k ild ee h C ew th of

Olaide Sokoya ollydesanmi@yahoo.com 0807 449 7425

Rabbit

QUOTE

A

OluwadarasimiAdeyefa clocked recently Happy birthday.

1

female rabbit is called a doe.

•A male rabbit is called a buck.

•A young rabbit is called a kit (or kitten).

•Rabbits live in groups.

•The European rabbit lives underground, in burrows. A group of burrows is known as a warren.

•More than half of the world’s rabbits live in North America.

•Rabbits have long ears which can be as long as 10 cm (4 in).

•Rabbits have a lifespan of around 10 years.

•Rabbits are herbivores (plant eaters).

•Pet rabbits that live inside are often referred to as ‘house rabbits’.

•Rabbits reproduce very quickly. This can be a major headache for people living in agricultural areas

where rabbits are seen as pests.

•Rabbits are born with their eyes closed and without fur.

•Rabbits are most active at sunset and at dawn.

During the day, they hide

Words from the kids

What do you know about Nigeria?

Olusesi Oluwaferanmi,7 years, Basic 2, Jac and Jay School, Ogba, Lagos MY country is beautiful; we live in peace and harmony. There is due punishment for offenders and many religions are practised. There are different types of newspaper organisations such as the Nigerian Tribune and The Punch among others. There are museums where ancient things are kept for upcoming generations to see. The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) is not corrupt. There are different infrastructure and social amenities including schools and hospitals.

Adesanya Mosope, 7 years, Grade 2, Brightest Star Montessori School, Ibadan NIGERIA is my country. My country consists of 36 states. There is peace in each state; the instructions of the leaders are followed and there are facilities for schools and entertainment in different places.

The rate of corruption is gradually reducing and the entire nation is now united.

Ella Esther, 6 years, Grade 1, Destined Unique private school,Ogba, Lagos MY country is good; it is one of the best countries in Africa. Nigerians are friendly. We have different languages, but the major ones are Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. There are different types of food and ethnic groups. We are blessed with raw materials such as crude oil and many more. Also, there are different gifts of nature and the people in every part of the country are friendly.

Adesanya Oluwaseni, 10 years, Grade 5, Brightest Star Montessori School, Ibadan.

WE Nigerians are very disciplined, especially with our ways of life and religious matters. This is one of the reasons we were able to stand against America’s ideology of accepting gay marriage. Nigerians refused to embrace it because they knew it was bad and against the will of God. The leadership of the nation also instructed that no one should practice such act and those caught in such act were arrested by security agents, and that is why they say ‘obedience is better that sacrifice’. In my country, we have good food, culture, music and dynamic dressing.

Sunday Tribune

under bushes, logs or even old sheds. When rabbits are scared, they freeze and scrunch down to hide.

•Baby rabbits stay with their moms for only two weeks. Then they fend for themselves.

“Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.”

– H. Jackson Brown

Famous invention

Saxophone

The saxophone (also referred to as the sax) is a family of woodwind instruments.

Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet.

The saxophone family was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1840. Adolphe Sax wanted to create a group or series of instruments that would be the most powerful and vocal of the woodwinds, and the most adaptive of the brass instruments, that would fill the vacant middle ground between the two sections.

He patented the saxophone on June 28, 1846, in two groups of seven instruments each. Each series consisted of instruments of various sizes in alternating transposition.

The saxophone is used in classical music (such as concert bands, chamber

music, and solo repertoires), military bands, marchi n g bands, a n d jazz (such as big bands a n d j a z z

combos).

Saxophone players are called saxophonists.

Having constructed saxophones in several sizes in the early 1840s, Sax applied for, and received, a 15-year patent for the instrument on June 28, 1846.

The patent encompassed 14 versions of the fundamental design, split into two categories of seven instruments each, and ranging from sopranino to contrabass.

PROVERB A bad tree does not yield good apples — It means a bad parent does not raise good children

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10 July, 2016

D

URING Ndi Okereke-Onyuike’s American wonder stock boom, a childhood friend hooded me into farming out a princely sum into certain firms, including UAC. In the wake of the doom, he bolted. Even with her plus size, Onyuike too simply dissolved into our usual collective amnesia. But I still feel part of UAC, even though my shares are marooned in the middle-of-nowhere. So, the headline has nothing to do with the durable gala brand. It is used as mere staple symbolism.

Lagos CEO, Akinwunmi Ambode, had many times ordered traders off the streets, but there isn’t mistaking his seriousness this time. And as full enforcement began, what would be the most enduring memory of the disappearing tribe of Lagosians who wanted a honest living by being unlawful, is the imagery a young boy delicately balancing a carton of the sausage on his left shoulder, holding a couple of the roll in his right hand, serenading the appetite of those caught in traffic. A water hawker, right behind him, could be irresistible in a sweltering Lagos weather.

Are you cross with this romanticisation of a supposed mundane menu combo, which is even infinitesimal among the odds-and-ends items that add riotous colouration to Lagos highways and suburbs?

Apart from being arguably most popular on the streets, it is buyers’ dearest. Many also think it a life saver. But, is there truly anyone in Lagos not rescued once by gala plus any drink, especially whenever devil desires the traffic? I doubt.

Would that make street trading right? Not when there is a law, though observed in breach, until Ambode felt the state was unjustly savaged over the death of a street hawker and decided to incinerate everyone. Without doubt, the governor meant business now and could be said to mean well.

Rights are not absolute anywhere. It is a right inclination to seek honest livelihood but it can’t be at the expense of government’s good intent. Or of what use is a mega-city being pumped with billions, when its entry point is a mess of sight. Of what economic value is the investment when human contours impeding vehicular and human movement, with the attendant loss in man-hour, are even more than potholes on the roads?

Also, a law not well implemented is as good as non-existent. But doing it right must also come with well-headed considerations. Men are not made for laws. It is the other way round. That is why laws are subject to interpretation of both the golden and the mischief rule.

BEFORE the military putsch of January 15, 1966, which ended the First Republic and foisted the first military rule on the country, Nigeria operated as a true federal state.

The regions were strong and took full responsibility for determining their destinies. Each region developed at its pace; each was responsible for generating its own resources, merely paying tax to the centre. No region waited on Lagos, then the Federal Capital, for monthly handouts; none called on the Federal Government to fix any road, furnish any school or equip any hospital. The regions were responsible for determining their own affairs and by so doing contributed to the strengthening of the centre.

But the coming of Major General Johnson Thomas UmunnakweAguiyi-Ironsi as the Head of State put paid to that. Aguiyi-Ironsi, who took over a fragmented country after the coup d’état, thought that concentrating powers in the centre would facilitate unity and enhance cooperation among the ethnic groups. So, he came up, on May 24, with the Unification Decree 34 of 1966. The Decree abolished the federal structure of the country and concentrated powers at the centre. With the promulgation of the Decree, the regions, and subsequently the states, were deprived of right to minerals in their states; the Federal Government became the custodian of the country’s treasures and resources.

Although Colonel Yakubu Gowon (as he was then known), who took over from Aguiyi-Ironsi, after the July 29 coup of 1966, abrogated Decree 34 and promulgated Decree 59 of 1966, which came into effect on September 1, and returned Nigeria to its federal status, the truth is that nothing really changed. The government at the centre continued to appropriate to itself powers meant for the states.

When the country returned to democratic government in 1979, the same pattern continued, the unitarylike federal structure bequeathed to the country by the military was sustained by the political class. Even now, the model is still in place. But the mightiness of the Federal Government has enfeebled the states and the local councils. Since the abrogation of the nation’s federal structure in 1966, development in the country has been very slow, especially at the state and local council levels because the Federal Government is so powerful that it is

0811 695 4647

olanreade@yahoo.com

Goodbye gala

Judicial interventions, however, are a long shot in the matter. Even those with the financial muscle, who daily engage the street hawkers, won’t be advised to dare. Every government is tended towards repression. Their bigger commerce interest may become casualties. Any trade interest that wants to dare is likely to be tempered by a mere look at the rubles that used to be markets in Lagos. As for the civil societies that should ordinarily champion a redemptive move, their sources of funding have become a major consideration. Conserving and preserving, may prove such intervention, a suicide mission in the state.

So, where does this leave all parties? One, government must know the call for enforcement has become a bazaar for the enforcers. Days back, some uniformed men of Lagos creation, were caught on phone, conducting another

With Sulaimon Olanrewaju 08055001708

lanresulaimon@yahoo.com

It’s time to correct Aguiyi Ironsi’s faux pas

involved in primary education as well as primary health care. The power of the federal government is such that it is involved in maintaining roads in rural places and also saddled with the provision of water.

Similarly, control over the minerals has been ceded to the Federal Government. No state can take any decision over any mineral deposit within its area without seeking approval from the Federal Government. Though states sit on potential wealth, they can’t benefit from this until they get to Abuja.

This has two clear implications. One, the government

Sunday Tribune

trading by the roadside close to a police station at Alapere.

Traders, whose wares were seized, were being openly billed without any receipt. I guess that wasn’t the enforcement Ambode had in mind, except the ban was just a meal ticket for sumptuous recipe.

These traders are also not ready to disappear without a spirited fight-back in diverse ways, including bribing corrupt officials, diving dangerously across highways to escape arrest, relocating to the suburbs when the highways become too hot to handle, clobbing back to the highways when officials retire for the day. And the ding-dong continues with all the associated dangers, economy losses and ill-feeling on both sides.

Some were also ingenious enough to stay on the blurred borderline of Lagos and Ogun at Berger, still cleverly desecrating Lagos entry point without fouling the law.

Also for every N90,000 fine that comes into government coffers, Ambode can be sure that N900,000 would have gone into corrupt bellies. And just like someone joked the other day, where is the prison facility that will contain the thousands of hawkers in Lagos?

Recently, Ambode’s image-maker, Steve Ayorinde told me that the state was working with a certain unnamed SouthEastern state with the highest number of street hawkers in Lagos. He didn’t elaborate on the collaboration. Is it that talks have broken down? If not, speed would be desirable in whatever scheme being packaged to get the numbers off the street. The success of the scheme could get other states on board.

I also have a simple way out of this suffocating corner.

While more concrete schemes are being worked out, the state can apply the okada methodology by restricting the hawkers to the suburbs, where their sight won’t offend the mega-city sensibility. At least for now, no enforcement is taking place there and making it formal would take the corrupt officials off their necks. Those that breach the highway restriction can now be decisively dealt with. They may not have strong unions like okada, but they have God and their stomach to fill. If honest means are taking away, they may have to feed the stomach anyhow. The state should know better than adding to the number of criminals it is contending with right now.

But if Ambode is adamant because 48 buses belonging to a certain individual were destroyed, I will only say my goodbye to street gala and water. The call is his. But did someone just say Arab Spring? at the centre is glaringly overwhelmed; the Federal Government is choking because it has bitten more than it has capacity to chew. This has resulted in many of its projects either being executed shabbily or not executed at all despite humongous resources allocated to same.

Consequently, many federal roads are in appalling state, many water projects have been abandoned just as many primary health care facilities run by the Federal Government are dilapidated. The import of this is that the current structure in operation in the country has contributed in no mean measure to the backwardness we experience as a people.

The second consequence is that the states and local councils have been denied the opportunity to realise their potentialities. If states cannot convert their natural resources to opportunities for their people, not only will the states become beggarly, the people will also become impoverished.

That is the greatest undoing of the structure in place in the country.

The rising poverty in the country is a consequence of the structure that we run. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, at independence in 1960 about 15 per cent of the population was poor. This rose to 28 per cent in 1980. By 1985, it had risen to 46 per cent, dropping to 43 per cent in 1992 However, by 1996 poverty in the country had gone up to 66 per cent before climbing further to the current rate of 67 per cent. From this, it is glaring that the farther the people are from controlling their resources, the closer they get to poverty.

When the people control their resources, they are able to create opportunities for themselves. When opportunities are created, wealth is generated. When wealth is generated, poverty declines. When poverty goes on the decline, restiveness and criminality also go down and the people are able to channel their energies into productive ventures.

Scaling down poverty and putting our country back on the pathway to greatness will require tinkering with the current structure. A structure that produces poor citizens cannot produce a great nation. If after practising our unitary-like federalism for half a century and the result is backward progress, the time to correct the 50-year old mistake made by General Ironsi is now.

17

10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

N5m defamation suit:

Ebenezer Obey wades into

Okoroji-Onwenu feud It’s insulting to say

Igbo movies are better than Yorubas —Kunle Afod

Kunle Afod, fondly called Mr Inspiration, is an actor, producer and movie director. He is also the brains behind Legacy Caucus, which has trained many actors and actresses in the Yoruba sector of the Nigerian movie industry. In this interview with TAYO GESINDE, the Oyo State born actor speaks on his carrer and why people should invest in the movie industry. Excerpts:

C

AN you give us an insight into your background?

I am the first born in a family of four. I attended Demonstration Nursery and Primary School, Owo, Ondo State. For my secondary school education, I attended Command Secondary School, Jos, Plateau State. It was from there that I moved into acting. I’ve been acting professionally since 1991.

What inspired you to go into acting?

For me, acting is not a job, it is a lifestyle. It’s something I love.

What is the secret of your success?

I’d attribute my success to God and hard work.

How do you get inspiration to write your stories?

I try as much as possible to write real stories from every day happenings. There is so much that happens on a daily basis that people need to learn from. There is a huge difference between a good story and a good movie. I try to create a synergy between both but as my nickname goes, all inspiration comes from God. What is the most defining moment of your career so far?

Every moment is a defining moment for me. It is a contin-

Continues on pg21

18

10 July, 2016 Segun Adebayo tegbollistic@yahoo.com 08116954644

Seyi Sokoya seyi_sky@yahoo.com 08075166585

Marriage rumour:

Bukky Wright’s son, Ojayywright, releases new video

D’banj keeps fans guessing DAYS back, news broke out that Kokomaster, D’Banj, got married secretly to her long time girlfriend.

The identity of the woman and the authenticity of the marriage have not been confirmed by D’banj, who was rumoured to have secretly got married at his Lekki residence on July 2.

Efforts to get D’banj’s reaction to the confirm the news proved abortive as the Kokomaster said he would not comment on the story.

While the alleged secret wedding of D’banj remains a mystery to a lot of people, D’banj had insisted in an interview he granted weeks back that when he finally gets married, it would not be made public. He had said that when he gets married,nobody will hear about it early this year.

“Well, I don’t know yet but I know that I am intending to do it this year. More importantly for me, I’ve always wanted to have a child, but last year my brother, Kay Switch, had a child and it brought so much joy to me. So this year, I’m thinking of settling down to have my own Koko junior soon,” he said.

A close source to the singer told R that “D’banj had always planned to get married secretly but I’m really not sure if he’s done it. A lot of people have been asking me this same question for days, but I don’t know more than you already know.

“Yes, I am very close to D’banj but that does not mean he tells me everything or I am privy to all the his moves. What I can tell you is that married or not, D’banj will not tell a soul about his wedding plans. I am very sure of that.”

Sunday Tribune

Mum suffered from diabetes, hypertension, breast cancer­­

—Bukky Ajayi’s son

• She was 84, not 82

By Segun Adebayo And Newton-Ray Ukwuoma

O

NE of the sons of late actress, Bukky Ajayi, has revealed what led to the death of his mother, saying she suffered from diabetes, hypertension and she was once diagnosed with breast cancer.

Kunle Fawole, who is the last son of the actress, disclosed to R that his mother also suffered stroke a couple of years ago which made her to be confined to the wheelchair and she was even diagnosed with cerebral malaria a few years ago.

According to Fawole, the veteran actress had stroke a couplke of years and had been ill for years.

“There was a time she had cerebral malaria. Over the years, there had been a lot of health complications.

The cardiologist said there were some complications because she was diabetic and hypertensive. She also had breast cancer much earlier,” he said.

Fawole said it became difficult for the late actress to eat properly before she died, saying that the doctors had to pass tube through her nose in order to feed her.

“We could not feed her normal food because of sugar content in her system. The only option the doctors had was to pass the tube through her nose to her tummy.

That was how we fed her for some weeks until that morning that she died. It was my brother who fed her last,” he added.

Speaking on the kind of mother he had, Fawole described her as a disciplinarian, adding that she always pampered her but did not spare the rod anytime he stepped out of line.

“When I knew my mum, she was a single mother. She was my mother and father. I was pampered a lot.

But if I stepped out of line, she disciplined me. She gave me a mark on my arm when I misbehaved in school. She said she would give me a mark that my children will see.

I talked to her about everything; women, work and life”. He said a lot of people thought the octogenerian was wicked because of the roles she played in movies, but her delivery of roles and diction were natural.

The veteran actress did not build a house despite her many years of acting but she was not poor.

“For someone of her status, she would have owned a couple of houses, owned a production outfit and lived in afflunce, but the condition of Nigeria did not encourage her to live the life of a big actress that she was before she died,” he said.

The Imam of Ikate Central Mosque, Surulere, Lagos State, Alhaji Hamzat, described her as a good muslim who made contributions to the mosque regularly. She worshipped at the mosque for over 20 years.

Her death came to many of them as a shock but it was not a painful one in all as Mama, as she was fondly called, lived a fulfilled life and showed many home video lovers what they would miss when she finally bows out of the makebelieve world.

Those who shared the same set with her during her days confirmed that she was a thoroughbred professional actress, little wonder tributes poured in from both young and old.

Even those who never shared a set with her liked her for her professionalism.

R investigation revealed that Ajayi died at the age of 84 contrary to 82 that was widely reported.

NOLLYWOOD actress, Bukky Wright, appears to have finally thrown her weight behind the music career of her son, Ojayywright.

The mother and son were said to have been at loggerheads when her son decided to delve into music against her wish.

The misunderstanding, many had feared, would affect Ojay’s music career due to his mum’s popularity and fame in the entertainmnet industry.

But the latest gist in town is that Bukky and Ojay have put their misunderstanding behind them and have decided to work together. In fact, Bukky was quoted to have said that it was normal for mum and son to disagree in order to bring the best out the son.

Ojayywright who most people call mummy’s boy said he did not care what people call him as long as his music career is progressing.

With his new video, Mofo, a romantic song, which was released days back, Ojay appears ready to continue to raise his game and push himself above the limit after the success of his debut single, Kritical.

Ojayywright, said to be a medical doctor featured Moyo Lawal, who is a top notch in the Nollywood industry, in the video. The video was shot in six locations in Lagos State and directed by OMG. In the video, Ojayywright met a beautiful lady he fell in love with, they both shared and enjoyed beautiful moments until he woke up to see it was all a dream. There’s a twist to it as the video has a continuity for another day.

19

razzmatazz

10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Sunny Ade begins US tour

By Seyi Sokoya AHEAD of his 70th birthday celebration, music icon, King Sunny Ade, has begun a six-week musical concert tour of the United States.

He was said to have staged his first show at a highsea specialised concert.

KSA, who was said to have been welcomed into US by the Executive Director of World Music Institute, Brooklyn, Gaby Sappington, was hosted to a preconcert press conference by fans who missed his tour of last year which was cancelled due to logistic problems.

Also, R gathered that plans are ongoing to celebrate the music legend both in Nigeria and abroad.

KSA in his first performance on a high-sea summer concert of world artistes.

N5m defamation suit:

Ebenezer Obey wades into Onwenu-Okoroji feud

Sossi thanks fans, releases ‘Kalikatumi’

By Segun Adebayo THE wait is over! The music can now flow! That was Bugatti Records artiste, Sossi’s message to his fans as he makes a return with another hit single, Kalikatumi.

After almost a year break from music, Bugatti Records (BRG) act, Sossi has returned with a bang. The wait, according to the Sebee crooner, was necessary in order to come back in a special way.

While he was away, his contemporaries in the music industry banked on the absence of Sossi and established themselves, released hit songs and some of them even dropped albums.

But Sossi, on the other hand, was unruffled. He stayed real to his game and ensured that his fans have the best of it when he finally makes his return.

His new song Kalikatumi was dropped to the delight of his fans on Friday and those who have listened to the song gave kudos to the young man for putting his music career back on the track with the new track.

Having realised that education is key to success in life, Sossi whose last song, Sebee remix, featured two heavyweights in the industry-Olamide and Oritsefemi, has been busy with activities in school but that was not enough to stop him from pushing his music career to the next level with the help of his team, headed by King P, United States-based owner of BRG. According to Sossi, “I am extremely joyous that we are finally pushing this song to a meaningful level. Eveybody has been waiting for it and we have released it on Friday. The work has begun now and there is nothing stopping us from taking the industry by storm. I want to thank my fans for waiting for the song and I hope that this will put an end to the doubts in their minds.”

By Seyi Sokoya

M

USIC legend and chairman of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) Advisory Board, Evangelist Ebenezer Obey-Fabiyi, has waded into the feud between veteran musician, Ms Onyeka Onwenu and COSON Chairman, Tony Okoroji, urging the two parties to embrace peace.

Obey told R that the fight was uncalled for, adding that “no matter what happened, we must be able to bring ourselves back as a united and indivisible family. Because we have tried once and if what we did didn’t yield result, we still have to press forward. I want to arrange another peace meeting to involve some of the elders in the industry. A proverb says, ‘We don’t come back from the court and still be friends’ and that is why we must find a way out not to allow anything to divide us. I recalled that we waded into the matter before, but it seems the duo needed to be talked to and as a family, we must always realise that peace is always better than war. I pray the Lord will help us to solve this matter.”

The feud between Okoroji and Onwenu over a N5 million defamation suit slammed on the latter by a High Court took a new turn last week with Onwenu insisting that the judgement was unjust and vowed to appeal it.

Trouble started when Onwenu pulled out of the election of Board of Directors of COSON held on May 8 2012. Onwenu

claimed that she pulled out of the election after it became clear that it had been manipulated and her dream of becoming the Chairman of the board had been dashed.

She was said to have been offered an appointment into an Elders Advisory Council after she had lost out at the election but she rejected it, claiming that she heard about the Elders Forum for the first time in Okoroji’s welcome address at the election venue and since he did not inform her or sought her consent before conscripting her into the set up, she rejected it.

The Judge of the Ikeja High Court, Justice I.O Akinkugbe, had ordered the frontline singer and politician to pay the sum of N5 million as damages and tender a public apology to Chief Okoroji to be published in newspapers for defamation of character of Okoroji.

Seyi Shay features Niniola in Juba AFRICAN act, Seyi Shay is back on the beat. The sexy singer has released another single which featured rising Afro House singer, Niniola in the new song entitled:

Burna Boy releases ‘Realest’ video

FOLLOWING the success of the On A Spaceship album, Music sensation, Burna Boy, has dropped another video off his album. The documentary style video which was directed by Director Cube is currently exclusive to MTV Base .

The song Realest is one of the many favourites off the #OAS album as Burna Boy brings back the rhythm of his first hit single Like To Party.

The release of the video of this song is said to be apt as Burna Boy is currently on a media tour in the United Kingdom in preparation for his concert, which will hold on October 1.

Amid the rumours following his inability to travel to the UK before now, Burna Boy replied people through the lyrics of the song “ This na the realest time.”

Meanwhile, the singer is set to release a new single entitled Pree Me. The song which was produced by ace music producer, Leriq and was premiered on Thursday on Apple Music Beat1. Burna Boy became the first Nigerian artiste to premier a single on the platform.

The single which was officially released on digital platforms on Friday is the first single to be released off Burna Boy’s EP, Redemption. The EP will be released later this month.

‘Juba’. This is her first single since she released her album Seyi or Shay last year.

The new song came at a time when fans of the singer have asked her to release another song to prove her worth as one of the serious contenders for the soul of the Nigerian music industry as the year runs out. The new song, according to the singer was not released to prove any point but to entertain her fans within and outside the country. “I am a lover of good music and my fans know that I am committed to feeding them great songs that would charge their souls and enrich their minds.

The two raving songstresses come together to create the Afro pop hit as they deliver playful lyrics and catchy hooks on the melodious beat. Juba would easily get anybody caught off guard dancing and miming to the tune.

After an eventful first six months in 2016, Seyi Shay is out to prove doubters wrong & the 3 time NEA 2016 nominee can’t go wrong with her latest single Juba.

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10 July, 2016

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

‘Day a fan harassed me at Idumota market’ Continues from pg17

uous process just like growth. I’m still budding and will bloom as God lives.

What have been the pains and gains of being a celebrity?

The gain is that at times, people give us preferential treatment and we all enjoy that. The pain on the other hand is that people think we are not humans like them. They expect us to pay more for services and because you are popular, you are not allowed to eat or drink or even dance when you want to. It can be that bad sometimes. However, nothing compares to the warmth you feel when people appreciate your work.

How have you been coping with advances from your female admirers?

I have never been what you will call the “lover boy” actor. As a producer and a director, my female admirers love my work but as an actor, I appeal mostly to little kids and married folks.

So, I really don’t have a problem with them.

You are in an industry that is highly competitive. How have you been coping?

Competition is healthy as long as one side isn’t seeking to destroy the other. I watch other people’s jobs and admire their creativity. It helps me to set the bar higher for myself. But I do my thing my way, I don’t work just to outdo others people or work because others are working. As long as you are yourself, I strongly believe no one can beat you at being you and that’s the unique flavour that makes you stand out.

What is your assessment of Nollywood?

We are just average as of today. We are not where we used to be but we are also where we should be yet. We need proper support and funding from appropriate quarters; not necessarily government. There are captains of industries and individuals who can invest in the movie industry if only they know what they can derive from it.

Which of the associations in Nollywood do you belong to and why?

I belong to The Golden Movie Ambassadors (TGMA) of Nigeria. And that is because I believe in the goals of the association which is rebranding, restructuring and rebuilding the industry, which is exactly what the industry needs right now for a total turn around.

How do you intend to step up your game so that you too can become a brand ambassador?

Being a brand ambassador entails a lot of things. The

I will join politics, either elective or appointive. I have been called to serve but to everything there is an appointed time.

first thing is to know the kind of brands you want to attract or you want to be a part of. Brands also have a particular fit that they require of an ambassador. I have a certain brand; the Awolu brand, a comedian who loves children.

Some brands can key into that and of course, my personality as an actor is also a point brands can connect with.

Honestly speaking, some brands have approached me but I turned them down because I have my mind set on some other brands and very soon, I know great things will happen. That is why I’m doing more as regards my productions these days.

Some people are of the opinion that the Igbo speaking sector of Nollywood is superior to the Yoruba sector. What is your take on this?

That’s just a bunch of tribalistic gibberish. Why would anyone say that? Who said that, to who, when, how and where? Let’s dump that idea please and move on to progressive ideas.

Some of your colleagues are now embracing politics. Do you intend to do the same?

Yes, I will join politics, either elective or appointive. I have been called to serve but to everything there is an appointed time, just like the Bible says. We will wait for the appointed time.

What are you working on at present?

I have a lot of irons in the fire. After entertaining the audience with Ekaa and based on the level of acceptance, I am currently working on a new Television series enitled Ileke which will hit the airwaves soon. Let’s not let the cat out of the bag yet, but I promise you this, as God lives, I will not disappoint you.

What are the challenges you are facing as a producer?

It is funding. When you have fantastic ideas but you don’t have the fund to see them through, it kills your creativity.

You can’t totally unleash all your potentials if funds are holding you back.

What is the most embarrassing thing a fan has ever done to you?

One day, I was at Idumota Market in Lagos State and a guy walked up to me and the first thing he said was “iku pa iya e l’eni” (your mother will die today) and he started hitting me in the face with a handkerchief. He actually felt that he was greeting me. And then there were other instances when people will try to greet you at once and end up flat on your back. I appreciate the love anyway.

How do you relax?

I unwind with friends. I love partying and so I go clubbing a few times with my friends.

What is your philosophy of life?

I believe success isn’t determined by the material possessions you have but by the number of people you have made successful. My investment is in people.

How would you describe yourself?

I am easy going, hard working and friendly.

Advice to young people They should be dedicated, prayerful and hardworking.

They should stay away from drugs, crime and anything that is against the law. With God, the sky is the starting point.

What would you like to tell your fans?

I love them all. Their encouragement keeps me going. I will never disappoint them. They should expect more from my stable that will keep them entertained.

21 glitz

10 July, 2016

I was born to sing —Willy Mor

Fast-rising hip hop sensation, Willly Mor, is willing to take his fame to the next level. WIth three singles to his credit, Mor who studied Music at the Polytechnic Ibadan, said he had got what it takes to be the next big project in the music industry. He speaks with SEGUN ADEBAYO about the journey so far and plans to make his mark in the industry.

H

OW did the music journey start?

Music has been part of me since childhood.

I grew up listening to what my dad listened to Don Williams, Jim Reeves, ABBA, Dorly Parton. He listened to a lot of country music. My dad once told me his first dream was to become a musician. When I was six years old, one of our landlords sons used ask me to sing for him. I think he saw something I didn’t know I had.

So, as I grew older, I started listening to music of my own choices, which were Rap and R n B. I listened to Tupac, R Kelly, Bob Marley, Plantashun Boiz, Remedies, Tony Tetuila, Eedris Abdul Kareem.

Which of these artistes really inspired you?

I noticed that I got inspired after singing Rkelly’s songs.

After a while, I started singing my own lines. The first problem I had was writing the songs and composing them at the same time.

So, how did you overcome that challenge?

In 2001, I met Tu Close, a close friend who lived in my neighbourhood. He was the leader of a small music group in Townboiz. I discovered that he was very good with writing and composing songs. I worked with him for some time and I started developing the passion and zeal to write my songs. He inspired me greatly and I felt I could do what he was doing. That was how I was able to overcome the challenge of writing and composing songs. From there, I found a group “ DaRulinBOiz” and I recorded my first demo on a cassette that same year. At that time, there was no producer, we just had to make do with what we had and it turned out to be our first recording. From that day, I have never looked back.

How has it been since you started?

As I have learned from great men through their books, the beginning of a great journey is not always easy. The journey has been very smooth and rough at the same time.

I can’t begin to explain the low moments I have had. There had been good and bad moments on the journey, but it has largely been good because two things have actually been working for me, passion and tenacity. I have heard people tell me that “Go and find a better job. You don’t have a future in this” but I have always believed in my self and I know that whatever the mind can conceive, it can achieve.

I believe that one day, my dream will come true.

Has anything positive happened to you since you decided to take music to this level?

Yes, a lot of positive things have happened to me in the last few years. People have been showing me great support coupled with the positive responses that I have been getting from people at different times and platforms, especially when I went to perform at shows. People say they love my voice and that I would go far with music. All these have been a great source of inspiration for me and I am

grateful to God for the grace to have come this far.

What kind of music do you do?

I am a versatile artiste. I am not restricted to one genre of music but I major basically in Afro-pop.

How are you sure this is the best thing for you?

I see Music as my calling. This is what I am born to do.

It is my mission to make people happy with my music. In this world, we all have pupose of existence. Once I was able to discover that, I have never looked at anything else. It is now left to us to discover our purpose, fight for it and be great in it. I believe that nothing can be best for you than what you are born to do.

Why music in the first place?

I was lucky to be able to discover myself at a tender age, so I don’t have to start asking myself what I have been called to do anymore. Although, in my family, not everyone is okay with it but I have to follow my dreams. I believe I can succeed in any path I choose but I love music, music flows in my veins.

How big do you think your career will go under your record label?

I leave everything in God’s hand. God knows what is good for me. I have a solid team that understands what the industry entails and we are ready to go all out to make things work. The plan on ground is to take our game globally. We are taking over the music scene.

You released a new single days back, tell us about it?

The new song, ‘Desire’ is my first offiicial single. It was produced by two of the hottest producers in Nigeria, Prodo and Allan B. The song was released on Thursday and from the feelers I am getting, the song has gone to top many radio charts in less than 24 hours. The music journey has begun and we are taking the industry by storm. In the next two months, we are dropping another single with videos. So, let’s just keep our fingers crossed as we roll out the plans.

How do you view your chances of making it big in a very competitive industry like this?

I have 100 per cent chance of winning because what I am bringing to the table is different from what people are used to. I am not scared of the competition, I was born to do it.

With God on my side , His grace will take me there.

Who are your role models?

TuPac, Bob Marley, Rkelly, 2Baba.

Who would you like to work with?

I have a lot of people I would love to work with. R Kelly, Akon, Chris Brown, 50 Cent, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Jay Z. In Nigeria Tuface, Wizkid, Davido, MI, Vector, Chidinma, Waje, Olamide, Tiwa Savage, Cynthia Morgan, Patoranking, to name but a few.

Sunday Tribune

Harrysong unveils acts for Delta Peace Concert AS the July 31 date for Harrysong’s Peace Concert in Delta State draws nearer, more than 10 hip hop musicians and five comedians have been confirmed for the gig that is aimed at preaching peace in the Niger/Delta region.

Harrysong who is from the region is said to be worried by the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers and wants to use the peace concert to sensitise the youth on the need to shun violence.

With the state governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, reportedly confirmed as the special guest of honour, the event, which is tagged 1Delta Harrysong Peace Concert, will hold at the Dome Event Centre, along Okpanam Road, Asaba, Delta State and many entertainment stakeholders and top government officials are already preparing to have a swell time.

The government of the state, it was gathered, is reportedly happy to be a part of the event and may make it a yearly event. Already, acts like Kcee, Iyanya, Solid Star, Timaya, Patoranking, Duncan Mighty, Orezi, Patoranking have been confirmed for the concert while stand-up comedians like Funny Bone, I Go Die, D Don, Akpororo, Shakara will crack up the people.

Speaking on what the people of the region should expect, the Gala ambassador said the concert has come to stay in Delta State, adding that the momentum it is gathering and support it has recieved so far have assured him that it would be a successful story.

“Forget the false stories you are hearing, the concert will hold and the people will be sensitised because they are the main reason we are taking the concert to the region.”

D-Truce takes ‘Better Days’ music video to Ghetto FEEL good music rapper, D-Truce, has released the music video of his debut single hit, ‘Better Days’ featuring fellow X3M label mate, Praiz.

Directed by Tolu Itogboje, the video was filmed at Ebute Meta and had scenes of children playing in a crowded street.

The crowded buildings, beggars and traders hustling depict the perfect ghetto look.

A gentle D-Truce sits on a car and raps while Praiz stands in front of the car. There are also scenes of the rapper rapping from a balcony and walking down a dark staircase, while Praiz was captured playing a drum for the children that flocked around him.

The setting perfectly blends with the message of the song which offers hope for a better day. Released last year, the soul hip-hop hit enjoyed massive airplay for its inspiring message of hope.

‘Better Days is a song of hope to all those hustling for a better tomorrow. I believe if we do things properly, we will achieve our goals. It’s all a matter of time.” said the X3M label artiste.

Islamic singer makes case for up-and-coming artistes

By Seyi Sokoya ISLAMIC singer, Lawal Akindele Hammed, popularly known as Akobi Omo, has said that all up-and-coming artistes irrespective of the denomination and genre of music face a lot of challenges in pushing their career forward.

He urged stakeholders in the industry, especially promoters, to invest in them in order to be successful in the music business.

Hammed said that at the official launch of his first album entitled: ‘Moropeda’, held at Akionla Aboru Muslim prayer ground, Iyana Ipaja, Lagos State.

“There are artistes like me who are struggling to come out.

They have brains, very talented and good messages to deliver, but there is nobody to help or promote them. Our promoters should take note of this and also consider us. The truth is that the popular artistes they invest on were once up-and-coming,” he said .

The musician, who started music in 2012, also noted that he would not relent in pushing his career forward as well as circulate his new album personally until he finally encounter divine help.

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10 July, 2016

makeover

Sunday Tribune

Rita Okonoboh 08053789087 rosarumese@gmail.com

Hair care for ’M a student, and sometimes, I get caught up in the rain and my hair gets all wet. The rain also makes my hair lose its retouched state and it becomes all tangled and hard. How can I keep my hair safe and healthy during this rainy season?

Feyi.

Going by the seasonal changes in recent times, there is no excuse for a woman’s hair to get caught up by the weather. The rains are rarely friendly to a woman’s strands, whether natural or artificial, and thus, it is important to take good care of the hair in the rainy season. Mrs Maureen Ubochi of HairSentials Beauty Parlour, Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State, shares some tips on how to keep the hair healthy dur-

ing the wet season.

Stay dry As much as possible, keep your hair out of the rain. Now would be a good time to invest in quality shower cap, umbrella, or better still, a raincoat. And if the rain catches you unawares, find the nearest safe shelter as soon as possible. If the hair gets wet, ensure you wash up and pat the hair dry.

Retouched hair takes longer to dry, so you could use a hand dryer to ease the process.

It is bad enough that women make hair that lasts them two weeks or more. Getting it wet on a constant basis will only make things worse – odour-wise.

Go natural There is no time like the rainy season to

Bukky Ajayi: Renewed inspiration to embrace African prints

Photo:www.123hdwallpapers.com

I

rainy season

go back to your natural roots. Regular use of hair extensions, especially in this season, will increase your cost of hair maintenance, as exposure to water will make the hair look older quickly and may develop bad smell.

However, for natural hair, all you need to do is wash with mild shampoo and conditioner and dry. Too much washing should be discouraged as it encourages hair loss.

Use coconut oil Popularly referred to as adi agbon, not many women embrace the benefits of the sweet-smelling oil, which is a great product for strength, volume and length. It also helps to retain the natural colour of the hair which may be lost due to constant retouching. It is cheap and readily available. However, ensure you buy the original product.

Simply massage the coconut oil into the hair after washing and drying.

Go herbal To reduce itchiness, which is a major disadvantage of exposing the hair to rain, go for hair products with herbal ingredients.

They work well to eliminate dandruff and give the hair back its lost lustre.

THE world would remember her for Village Headmaster, Checkmate, Diamond Ring, among other movies.

Bukky Ajayi, aged 82, who died last Wednesday, was a stylish woman.

Her last public outing was at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) held in March 2016 where she was

honoured with the AMVCA 2016 merit award.

Always with an ever ready smile, whether for the cameras or for her loved ones, friends, and fans, she favoured African prints, usually in the buba and iro style, especially in her later years. She was also known for head wraps.

Avoid too much drying The rainy season may make your hair feel moist too often but as much as possible, avoid using a hair dryer. Instead, sometimes, pat the hair dry with a towel and let nature do the rest. Constant exposure to hair dryers will weaken the strands and promote hair breakage.

Invest in quality wigs The rainy season is the best time to let your hair breathe. Instead of fixing weav-

ons, go for wigs. That way, if your hair gets wet, all you may need to do is shake out the wig or, if necessary, wash with mild shampoo, dry and oil. It is also more economical than fixing weavons.

Keep things simple The rainy season calls for simple styles when it comes to the hair. It would be a shame to spend thousands on the hair, only for an unexpected rain to mess it up.

Avoid tight head wraps Seeing as the season may make the hair retain moisture, avoid wrapping your hair tight for long. Such will simply make your hair coarse and encourage tangling.

Eat right The rain, somehow, causes hair loss so now provides the excuse to eat right for healthy hair. Add beans, fish, eggs, and vegetables to your diet to boost hair growth.

Most importantly, stay hydrated by drinking enough water during this season.

Hairstyles to choose from Nearly all hairstyles can work during the rainy season, depending on how well you can keep your hair dry. However, if you can’t afford to go natural or let your hair breathe awhile, go for braids or corn rows. Braids are washable and help with hair growth. Corn rows are also easier to manage and aid hair growth as well. If you have to fix weavons, stay out of the rains as much as possible to avoid bad smell and tangling.

P.S. Whatever the situation that gets your hair wet from the rain, always remember, never comb your hair when wet.

23

10 July, 2016

sundayzest

Sunday Tribune

With Victory Oyeleke victoryoyeleke@yahoo.com

Brexit:

Fate of Nigerians married to Europeans hangs in balance

A

climate of uncertainty hangs over the fate of non-natives who are resident in the United Kingdom, including Nigerians and other Europeans. Since the historic referendum in which the Brextiers (those who wanted the UK to quit EU) outnumbered the Retainers, the question on the lips of many people-legal and illegal immigrantshas been: what next?

To this question, there is no easy answer, although everyone from politician, economist and top immigration lawyers to the roadside vendor has a view.

Like other non-natives, the decision has implications for Nigerians who live in the United Kingdom. Many of these EU citizens are married to Nigerians and whatever happens to them invariably affects their partners.

But at the moment, the intentions of the government for EU citizens are unclear.

Will such people need a visa? Will there be considerations for those who have lived there for many years? Will they be asked to return to their countries and what happens to their partners and families?

The major setback that Brexit will cause will be mainly felt among illegal immigrants wishing to use the marriage route to establish themselves. Those entering into a “marriage of convenience” with a non-EU citizen, that is, a marriage contracted solely for the purpose of trying to create residence rights under EU law.

Although this system has been abused in the past, it is the most viable option as EU

human right laws make it easier for nonEU family members of EU citizens to stay in the UK. Britain’s exit from EU now means those from outside the UK with no right to live in the UK would not be able to get permission to stay by marrying an EU citizen and as expected, the mood in the Nigerian community in Britain is a mixture of gloom and gaiety.

One camp is worried that illegal Nigeri-

With Britain out of the EU, the country would have to embrace commonwealth and bring back schemes that were cancelled due to immigration policy which discriminates against commonwealth citizens in favour of EU migrants.

ans will find it almost impossible to get the right documentation and are scared they will be treated unfairly in British courts, as they feel they will get fairer treatments from EU courts and with big brother EU watching, Britain will have no choice but to behave.

Another camp, on the other hand, is delighted Britain has left the EU. Though they are concerned about illegal Nigerians, they are looking at a bigger picture.

With Britain out of the EU, the country would have to embrace commonwealth and bring back schemes that were cancelled due to immigration policy which discriminates against commonwealth citizens in favour of EU migrants.

One of these schemes is the highly skilled migrants’ programme, which successfully placed a lot of qualified Nigerians in the appropriate positions. Instead of them doing menial jobs with masters qualifications, they are working within their chosen filed a benefit even EU citizens did not have.

Due to Highly Skilled Programme, Nigerians trained in Nigeria are holding top positions in organisations like the NHS, BT, Virgin and major IT firms. They are also well represented in the education sector.

With Britain out of the EU, Africa can trade its way out of poverty by trading with Britain who before now was shackled by EU’s common agricultural policy which makes African farmers unable to compete. The high EU tariff barriers on

African exports were also a hindrance.

The EU has only one free trade agreement in Africa, which is with South Africa.

Leaving the EU gives Britain the opportunity to revive its relationship with those they colonised and have links with by making fairer trade deals.

Both camps are uncertain about what the future holds.

EU law gives a range of rights to family members of EU citizens who are not citizens themselves the most important of which is, free movement rights which gives the right to live together when an EU citizen moves to another country.

For instance, if a Polish woman relocates from Poland to Britain and marries a Nigerian, the man becomes entitled to the right to stay and work in Britain.

This rule is not applicable to British citizens and English laws and all its red tape makes it very difficult when a Brit marries a non-Brit or non-EU citizen.

Some of the immigration lawyers asked to comment on the development also had the same response. Although Immigration law will change now that the Britain has exited from the EU, information available now is too scanty to speculate on what would happen in the near future.

There is a period of two years of grace before Article 50 is invoked by Britain to activate its exit as decided in the referendum.The period is to give room for negotiations and work out what the British future relationship with the EU would look like.

24

Sunday Tribune

Sunday Tribune

10 July, 2016

glamour I

Growing up am the fourth born of my family and the last girl. My growing up was kind of tangled, I didn’t get to stay with my biological parents for long, so it was a bit challenging for me. I am an orphan, my mum was terribly sick and died in 1997, while my father died in an accident in 2003. I lived with my aunt in Abuja, but she was very strict and wicked. After a while, I left Abuja for Lagos

Favourite perfume Escada My opinion on toning Toning is not bad if you can maintain it.

But I don’t support bleaching.

My regret I don’t like the fact that I spent eight years at home before gaining admission. I didn’t want to go to polytechnic, I kept on writing UTME every year. But, it is all for good. Better late than never!

where I lived with my eldest sister till date.

Foray into acting I have always had a flair for acting right from my secondary school days. I joined Femi Adebayo’s J-15 School of Performing Arts in 2011. J-15 actually gave me the platform to showcase my talent and it unveiled me to the audience.

Challenges faced I wouldn’t say there were challenges for me and that was because my boss had been very wonderful to me. He has always been supportive and he always encourages me not to lose focus. I have featured in movies like Ile-Alayo, Adigunrelu Oyinbo, Shadow, Idunnu, Ojurito, Ijawa, Campus Life and The Relationships. I produced my own movie entitled Omorire last year.

My first experience on set I was taught in J-15 School that whenever I was on set, I should always ignore the camera but I noticed that I wasn’t confident enough at first but later I got used to it.

Coping with competition in the industry Competition? I am not competing with anyone, I run my race and they run theirs.

I believe in the saying “que sera sera.” What will be will be.

Role models I have always liked Keke Palmer. She is young, beautiful and talented.

Most embarrassing thing a fan has ever done to me That would be when a guy sent me a message on Facebook. “What is your problem? I sent a message to your inbox, you didn’t reply, don’t you know how to reply message?

That was very funny!

On the allegation of sex for role That is a fat lie! You don’t need to date any producer or marketer to get a role. Most times, I go for auditions in order to get roles.

I am not saying sexual harassment doesn’t exist in the industry but it is different strokes for different folks. It is normal for a producer or marketer to ask a lady out but it depends on how you go about it.

Philosophy of life Whatever you do, give it your best!

Description of self I am an easy going and cool headed lady.

How I handle advances from male fans I treat my admirers with respect. I understand they are important for growth of my career. So I try to be nice to them.

My opinion on cosmetic surgery Many people go for lip enhancement, breast enlargement, nose lifting, making it more pointed, and removal of excess fat in the body just to look more attractive. So, if one would like to have a cosmetic surgery, one should look for those framed certificates and professionals.

I can’t marry an actor because we won’t be

fair to our kids — Peju Wahab

Olapeju Wahab, a Nollywood actress and an undergraduate of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State, in this interview with TAYO GESINDE, speaks on her childhood years, her foray into acting and fashion preferences.

Marital status I am single.

Qualities I want in a man He must be God-fearing, responsible, hard working, and good looking. He does not have to be rich but must be ambitious. Once he is ambitious, he will be successful. Finally, he must be loving and caring as well.

Definition of style Simplicity. I like keeping it simple. The event I am attending determines my mode of dressing. I buy anything that suits me.

I love accessories especially quality shoes, they don’t have to be expensive.

Beauty regimen This is the part I love most; I so much cherish my skin. I drink plenty of water to hydrate my skin, I scrub at least twice a week to get rid of the dead skin and I use good body soap and body cream. Looking good is serious business.

Fashion obsession Make-up.

Favourite designers Gucci.

What I can’t be caught dead wearing Bikini because I can’t swim and I am always scared of going to the beach or pool.

My take on provocative dressing It makes one look sexy. People who dress provocatively are artificially trying to draw attention. However, some people naturally like dressing provocatively because it is their way of life. But the truth is there are some places that require provocative dressing, example of such a place is the club.

Special treat I will stay at home and pamper myself.

Surfing the internet, dancing and hanging out with friends at my leisure time.

My greatest physical asset My skin. I over pamper it and I cherish it so much.

Assessment of Nollywood I think Nollywood has come to stay. But at the same time it needs to be sanitised.

Because there are some amateurs in the system especially in the aspect of subtitling and that is why they make a lot of errors while subtitling movies.

How I intend to step up my game so I can get an endorsement By giving it my best. Even if I am given a ‘waka pass’ role in a film, I always try as much as possible to showcase the best part of me.

Because for me acting is an inborn thing and like my boss used to tell me “acting is real.”

On marriage I will tie the knot when God chooses. Can I marry an actor? Capital no! And that is because we both won’t have time for the kids and that won’t be fair. Acting is something I have passion for, so any man I am getting married to should be able to support and respect my profession.

Advice for young girls who want to join the movie industry Opportunities are always out there waiting to be plucked, they should have strong self esteem and believe in their dreams. They should not join acting just because they want to become a star, only God makes one a star.

Word to your fans They are the reason I am here today. I love and appreciate them all.

With Tayo Gesinde temiligali03@yahoo.com 08054727801

What I will like to change about myself I’m a shy person but honestly, I’d love bigger boobs.

Growing up I grew up in Akure, the Ondo State capital and it was fun. My mother, a disciplinarian, had the burden of raising three girls alone because we lost my dad while we were very young. She was a very busy woman as she had to juggle her timber business with her teaching career. She taught us to be very independent and bold. I must say that I am grateful for that. Despite being a widow, she made sure my sisters and I went to the best schools, from primary to university. I am a graduate of Philosophy from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife, my elder sister is a seasoned journalist just like my father, Chief Bamikole Akinlami and my younger sister is a lawyer. My mother did a great job raising us and whatever we are today, all credit goes to God and mummy.

Foray into acting My acting career started in 2000. I had a friend called Rogers Ofime, he was older than me but we were good friends, he would put up plays at the Adegbemile Cultural Centre and we usually got paid for them.

Then we were only doing stage plays. I got on the big screen with Basorun Gaa. I fell in love with acting since I was a child and I have never stopped since then. I’ve been a costumier, a temporary make-up artiste, an actress and now a producer.

My first experience on set It was fun because I loved every bit of it, I wanted to play for the camera and act like we used to do on stage where you have to say your lines loudly and move quickly and all that but the director cautioned me and since then, there has been no cause for alarm.

Challenges faced My major challenge was that as an up -and-coming actress, nobody knew what you could do; you are yet to open up yourself to a world of varieties so people couldn’t believe in your talent yet. It is therefore your job to convince them and say look, I am for real, my passion is unequalled and my talent is polished. The only way to do that was to take whatever jobs you get and give it your best shot. That was the challenge. However, once they are convinced that you are good, the journey gets a little less rough than it was initially. It is a process that every actor has to pass through.

Role models I am someone who admires and learns from a lot of people but I do not believe in modelling my life after one person, I pick a lot of things and then add my own to it and that is how you get to be unique. I admire Binta Ayo Mogaji’s talent, I admire Toyin Aimakhu’s talent, I admire and learn from Kunle Afod’s drive, I admire Kunle Afolayan’s boundary breaking ability, I admire Mercy Johnson’s flawless delivery.

All these things I intend to pick in bits and pieces and add mine to become a hybrid.

The journey so far Well, for me it’s been tough and rocky but every time there was a challenge that moved me to tears believe me, I have cried quite a number of times, I always remember the words of Tai Solarin “ may your road be rough” and Yoruba people will say “ Ikoko t’o ma je ata, idi e a gbona.” So, I would take it as a sign that I’m on the right path.

25

On whether I can consider cosmetic surgery No cosmetic surgery o! I’m so scared of those things.

My view on toning Honestly, I don’t get the idea behind it. I come from a family of dark people and we are all very beautiful. Why do people tone? So you can be sighted from afar or what? It’s a crazy idea to me, if you are fairer than me, you are too fair. That’s my way and besides, very soon, dark ladies will be endangered species. You will have to take care of us so we don’t go into extinction. So I’d wait till then but I love my skin colour just the way it is. These days, there are all sorts of names for it, Skin therapy and so on. If I get a therapist that can keep me just as dark as I am, I am all for it.

I want bigger

boobs

— Motilola Adekunle

Motilola Adekunle is an actress and producer. The graduate of Philosophy from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile -Ife, Osun State, speaks with TAYO GESINDE on her acting career, how she handles advances from her male fans and her fashion preferences. Excerpts: Coping with competition It’s healthy to have completion in an industry like ours but I believe in the words of the Bible, what I know, I know, it says “you cannot take it away from me.” My mother raised me to believe very strongly that there is something I have, a certain flavour I add to everything that I do and that’s just being yourself. Hard work also pays off, so I’m not worried about competition. Whatsoever my hands do, I’d do it well and always give my best.

Philosophy of life My philosophy is chase your dreams. I don’t know how else to explain this; no matter how well you think you are doing now, you will do better if you do that thing you love doing. I believe that dreams are God’s definition of our purpose in life and only the few who have the courage to chase and succeed at it will have fulfilled their purpose.

Description of self I am a peace loving, bold, outspoken and very playful person. I stand for equality and justice and that is why women like Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin will always have my heart.

I believe in love. I love making money legitimately. Basically, I’m a God-fearing person who loves life.

Definition of style Style equals comfort. If it’s uncomfortable it’s no longer stylish.

Beauty regimen I actually don’t have a routine that’s cast in stone. I wash my face regularly as often as I need to. I don’t wear a lot of make-up and yes, I go to the spa once in a while.

Fashion obsessions Clothes and shoes.

What I can’t be caught dead wearing A skirt or short that is way above my thighs.

Favourite designers I love Chanel, it speaks to me and says, come and spend your money but I don’t really go for designers because they are expensive but if I can afford it, Chanel will be my pick.

My opinion on provocative dressing That depends on your definition of what provocative is. A simple A-shaped dress will show your curves more than having your boobs out in the open. What people term “provocative” most of the time is trashy and classless. Be sexy but not too revealing! I’d vote for that. When it is all out in the open, what’s there to look forward to?

Special treat I go to wherever my husband is at that time and he takes over from there, he knows just what to do.

Greatest physical asset My brain! Yes, beauty is cool but to combine both intelligence and beauty is a combination that’s fading out these days, so, I’d pick my brain, but let’s just be vain and say my hips.

Handling advances from male fans That’s a funny one! Advances from men? I am not rude but there are a million and one ways to tell someone you are not available and I have mastered that act. Most of us end up being friends after a while. We all need friends.

Marital status I am married. I have a beautiful daughter. I have all I want in a man in my husband. He scores ten over ten.

Assessment of Nollywood Nollywood is a work in progress. We aren’t there yet but we are moving forward.

That’s the important part.

Most embarrassing thing a fan has ever done to me I’m prepared for anything so I’ve not been shocked before.

Advice to young people Hard work always pays. Hard work and humility, nobody can beat that combination. Self development is key too.

To my fans Thank you so much for believing in me and my talent. I will not let you down but please, remember that I am human too and I might fall short of your expectations someday. So, please, forgive me and correct me in love when that time comes.

26

10 July , 2016

With Akintayo Abodunrin akinjaa03@yahoo.co.uk 08111813058

In praise of beer, culture THE theme, ‘Beer and Culture’ was the attraction. How were the scholars and guests going to approach it; is there a connection between the two? Is it not another gimmick

by Nigerian Breweries Plc to popularize its major brand, Star? These were some of the questions that led one to the 3rd Nigerian Beer Symposium held last Thursday at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

With ex-governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke; advertising guru, Ted Mukoro; and a professor of applied microbiology, Bartholomew Okolo, amongst others as speakers, one was curious about how they would speak to the theme.

However, before the culture experts and guests had their say, Managing Director of NB Plc, Mr. Nicolaas Vervelde, welcomed all. He said that the objective of the Nigerian Beer Symposium has been to highlight and share contemporary knowledge on the “wonderful product called beer” and that from previous editions, the conclusion reached is that beer taken in moderation has health benefits. Vervelde, who further noted that beer is one of the re-

Ex-Governor Donald Duke (left) and MD, NB Plc., Nicolaas Vervelde at the symposium. quirements in traditional marriages in parts of Nigeria, enjoined all to spread the message of moderation and responsible consumption.

Duke, who chaired the occasion, was the first to highlight how beer contributes to the sustenance of socio-cultural cohesion. The ex-governor, who used various bible passages to show that beer consumed in moderation is

not a sin, also highlighted its health benefits.

“I have always wondered about the French.

Their diet consists of rich, highly fatty foods, wine and those cigarettes. Yet, their rate of heart disease is significantly less than the rest of the world. This has been credited to red wine and the antioxidants it contains, which helps prevent heart attacks. Interestingly, beer

WS@82: Children, artists tackle corruption Organisers have decided to spotlight corruption and its effects on the nation at this year’s Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange

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ORRUPTION: A battle for the arts’ has been announced as the theme of the 2016 Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange (WSICE) holding on July 13 and 14 in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Held annually since 2010 to mark the birthday of Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, who clocks 82 this year, the WSICE is promoted by Alhaji Teju Kareem’s ZMirage Multimedia Company and Professor Segun Ojewuyi’s Global New Haven based in the United States.

Series producer, Haneefat Ikharo, disclosed that the 2016 programme has been divided into two parts; the youth and the adult segments to enable people of different ages give their take on corruption and how it can be best tackled.

While the youth segment will feature an essay writing competition by students, the adult segment will feature two keynote speeches and an all-female panel discussion on ‘Corruption as it affects children, women and our common humanity’.

The participating 82 students in the essay competition will write on ‘Challenges or not, I love my country’ on July 13 and will be joined by 18 past winners who will write commemorative essays on the same topic.

The wife of the Ogun State governor, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, will have a mentorship session with the 82 students and 1000 other children from Ogun schools on the theme of the essay competition on July 14. The students will also pay a courtesy visit to Gover-

Prof Wole Soyinka nor Ibikunle Amosun and interact with Professor Soyinka in his country home inside the Ijegba Forest on the same day.

Other activities lined up for the youth include a spelling bee, dancing competition, fashion parade and debate. The movie ‘Yeepa!’, Tunde Kelani’s adaptation of Professor Femi Osofisan’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Solarin’ will also be screened in the course of the program.

The adult segment also happening on July 14 at the Cultural Centre, Kuto, will feature amongst others, a special non-competitive essay writing competition involving winners of the last six editions. All the essays will be edited and subsequently published

into a book.There will also be keynotes and an all-female- panel discussion around the ongoing anti-corruption war.

Public commentator, Tunde Fagbenle, will deliver the first keynote entitled ‘Corruption: A battle for the arts’ while Prof. Ojewuyi will deliver the second titled ‘Soyinka’s Text and the Battle against Graft: A Director’s study of Death & the King’s Horseman’ to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the play.

Emeritus Professor of Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan, Femi Osofisan will be the special guest at the session while Emeritus Professor of Gender Studies and Theatre, University of Kansas, Omofolabo Ajayi-Soyinka will chair the occasion.

Ex-editor of the rested NEXT newspaper, Kadaria Ahmed; founder, KIND, Hafsat Abiola Costello; ex-editor, Champion Newspaper, Rose Moses; and convener, No Banking Day, Sola Salako will thereafter discuss ‘Corruption as it affects children, women and our humanity.’

The occasion will not be devoid of entertainment as there will be drama presentation entitled ‘Directing ‘Corruption’ in Soyinka’s Works’ by Dr. Tunde Awosanmi of the University of Ibadan.

Speaking on the selected themes, co-initiator, Kareem explained: “The topic for the youth segment is aimed at awakening the patriot in young Nigerians, even as many in the older generation have become disillusioned due to the recurrent failure of the Nigerian State.

“And for the adult segment, the choice of topic for the advocacy forum is to weigh in on the current battle against corruption by the government, especially to see how the arts can use its civilizing principles and tools to help the society cleanse itself of the virus of material and moral corruption. The arts cannot thrive in an environment polluted by the pervasive scourge of graft and moral decadence.”

has just as many antioxidants as red wine.”

Duke also said beer is a cultural spice that brings the right taste out of all celebrations.

“Beer is a drink that has become part of our culture. It has become a near impossible feat today for us as a people to have one form of celebration or the other devoid of beer. The ceremony will not be approved as successful if the variety of foods provided is not complemented with beer.” Like Vervelde, Duke urged people to be moderate and “not drink away their sorrows.”

Professor Okolo, who delivered his paper entitled ‘Social and Cultural Roles of Beer in Society’ after Tony Agenmonwen of NB Plc had told the gathering the four key ingredients of beer, said that consumption of the product is acceptable in all societies and that beer is the third most consumed after water and tea. The former Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka also noted that in all societies, beer plays an important role not only in major life-cycle events, such as birth and death, but also in minor everyday transitions. He said that pubs have been identified as the most important venues for promoting interactions and friendships between people from diverse backgrounds.

“The Nigerian beer parlour is an example of such an institution where you could find a lawyer having a beer next to a plumber or a doctor having a beer next to a tailor. You could also find a professor having a beer next to a banker. In such circumstances, people can offer all sorts of support and even professional advice at no cost. It is possible to explore such settings for other benefits including security and commerce, for example in the creation of cooperative societies.”

Okolo added that alcoholic drinks are a symbolic vehicle for identifying, describing, constructing and manipulating cultural values and interpersonal relationships. He further noted that in all cultures, different alcoholic beverages are classified in terms of their social meaning. Every drink therefore connotes a symbolic meaning and conveys a message.

“In the present day African tradition, beer is a regular feature on the list of items that must be presented at various stages of the marriage process. It must also be present during such other ceremonies as funeral rites, coronations, peace missions, special invitations, among others,” he said.

Mukoro, creator of the original ‘Shine Shine Bobo’ Star jingle spoke on ‘My Beer Experience’. He said that beer is the least alcoholic of all alcoholic drinks, and the healthiest and most nutritious. The man who clocked 80 on the day and downed a can of star right on the stage after his presentation however warned against abuse of beer. “Nothing enjoyable is bad until put to the wrong use.”

Thereafter, Sola Salako, a consumer rights advocate, moderated a panel featuring another advertising guru, Mr. Dele Adetiba, the blogger Noble Igwe and a medical doctor with the Nigerian Army, Ugoh Eronini.

They all highlighted the point at which beer became an integral part of Nigerian culture, especially for marriages, births, deaths and resolution of conflicts. They also touched on the economic importance of beer, with Adetiba noting the link between farmers, transporters, the breweries and distributors. Some of the other speakers at the symposium were TV presenter Stephanie Coker, Prof. Innocent Ujah and Azuh Arinze.

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Sunday Tribune

thepolity As Reps give hope over confab report…

Will Buhari sanction new constitution with confab recommendations? The House of Representatives adhoc committee on constitution amendment adopted the report of 2014 national conference convened by former President Goodluck Jonathan as a working document for the amendment. DARE ADEKANMBI and MOSES ALAO examine the development against the backdrop of calls for implementation of the report.

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FTER many had feared it would be left to decay and gather dust in the archives, hope came for the recommendations of the 2014 national conference organised by the immediate past administration, with the decision of the House of Representatives to make the report form part of its considerations as the National Assembly embarks on another constitution amendment exercise.

Opposition against the conference and its report peaked when President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly said he would not have anything to do with the report that was part of the bulky documents handed over to him by his predecessor, President Goodluck Jonathan. His party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), had refused to participate in the conference, an exercise it considered as a political move to make Jonathan’s re-election bid to be surefooted.

But with the resurgence of ethno-religious and other conflicts and violence in many parts of the country in the life of the current administration, there have been renewed calls for the Buhari-led administration to drop its opposition to the implementation of the confab report, which many reason would address some of the challenges against national cohesion and unity.

At first, the leadership was battling to contain the threat posed by the secessionist demand of members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) who have also been strident in their agitation for a restructuring of the country or the secession of what they tag the Biafra Republic from the union. A group from the country’s oil-rich zone, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), has been carrying out attacks on the country’s crude oil pipelines in a no-oil-flow campaign. The country’s crude oil production capacities have been greatly impaired by the group.

Rising from a meeting in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, last week, a coalition of civil society organisations and pressure groups under the aegis of the Old Eastern Region Movement, demanded that the report be implemented and called for a referendum to determine the future of the country. The movement condemned the intimation of IPOB members and other innocent youths in the region and “whose only sin is their loss of faith in the lopsided, unfair and unjust unitary Nigeria where some regions are continuously treated as conquered people.”

Mr Nmadi Kanu, leader of IPOB currently in detention, is standing trial for treason, a charge he denied.

The Umahia event came barely two weeks after a meeting of South-West, Ijaw and other southern leaders in Lagos State, on the killing of people allegedly by Niger Delta militants in some Lagos and Ogun state communities. The southern leaders not only pledged to work together and build a common platform but also decried the perceived lopsidedness in the appointments made by President Buhari, particularly in the country’s security architecture which they described as over pro-North.

Copies of the report have already been circulated among members of the Adhoc Committee of the House reviewing the 1999 Constitution, ostensibly to enable them digest the recommendations and report back to the whole House on which of the recommendations should form part of the new constitution.

President Muhammadu Buhari Chairman of the adhoc committee and Deputy Speaker, Honourable Lasun Yussuff, confirmed the development, saying that consultants hired by the House have also been given copies and guide the committee with their insight.

He, however, did not hint at what recommendations the committee would incorporate in its agenda for the exercise.

“The House of Representatives Special Adhoc Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution has adopted the report of the national conference, 2014 as part of its working document.

“The decision to adopt the report of the conference was taken at a working session/retreat of the committee recently held at Transcorp Hotel, Abuja.

“Some of the salient proposals in the report would be turned into draft bills which would be presented to the House for adoption and passage,” Yusuff disclosed.

Some of the key recommendations The recommendations distilled from the debates by the 492 conferees have been divided into two parts. The first contains those resolutions that will require the amendment of the 1999 Constitution and such have been prepared in the form of bills ready for legislative debate. The second has resolutions which are ready for implementation since they are already by capsules of policies.

Fiscal federalism/resource control In order to douse the tension associated with the agita-

Honourable Yakubu Dogara, Speak, House of Representatives tion for resource control or fiscal federalism, the national conference resolved the setting up of a technical committee to resolve the logjam since the matter requires some technical details to resolve. The conferees had been torn between those clamouring for increase in the percentage allocated to oil-producing states from 13 per cent.

State creation The conference recommended addition 18 states following hundreds of requests from various groups and associations across the country. The states recommended are: Apa, Edu, Kainji, Katagum, Savannah, Amana, Gurara, Ghari, Etiti, Aba, Adada, Njaba-Anim, Anioma, Orashi, Ogoja, Ijebu and New Oyo. In addition to these states (three from each geo-political zone), the conference advocated an addition state for the South-East, which has five states, to bring it on par with other zones, with the exception of the North-West which boasts of seven.

Revenue Allocation The conference reviewed the revenue sharing formula and resolved that funds accruing to the Federation Account be shared among the three tiers of government thus. Federal Government – 42.5 per cent, State Governments – 35 per cent and Local Governments 22.5 per cent. The existing formula leaves the Federal Government taking as much as 52 per cent.

Continues pg 30

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inter

Grazing co

The alleged donation of 55, 000 hectares of land for grazing reserve in Plat ISAAC SHOBAYO, a former member of the House of Representatives, Hono Peace Building, a body established recently to sustain the peace on the Pla

Grazing reserve is n friendly —Mwadkwo Plateau keyed into because of its econ

—Lengmang, DG Peace

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HE alleged donation of 55,000 hectares of land for grazing reserve in Plateau State has ignited controversy and sparked protests. How do you see the brouhaha over the issue?

When I was a member of the House of Representatives, the bill did not succeed during our time despite efforts by some people to force it through. For me, I saw it coming from the wrong direction. If you look at it critically, it is the government crying more than the Fulanis; it is the government that is trying to force it on the people. It is just like the Jaiz bank, the former CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was the one propagating the idea then, trying to convince people of its importance. He even came to the floor of the House of Representatives to discuss the issue with us. Then, we expected that the hierarchy of the Islamic body in Nigeria will be the one in the forefront but we had the governor of CBN trying to convince the people. If you look at the grazing reserve issue, you will find out that it is the government that is trying to force it on the people. The Fulani has never been so vocal about it like the Federal Government is doing and also at the state level. For the Plateau State government to wake up one day and say they have donated 55,000 hectares of land for grazing reserve is very unfortunate. Where did the government derive such power to make the statement?

Who did they meet before making the statement?

From all indications, the grazing reserve is against the people, it is not the people that are against the grazing reserve. Why is it against the people? If two people are in dispute over a piece of land, by the time you take that disputed land and give it to one person, you have not solved the problem. The Fulani traditionally earn their living through keeping of cattle; the farmers also earn their living by cultivating their lands. There are farmers that have just a piece of land, now you want to take that piece of land from that farmer; saying you are giving it out for grazing reserve. Once it is implemented, farmers no longer have access, even to cut down trees on the land. Any encroachment attracts a fine of N50,000. If you take that land and give it to a Fulani for grazing reserve, how do you want that farmer to survive? No matter the amount of money you give him, if he cannot get another land, how do you want him to sustain his family members? I see the government trying to introduce anarchy to the whole system. A hungry man is an angry man; a person without of livelihood would not mind killing to survive. So what are the measures that the government has put in place? We are Africans and the position of our

culture and traditions is very clear on land matters. You must belong to a place; that is why the constitution of Nigeria makes it clear regarding the appointment of a minister; that a minister shall be an indigene of a particular state. It means the herdsmen must have their own places of origin. Can a farmer from Plateau or Benue State go to Fulani’s place and say give me land for cultivation and nobody should graze here again? What we see is that there is an attempt to annihilate the minority of northern Nigeria and the government doesn’t seem to protect the right of the minority. Fulanis are everywhere and they have another place to run to if there is commotion; what about the Plateau person who has nowhere to go?

So we have said it several times that the bill is not people-friendly, it cannot foster peace. It is an attempt to annihilate and bring some people to extinction; it is also an attempt to introduce hunger and poverty. Some people look at it from the religious perspective, I also subscribe to that, people are suspicious and they are thinking that long before now, there has been an agitation or attempt to Islamise the country. They have tried by all means and it had failed, perhaps this is another attempt to use government machinery to achieve this purpose.

But the argument in certain quarters is that it is not a grazing reserve per se but ranching and that it has some benefits and advantages for land owners and the host community. For this reason, some governors are encouraging their people to take advantage of it as another way empower-

The grazing reserve is against the people, it is not the people that are against the grazing reserve…

A farmer would be ready to die than to give out his land and any government policy that is inimical to peace is a bad policy

ment. What do you think?

I don’t know what the economic benefits or the advantages are; the cattle belong to individuals, not even the community. For example, the Fulani residents in Riyom, if they see foreign Fulani men coming to settle among them, they would fight them. Why are they doing so? They should have accepted everybody; but they will fight to protect their cattle. If there are economic benefits, they are for individual families. And mind you, why would you want to empower a certain set of people? Are we fostering unity? In what way does grazing reserve benefit the farmers? I don’t see any benefit in it, rather they want to improvise the farmers by taking their land and giving it to another person.

The government said the land will not be taken by force and that anyone whose land is taken will get a handsome compensation.

I don’t know the detail of the compensation they want to give; is it in monetary term? What are the long term effects? Now, assuming they take your land of about 10 hectares of land and they are giving you N1 million, how long will the money last? But land is not transferable; it is constant, you can increase the fertility of your land if you want to get high yield, the farmer too can keep cattle.

What the proponents of grazing reserve seem to have forgotten is that anybody can keep cattle. It would have been better if the government had carried out research on how it is being done in civilised society before dabbling into it.

What is your advice to the Plateau State government now that the issue is generating controversy?

My advice to the state government and to all traditional rulers is to make adequate consultation, because the rumour now is that some traditional rulers have given out lands for grazing reserve. The government and traditional rulers need to be very careful so that the issue doesn’t ignite crisis that the state would not be able to control. I am saying this because I know the pulse of my people. A farmer would be ready to die than to give out his land and any government policy that is inimical to peace is a bad policy. Any government policy that would bring sectional development is a bad policy, any government policy that would not bring peace and harmony is a bad policy. Therefore, my advice to the government is that before they make any attempt, farmers or land owners should be able to say they have agreed. Government should not be on the forefront; the traditional rulers too need to be careful.

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Sunday Tribune

10 July, 2016

ontroversy

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ateau State has been generating controversy. In these interviews with ourable Simon Mwadkwon and the Director-General of the Bureau for ateau, Mr Joe Lengmang, speak on the controversy.

not people

on

o idea of ranch nomic benefits

e Building

WHAT is your agency doing to consolidate on the prevailing peace on the Plateau?

The government has been doing a lot in this regard; this is also in line with the five policy thrust of this administration, which has to do with peace, security and good governance. That is why peace is the first item on the five policy thrust of this present administration. Government has done so much to consolidate on the gains of relative peace by ensuring that there is institutional framework that ensures harmonious existence among diverse ethnic and religious groups across the state. In the past, the pattern of responding to conflict had always been oscillating between ad-hoc security arrangement and commissions of inquiry set up by the previous government.

But as much as they had contributed in meeting security challenges then, the gain has been very little and in some cases, nothing at all. It is a more reactionary approach to dealing with conflict situation. But now, we have gone ahead to be proactive and put in place mechanism that would prevent potential outbreak of crisis and on the other hand to prevent potential reoccurrence. Also, we have an agency that is the first of its kind in the country, which is considered to be the security architecture of the present administration. Our target is to ensure that we do the right things and deliver on our mandate. It is good that other states in the country replicate this type of agency.

There must be an organised approach to responding to conflict in different parts of the country. We also recognise the role that Civil Society Organisations are playing; they too have the capacity to either douse or escalate violence conflict. It is good we understand the role civil society can play and how we can synergise in order to deliver on the promise of peace and security in Plateau State.

Having achieved much in the area of peace building, one of the controversial issues that might threaten the peace is the issue of grazing reserve. Quite a lot of people are blaming the state government for igniting this controversy, which has led to serious protest, what is the government’s position on grazing reserve?

It is not true that the government has subscribed to grazing reserve or grazing route or lent support to the creation of a Grazing Reserve Commission. The bill that is before the National Assembly is actually calling for the creation of these three items; it is a sponsored bill by private individuals, not the Federal Government. The communication that came from the Federal Government through the Ministry of Agriculture is for the creation of ranches not

grazing reserve.

Plateau has keyed into this because of the support and benefits it has for the people of the state. It is more of economic empowerment and also seeks to address the security challenges on the long term. But I agree with you that there are a lot of misconceptions of the entire concept, because the information was not well-packaged, which of course gave room for speculations. That also provides a window for political opponents to take advantage of the gap to deceive and mislead the people. But the intention of this government is to empower a majority of young people who can key into the ranches policy, because there is distinction between grazing reserve and ranches. The clear-cut distinction is in the sense that a grazing reserve is a piece of land that is well-demarcated; an expanse of land where cattle rearers roam in search of grasses. You don’t farm inside grazing reserve, it is exclusively for the purpose of the grazing, as opposed to ranches where you have a limited piece of land that is demarcated where you carry out animal husbandry on one hand and on the other hand you rear livestock. We need to modernise livestock production; we have to subscribe to improved varieties. That is what the concept of ranches is all about.

It is a process of modernising livestock production as opposed to the perception that it is all about confiscation

You don’t farm inside grazing reserve, it is exclusively for the purpose of the grazing, as opposed to ranches where you have a limited piece of land that is demarcated where you carry out animal husbandry on one hand and on the other hand you rear livestock

of people’s lands and giving it to another person. I don’t think that is what the policy is all about.

We have said it times without number that the government is determined and interested in empowering the people; looking at the post-oil economy to boost agriculture potential, because this is where our comparative advantage lies. But people have given it all sorts of names and misinterpretation, especially with the historical experiences we have had with the Fulanis. Public policy of this nature must not be borne out of fear or emotion, we need to go beyond this to be able to look at the issue dispassionately and to carry out the cost benefit analysis and see what kind of benefit this policy can deliver to the vast majority of people. I know a lot of heat have been generated out of this but it is also incumbent on the government to explain what we have been doing within the last three weeks through the Plateau State Peace Building Agency.

We have met with a lot of critical stakeholders, traditional rulers, youths, religious leaders and even with the Civil Society Organisations. Public policy of this nature has the tendency of polarising the society, so we want to receive inputs from all stakeholders, because at the end, we hope all these will set the basis for the development of government position paper. But mind you, government is not implementing ranches policy at the moment, we are working towards developing a proposal that will lead to the implementation of the pilot scheme; pilot scheme in the sense that we are only test-running, if it works and we are able to replicate this across the 17 local government areas of the state, fine and good. In this case, we are not putting the cart before the horse as some people have accused the government of doing; that we are implementing without consultation. And the consultation will continue pending the time we have a position paper.

While some people are opposed to it, there are quite a lot of people that are in support of this idea of ranches.

There is no statistics that shows that people of Plateau State have come out that they don’t want this, there is no referendum on this. Our job as an agent of government is to make sure that we facilitate the process of discussion so that it does not degenerate to the level of crisis.

But the impression being created is that the government has keyed into the issue of grazing reserve without consultation.

(Cuts in) The governor, at different for a, had explained Continues pg 30

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10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Issues as Reps adopt confab report Continued from pg 27 System and structure of government The conference agreed that the presidential system of government adopted since 1979 is fraught with some problems. Consequently, the conference recommended what it called the Modified Presidential System, which is a fusion of the features of parliamentarism and presidentialism. One of the features of the recommended model is that the president will nominate his running mate from the legislature. On the structure and size of government, the conference recommended the appointment of not more than 18 ministers from the geo-political zones, that is, three ministers each from the zones, with a recommendation of constitution amendment to the clause that compels a president to appoint a minister from every state of the federation. To reduce the huge cost associated with presidentialism, the conference resolved that 30 per cent of the ministers, six of the ministers, should come from among the federal lawmakers.

The parliament While the conference voted for the retention of bicameral legislative framework currently in practice, it, however, recommended that members of parliament in all the legislative arms at the federal, state and local government should serve part-time.

Power rotation On this, the conference resolved that the presidential seat should rotate between the North and the South and among the geopolitical zones, just as the seat of governor should also rotate among the three senatorial districts in each state. It added the enactment of law to enshrine the recommendation in the constitution.

Local government administration The controversy over the status of local government councils constituting the third tier of government was resolved with the recommendation that local government ought not to be recognised as the third tier of government. State governments are empowered by the recommendation to create local governments. However, the joint state/local government account was recommended to be scrapped and in its place, the establishment of State Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Committee. It was also recommended that the tenure of council administrators should be fixed by the constitution, just as the state independent electoral commissions were recommended to be scrapped.

Anti-corruption crusade Special courts were advocated to handle corruption cases so as to free such cases from the interminable adjournments that prevent speedy trial of such. A nonconviction-based asset forfeiture law should be enacted with broad provisions to deal with all issues of proceeds of crimes by the anti-graft agencies and the courts.

Will Buhari assent a new constitution containing confab recommendations?

Although calls for the implementation of the reports have gained considerable currency in recent weeks, analysts doubt that the president will assent a new constitution in view of his opposition to the conference and its recommendations. Such analysts are quick to point at the remarks made recently by the Mr Babachir Lawal, who is the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The SGF had said the confab report was not a priority of the Buhari administration, deriding the conference as a ‘job for the boys’ exercise since each conferee got N7 million each.

“The government has not taken a decision on the 2014 National Conference. I understand that some Nigerians want it implemented, but the government has been too busy with key areas of governance to talk about an exercise that we thought was essentially diversionary and a sort of, maybe, a “job for the boys.”

“If you remember, it was reported that almost everybody in the committee got N7 million and we consider it essentially as job for the boys. They probably produced a document that is good and commendable but I mean, this government is too busy with very more vital areas of governance and we are not intending to spend our time reading reports,” he said.

Among other eminent members of the conference, the deputy chairman of the conference and former Minister

Idris Kutigi, Chairman, National Conference

of Foreign Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, who denied that each member got N7 million, reprimanded the SGF for describing the conferees as ‘boys.’ “Frankly, I will not plead for the report of the conference to be considered by your government. Governments come and governments go. The problems will remain. We will all be judged by whether we were part of the solution or part of the problems,” Akinyemi said.

A former member of the House of Representatives and delegate to the conference, Honourable Mudathir Sekoni, commended the House for adopting the report. “In spite of all the misgivings by the nation, the national conference report is a fantastic work; it can bring stability to Nigeria. If we can adopt that report, most of the things

we are agitating for now, such as the restructuring of the country and others, will be addressed.

Speaking further, he noted that if the National Assembly, which had reservations in the past about the confab, had become quite responsible as to accept what the citizens want and which the confab worked towards, the Presidency should stop being political and become patriotic. “No political party will readily accept the responsibility of implementing the effort of another party no matter how patriotic. But we will have to forgo our individual sentiments and consider the interest of Nigeria by being patriotic,” he said.

Was the House of Representatives committee playing politics when it adopted the confab report? Some observers answer in the affirmative on the premise that the lawmakers might have seen argument for and against the implementation of the report as a political football and thus decided to harvest a lot of goodwill from the public by siding with those calling for report implementation. To these observers, when conferees called for a referendum on the implementation of the recommendations, the seventh National Assembly members strongly opposed the referendum and arrogated to itself the power of life and death over the report. Why, query analysts in this school of thought, the volte face?

But another set of analysts opine that whatever be the motive, the adoption of the report is a major step forward.

These analysts are, however, calling on the National Assembly to convince Nigerians further by acceding to the demand for a referendum on some of the recommendations the lawmakers may want to ‘kill’ or ignore or water down through modifications.

For the president, some observers reason that the baby should not be thrown away with the bathwater; that whatever may be Buhari’s points against the confab, looking at some of the recommendations, especially those offering far-reaching solutions to the problems of national cohesion should not be brushed aside.

interview

‘Opposition deceiving, misleading Plateau people’ Continued from pg 29 how he indicated interest in the idea of ranches. This was what happened, the Federal Government called the attention of state governors; I think to roll out the plan as far as the policy is concerned, not only on ranching but also on other agricultural activities such as cultivation of rice and wheat, among others. It is to be facilitated through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. It was an impromptu kind of thing, there was no room for consultation, some of the governors who tried to do this lost out in the process. By the time they came back to say they wanted it, it was too late. There was no opportunity for them anymore.

The opposition is claiming that the step taken by the governor might jeopardise the peace of the state.

It is wrong for anyone to say the governor is doing this to jeopardise the peace of the state or the interest of his people simply because he has seen economic opportunity in it. In Plateau State, we have thrown the issue to the stakeholders and the governor has said times without number that there is no compulsion in this, those who want it will get it and government will not force it on those who don’t want it. Again, we need to be very careful on this; the Land Use Act has vested power on the state governor to hold the land in trust for the people. The governor has made it clear that he is not going to confiscate anybody’s land and I think that should be relief enough.

The fear of the people is the implication on the long run considering the frosty relationship between the natives and the Fulani herdsmen.

What is your response to this?

I think there is a shallow understanding of govern-

ment’s intention. Of course, economic empowerment is very important; we need this because people have been living in squalor and policies that would bring economic empowerment should be embraced. Talking about security implications or rather the notion that it would give the Fulani advantage; that is out of the issue. If the pilot scheme works at the end, it will be replicated across the state. It will curtail cattle rustling and discourage the idea of moving cattle, from one point to another. Any herdsman that is not willing to abide is allowed to leave.

How do you create a ranch for roaming herdsmen from neighbouring countries, will the natives surrender their lands for such?

There are different modalities of acquisition of land if the pilot scheme works. One is by leasing, holding or by direct acquisition. It is an avenue to empower young people if it works and if individual wants to get into it, it would be backed by law. It means you either subscribe based on the term and conditions that would be laid down by government and communities or not. With the arrangement, nobody would be able to roam cattle and it will as well discourage cattle rustling.

What is the level of your discussion with the Fulani and the natives over this?

We have been doing this through consultations; we have met with the apex body of the herdsmen, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association. They supported the idea. Culture is not static, culture is dynamic, if we realise that grazing is no longer in vogue in this modern time, we have to adjust to the new approach. For those herdsmen from neighbouring states and countries, they have to abide by the rules and regulations here, if they cannot, the only alternative for them is to leave.

31

interview

10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Executive, Senate face-off may last for years —Masari Former Speaker of House of Representatives and now governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, has blamed the ongoing face-off between the executive and the National Assembly on mutual mistrust and thinks there may be no solution till the end of the present dispensation. He spoke to some select journalists. LEON USIGBE brings the excerpts.

Y

OU had an investment summit recently in the state. What level of response have you received from potential investors?

I think so far we have received about seven applications for land. Among them, three are serious. We have already given allocation to a company that will do tomato processing and also Toyota Assembly Plant and also about 2,500 hectares of land for tomatoes and other vegetable production. We have received no less than seven but three are very serious because they are already on ground in Katsina. And for others, we are processing their applications but we normally process those applicants that show interest. It’s not just about applying for land; you have to show that you are ready to invest. But if you are just taking the land now waiting until six months or one year, we don’t consider it to be serious. But certainly, some of them are serious and they have demonstrated that seriousness.

With a monthly wage bill in billions, how have you been able to cope in these days of dwindling federal allocation?

Well, we have been able to pay state government staff as and when due, but we are having serious challenges is the local government system and we are now working on local government staff verification. We believe that by the time we finish, we will be able to be paying local government workers also as and when due. Our major challenge is that we are only paying salaries and we don’t have enough to invest. But luckily, with the budget support from the president, we will be able to settle our salaries and overhead and probably have some amount to invest.

But so far since we came in, we have drastically reduced the cost of governance and we have also made sure that wherever we are spending, we are spending for good and we have cut down by more than 70 per cent the frequency of travel. In this state, we don’t travel out of the country. Since I have been in office, I have only been outside Nigeria once or twice but not directly with government funds. So, really, we hardly travel out here except on sponsorship. If it is on sponsorship, we nominate. But from government resources, we have not spent a kobo to travel outside Nigeria.

The local governments don’t appear to be working and you have been known to express worries over their existence. Should they be scrapped?

I think it’s not about scrapping local governments. You know, there is a lot of overstaffing in the local governments. If we can address the issue of overstaffing and then make sure they have compact staff and at least be able to save up to 40 per cent of their funds for investment, and I believe it’s possible, they should do better.

So, scrapping them is not the solution. Even at state level, there is overstaffing all over the county because government remains the only employer since the economy has not even grown for a long time. So, no new jobs are being created. So, government is the only employer. It’s not about scrapping local government. It’s about making sure that those who are not adding value at local government level are removed from the service.

You have launched the sale of fertilizer to farmers. What measures have you put in place to ensure that the fertilizer get to the farmers?

You know in our own case, we sell per polling unit and everybody is known in the polling unit and in this state, we no longer give big men fertilizer. Big men have big money.

So, let them go to the market. The little we can afford, we take them to the farmers at polling unit level. We have committees in each local government. We don’t leave it in the hands of local government officials, we don’t leave it even in the hands of Ministry of Agriculture. We leave it in

Governor Aminu Bello Masari, Katsina State

the hands of committees headed by independent persons whose integrity we are sure of and they know the number of polling units in each of the local governments. So, we distribute fertilizer directly to the farmers. We have no allocation for large scale farmers. We cannot subsidize large scale farmers as much as we want to but we cannot because the resources are not there.

How can Katsina State government key into the potentials of the mineral resources that are found in vast amount in the state, like kaolin for instance?

You know solid minerals exploitation is capital intensive and it’s something that takes a long time to plan.

It’s not like agriculture where you can plant and in six months, you harvest. But investment in solid minerals which are many, we have gold, diamond, kaolin in the state, but this is investment that requires one, a lot of money, it takes time and anybody who is coming to invest knows he will be in it for a very long time. So, it’s not something that you can get its results immediately.

There are some investors who have shown interest. But you know part of the problem is at the national level. Not here. Ours is only the land and the mining license. Exploration is given by the Federal Government.

As a former principal officer of the National Assembly, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, how would you advise that the ice between presidency and the Legislature is broken?

Well, you know anything that does not start well is bound to create serious problems. The emergence of the

leadership of the National Assembly did not start well.

So, that is what is giving the problem up till now. So, it did not start well. There is mistrust on both sides. All the contentious issues are before the court of law. So, it’s very difficult for one to comment on the issues that are before the court of law. But like I said, the way the leadership emerged is what is responsible for what we are seeing today. And we may likely finish four years in this kind of situation. It is possible.

Are there specific steps you think can be taken to resolve it politically?

At this point in time, all the issues like I said are before the court of law. Since they are before the court of law, one can only say we hope that the judiciary will give the matter the attention it deserves. We have passed the level of opinion on these issues because the issues are before the court of law. So, it’s no longer a matter for opinion.

What advantage does the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari comes from your state confer on you as a state government?

Well, we are running a constitutional government. So, whatever comes to the state in terms of revenue is on the basis of revenue allocation formula. So, we are not expecting the president to bring in extra money to the state.

This is not a military regime. However, because of the fact that he is from Katsina State, there may be some influences with regard to siting some projects. That is about as far as you can go. It’s not a military regime where the president can dole out money outside the budget. He can’t do that.

32

opinion

10 July, 2016

The Senate and forgery case

By Abu Quassim

T

HE on-going trial of Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, former clerk of the National Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa and Clerk of the Senate, Ben Efeturi, is now one of the major issues dominating newspaper headlines in the country. A debate has emerged around the trial. Is it just a mere case of trying to get the court to punish some people for their infractions? Is there politics to the trial? Is it just another attempt to cleanse our political landscape and ensure that, no matter who is involved, anybody who commits a criminal act will be punished? Or is this a case of if the hen spills my spiritual concoction, I will also smash its eggs, as a Yoruba proverb goes? Is somebody trying to use the courts to achieve what they failed to make possible by voting in the Senate chamber?

Many questions! Yet, no answers.

The relevant questions are: Is there any forgery of the Standing Order of the Senate 2015? If the answer is yes, who forged it? Who benefitted from the forgery? What role did the Senate President play in the forgery?

In answering the first question on whether there is forgery, one will want to know what constitutes forgery. It definitely will mean creating a fake form of an original document or unlawfully altering the content of an existing document. If we relate that to the Senate Standing Orders 2015 as amended, one will see that apart from the document currently in use now, there is no such document labelled as Senate Standing Orders 2015. So, no original document that can be said to have been unlawfully altered or faked. The 2015 Standing Order has no fake version. So, there is no forgery.

Also, if the Senate has decided since its members were handed the documents on June 7, 2015 during their registration that the document now in contention is their rule book and they have endorsed, accepted and ratified it, they have taken ownership of that document. The relevant question then is: can a man be accused of forging his own signature?

No. A man can only change or vary his signature. He cannot forge his own signature. So, whatever the Senate says is their

rule book is what it is. So, no forgery ever occurred.

Since the answer to the question of whether there is forgery has been answered in the negative, then the question of who the forger is can no longer be relevant. The mistake being made by analysts on the alleged forgery case is to believe that the 2011 Standing Order subsists in 2015 and that it ought to be used in conducting the inauguration of the Eighth Senate but was unlawfully altered before being distributed to the current Senators. The 2011 rule book has become moribund and died with the Seventh Senate.

It is the discretion of the Senate bureaucracy to produce a body of rules for the inauguration of the Senate as it is now convention and practice for them to do since 1999. After inauguration, the Senators will be free to apply the provision for

Sunday Tribune

amendments contained in Order 110 (1-5) to bring the Standing Order given to them up to their expectation. This amendment can, however, not happen until after the Senators-elect have elected their President and his deputy as well as take their oath of office. So, the clerk has forged no rule. He is not obliged to conduct that inaugural business of the Eighth Senate with the old or moribund rule.

To the question of who benefitted from the forgery, well that is a question that is no longer tenable as it has been proved that there is no forgery. However, if there were to be forgery, the order dealing with the nature of election, that is whether it should be by open or secret ballot is what is being complained about. It is also clear that in making Saraki Senate President, there was no election. He was nominated and affirmed unopposed. The candidate who would have opposed him, Senator Ahmed Lawan, and his supporters had gone on a journey of discovery to the International Conference Centre (ICC), instead of being present on the floor of the Senate as demanded by the proclamation by President Muhammadu Buhari.

So, what is all this hoopla about Saraki having not addressed the issue of whether he participated in any forgery or not?

The fact is that there is no forgery and if somebody is hallucinating about and imagining one, Saraki has said he did not participate in it. All these trials are bad distractions and diversions for the Senate President. They are also bad for the country because the Senate has been unable to fully realise its potential to serve the nation, make significant contributions to the change agenda, contribute to national development and effectively check the excesses of the executive arm.

However, the distractions are good for those who want to keep the legislature in chain so as to make the executive free to behave the way it likes and act unchecked. The distractions are good for those who are using it to divert national attention from the problems facing the country for which the present administration has no answer. Well, as Ekweremadu said on the floor of the Senate during a debate on the case of alleged forgery, we should all remember that ‘no condition is permanent’.

Quassim writes from Abuja.

Brexit lessons for Nigeria

By Obarotimi Arowolo I have been reflecting on the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union and what lessons Nigerians can learn from it and, especially what our leaders can and should learn from it. For many years, many British citizens have expressed their dis-satisfaction with the way and manner policies have been crafted and implemented by the EU bureaucrats in Brussels without adequate recourse to the peculiarities of the individual countries in the union. For example among many others, those involved in fishing business have often raised their voices against how EU policies have negatively impacted on their businesses, but not much attention was paid to that segment of the society and some other segments that have complained bitterly about the mode of operation of the EU. While globalisation with some of its features being migration and mobility of labour have some obvious benefits, the truth also is that globalisation has negative consequences. It is noteworthy to say that one recurring statement by those in favour of UK’s exit from the European Union (pro-Brexit) was that they wanted to “have their country back” presumably from foreigners who are migrants that have become settlers in Britain.

What is the lesson for Nigeria and our leaders? We must recognise that every inch of land in Nigeria belongs to some indigenous ethnic group. For example, the SouthEast of Nigeria belongs to the Igbo, the South-West to the Yoruba, the North-Central to the Hausa/Fulanis, Abuja to the Gwaris and so on. So, for anybody to say that Lagos or Abuja or Port Harcourt, Kano or Ibadan is a no man’s land is a big lie. There are indigenous people of Lagos, Abuja and the rest of the cities aforementioned. Hence, anyone who migrates and eventually desires to settle in any geographic area must respect the norms, values, tradition and traditional institutions of the indigenous people. Such migrants cannot claim to have exclusive rights that only the indigenous people are entitled to.

For example, no migrant or settler can lay claim to the kingship position in the community he or she has migrat-

ed to and possibly settled in. I am, for instance, aware that no Igbo man or Yoruba man can become the Emir of Kano or the governor of Kano State, no matter how long he has lived in the state and no Yoruba man can become the Obi of Onitsha, just as no Hausa man can become the Deji of Akure or the Oba of Lagos. Even on the political level, no Igbo man can become the Governor of Sokoto State and it will be an insult on the sensibility of the Yoruba for any immigrant or settler to want to become the governor of Lagos.

It is an aberration for any migrant ethnic group to want to establish their own traditional institution within the

territory of their host communities. Hence, it will be out of place to have an Eze or Igwe or Emir in Yorubaland even as it will be out of place to have an Oba or Igwe in Sokoto. For peaceful co-existence in Nigeria we must respect one another’s sensibility, values and culture while political leaders must listen to the voices of dis-satisfaction and disenchantment from Nigerians as we have seen lately and every attempt must be made to build an inclusive Nigeria where we all have opportunities and worthy stakes that can make us proud to be called Nigerians.

Political appointments and civil service appointments must not be lopsided, but must reflect our geographic and ethnic spread. I am persuaded that there are competent Nigerians and people of integrity in all parts of the country. We must use our diversity positively and not to cause crisis in Nigeria and no ethnic group must ride roughshod on others. It is interesting to hear our president say that the unity of Nigeria in not negotiable. Many Nigerians like myself are not necessarily after the disintegration of Nigeria. But we want a restructured Nigeria where things can work for the common good and not a select few.

The truth is that the way Nigeria is presently structured and governed is not sustainable and the earlier we correct this anomaly the better for us or else we may later realise that the unity of Nigeria is negotiable if we allow things to continue to fall apart. It is self-delusion for anyone or group of people to think that the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable. MASSOB, Afenifere, Ohaneze Ndigbo have made it clear that it is negotiable and a good and noble attempt was made through the last national conference held and from which a robust and good report having sound recommendations was prepared and waiting for implementation. We may have to conduct a referendum in Nigeria on whether we want to continue to stay together sooner than later. It is high time we administered Nigeria as a federal structure. Let us revisit the confab report and make the best use of the recommendations therein for our good.

Arowolo, Ph.D, is a development consultant and lives in Ibadan.

33

A

A lot has happened on the political horizon since this column took an unannounced break two weeks ago. It was a force majeure sort of a break and that accounts for the inability to alert stakeholders.

In recent weeks, we have seen the increased onslaught on the Ekiti State governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the siege and eventual arrest of the former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore and the saga in Abia state, which as we speak, is threatening to foist two governors on the state. In one breath, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) retreated a bit but they have since resumed hostilities, bombing oil installations at will.

On Wednesday, while trying to engage the Avengers, as the man who wears the shoe and knows where it pinches, President Muhammadu Buhari threw up the critical question about Nigeria’s unity, which he declared nonnegotiable like the presidents before him. While addressing residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, who paid him the traditional Sallah homage at the Presidential Villa, Buhari aimed a jibe at the NDA when he insisted that Nigeria’s unity was not negotiable.

Buhari recalled the slogan adopted by the military in the late 1960s, in the thick of the Nigerian Civil War and declared that the slogan “Go On With One Nigeria (GOWON),” remains apt at this time. He also appealed to the militants to give Nigeria a chance. He assured them that his government would ensure fairness in handling federal resources. “Nigerian constitution is clear as to what they should get and I assure them there will be justice,” the president was quoted as saying.

Coming on the heels of the series of social media posts, which question Buhari’s fairness in making appointments, the statement above cannot be timelier. But is the president walking the talk? As one of those who participated in the civil war, you want to believe that the president understands the issues at stake and can easily interrogate issues of national unity. But the President sowed what looked like the first seed of disunity when he announced the composition of his kitchen cabinet. By picking his core staff from mainly the North-West and North-East, he had broken the first law and opened himself to suspicion.

Though many who attempted to come to his aid then

I remember the early 60s in the Yaba area of Lagos mainland where I grew up. Life was fun, interesting and relatively safe. You could walk wherever you wanted without any molestation and thinking about it now you could buy whatever you wanted on the streets also without any molestation.

These days you cannot do that. You are harassed at every turn to part with your money to either criminals or street hawkers who are bent on making a sale whether you want the item or not. Street beggars are not left out in the scramble for your money. Indeed going out and coming back home in one piece in the jungle called Lagos is a miracle. Sometimes I wonder when, why and how Lagos became such a jungle of a market place. The whole place has been taken over by traders, and you could shop these days, without stepping into any shop or market. The result is utter chaos. Heavy traffic, crime and risk to lives – of the hawker and road users alike.

In a bid to change that, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode recently invoked the 13 year-old Lagos State Street Trading and Illegal Markets Prohibition Law 2003 to, among other things: develop the state and make it conducive for business – big business. Raise the status of the metropolis to world class level and create an atmosphere for the free flow of traffic and removal of perceived miscreants and criminals from the major highways. I have nothing against this law, which according to the facts listed above is meant to bring sanity back to Lagos. Yet I believe we should do first things first. What plans has the Ambode government put in place to justify putting these people out of job.

The majority of these hawkers are young school leavers and some illiterates who had come to Lagos in pursuit of the piece of the action, but who upon getting to Lagos found the story different. Some get sucked into crime while those who still had some modicum of decency end up in the streets as hawkers, okada riders or beggars. Lagos is attractive and there is very little any governor can do to stem the daily influx of fortune seekers. One of such impressionable persons was the young hawker who ended up a casualty on the first day the law went into force on July 1. He was run over by vehicles in the Maryland axis of Ikorodu Road, while trying to escape from the Kick

10 July, 2016

the lynxeye with Taiwo adisa

08072000046

Why they say Buhari is sectional

offered different alibis, including the silly excuse that he would balance the appointments through the ministerial nominations, none provided real assistance to the president’s image. The Constitution has already settled the issue of ministerial nomination; each state must have at least one nominee.

Some of those who rose in defence of the President said he was free to pick those he could “work with” as personal aides. They equally promised that Buhari would balance his appointments among the contending forces. More than one year on, the fears of domination, marginalisa-

frontrow with Toyin Willoughby Muyi 0805 500 1769 toyeenz@yahoo.com

Lagos, our Lagos

Sunday Tribune

tion and nepotism are apparent each time the Presidential Villa announces new appointments.

To those who may think that discussion such as this is out to promote sectionalism in defiance of the “one Nigeria” mantra, let me refer them to Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which makes it a point of duty for Buhari to balance all his appointments among the states of the federation and ethnic configurations.

Section 14 (3) of the 1999 Constitution reads: “The composition of the Government of the federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the Federal Character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few States or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”

Going by the above, it won’t be out of the way to give some credit to those making different posturing against the president’s recent appointments on the social media.

That the president would give 14 out of 17 key posts in a particular sector to the North is absurd. It doesn’t matter whether you are a nationalist or an agitator.

The composition of the Management Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Police Management Team, as announced last week, also failed to prove Buhari’s nationalistic credentials. The appointments were all lopsided in favour of the North. I was told by an elder that you dress your wound, you do not poke needle into it. We are aware that Nigeria has a challenge of fostering unity and that is why such an area should be delicately protected. Not a few are quick to recline to their ethnic cocoon at the slightest chance, but it behooves the president to give everyone a sense of nationalism by deliberately promoting such in his appointments. That is the simple demand of the 1999 Constitution he had sworn to uphold.

Some of us would say it doesn’t matter where any appointee is from, as far as he or she can deliver. That is right, but the Nigerian state has already recognised and puts into practice indices such as Educationally Less Advantaged States, Quota System and other forms of Federal Character in making appointments into all federal agencies and institutions. We cannot now jettison those indices when appointing heads of agencies or parastatal-agencies.

banks also engage in street hawking except that they call their personnel marketers. To me they are glorified hawkers because they move about trying to convince even Ambode’s street hawkers to come bank with them.

And come to think of it, street hawking goes on in different parts of the world, even in the so-called developed countries. The only difference is that it is better organised, which is what the Ambode government should be looking at. If street hawking were banned in South Korea, Kim Daewoo who started his multi-billion international Daewoo Group as a street hawker in Seoul, South Korea, would not have made it. Lagos and other states that are in a hurry to ban street hawking should think twice about the economic implications.

FROM MY MAILBOX Re: Militants, herdsmen, armed robbers?

Against Indiscipline (KAI) officials.

So what is the solution, if Ambode does not want to appear to be driving an ethnic agenda? I think an immediate alternative should be put in place or provisions made in the long term for their immediate reintegration into the society to enable them cater for themselves as well as their families. For hawking is their main source of livelihood. You need to see what some of these hawkers go through just to make a N50 sale of whatever item they are hawking. Let’s face it, the wealth of Lagos, as of any progressive economy is closely linked to the activities of street hawkers if well-managed. By the way, who is a hawker? A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported and in most places where the term is used; a hawker sells inexpensive items, handicrafts or food items. Yet interestingly, some big organisations like

Nigeria is an ideal case study when we talk about a democratic system of government with insecurity, bloodshed, injustice, bribery, corruption, and embezzlement of public funds. President [Muhammadu] Buhari’s administration and the security agents must realise that they are dealing with devils incarnate and they must be prepared to treat them as such. President Buhari should prove his critics wrong that his trips abroad are not mere safaris or unnecessary junketing to the detriment of the much needed attention the country needs.

—Taiwo Sangotikun Iseyin, Oyo State.

08056309372 Militants, herdsmen, armed robbers as well as SARS officers all have no reasons for killing unjustifiably. At the same time killing in revenge will only worsen the situation. Secondly, God our creator is against killing as He pointedly stated in the Holy Bible.

—Rev. Afolabi M.G. Agodongbo, Oyo. 08074217723

34

10 July, 2016

ON THE

Sunday Tribune

With Bolanle Bolawole turnpot@gmail.com 07052631058

lord’sday When silence is not golden...

A

national newspaper penultimate Saturday gave a graphic detail of how all key security appointments under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari/APC have gone to the North to the chagrin of the South. Former President Goodluck Jonathan and ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo were fair to the North in the way critical appointments were made to reflect federal character, which had since been wilfully trampled underfoot.

Buhari’s appointments have whimsically ignored the South while piling the plate of the North full of all the largesse, to use Buhari’s own words. So, while the North had its fair share of appointments under leaders from the South – even more than its fair share – the South has been thoroughly and unabashedly marginalised under a leader from the North.

According to the newspaper, of 17 key security appointments, the North bagged 14 while the entire South has only three.

The South-West has two, the SouthSouth, one while the South-East got zero allocation. The critical offices in possession of the North include the Army, National Security Adviser, Minister of Defence, the EFCC, Air Force, Police, DSS, Civil Defence, National Emergency Management Agency, Customs, Fire Service, Federal Road Safety Corps, Immigrations Service, Prison Service, and the Ministry of the Interior (which declared an unprecedented three days of holiday for Eid-elFitri festival last week!) Such impunity!

In addition to all of these, the North also holds the critical positions of Chief of Staff to the President and Secretary to the Government of the Federation; not to talk of Principal Secretary to the President, CSO, Aide-de-Camp and other important agencies of government.

Since the expose, mum has been the word from presidential spokespersons.

That silence, in my opinion, means a lot.

Journalists are generally known to be on the side of fairness and equity; it may therefore mean that no conscionable spokesperson found it appropriate to defend the indefensible.

And as if to say “let the child die from the mother’s hands”, Buhari himself came out two days after the publication to offer what could be said to be a defence. At a breaking of fast event at the palace of the Emir of Daura (where Buhari not long ago made the revealing but regrettable “us” and “they” statement), he reportedly pledged that his government would not discriminate against or marginalise any section of the country. He could as well have said that to the Marines! That statement reveals something else we may not have known about Buhari if the president himself believes it – not to say if he means it! Buhari added that issues and situations would be considered objectively. Oh yea!

“Under my watch, no section of the country would either be discriminated against or marginalised”, he had said, before adding that he would remain honest, fair, and just in steering the ship of the coun-

try towards prosperity. But what he has done by his lopsided appointments is that he has already marginalised and discriminated against the entire South, with the South-East the worst hit. He has placed his own North – the “us” - at an advantage over the South – the “they.” He has not been fair, equitable, and just in his appointments. He has favoured the North in a brazen, audacious, and pugnacious manner to the chagrin, consternation and befuddlement of the South.

With the kind of appointments he has made, is there a way this president can be “honest”, “fair”, and “just” in his dealings with the same people he has so deliberately marginalised and discriminated against? Can he ever be trusted to be so?

Let me tell you a story.

A young lady who was a member of my church came to a thanksgiving Sunday service one day with the uniforms of the Nigeria Prisons Service. When it was testimony time she came forward and told the story of how God miraculously heard her prayer and provided her a job. She came from the same village as Abba Moro, the erstwhile Minister of Interior; she had travelled home and after Sunday service, someone advised her to take a stroll to Moro’s compound to “greet” the big man.

She did but on getting there, she learnt Moro had just left for Abuja. Mercifully, someone volunteered the ex-minster’s phone number and she dialled it. The big man, still on his way to Abuja, answered the call and this young lady spoke their native language to him and told him she was right there standing in front of his compound. He asked her about her own compound and she told him and then the big man asked, “what do you want?”

Of course she needed a job. “Meet me in Abuja tomorrow” was the command.

When she got to Abuja and met Moro, a letter of appointment was already waiting for her! I may have not remembered to tell this story 100 per cent as she said it but the meat of the story is exactly what I have narrated here. This is Nigeria and

we all know it; where you come from, who you know, your religion and tribe confer a lot of opportunities. Where you are disadvantaged on this score, you have been discriminated against; you have been marginalised. Others will get what you will not get – jobs, contracts, and other favours.

Let those who play the ostrich bury their heads in the sand on this score, especially the so-called human rights activists and “Socialists” who think it belittles them to discuss such “pedestrian” and “reactionary” issues as tribe or ethnicity. But semantics or sophistry apart, the “National Question”, as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels put it, is an integral part of the Marxian ideology.

It is one of the critical issues that Lenin and other state-builders of the Marxist school had to grapple with. Witness what became of Yugoslavia after all the sweeping under the carpet of the “National Question” by Comrade-President Josip Broz Tito! And what of the erstwhile behemoth, the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic, which is now left with just its Russia rump! I will tell you another story.

I was at home in Lagos one morning when my phone rang and a friend – in fact, my “language” and even “vernacular” person - who was a federal permanent secretary asked, “where are you?” Lagos, of course, I answered. He told me someone would call me and would tell me what to do but I should pack my bag and get ready to hit Abuja the next day. That was how I became a member of the Media and Publicity sub-committee of the 2011 Presidential Inauguration Committee. It might not have put millions into my pocket but it was a worthwhile experience. If it was something much more rewarding, that was how “tribe and tongue” would have served me well. Not that I was not qualified and not that I did not do an excellent job; but competence alone would not have got me the opportunity. There are millions of such opportunities that religion, tribe, tongue, access to those in power, and such other considerations land on people’s laps.

Those who deny this are hypocrites. Why, for instance, is Femi Falana not the federal Attorney-General and Minister of Justice?

It is not a question of competence; it has to do more with tribe, religion, acquaintance, and, as unfolding events are making clearer by the day, a hidden agenda into which Falana may not have been able to buy and which, therefore, makes him an outsider; the “they” as against the “us”.

As if the lopsidedness mentioned above was not enough and to show that the president’s pledge of fairness and honesty amounted to nothing, Buhari followed a few days later with the appointment of another Northerner as the Managing Director of the goose that lays the golden egg for the country – the NNPC. The man who hitherto held the post, a Delta Igbo, is now constrained to only play the second fiddle as junior Minister of Petroleum to no less a principal than the president himself!

Buhari is the substantive Minister of Petroleum Resources.

A very strong, indeed autocratic, president cannot be expected to leave a quarter for a hapless and hamstrung junior minister to operate with any appreciable measure of independence. It is like a tenant who lives in the same building with a pugnacious and overbearing landlord or landlady. It can be hell on earth. At a time when the president gave the impression that he was begging the Niger Delta militants to give peace a chance, what could have been a better way to demonstrate his good faith than for him to have given the MDship of NNPC to the Niger Delta? But as it is, this president is bent on the North dominating the South. The cold comfort we get is Buhari’s “assurances” of his good intentions! Trust me! Have confidence in me! Even if my actions negate what I say, still trust me the more! But the pillars of modern-day governments are not erected on the quicksand of make-beliefs, conjectures, suppositions, and the whims and caprices of individual leaders but on the firm and unmovable pillars of law, principles, and institutions.

The fathers of the American nation fought against “taxation without representation”; we, too, must fight against governance without adequate representation.

We cannot have Buhari’s words for it. His intentions are not good enough for us.

Has it not been said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions? We, too, must be represented in all the critical organs where decisions affecting us – or is it “afflicting us”? – are taken. We want our people there and do not trust that others can represent us well in an environment which the president himself has delineated into “us” and “they”.

Finally, where are the people who sold us this dummy? Where are the Chief Bisi Akandes and Senator Bola Tinubus? Why are they not kicking? This, if they care to know, is not the time to be silent. They must speak out; for, certainly, their feet will be held to the fire on this at the appropriate time.

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10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

With Rita Okonoboh rosarumese@gmail.com 08053789087

tribunechurch

WCC members PHOTOS: RITA at theOKONOBOH meeting

By Kehinde Oyetimi

Prayer Mountains:

Solution grounds or show centres?

T

HE environment was on the outskirts of the business area. As one ascended the stairs that led up the mountain, sounds filtered below and grew louder. The first woman sighted looked up briefly to see who was approaching and focused on what she was doing earlier. She took frequent glances at her Bible as she mumbled words of prayers.

Seconds later, she lay flat on the rock, her face towards the sky. Tears rolled down the side of her face. As she noticed the faint shadow fall upon her figure, she simply closed her eyes and continued her prayers.

A little distance away, another woman was on her knees, praying, while a little boy was asleep beside her. Not too far away, a prayer session was in progress, with members gathered round the leader and singing worship songs, albeit in low tunes. A man was gathering up some drums, moving them into a house situated on top of the mountain. That was Ori Oke Aanu, located in Oyo State.

At Ori Oke Baba Abiye, located at Ede, Osun State, founded in the 1940s by Prophet Samson Akande of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), the rules are strict and very clear. Women are kept separate from men; no staying on the mountain beyond seven days at a stretch; no indiscriminate eating; no fooling around with the opposite sex, among others.

In July 2015, a prayer city was inaugu-

rated by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) at Ifewara, Osun State, named Mount Carmel Prayer Village. Interestingly, Ifewara is the hometown of the General Overseer of the RCCG, Pastor E.A. Adeboye. The prayer village is said to contain chalets and prayer huts which people can stay in to communicate with God. Prayer mountains, popularised by first generation indigenous churches, abound across Nigeria. A visit round some states of the South West revealed names such as Ori Oke Aluyo located at Afijio Local Government Area, Oyo State; Ori Oke Ikoyi, Osun State; Ori Oke Agbara Aseyori, Osun State, Akoko Mi To Prayer Mountain, Osun State; Baba Shiloh Prayer Mountain, Ibadan-Ife Expressway, Oyo State; Ori Oke Irapada Oluwa, Ibadan-Ife Expressway, Oyo State; Ori Oke Atunse, Ibadan-Ife Expressway, Egbeda, Oyo State; Rehoboth Prayer Mountain, Ajegunle, Ogun State; Ancient of Days Prayer Mountain, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Erio Prayer Mountain in Ekiti State,

among others.

Biblical injunctions for prayer mountains According to Reverend James Akinadewo of Motailatu Church of God, Lagos District Headquarters, Okeira, Ogba, Lagos State, “Prayer is communication between you and God. People go to prayer mountains to avoid distraction. It is like being alone with God. Jesus Christ took three of his disciples to the mountain during the transfiguration and he taught and prayed with them there.

In the Bible as well, Moses communicated with God on the mountain where he received the Ten Commandments.”

Prophet Moses Aladeolu, Founder, CAC, Ori-Oke Aanu, also supports Reverend Akinadewo’s notion of the example of Moses, stating that “the practice of praying on mountains has its origin in the Bible, and offers many spiritual benefits for those who understand the importance.”

Praying on mountains helps a person fo-

Nigeria will soon be free from captivity

Why I evangelise through music

—Prophet

—Wale Adenuga

Pg36

Pg37

What makes a mountain a place of prayer? What biblical reference supports such practice? What takes place on prayer mountains?

RITA OKONOBOH, who visited some prayer mountains recently, gives insight into this. cus, unlike what obtains when there is a crowd.

Also speaking with TribuneChurch, Prelate, Methodist Church Nigeria, Most Reverend S.C.K. Uche, who spoke on the peculiarities of prayer mountains and why Methodists may not practice such, stated that “The prayer of faith affects most when praying, but that is not to say that mountains are useless. If you want serenity or calmness, if you want a place that is very quiet, you can go to any mountain to pray.

It does not mean that if one is a sinner and you go to a mountain God will not answer.

What matters most is the heart from which you pray. If one prays to God anywhere with a clean heart and with strong faith, the prayer will be heard.”

Their peculiarities According to some clerics and worshippers who spoke with TribuneChurch, Continues on pg38

Cleric urges Nigerians to seek divine solution to nation’s challenges Pg36

36

10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

With Olaide Sokoya ollydesanmi@yahoo.com 08074497425

churchnews

Cleric urges Nigerians to seek divine solution to nation’s challenges Akin Adewakun -Lagos

A

cleric with the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Anointed Blessed City, Akoka District, Yaba, Lagos State, Pastor Ola Afolabi, has urged Nigerians to look for divine solutions to the nation’s myriad of challenges.

Speaking with TribuneChurch on the district’s forthcoming 21-day programme, scheduled for the month of July, Pastor Afolabi, who is also the Minister in Charge of the district, stated that the warning became imperative since human wisdom had failed to bring the required solution

‘Christians are duty-bound to move the gospel forward’ VENERABLE Joshua Oyinlola of Akure Anglican Diocese has called on all Christians and religious leaders to rise up to move the work of God forward.

The cleric stated this at the 2016 Yewa Anglican Diocese Trinity Ordination Service, held at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Ona-Nla, Ilaro-Yewa, Ogun State, last Sunday.

Basing his sermon on Luke 10:17-19, he stated that “the clergy and the laity have a part to play in moving forward the work of God in the diocese. We will all give account of our stewardship, so everyone should serve as unto the Lord so that each one can be amply rewarded in the fullness of time.

“However, the ultimate reward, which is eternal life, should be our focus. Both the clergy and the laity are duty-bound to cooperate with the bishop to move the diocese forward,” he stated.

Present at the occasion were the Bishop of Yewa Anglican Diocese, Right Reverend Michael Oluwarohunbi and his wife, Grace; the Olu of Ilaro and Paramount Ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Gbadewole Olugbenle; Chief Adeboye Shanu; Chief Thomas Lala; Chief Banji Ogunbiyi; Chief Leke Ibikunle; Chief (Mrs) Yemisi Oloyo; Chief (Mrs) Janet Mautin and Chief (Mrs) Tayo Ibikunle.

to those challenges.

He stated that the programme, expected to feature ministers in God’s vineyard, is designed to lift

the nation up in prayers and look for divine solutions to its problems.

“We have looked at what is happening in this coun-

try and we are not happy.

But we believe that God is there to give an answer, to intervene. We know that He is always there, waiting

for us, His children, to call on Him for divine solution.

“We want to play our role as a church and as citizens of the country. In the book

of Jonah, Chapter 4, a king called on God and God answered. If there had been any reason the nation is going this way, we know after this programme, God will intervene by providing solutions.

“In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God says when we call upon him and repent of our sins, He would forgive us and heal the land. That is why we believe that after this programme, Nigeria will be healed,” Afolabi stated.

Nigeria will soon be free from captivity —Prophet

Hakeem Gbadamosi - Akure From left, Bishop Michael Oluwarounbi of Yewa Anglican Diocese; guest preacher, Venerable Joshua Oyinlola of Akure Anglican Diocese, and his wife, Taiwo, during the 2016 Yewa Anglican Diocese Trinity Ordination Service, held at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Ona-Nla, Ilaro-Yewa, Ogun State.

Archbishop charges Christian elders on endurance Jacob Segun OlatunjiAbuja “WITH the hardship in the society, the role of Christian elders is to bear the burden of the people.”

This was the position of the Archbishop of the Methodist Church Archdiocese of Ilesha, Osun State, Most Reverend J. Akin Deko, during his sermon at the induction of elders of the Methodist Church in Ekiti diocese, held at the Cathedral Church, Ifaki Ekiti, Ekiti State.

The cleric stated that the elders must also feed the flock in “body, spirit and soul,” noting that the challenging times have placed Christian elders in the unique position to help the people overcome their spiritual and physical burden.

According to him, elders are people of experience, wisdom and understanding who can be relied upon to use their wealth of experience and resources to lead the society and the church in the right path.

Also addressing the congregation, the Bishop of Ifaki Diocese, Right Reverend Sunday Aluko, said the elders were selected according to spiritual guid-

ance to help the church in spreading the work of God. He said having been found worthy of the position, the elders have also denounced any association with secret societies and were expected to lead by example.

The elders who took their oaths of office, administered by the Diocesan Legal Adviser, Mr Olusegun

Ilori, included Chief Goke Olanrewaju, Managing Director of Celiat Holdings; ace musician, Taiwo Omotunde; Elder Ajaja Akinola (Oye); Dr (Mrs) Florence Adebayo (Ado); Isaac Sola Kolawole (Ijurin); Chief (Mrs) Rachel Foluso Akerele (Ifaki); Samuel O. Ajise (Emure); Mrs Florence Ibiyomi Famoroti (Iwore Ifaki); Kayode Obafemi

Adelusi (Ifaki).

Others were Christiana Omoyemi Adeyinka (Ido); Mrs Adunni Akinde (Ado); Chief Michael Babatunde (Ode); Nelson Oladipo Oladimeji (Ora); Emmanuel O. Esan (Iwore Ifaki); Ayo Aroge Kaduna (Orin); David Ayodele Aborisade (Ilupeju); Joseph Adebayo Ayodele, and Ezekiel Olutade Ojo (Itapa).

‘Lack of premarital counselling responsible for high rate of divorce’ Hakeem Gbadamosi - Akure BISHOP of Ijesa North East Diocese of the Anglican Communion, Osun State, Right Reverend Joseph Olusola, has attributed the increasing rate of divorce in the society to lack of premarital counselling, saying churches have a role to play in sustaining and building homes to avoid destruction of lives of the growing generation.

The bishop, who stated this during a press conference to usher in the first session of the third synod of Ijesa North East Diocese in Ipetu Ijesa in Oriade Local Government Area of Osun

State, said divorce breeds poverty, particularly for women and children.

The cleric noted that most children of divorce experience disruptions that create turmoil in their lives, saying “if the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

He said: “marriage is God’s premeditated and calculated divine institution, designed to form a permanent union between one man and one woman as husband and wife for life. It is a relationship increasing intimacy and growing interdependence.”

He however said churches should be ready to offer

counselling on marriage to new couples to prepare them for the challenges in keeping a home He said: “the institution involves people that are coming together from different backgrounds, different orientations and opinions about things of life. To make such people blend together in marital affairs, therefore, requires good counselling process to facilitate the necessary adjustment required to help them live together peacefully” Speaking on the role of the church, the cleric said: “the church must go back to the Bible. The priests must teach the raw word of God.”

A cleric of the Prayer Assembly for All Nations, Prophet Omoh Joel, has assured Nigerians that the country will soon be free from captivity and be ranked among the best in the world.

Joel, who stated this in Akure, the Ondo State capital, said God would soon take over the affairs of the country to make Nigeria great again.

Joel, who said God had been using his ministry to speak to Nigerians in the past, said Nigeria would soon become the toast of all nations.

He assured Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari would bring sanity and development to the country soon.

He also urged Nigerians to be patient with the current administration, stating that “God will soon intervene and work through Nigeria and every citizen of this nation will rejoice.”

In a related development, another preacher, Oluwafunbi Olaleye, has said that a new Nigeria would soon emerge as the battle has been fought spiritually and won by God. According to her, Nigerians will experience a new thing in the country very soon as the Lord will bless Nigerians and the country beyond expectation.

37 tribunechurch

Why I evangelise through music

H

OW long have you been a music minister and what has the experience been like so far?

It’s been since 1988, when I gave my life to Christ at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University. It has been an interesting experience so far.

What challenges have you faced as a minister of the gospel?

When I do my music, I look at affecting people, one person at a time. There are times I meet someone who has been blessed by my music six years after the ministration. It has been the grace of God. If you know how much you have been a blessing to people, then there could be a problem.

What is the driving force behind the popular ‘Worship for Praise’ concert?

I got to a point in my life where I asked myself what I wanted, fame, more fame or great impact. The truth is that once you have a name and a little fame, you can leverage on that fame to do something better for people. So, we decided to have benefit concerts which will focus on orphans and children with special needs.

The concerts are an annual event, and we choose a specific charity or orphanage and we raise money for them. We haven’t done so much, but in the past 10 years, we have raised about N25 million. It doesn’t seem like a lot but for many of these charity organisations, receiving a cheque of N3 million moves them to tears and you wonder.

For me, it’s not really about the money the organisation gets. The concerts are also a way to bring the organisation to the attention of the attendees of the concert, and after the event, they get more donations.

The effect just snowballs.

Is the concert not also for evangelism?

Well, we reach out to souls, so we could say we evangelise.

What else are you into apart from music?

I organise conferences. For instance, recently, I had a conference called the Green with Creativity conference which Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Ali Baba, Jimi Tewe attended. The idea was to challenge people’s way of thinking. It’s a challenge for people to do things differently, especially with the state of the economy.

You have performed alongside in-

PHOTO: jemman.com

Pastor Wale Adenuga is a singer, song writer, social entrepreneur, public speaker and pastor-in-charge of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Jubilee Christian Centre, Lagos. With over two decades’ experience of ministering the gospel through music, as a social entrepreneur, he is the convener of the annual ‘Worship for Change’ concerts, through which over N20 million has been raised for the benefit of over 1,500 orphans and children with special needs. RITA OKONOBOH had an interaction with him. ternational gospel artistes, such as Bob Fitts. With your experience, do you think Nigeria has what it takes to shine globally?

I think we do. It’s just that we don’t have the structure at home. However, if the artiste operates on an international platform, there is better opportunity. Here, no one knows how many records are being sold. There is also the issue of piracy.

bums.

Now in your 28th year of the ministry, how many albums do you have to your credit?

I didn’t start recording till around 1997.

Till date, I have about seven or eight al-

How do you create a balance with your busy schedule?

I became a pastor six years ago and that is a different kettle of fish from the music ministry. However, by the grace of God, things have been moving on.

I got to a point in my life where I asked myself what I wanted, fame, more fame or great impact. The truth is that once you have a name and a little fame, you can leverage on that fame to do something better for people

Sunday Tribune

Your Life Counts

by Tunde Jaiyebo 0803 406 2013

Dealing with fear (II)

—Wale Adenuga

Are you a member of the popular RCCG Praise Team?

Well, I’m not part of the praise team.

However, I do worship sessions at the RCCG camp ground.

10 July, 2016

What kind of books do you read?

I read different kinds of books, not just about music. I read books on business and on pastoring. It depends on the appeal. I have to read because I pastor and it will reflect in my teaching. Also, some of the activities I am engaged in involve creativity, so I have to read books.

How did you discover your talent?

Is there any creative person in the family?

It just happened. I didn’t study music. I just knew that I could sing. Growing up, it would have been a problem if I had told my father I wanted to sing. The popular Wale Adenuga of Super Story is my uncle. My younger brother sings as well. However, I draw my inspiration from God. How do you address young Christians who come to you for advice on following in your footsteps?

People come to me and say they want to minister with the gospel. Because of my schedule, I may not be able to minister to them one by one. So, what I do is to organise a gathering to share experience and educate them.

LAST time we began talking about the power of fear. We saw that we cannot stop fear from coming but we can control how we respond to it. Our attitude and response to fear is critical. Succumbing to fear will limit us but plunging on in faith will take us to greater heights. Many times, fear is the product of wrong approach to obstacles. A wrong response to fear can be disastrous. Most times, if we do not understand how to handle fear we will either be pressured to do the wrong thing or be paralyzed into inaction.

Fear can be a focus breaker. When we negatively succumb to fear it has the tendency to shift our gaze and focus from what ought to be done to dealing with and worrying about illusions. When we get gripped negatively by fear it robs us of our confidence. Fear can turn a strong man to a timid man.

“If a man harbors any sort of fear, it percolates through all thinking, damages his personality and makes him a landlord to a ghost.” Lloyd Douglas Fear can make an intelligent person look and do stupid things.

“You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith.”

Mary Manin Morrissey We need to understand that most of what we fear never comes to pass. A study shows that – 60% of our fears are unfounded; 20% of our fears are based on what has happened in the past (which is dead and buried); 10% are based on petty things that of very insignificant consequence to our lives and out of the remaining 10% only 4 to 5% are justifiable. This simply means only about 5% of our fears are really worth taking seriously. It is this 5% that we need to really face and deal with.

When people are faced with fear there are usually three ways people respond. For some their response to fear is to simply wish it away. This hardly ever works as fear does not respond to being wished away. Others just ignore the fear and avoid it. This is a straight ticket to living as a fugitive as one has to constantly keep running away from the thing that causes fear. We cannot keep running away from our fears – we have to face and deal with them. To deal with fear it has to be acknowledged and the real issues causing the fear must be identified.

“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” Marie Curie Once the issues are identified then we must proceed to solve the issues at stake.

It’s time to deal with our fears before it deals with us and one antidote for dealing with fear is courage. Courage is the ability to do something that frightens one . . . it is doing something we fear even though we are afraid.

“Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them.” Brendan Francis Without courage fear will grip us and make us look as if we are of little or no significance.

The radical approach to living a life of significance is to swim upstream, swimming against the tide – we must not succumb to what others fear. If we are going to make any impact with our lives we must not conform to the general approach of the majority. We are alive on a mission, a mission to affect, influence and impact lives. Our lives will never amount to much talk less of making a difference if we are slaves to fear. If our lives will count and if we will make a mark with our lives we must be resolved to do what ought to be done no matter how we feel . . . fear or no fear.

Concluded For enquiries/comments please email charismokola@yahoo.com

38 tribunechurch

10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

‘Even the rich, celebrities visit these prayer mountains’ Continued from

pg 35

prayer mountains are open to all people, depending, however, on what the rules of the mountain specify. According to Prophet Michael Olubode of Divine Prophetic Ministry, “the Lord gives us freedom to pray anywhere, whether on the mountain, inside your house, while bathing, eating, on your bed, anywhere. Prayer mountains could be said to be special because of the inspiration people draw from such environments.

“When the Celestial Church of Christ started, they were known for praying on beaches. However, the CAC and some other denominations are known for going to prayer mountains. If you know you can get inspired there, why not? There are three issues that make a prayer mountain peculiar.

Firstly, since the prayer mountain is not a church, it is expected that the place should have a leader. Secondly, there should be rules that will guide the activities that take place there. Also, the prayer mountain should be multi-denominational, that is, open to people of many denominations.”

Also speaking on the activities that occur on prayer mountains, a cleric of the CAC, Pastor Olu Makinwa, said: “People have testified to the miracles they have received as a result of spending time on the prayer mountains. All CAC prayer mountains welcome everybody, irrespective of denomination or religion, provided the individual is ready to follow the CAC rules, which include no burning of candles; no bathing of anybody on the mountain; no laying with your spouse on the mountain. It is also against the rules to pay for prayers on the mountain.”

At one of the mountains visited, cars of various tastes were parked along the foot of the mountain. There was a security guard at a makeshift shelter, at the entrance to the mountain who inquired from new faces what their business at the mountain was.

Prayer mountains, contrary to assumptions, are not all gloom. Business activities also take place, such as sale of cooked food, snacks, bread, sweets, among others.

However, these activities are restricted to outside the premises of the holy ground, according to Pastor Makinwa.

“In recent times, more prayer mountains are springing up. In fact, on some prayer mountains, all sorts of things find their way into these places. There are stories of prayer mountains where people schedule amorous affairs. You hear of people fixing sexual escapades to take place on prayer mountains.

“A prayer mountain is a place of holiness.

The prophet in charge of the mountain must also be genuinely called by God. For example, for those who know the history of Baba Abiye, who founded Ori Oke Baba Abiye, although he was physically challenged regarding his eyesight, from his disposition, one could know that he was genuinely called by God. Only your Bible is the possession allowed on that mountain. In fact, even eating isn’t allowed. It is strictly for prayers.” he stated ‘Even the rich, celebrities visit these prayer mountains’ According to Mrs Tolu Adegbola, one of the worshippers at the mountain, “it is no joke when a person wants to come to the mountain to pray. It helps to free my mind of immediate worries and I go home feeling much better, like my burdens have literarily been lifted. I have received miracles by coming to this mountain and I have brought friends here too who have also testified to God’s goodness.”

When asked the kind of people she has encountered on the mountain, Mrs Ad-

Most Reverend S.C.K. Uche, Prelate, Methodist Church Nigeria

Pastor Abraham Akinosun, President, Christ Apostolic Church, Worldwide

Reverend James Akinadewo, Motaiilatu Church of God, Lagos District deeply that my testimony is just around the corner,” Ayomide stated.

Necessary preparations for a firsttime visitor Noting the requirements for a person to visit the prayer mountain, according to Reverend Akinadewo, “the person must be prepared. You must be holy and sanctified. The Bible states in Psalm 24:3-4 thus: ‘Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?

Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.’ The body is the temple of God and thus for a person to ascend the mountain you must be free of sin. You must be one with God in body and in spirit.

You are climbing a place that is higher than things of the flesh and earthly thoughts.

And for those who believe, God will bless them with his abundance. Just like God told Moses in the story of the burning bush, the mountain is holy.”

Ongoing prayer session on a prayer mountain

Mini kiosk at the foot of a prayer mountain egbola said that she has seen all kinds of people come to the mountain.

“Far from it that only market women or illiterates and semiliterates visit here. You see that man in white who ascended with you, he is very rich and owns that space bus you see parked there. He has been coming here for some days now. The place accommodates all kinds of people – rich, poor, educated, uneducated. Even students, bankers, celebrities, academics come here.

One of my friends who travels out on business also comes when she can to pray for success in her trade. The mountain is open to everyone who is interested, as long as you’re willing to follow the rules.”

Another lady, who seemed to be in her twenties, simply identified herself as Ra-

chel. According to her, she was a student who had come to pray for success for her NECO examinations and to gain admission into the university this year.

Mr Ayomide, as he identified himself, stated that he played the drums during the worship sessions on the mountain. When asked why he was at the mountain on a weekday, when he could have been at work, Mr Ayomide said he recently lost his job.

“I had expected to be promoted but unfortunately, I lost my job instead. This happened just a few weeks ago. My coming here is to find some sort of peace within myself because I don’t like the evil thoughts that are threatening to take over my mind whenever I’m at home. I’m praying seriously for a miracle soon and I believe

In fact, on some prayer mountains, all sorts of things find their way into these places. There are stories of prayer mountains where people schedule amorous affairs. You hear of people fixing sexual escapades to take place on prayer mountains

What makes a mountain holy?

Prayer mountains are places people can go to remove themselves from others so that they can concentrate on their communication with God and experience His grace without distraction. According to Pastor Makinwa, “Even with the fact that all sorts of oddities take place on these mountains, we still have genuine prayer mountains. It is important to find out the background of the founder of such prayer mountain. The spirit of God directs a cleric to the mountain to become a special place for prayer. After prayers and fasting, the place is also sanctified with prayers, so that people who seek God in such places can have their prayers answered. After such, that place has become a holy ground. At Ori Oke Baba Abiye, for instance, women are kept separate from men to discourage distraction. Besides, a person is not allowed to stay beyond seven days. This is to discourage men or women abandoning their duties at home under the guise of being on the mountain.”

Reverend Akinadewo also supports the above statement, noting that “what takes place is that when the mountain is discovered, prayers are said on the mountain and the place is blessed and the place remains holy.”

Prayer mountains, not only provide a good environment for spiritual communication, they have also helped to boost religious unity, going by their multi-religious nature.

Prayer mountains offer spiritual sanctuary for their occupants and provide an almost direct link with God in the spirit. However, with the many reports that have dotted the media space of various oddities that take place there, it is important for clerics in charge of these mountains to enforce such rules that discourage distraction, immorality, proliferation of vices and illegal profiteering, whether in cash or in kind, by virtue of these mountains of prayer.

39 tribunechurch

10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

livingword

dawnofanewera with Most Revd J.O. Akinfenwa

By Bishop David Oyedepo Call 7747546-8; or e-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

The obligations of the pastor to the church

Understanding vital keys to operating in the supernatural! (2)

Bishop of Ibadan Anglican Diocese

IT is the day of the Lord once again, and we thank God for the opportunity to share in the blessings of the Word of God. It is a great privilege to be able to learn at the feat of the Lord. As we do this day by day, we shall be refreshed and renewed in the Lord’s presence, and our entire existence shall enjoy continual improvement.

Each time the people of God go to church, they resort to God but approach Him through His human agents in the church.

Pastors in our churches are human agents who represent an invisible God to a people who seek tangible relationship with the Divine. As shepherds of the flock of Christ, both existing and potential, pastors discharge various responsibilities which are peculiar to their calling. The discharge of these functions goes a long way to affect the lives of seekers who turn up in places of Christian worship weekly.

Today, let us focus attention on the obligations of pastors to the flock of Christ.

Obligations of pastors refer essentially to the duties or roles of pastors in the church. Of course, this is a very broad subject; but we can for brevity pay attention to the most salient points, and learn what we can in face of limitations of space.

Apostle Peter wrote to the elders of the early church an exhortation which captures the essence of our discourse: 1 Peter 5:1-4 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be

revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear. Ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Peter says pastors should take oversight of the flock; but in a different way from how the world takes oversight. He says pastors should not act as lords, but that they should show example to the flock.

The example that pastors show to the flock has more impact than the sermons that they preach to them, or the laws that they read to them. So, any pastor who desires to succeed in ministry (as I believe all pastors do) must mind the kind of example that he shows to the flock. That is the foundation for our study of the obligations of the pastor.

This topic – the obligations of the pastor – is not a new topic at all! In fact it is interesting that one of the documents archived by the “Project Canterbury” was a message on the same topic by late William H De Lancey (D.D.) of St. Peter’s Church, Philadelphia. The message was preached on June 23, 1833. Rev De Lancey made seven submissions on the obligations of the pastor, which are worth repeating today; almost two hundred years afterwards.

To be continued next week

Four secrets to answered prayers

By Rick Warren “THEN [Nehemiah] said, ‘O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer! … I confess that we have sinned against you. …

Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’ … Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.” (Nehemiah 1:5-11 NLT) Here are four secrets to answered prayer from the life of Nehemiah: Base your request on God’s character Pray like you know God will answer you: “I’m expecting you to answer this prayer because of who you are. You are a faithful God. You are a great God. You are a loving God. You are a wonderful God. You can handle this problem, God!” Confess the sins of which you’re aware After Nehemiah based his prayer on who God is, he confessed his sins. It wasn’t Nehemiah’s fault that Israel went into captivity. He wasn’t even born when it happened; he was most likely born in captivity. Yet, he’s including himself in the national sins.

He says, “I’ve been a part of the problem.”

Claim the promises of God Nehemiah prays to the Lord, saying, “I want you to remember what you told your

servant Moses.” Can you imagine saying “remember” to God? Nehemiah reminds God of a promise he made to the nation of Israel. In effect, he prays, “God, you warned through Moses that if we were unfaithful, we would lose the land of Israel.

But you also promised that if we repent, you’d give it back to us.”

Does God have to be reminded? No. Does he forget what he’s promised? No. Then why do we do this? Because it helps us remember what God has promised.

Be very specific in what you ask for If you want specific answers to prayer, then make specific requests. If your prayers consist of general requests, how will you know if they’re answered?

Nehemiah is not hesitant to pray for success. He’s very bold in his praying. Have you ever prayed, “Lord, make me successful?” If you haven’t, why haven’t you?

What is the alternative — a failure?

Is it okay to ask God to make you successful? It all depends on your definition of success! I believe a good definition of success is this: “fulfilling God’s purpose for my life in faith, love, and the power of the Holy Spirit and expecting the results from God.” That is a worthy life objective that you can pray for with confidence.

Consider this: If you can’t ask God to make you a success at what you’re doing, you should be doing something else. God doesn’t want you to waste your life.

• What are the promises of God that you need to claim today?

Pastor Rick Warren founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, United States. He also leads the Purpose Driven Network of Churches, a global coalition of congregations in 162 countries.

IN last week’s teaching, we discover that the supernatural is the natural estate of everyone who is born of the Holy Spirit. We also established that we can’t operate in the supernatural without a working knowledge of what it entails. That is why God sent me to educate the saints on their supernatural root in Christ, among others, as stated last week. In this week’s edition, let’s begin with this understanding: As we all know, the core of the military system is training; whether formal or informal, the result is the same.

If we train adequately in any art, we will gain command in it. For instance, it is not enough to acquire a weapon as a soldier; one must be trained on how to use it, or it can be used wrongly. In the same vein, we cannot walk effectively in the supernatural without training and development of relevant skills on how to do so. There are many people, in the body of Christ, who have assigned their responsibilities to God in the name of faith.

That is why there are more failures than successes in the Kingdom. Abraham trained the 318 servants born in his house. Thus, by virtue of the skill acquired, they conquered a nation and rescued Lot. David also trained some riff-raffs into mighty men and we saw their exploits as recorded in scriptures. We must, therefore, subscribe to the mystery of training to operate in the supernatural, and access our inheritances in Christ (1 Samuel 22:2; 2 Samuel 23:8).

Let’s examine one vital key that empower us to operate in the realm of the supernatural.

We must be committed to being ‘on the

go’ for Christ: From scriptures, we understand that Jesus died for the whole world and wants all men to be saved. However, the Bible says that many will not believe except they see signs. As such, God lavishly empowers everyone who partners with Him, in advancing the cause of His Kingdom, to be in command of the supernatural.

Again, the Bible says that when we engage in Kingdom advancement prayers, God Who sees us in secret will reward us openly. That’s the manifestation of the supernatural! Therefore, whether we are praying Kingdom advancement prayers or ‘on the go’ hunting to see souls saved, God will always endow us with grace to operate in the supernatural (Matthew 6:6, 17-18; Mark 16:15-20; Luke 9:1,6, 10:17-19, 22:35; John 4:48,15:16; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). However, we must understand that being born again is the first step to operating in the supernatural, and seeing souls saved. Are you born again or have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord? If you haven’t, you can do so as you say 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: Walking in the Miraculous, Operating in the Supernatural, Releasing the Supernatural, Commanding the Supernatural and All you need to have all your needs met.

theapostolicmessage

By Pastor (Dr) G.O. Olutola JP.

Seven things the power of prayer does Continued from last week THEY were freed from their bondage such that the Lord brought His goodness to Samaria.

The only thing the Lord is expecting from us in order for Him to hear our prayer is to turn to Him. Even with the challenges the nation is facing today, if we pray unto God fervently and wholeheartedly, the wish of the agents of the devil will be put to naught.

Elijah knew the Israelites were stubborn people, he knew they had drifted away from the Lord, yet he prayed, confronting even the powers that be. He stood before Ahab, the royal power and authority, gathered the elders of the land and warned them to return to the Lord. He declared; except they harkened to his words; there shall be no rain, except by my words. He did not count on their stubbornness but acted according to the directive of the Lord. Until we act according to the Lord’s instruction we cannot have victory over Satan and his agents. We are going to change this country, we would not curse anybody but the Lord through our prayer will be performing miracles in The Apostolic Church Nigeria. I am assured that, whether Kings or Princes, they would want to come to where God performs miracles.

By Elijah’s abidance in the Lord, he changed the whole country; he had no access to the modern means of mass communication as we do today. But he had prayer.

He could bow down his feet as recorded in 1 King 18:14 to command the clouds to gather for rain. Elijah asked for the rain, and asked

his servant to look for the signs of the rain, seven times. The latter went until he could see a little cloud on the sea that appeared like the hand of a man. That hand is the hand of the Lord, ready to wrought wonder.

It shall rain. The goodness of the Lord shall descend to bring succour to troubled soul, to bring relief and comfort to the sorrowful, to change your life and this nation for the better.

I am talking about the power of the Lord that moves mountain. No matter the problem, whether unemployment, marital crisis, denial of promotion, sickness, disease, failure, disappointment etc., they shall be no more because the Lord will move.

The Lord says He dwells in this tabernacle, and is ready to answer us, we shall pray and He would listen. By our prayer we are shifting the pillar; by our prayer we are moving the mountains. So as people who have been called into the family of God we are empowered to exercise our sonship authority through prayer.

Now let us look at the seven things that the power of prayer can do when we exercise it; 1 Power of prayer can turn impossibility into possibility (Luke 18:1-3, 4-5). Because of the trouble of this widow, in the Bible portion the judge find solution to her problem.

2 Power of prayer shall liberate from fear.

Not all the prayers are answered because of fear. From the fear you are having, doubt will follow and no answer will follow. But effectual prayer of the faithful availeth. In Act. 3 Peter practicalised his faith, otherwise the lame won’t have walked.

To be continued next week

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10 July, 2016

language&style

by Samson Dare 0805 500 1770 samsonadare@yahoo.co.uk

Senate on randy lecturers (II)

W

E didn’t finish analyzing the second excerpt that occupied our critical attention last week. For ease of reference, let’s label that excerpt ‘Sample 1’.

Sample 1:“Talks about how university teachers use their overbearing advantage over their students to intimidate and seduce female students is widespread…The proposed legislation, whose sponsors span across all geo-political zones of the country, also stipulates as offences solicitation of sex or sexual advances by lecturers which result to intimidation, hostile or offensive environment for students…”(Senate Takes on Randy Lecturers, TheNation, Sunday 8 May, 2016) After considering an issue of concord, we went on last week to discuss the expression span across, noting that the preposition across is a lexical encumbrance. Having illustrated the usage of the verb span in sentences, we felt under obligation to advise the reporter who penned the report as well as our beloved readers not to allow the prepositionacross to collocate with that verb.

In fact, the verb span, we noted, does not take any particle at all.

We had also observed that the reporter had possibly confused the usage of span with that of spread or cut. Actually, both spread and cut take prepositions. The following sentences illustrate the usage of the word spread: 1) Before he knew what was happening, the bad news had spread across the entire nation.

2) The management has allowed the payment to be spread over two years. 3) We should not allow the fire to spread to the cocoa plantation. 4) In view of the heat, the butter spread quickly over the slice of yam. 5) His political influence spread overa wide geographical area. 6) By that time, Christianity had spread through the cities to the remotest part of the country. 7) The pain has spread from the back to the neck and the head. 8) The crime of kidnapping which started from the South East has spread to the northern part of the country. 9) Our listeners spread across the nation. 10) The disease is spread through infected blood.

The important point to note is that the word spread can take a number of particles/prepositions.

Now we turn to the word cut: 1) The reduction in salaries cuts across all salary scales. 2) Those who voted for the president cut across all parties. 3) The problem cuts across all strata of society. 4) The disease cuts across all age groups.

5) President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption cuts across party lines. 6) The president’s political influence should cut across party lines. 7) The issue of immorality cuts across religious boundaries. 8) It is sad that exam malpractices cut across all levels of education. 9) The retrenchment cuts across all departments. 10) Racial discrimination cuts across all segments of the society.

Next, we note the expression, result to which occurs in the following context: “sexual advances by lecturers which result to intimidation.” Furthermore, we note the particle to which collocates with the verb result in this context. It is not the appropriate particle; not only that, that particle is symptomatic of the perennial confusion witnessed in the Nigerian usage scene between the expressions result in/from and resort to.

Now what is the nature of the error? We are looking at the difference between result and resort, which many Nigerians, including the reporter whose work is under review, would be unable to note at the level pronunciation. There is a major phonetic difference between these words, and the first step towards overcoming the tendency to confuse them is to learn to pronounce them accurately.

How do we use the verb result? Please read the following sentences: 1) The near total failure of the project resulted from poor planning. 2) The violence resulted from the government’s refusal to listen to members of the public. 3) The governor’s loss of the election resulted from his political insensitivity. 4) The outbreak of cholera resulted from the people’s unhygienic living habit. 5) The war obviously resultedfrom lack of political, religious and racial tolerance. 6) Lack of adequate preparation

resulted in mass failure. 7) Distorted understanding of the situation resulted in a wrong assessment of the people. 8) It is doubtful if this rather prolonged drought would not result in famine. 9) Careless driving often results in avoidable accidents.

10) Years of oppression and suppression of the masses can result in a violent revolution.

I advise readers to please note the particles that go with the verb result: in and from. An event or action may result in or from another event or action. Some Nigerian users would replace either of these particles with the particle to or into. They would say, for example, “The violent clash resulted to the death of the union leader” or “The heavy rain resulted into massive flooding.” The appropriate particle in each of those sentences is in.

And resort? When people resort to something, they use it or apply it or turn to it because they understand that that is the only thing that will work in their situation. Please read the following sentences: 1) Under no circumstances should you resort to borrowing.

2) Students have often resorted to violence whenever there is a misunderstanding between them and the authorities. 3) Frustrated, and alienated from his wife, the man has resorted to heavy drinking. 4) Constantly under attacks by armed robbers, residents have resorted to self-policing. 5) Many years ago, some banks resorted to chasing their debtors all over the place. 6) Is it right for jobless and hungry young men to resort to stealing? 7) He resorted to marrying another wife because his first wife allegedly gave him no peace. 8) When all else failed, he resorted to drug trafficking.

9) Having become grossly unpopular and incompetent, the government resorted to gagging the press. 10) In the face of pain, poverty, and frustration, the lady resorted to prostitution.

Sample 2: “The president, in his remark, said over six decades, oil exploration in the region had caused the rural communities their sources of livelihood in the face of acute degradation of their land and water among other damaged biodiversity in the region…It smirks of attempts to gain recognition and position individuals for possible negotiations with the FG…The preferential treatment got by Tompolo, Atake, Boyloaf, Asari and other ‘Generals’ at the detriment of ‘Commanders’ and foot soldiers have been a cause of friction…They are hiding under a platform of underdevelopment to perpetuate these evils…He said there are 45 communities around the Benin River without portable drinking water…

Gory tales of inhuman treatment and human rights abuses allegedly carried out by the military from the creeks is further alienating the Federal Government and the military in the region…”(Ogoni Clean up, the Struggle and the UNEP Report, The Nation, Sunday June 5, 2016) This text is plagued by numerous grammatical and stylistic errors which provide the prospect of engaging our attention beyond this week.

I urge readers to pay attention to the verb-form (is) which occurs in the following context: “Gory tales of inhuman treatment and human rights abuses allegedly carried out by the military from the creeks is further alienating the Federal Government and the military in the region.” The reporter’s choice of the singular verbform is rather surprising in view of the very obvious plural nature of the noun relevant to the verb slot. The headword is tales modified of course by the adjective gory. The logic of the structure does suggest that the verb should be in its plural form: are. Please take another look at the structure and tell us whether you can fault our decision to replace the singular form of the verb with its plural counterpart. It would appear that the reporter has taken a wrong decision with respect to concord because of the distance between the relevant noun and the verb slot, a distance that is liable to confuse writers who are not grammatically sure-footed.

As we noted earlier,there are many issues requiring our intervention in this excerpt which space limitation will not allow us to address today. Those will occupy our attention before anything else next week by God’s grace.

When people resort to something, they use it or apply it or turn to it because they understand that that is the only thing that will work in their situation

Sunday Tribune

line

life

with Niyi Osundare

Random Blues Between seventy and eternity (For Femi Osofisan @ 70) I

Seventy seasons now And the forest has never missed a step In its dance towards the rain

The weaverbird and its chattering are still waiting For the mellowing promise of the triumphal song A cloud of locusts still hangs heavy

In our startled skies, their restless run Trailed by the cannibal rage Of those who hold the future between their teeth

The Minstrels, not so vagabond, Trade dreams and darings In the baffling courtyard of

The Prince of the Crossroads Between Doubt’s brittle cage And the ever-near Nirvana of a horizon

Telescoped to eye-shot The Grasshopper divines its dance, Its oriki a complex serenade of

Brilliant ululations and Hamletic blues The fire-fingered women of Owu Hew their swagger from that quarry

Where the YungbaYungba Amazons undo the veil, Marching through chequered colonnades, A millennial defiance in their clenched fists

Red redred Red runs the Freedom Road

(Continued next week)

41

news

10 July, 2016

3 men found with human head in Niger Adelowo Oladipo -Minna

T

HE Niger State command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), on Saturday, announced the arrest of three suspects in possession of a human head in Mokwa Local Government Area of the state.

The state Commandant of NSCDC, Mr Philip Ayuba, stated this in Minna, the state capital, while parading the suspects before newsmen.

Ayuba said that the suspects, Abdulmumuni Aliyu (alias Danjuma), Jubrinsha

Aba and Salihu Usman, aged 34, 35 and 24 respectively, hailed from Ekpa village in Mokwa.

“I invited you here to see three suspects that we arrested on the ground of possession of human head.

After we arrested them, they confessed to us that they owned the human head,” he said.

He explained further that the suspects were arrested last Thursday while asking somebody to purchase the human head when they were apprehended by operatives of the NSCDC in Mokwa.

According to him, “our operatives pretended to

bargain with them on how much to pay before they were arrested.”

The commandant said that the suspects had made confessional statements, adding that they would be handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.

Also speaking, the gang leader Abdulmumuni Aliyu, told journalists that his brother, Salihu Usman, invited him to his house to see the human head and assist in getting a buyer.

“I looked for a buyer for five months. So when I approached one Isah to buy the head, he agreed and said

that he had a buyer in Mokwa town. When the buyer came, we started negotiating the price with him. It was in that process we were arrested,’’ he said.

Similarly, Salihu Usman, the third suspect, said that it was during a hunting expedition with Jubrinsha Aba in Ekpa bush that they discovered a decomposing body of a woman in the bush.

Usman said that both of them decided to cut off the head and sell it to make money.

“Two of us decided in the bush that we would sell the head to scientists and make money,” he said.

Sunday Tribune

Be professional, apolitical, new GOC admonishes army officers

By Oluwatoyin Malik THE new General Officer Commanding of the 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Kasimu Abdulkarim, has enjoined army officers serving in the Division to exhibit professionalism at all times and avoid involvement in politics.

Major General Abdulkarim gave the admonition on Friday at the headquarters of the Division, Adekunle Fajuyi Cantonment, in Ibadan, Oyo State, during the handing over ceremony which signified his assumption of duty after his appointment as the substantive GOC. Before his assumption of office, the Commander of the Engineer Construction Command, Ede, Osun State, Brigadier General Jude Egbudom, was in charge of the Division in acting capacity after the compulsory retirement of the former GOC in June.

The new GOC said that as military professionals, he and other officers and men would use techniques that would bring success to Nigerian Army leaders and the nation at large, harping on the need to be “abreast of our rules of engagement and analyse our challenges in line with the law and human rights.”

“2 Division is a subset of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian society which is directly affected by societal change.

The Division must be abreast of the Chief of Army Staff’s vision, which is to be a professionally responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles.

Flood takes over Maiduguri after downpour

Bad section of the Benin-Auchi-Okene highway at Iguavbo, near Benin, Edo State, on Saturday. PHOTO: NAN.

Gov threatens to replace striking workers with fresh graduates NASSARAWA State governor, Tanko al-Makura, on Saturday, threatened to recruit fresh graduates to replace workers in the state currently on strike over nonpayment of their salaries.

The governor issued the threat in Nassarawa Eggon at the celebration of the 35th coronation anniversary of the Aren Eggon, Dr Bala Angbazo.

He, however, appealed to the workers to return to work, recalling that the state was among the first in the country to implement the N18,000 minimum wage in 2011.

He commended the Aren Eggon for his contributions towards the sustenance of peace in the state and urged the people to support the government and the traditional rulers in the effort, regardless of religious and political affiliations.

“I want to appeal to the striking workers to go back to work as the decision by the state government to review their salary downward was a result of dwindling economy.

“It is also caused by the fall in the price of crude oil and declining allocation from the Federation Account.

“The state government will take stock of attendance

of striking workers that return to work and invite applications from graduates in order to replace those still on strike,” the governor said.

He explained that the downward review of the workers’ salaries was to accommodate other sectors of the economy, as well as develop infrastructure in the state.

In his goodwill message, Mr James Ali-Manza, the National President of Eggon Cultural and Development

Association (ECDA), said that the association would continue to support government policies.

Earlier, the Sole Administrator of Nassarawa Eggon Local Government Area, Mr Akolo Success, said that the anniversary was organised to thank God for his protection and guidance for the monarch in his 35 years on the throne.

He said that the council would continue to partner traditional institutions to promote peace, adding that

without peace, no nation could achieve development.

In his remarks, the monarch thanked God for giving him good health, long life and prosperous reign and pledged to continue to promote peace and harmonious coexistence of all people within his domain.

Some of the dignitaries at the occasion were Senators Jerry Hussieni, Joshua Dariye, Abduallahi Adamu and Solomon Ewuga, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported.

Ekweremadu’s kinsmen hold street protest over his trial Jude Ossai -Enugu KINSMEN of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on Saturday, in their hundreds, staged a peaceful protest in Awgu, the headquarters of Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State, to register their grievances against the continued trial of the political leader by the Federal Government.

The protesters marched through the major streets of Awgu with placards, chanting solidarity songs and demanding for the dropping of the forgery charges levelled against Ekweremadu

and the Senate President, Bukula Saraki as well as two others.

Some of the placards read: ‘enough is enough, live wire of Igbo race should not be harassed,’ ‘Presidency, leave the Senate alone,’ ‘our son, Dr Ike Ekweremadu and Senate leadership are on course,’ ‘Buhari, APC, let Ikeoha be.’

Addressing the people of Enugu-West Senatorial Zone which Ekweremadu represents at the upper house, the spokesman of the group, Professor Sam Ukpabi, said: “The APC-led Federal Government should, as a matter

of urgency, refrain from this culture of political persecution and take immediate steps to arrest the unprecedented hardships faced by Nigerians in the past t13 months, the nosedive of the naira, the menace of herdsmen who have turned every part of southern and Middle Belt of Nigeria to killing, raping, and maiming fields; the resurgence of restiveness in various parts of the country; the rising culture of inconclusive and poorly conducted elections; and the disturbing fast-diminishing human rights and political freedom.”

AN early morning downpour in Maiduguri, on Saturday, flooded many areas and residents found it very difficult to come out of their homes, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported.

Areas affected included Jajeri, Ummarari, Ngarnam, Simari, London-Ciki, Customs, Dala, Gomari Airport, as well as Gomari Costain, Damboa road, Ruwan-Zafi.

NAN further reported that most access roads in the areas were submerged, making it difficult for passage in and out of affected areas.

“The rain started gradually around 4:30 a.m. as we were preparing for the early morning prayers but by 5:30 a.m., my house was already flooded. We had to evacuate our things to a friend’s place for safety,’’ Mallam Bukar Wasala, a resident of Ruwan-Zafi said.

In his reaction, Mallam Nasiru Surundi, the Sole Administrator, Borno State Environmental Protection Agency (BOSEPA), said government had put in place machinery to address the situation.

33 suspected vandals, illegal oil bunkerers arrested in Abia

THE Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr Benito Eze, in Abia, on Saturday, said 33 suspected pipeline vandals and oil bunkerers were at present, facing prosecution at the Federal High Court, Umuahia.

Eze said this while presenting two suspected oil bunkerers before newsmen at the NSCDC headquarters in Umuahia, the News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reported.

He added that the suspects, Charles Nwachukwu (45) and Ayo Banjo (32), were arrested on Friday at the Aba end of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, following a tip off.

Eze noted that they were arrested while conveying blue gas in a 2000-capacity MAN Diesel truck with Reg. No. Plateau: LGT 458 XA. He restated the commitment of the command towards reducing the rate of pipeline vandalism and oil bunkering in Abia and warned perpetrators to desist from such acts.

Bishop Michael Oluwarohunbi loses father

THE Aagba Akin of Ororuwo, Osun State, and the oldest man in his community, Chief David Agboola Farohunbi, is dead.

He died on Monday, June 20, 2016 at the age of 99.

He worshipped at St. Luke’s Anglican Church, Ororuwo, Osun State.

He is survived by former Registrar, Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Oyo State, Dr (Mrs) Josephine Iyabo Oyebanji; Mrs Christianah Giwa; Bishop, Anglican Diocese of Yewa, Ogun State, Right Reverend Michael Oluwarohunbi; Mr Stephen Oluwarohunbi, Nigeria Prison Service, Lagos; Dr Caleb Oluwarohunbi, JICON Hospital, Kaduna, and Mrs Janet Ohiani, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Ikeja, Lagos State.

Burial arrangements will be announced later.

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news

10 July, 2016

Politicians behind clash between NURTW, RTEAN —Oyo NURTW boss His members caused the crisis —RTEAN boss

C

hairman of the Oyo State Council of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Taofeek Oyerinde (Fele), has stated that some politicians who are not happy with the prevailing peace in Oyo State are using members of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) to foment trouble.

The NURTW chairman, who was reacting to the

mayhem reportedly caused by some people who claimed to be drivers under the umbrella of RTEAN on Friday on the ground of extortion by members of the NURTW, said the action of the RTEAN drivers was condemnable.

However, the state chairman of RTEAN, Mr Kehinde Adeyemo, denied the claim that his association caused Friday’s mayhem and that it is being used by politicians to disturb the peace in the

Ikpeazu/Ogah face-off: Abia group sues for calm Christian Okeke -Abuja

A non-governmental organisation, The Abia Interest Group, has called on citizens of Abia State to remain calm and law-abiding in the face of controversies trailing the leadership of the state.

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and Mr. Uche Ogah have been involved in a legal tussle over the governorship seat.

Justice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had ordered that Ikpeazu vacates his seat and Ogah be sworn-in as governor, prompting the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a certificate of return to Ogah. But another High Court in Abia halted the swearing-in.

Reacting to the development, the group said there has been tension and confusion in the state following the political development.

Speaking in Abuja, the Director-General of the group, Eze Chikamnayo, noted that actions must be taken in the matter in such a manner that would promote peace, justice and social stability in the state.

He stated the need for affected individuals in the tussle to be given legal rights to fair hearing.

The DG noted that the matter should not be handled in such a way that will permanently pitch a section of the Abia society against the other.

state, noting that the association “has nothing to do with politicians and would not allow itself to be used to sabotage the efforts of the Governor Abiola Ajimobi administration in ensuring peace and order in Oyo State.”

He contended that the crisis in Ibadan was caused by some members of the NURTW (names withheld) whom he alleged started the trouble by harassing RTEAN members and shooting at them at Oremeji area of Ibadan, saying that the same people who shot at RTEAN members were the ones that went to invite policemen to arrest them.

Oyerinde, who lamented the destruction of shops and other property allegedly by the RTEAN drivers, said: “What they (RTEAN) did clearly showed that they were being used by some disgruntled politicians in the state to cause commotion. Their plan was to give the impression that there is no peace in Oyo State, despite the efforts of the state government.”

Buttressing his point, Oyerinde added, “the state

Commissioner of Police invited us to a meeting where we discussed this matter and he asked us to maintain the status quo and we thought the problem was over. But apparently because they have to satisfy their sponsors, they still went on the streets to protest.”

But the RTEAN boss said that, “Governor Ajimobi gave us, the NURTW and Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN) the avenue to operate peacefully in the state and we have been law-abiding so far. We have been operating in 22 local governments of the state but the NURTW has been giving us trouble in the 11 local governments in Ibadan.”

Alhaji Oyerinde described NURTW members as law abiding people “who will continue to pursue peace in the state. I have appealed to our members not to engage in any act of violence. I want to assure the good people of Oyo State that our members will not engage in any activity that can jeopardise the peace being enjoyed in the state.”

Guild of Editors condemns attack on oil facilities, calls for dialogue Urges FG to revitalise economy

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has condemned in strong terms the vandalism of oil facilities in the Ni-

ger Delta region, calling for dialogue between the Federal Government and the agitators with a view to addressing the latter’s concerns.

This is just as it urged the agitators to embrace dialogue.

The NGE, in a communiqué issued at the end of its second quarterly standing committee meeting held on Friday, in Abuja and signed by its acting president and general secretary, Mrs Funke Egbemode and Victoria Ibanga, respectively.

The NGE urged the Federal Government to “take urgent steps to revitalise the economy,” saying: “The Guild notes with concern that the economy is largely in a bad shape showing signs of recession, as statistics of unemployment is worsening while the future looks bleak. It therefore urges the Federal Government to take urgent steps to revitalise the economy in the area of job and wealth creation in order to alleviate the suffering of the masses.”

According to the communiqué, the Guild had also expressed concern at the recent increase in the inci-

dence of kidnapping across the country, calling on the new Inspector-General of Police “to come up with more proactive measures to curb the menace.”

Commending the gallantry of the Nigerian military in its fight against terrorism in the North-East and the recovery of territories from the insurgents, the Guild advised the Federal Government to pursue the antiterrorism fight with more vigour until peace is fully restored to the troubled area.

“The Guild expresses concern over the pathetic living condition of IDPs and calls on government, corporate organisations, individuals and international agencies to come to their aid.

“The Standing Committee elected Mrs Funke Egbemode, the Managing Director/Editor in Chief, Telegraph Newspaper, as its Acting President after Garba Deen Muhammad voluntarily relinquished his position following his appointment as the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC,” the communiqué read in part.

Sunday Tribune

Edo 2016: UPN, OPC endorse Ize-Iyamu Banji Aluko -Benin City

Ahead of the September 10 governorship election in Edo State, the Edo State chapter of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) has endorsed the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, as its governorship candidate.

Similarly, the socio-cultural group, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), in Edo State has equally declared support for Ize-Iyamu, stating that members of the group would henceforth provide security around Pastor IzeIyamu and his team as they take their campaign to the 18 local government areas of the state.

The two groups declared support for the gubernatorial ambition of the former secretary to the Edo State government last weekend when they paid him a solidarity visit to his Benin residence.

Edo State chairman of the UPN and leader of the OPC in the state, Prince Sylvester Eweka, who led the two groups, said Ize-Iyamu towered above other governorship candidates in the race to succeed incumbent Governor Adams Oshiomhole, in terms of agenda, experience, popularity amongst others, adding that the two groups would vigorously campaign for him.

Responding, Ize-Iyamu disclosed that his first experience in politics was in the defunct UPN under the tutelage of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in the 1980s.

I’ll still choose to be a police officer in my next life —Mbu Isaac Shobayo -Jos

AN Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Joseph Mbu, who was retired along with others in the recent shake-up in the police said he is retiring from the police as a fulfilled officer, because he was privileged to head various formations and commands in the force.

“I am proud to be a policeman, to retire as a policeman, and if there is reincarnation, I make bold to say I will still be a policeman,” he said.

Mbu, whose last place of primary assignment was the Police Staff College, Jos, as commandant, stated this while delivering his speech at a pull out ceremony held in his honour at the college on Saturday.

“In December 1985, we passed out from this police staff college as cadets before the establishment of the police academy’s permanent site in Kano.

“Today is the time to dance, a day of fulfilment for me, because we started the journey in January 1985 with 96 officers, and as of June 30 2016, we were 48 left. Some are currently Assistant Commissioners of Police, some Deputy Commissioners of Police and some Commissioners of Police. By God’s grace and mercy, I am retiring in the IGP category in good health,” he said.

PDP urges Osun people to endure hard times THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Osun State chapter, has called on the people of Osun State to continue to endure the hardship they are going through in the hands of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration in the state, saying the suffering would cease by the time the party is flushed out of the state in 2018.

In a statement signed by the publicity secretary of the PDP in Osun State, Mr Sunday Bisi, the party enjoined the people to remain steadfast in the face of the current poverty in the state “foisted on them by the APC, both at the state and at the national levels.”

“We empathise with our people who are at the receiving end of the maladministration that had berthed in Osun State since 2010. The state has never had it this bad, but what has a beginning must have an end and the same will happen in the next few years in this state.

“If they do not know by now that they are grossly unpopular in the state, by the next election, it will become crystal clear to them that the people are fed up and will resoundingly disgrace them at the polls,” the statement said.

The statement added that in 2018, “the PDP will wrest power from the ruling APC,” noting that it was unfortunate that the current administration in the state “has destroyed the fabrics of the state by plunging the people into untold hardship by their rudderless and visionless leadership.

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Sunday Tribune

Rejection of Sheriff’s motion reaffirms hope in judiciary —Ogun PDP

By Dare Adekanmbi THE Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the rejection of a stay of execution motion filed by the claimant to the office of the national chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, as an affirmation of its faith in the country’s judiciary.

A statement by the state publicity secretary, Mr Malik Ibitoye, quoted the state chairman, Honourable Sikirulahi Ogundele, as commending Justice Valentine Ashi for standing by his judgment against Sheriff and holding the judiciary in high esteem consequently.

Justice Ashi had, in a judgment about two weeks ago, invalidated the 2014 amendment done to the constitution of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) upon which Sheriff is claiming the chairmanship of the party till 2018 and pursuant to which the stay of execution was filed.

The three suspects arrested with human head at Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State by men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on Saturday.

Stop giving bailouts to govs NUPENG tells FG

T

HE Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) on Saturday advised the Federal Government against the issuance of bailout funds to state governments for the payment of workers’ salaries.

The union’s South-West Chairman, Mr Tokunbo Korodo, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

NAN had reported that the disbursement of bailout funds to the states was necessitated by the prevailing economic challenges which resulted in the non-payment of workers’ salaries by many states across the federation.

In 2015, the state governments received N713.7 billion as bailout funds from the federal government, to pay the backlog of salaries.

Korodo urged the state governments with huge salary arrears to look inwards and find new ways to generate revenue, without waiting for monthly allocations from the federation

account.

He regretted that most state governments in the country had too many aides which according to him was a big drain on their resources, advising them to downsize, to save costs.

“Most of the governors have about 20 commissioners and over 42 spe-

cial advisers, besides other large number of associates among whom they appointed the heads of various boards and agencies in the state.

“Governors from the 27 states that cannot pay the monthly salaries of their workers should look inward to find new ways of generating income to settle their

wage bills.

Korodu suggested the revitalisation of agriculture as a credible alternative to the current over-dependence of such states on revenues from the federation account.

He also advised such governors to block all existing leakages in revenue generation in their states.

Case re-assigned to vacation judge THE death of Justice E.S Chukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, who was handling a dual citizenship suit filed against the Senator representing Oyo Central District, Senator Monsurat Sunmonu, by five voters from the district, has stalled the delivery of judgment in the suit.

Sunday Tribune gathered that Justice Chukwu died, last month, in Abuja,

while recuperating from a surgery.

The judge had collapsed after he was already set to deliver judgment in the suit number FHC filed on September 14, 2015, by the five claimants from Oyo Central district.

Among other prayers, the claimants are asking the court to compel INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Senator Sunmonu upon her election on March 28, 2015 and

Woman preacher murdered in Abuja, suspects arrested THE Federal Capital Territory ( FCT), Police Command said it has arrested some suspects in connection with the killing of a woman preacher in Kubwa, FCT. The FCT command’s spokesman, ASP Anjuguri Manzah confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja.

He said that the Commissioner of Police, Mr

By Tunde Ogunesan

Death of judge stalls dual citizenship suit against Oyo senator

By Dare Adekanmbi

Alkali Usman has directed the homicide section to take over the investigation.

“We have made some arrests and they are helping us in our investigations.

“The commissioner of police has ordered the homicide section of the command to take over the investigation of the case,” he said.

The spokesman, however, did not mention the

number of suspects arrested.

He said that personnel of the command had visited the scene of the incident and investigation had begun.

NAN reports that the woman, whose name was not disclosed, was killed while preaching in the early hours of the day around the pipeline area of Kubwa, a satellite town of the FCT.

Popular Ibadan Islamic cleric dies

a perpetual injunction barring her from parading herself as a senator.

One of the claimants, Alhaji Bola Akinyemi, confirmed the death of the Judge to Sunday Tribune, saying they were waiting for the reassigning of the matter to another judge.

Akinyemi, who condoled with the family of the judge and his colleague judges over the bereavement, said the announcement of Justice Chukwu’s demise sent shock waves to them.

He prayed to God to give the family and the Bench, as well as the judiciary in the country, the strength to bear the loss.

Meanwhile, Sunday Tribune was reliably informed that the matter has been reassigned to a vacation judge to handle while the courts proceed on annual vacation from the middle of this month.

It was gathered that a vacation judge was chosen so as to dispense with the matter, which borders on the interpretation of certain sections of the 1999 Constitution.

AN Ibadan-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ibrahim Ayede Al Fulany Al Ilorin, is dead.

He died on Saturday morning at his Orogun residence, Ibadan and his remains were buried same day at his Odota residence, Ilorin, Kwara State.

The renown cleric, according to sources, had been ill for some time and was reported to have travelled to London before the commencement of Ramadan and returned to the country during the holy month.

The sources further hinted that the cleric was unable to conduct his usual Ramadan programme, as one of his sons took charge throughout the period.

Suspected kidnapper nabbed in Kwara Biola Azeez - Ilorin A suspected kidnapper, Akeem Ibrahim, has been nabbed by a mob at Adewole area off Agbo Oba community in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

Sunday Tribune gathered that the mob became suspicious of the man who dressed like a mad man, and on interrogation, discovered that he only disguised as a mentally-retarded person.

It was also gathered that the mob also found a GSM phone with the suspect, which he claimed he found by the road side.

When the suspected criminal was interviewed by journalists, he said he dressed like a masquerade to celebrate his family masquerade’s culture and tradition.

The suspect, who said he lives at Ayetoro area along Asa Dam Road, was handed over to policemen at B-Division of the Kwara state police command.

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10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Dogara’s Zik Prize Award: Reward for exemplary public service

By Iliya Habila

F

OR the first time in the history of this country, a Speaker of the House of Representatives is winning the prestigious Zik Prize Award for Public Service. Thus, Speaker Yakubu Dogara will on Sunday, July 10, 2016, again, add to his numerous achievements, another feat, having been found as one of the outstanding socio-political and business elites that have made tremendous impact in the development of this country.

Coined after the first President of the Country, Late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the award given by the Public Policy Research and Analysis Centre (PPRAC), no doubt aims to recognise leaders who have distinguished themselves in the course of nation building; as well as ginger others, especially young generations to emulate leaders who have worked selflessly for the country.

Coming this period when Dogara is the Speaker of the revered Green Chamber, one can draw a historical tie and analogy between the Speaker and Azikiwe, whom the prize is coined after. In 1948, Azikiwe was elected to the Nigerian Legislative Council, and later became the President of the country. During that period, Dogara’s kinsman, the late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa became the Prime Minister. Both leaders are respected in Nigeria for providing selfless and quality leadership.

And today, though the like of Tafawa Balewa and Zik are hard to come by, we still have Nigerians who have shown both in spirit and action that they can provide selfless and quality leadership. It is, therefore, more than a coincidence that Dogara, who hails from the same constituency and area as the late Prime Minister, is being honoured for having distinguished himself as a leader whom Nigeria can trust.

Dogara Within one year as the speaker, Dogara has consolidated on the successes recorded in the House from previous Assemblies, commanding and overwhelming level of respect and performance not only in the National Assembly, but in the country in general.

On June 9, 2016 when Dogara enumerated the successes achieved by the House through collective efforts in their one year anniversary and assurances and commitment he made to them of his determination to consolidate those gains, the Green Chamber was filled with enthusiasm and the members gave the Speaker an unprecedented ovation.

Undoubtedly, clocking one year as the Speaker of the

Buhari, Saraki, others mourn as elder statesman, Ali Monguno, dies at 90 Ayodele Adesanmi -Abuja, with Agency Report ONE of Nigeria’s elder statesmen and former minister of mines and petroleum in the first republic, Alhaji Shettima Ali Monguno, is dead. He was aged 90.

He died on Friday at his home in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

Borno State government announced the death of the nonagenarian through a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Jidda Shuwa.

The late former minister was buried at the Gwange Cemetery in Maiduguri on Saturday.

The burial was preceded by a funeral prayer led by the Chief Imam of Borno, Alhaji Laisu Ibrahim, at the palace of the Shehu of Borno in Maiuguri, withthousands of sympathisers, including Governor Kashim Shettima, former governors of the state as well as former ministers and heads of parastatal agencies attending the burial.

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Saturday, described Monguno as “one of the finest statesmen and political actors Nigeria ever had and who would

always remain fountains of inspiration in life and death.”

According to a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, in Abuja, in a condolence statement issued on his behalf by a Federal Government delegation led by Major-General Babagana Monguno (retd) to the burial in Maiduguri on Saturday, Buhari said the late elder statesman ranked among the most respected public figures in Nigeria while in office and while in private retirement life.

The president recalled that in the course of his public service as a parliamentarian and a Federal Minister of Air Force and Internal Affairs during the First Republic, the late Shettima Monguno “had left behind a legacy of untainted and unblemished career”, which he said should be emulated by Nigerian leaders at all levels.

Mr Monguno, a former presidential candidate during the 1990 option A4 political arrangement, was known in the last three decades as a philanthropist who committed his time

and resources to charity through his Shettima Ali Monguno Foundation that focussed mainly on the education of poor children especially the girl child.

Until his final retirement from public functions some three years ago, Mr Monguno was the chairman of the Borno Elders’ Forum.

The deceased was born in 1926 in Monguno, Borno He attended Monguno primary school, Teacher’s College Bauchi and Katsina, College of Arts, Science and Technology Zaria, Moray House college of Education and the University of Edinburgh.

He was a Federal Commissioner for Trade and Industries between 1966 and 1971 and Minister for Mines and Power, Petroleum and Energy between 1972 to 1975.

Monguno also served as President of OPEC fron 1972 to 1973.

The government delegation included the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, the Minister of the FCT, Mohammed Musa Bello and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu.

The government delega-

tion was received at the funeral by governor, Shettima and the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Shehu Abubakar ibn Garbai al-Amin al-Kanemi. both of whom described the presidential gesture as a consolation and a source of inspiration. The bereaved family expressed their appreciation for the presidential delegation.

He is a detribalised Nigerian, worthy ambassador —Saraki

Meanwhile, the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, on Saturday expressed sadness over the death of one of the last set of the nation’s founding fathers, elder statesman, Alhaji Shettima Ali Monguno, who he described as a detribalised Nigerian and worthy ambassador.

Saraki, in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja, noted that Monguno would be sorely missed considering his giant political strides and contributions to the building of the Nigerian nation, starting from his birth place, Monguno, in Borno State to all the nooks and crannies of the country.

House of Representatives, Dogara’s qualities have shown that he is truly a new breed politician, honest and hardworking leader, which Nigeria needs in our journey to enthroning enduring democracy. The Speaker exhibited leadership quality of selflessness in the way and manner he resolved the initial squabble in the House for leadership position. Indeed, the large-hearted Dogara displayed an uncommon spirit of accommodation and magnanimity in the appointment of House Leadership positions.

In the past, the relationship between the Executive and Legislature had not been very cordial which affected implementation of government policies and programmes.

But under Dogara, there has been a harmonious relationship with the Executive Arm of government as was seen in the amicable resolution of the issues that arose during the budget debate and other national issues.

Also, to contribute in the realisation of the goals of the present administration, the Speaker inaugurated a committee to review obsolete laws of the federation. The committee has so far submitted two reports where over 250 laws were reviewed. After submitting the first report, 130 bills were presented on the floor of the House, which scaled first reading and are now at various stages of legislative process. During the submission of the second report to the Speaker, the Chairman of the committee, Dr Ladi Hamalai said 54 other bills had been prepared for presentation for first reading. This effort, no doubt would assist in the realisation of the change agenda of the current administration.

Interestingly, one of the bills has to do with protecting victims of insurgency, an issue which is in the House of Reps Legislative Agenda, which was crafted by Dogara and adopted by the whole House. Another unprecedented and uncommon feat Dogara recorded was to take the floor and lead the debate on the North-East Development Commission Bill. The bill aims to rehabilitate, rebuild and resettle Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in their areas. It will also provide opportunity for international donor agencies to support efforts in the reconstruction efforts as was done in other climes. This gesture will no doubt restore confidence of government on the people in the country.

To contribute his quota in ensuring industrial harmony, the House under Dogara also mediated in the NLC strike over the removal of subsidy on petroleum. Labour leaders were given the opportunity to air out their grievances just as the Executive Arm of Government, represented by Ibe Kachiku, Minister of State, Petroleum, was also given the opportunity to brief the members on the philosophy behind the price increase.

There is no doubt that the intervention by the Dogara-led House of Representatives also contributed in no small measure in persuading NLC to suspend their strike to give room for dialogue and interface. Similar intervention was also made by Dogara when the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) rang its bell warning of an impending strike. The prompt meeting Dogara had with the doctors led to the suspension of the planned industrial action by the doctors. The second round of the meeting with the doctors will resume on July 14, hopefully for final resolution of the issues.

Dogara has not only built bridges of unity in the country, but also across the globe, as can be seen from the way and manner envoys and other representatives and officials of other countries have been trooping into the House of Representatives seeking for closer bilateral ties for mutual benefits.

Indeed, Dogara’s leadership qualities have manifested in the way he ran the affairs of the House in the first Legislative session in the 8th Assembly. This, no doubt, has been a period where the House has consolidated on the gains made in the Legislature since the return of democracy in 1999. The House under Dogara will no doubt be gauged as one of the arms of government that has contributed to the sustenance of democratic rule. Just as it has always prided itself as the conspicuous symbol and bastion of democracy, the Legislature, precisely the House of Representatives, under Speaker Dogara has not left the electorate in doubt that it would remain so.

•Habila is the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Publicity to the Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.

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SUNDAY

Editor: Ganiyu Salman tribunesporteditor@yahoo.com 08053789060

Onazi (left) in action for Lazio.

Eto’o charity match holds July 16 in Turkey

Onazi coach dumps Lazio after 48 hrs T HE newly-signed coach of Lazio, Marcelo Bielsa, who pulled out of coaching the Italian side in a shock move just 48 hours after his appointment was announced, has blamed the club for his exit saying it had failed to sign a single player.

Lazio which parades Nigerian international, Ogenyi Onazi, had in a press statement on Wednesday announced the employment of the former Argentina and Chile coach.

The intense Argentine, Bielsa known as “El Loco” (the Madman), called Lazio boss, Claudio Lotito overnight Thursday to say he had decided not to come to Rome, triggering threats of legal action from the Italian club.

In a curt letter to the Serie A club dated July 7 – which appeared in Argentine media on Saturday – Bielsa said: “It had been decided and made clear... that reinforcements were necessary, taking into account the departure of 18 players from last season.

“It was agreed, as an essential condition to the implementation of the work programme, that we would sign at least four footballers before July 5, with the aim that they would participate in pre-season training.

“To this date, not one player has been signed,” he said.

“For my method of working we needed to have these players arrive in a timely

Sunday Tribune

manner to train.”

Bielsa also complained that Lazio announced he was to join the club knowing full well that the conditions he had demanded had not been met.

Bielsa, touted for the coaching role left open by Gerardo Martino at the Argentina national team, stressed in the letter that he had “no other work offer in hand”.

Struggling Lazio finished eighth last season, far behind arch rivals, AS Roma.

However, Lazio on Friday threatened legal action after revealing Bielsa had pulled out of the deal.

With pre-season training scheduled to begin today, Simone Inzaghi will step in again, having taken temporary charge in the second half of last season.

Cameroonian legend, Samuel Eto’o will host a charity match in Antalya, Turkey, next Saturday which will feature some of the biggest names in world football.

On July 16, the 35-year-old striker will host a match between ‘World Stars’ and ‘Turkey Stars’ in honour of the 10th anniversary of the Samuel Eto’o Foundation at the Antalya Arena, home ground of his current club Antalyaspor.

The match has attracted some impressive names, with the likes of Eto’o’s former Barcelona team-mates, Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta, as well as Neymar, Eden Hazard and Arda Turan set to take to the field.

The coaching duties will be shared amongst Fabio Capello, Jose Mourinho, Diego Maradona and Fabio Cannavaro, while the Africans on show includes the likes of Nwankwo Kanu, Demba Ba, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Kolo Toure and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The Samuel Eto’o Foundation, which was established in March 2006, is a nonprofit organisation which operates mainly in West Africa and strives to provide emergency aid, education, basic health and social inclusion for the disadvantaged youth.

Eto’o

Rangers take over Nigeria Premier League Enugu Rangers on Friday night shot to the top of the Nigeria Premier League table after they defeated regional rivals, Abia Warriors 2-1 in a match day 26 fixture decided at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu.

Rangers toppled Wikki Tourists at the summit of the table with 43 points from 25 matches, a point more than the Bauchibased side that will however, face Warri Wolves today in Warri.

The homers were more positive particularly in the first half which aided their victory, while Abia Warriors attack despite boasting Chisom Chikatara and Michael Olaha lacked any sharpness.

Nigeria junior international, Obinna Nwobodo put Rangers in front after 15 minutes, when he fired past goalkeeper John Gaadi from an acute angle on the left flank.

The Flying Antelopes doubled their lead in the 35th minute, when Chisom Egbuchulam tucked away a penalty after the

referee adjudged skipper Austin Obaroakpo to have handled the ball inside his vital area.

It was Egbuchulam’s 10th goal of the season.

After several saves by Rangers Ghanaian goalkeeper, Nana Bonsu, Olaha pulled

a goal back for the Abia Warriors on the stroke of full time.

In first half stoppage time, Rangers striker, Bobby Clement saw his effort from inside the box come off the foot of the post.

Ejike’s goal sinks Enyimba HEARTLAND FC on Saturday defeated reigning Nigeria Premier League champions, Enyimba 1-0 in an ‘Oriental Derby’ decided at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri, A stoppage time winner by striker Bright Ejike forced the two-time African champions back to Aba empty-handed.

The keenly contested encounter was heading for a goalless draw before Ejike slotted home a penalty after skipper Chinedu Udoji fouled inside his box for Enyimba to suffer their eighth loss of the season.

Ojevwe Akpoveta’s 69th minute goal for Heartland was cancelled for offside.

Enyimba remains fourth on the table with 37 points from 23 matches, while Heartland eased its relegation fears by moving up to 16th place on the table with 29 points.

In another Nigeria top flight game, ElKanemi Warriors spanked MFM FC of Lagos 3-1.

Mathias Samuel, Hussaini Bata and Daniel Japhet scored for El-Kanemi, while Nelson Kenedium scored for the Olukoya Boys.

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Sunday Tribune

WIMBLEDON 2016 SPECIAL: ECSTASY: Serena Williams in wild jubilation after her victory over Angelique Kerber.

How Serena captured 22nd Grand Slam title

Serena proudly displays the Wimbledon trophy.

HER GRAND SLAM RECORD French Open: (2002, 2013, 2015) Wimbledon : (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016) US Open : (1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014)

By Ganiyu Salman with Agency Reports

A

FTER three failed attempts, world number one, Serena Williams clinched her 22nd Grand Slam singles title on Saturday, beating German Angelique Kerber, 7-5, 6-3 to claim the 2016 Wimbledon diadem which has the prize money of $2million (about N700million) It was the seventh Wimbledon title won by the American and the feat made her to equal Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22 major titles.

Serena is now two more titles short of equalling Margaret Court, the Australian who won 13 of her 24 major titles before tennis turned professional in 1968.

The Saturday’s final at the centre court of the All England Tennis Club, London, lived up to its billing, but the outcome may have come as a surprise to some bookmakers who believed that the devastating form of Kerber could further dash the hope of Serena in winning her 22 majors.

Perhaps, since she won the 2015 Wimbledon in July last year for her 21st Grand Slam title, winning another Grand Slam had more or less become a jinx for Serena, as she had lost on three occasions before her victory on Satur-

day.

Saturday’s final was a rematch of sorts as Serena, who first won the Wimbledon title in 2002 had in January this year, lost to the German in the Australian Open final, 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, but had a sweet revenge this time.

Serena was also beaten last month in the final of the French Open by Spain’s Garbine Muguruza 5-7, 4-6.

She was humiliated by a lowly-rated Italian Roberta Vinci in the semi-final of the US Open last September 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, which remains one of the major upsets in tennis history.

The American this time held onto the Wimbledon title for the second year running with her sublime performance, but her triumph over fourth seed Kerber did not come on a platter of gold.

Unlike her easy ride to the final at the expense of Russian Elena Vesnina in 48 minutes 6-2, 6-0, the first set against Kerber lasted 47 minutes before she claimed tops on 7-5, but she regained her dominance in the last set after the seventh game at 3-3 which she maintained to the break point.

“It’s been incredibly difficult not to think about it,” an elated Serena said after she finally made it 22 majors.

“It makes the victory even sweeter to know how hard I worked hard for it.

“This court definitely feels like home, I have a match later today (Saturday) in the doubles, so I’ll be back out.”

The 28-year-old Kerber, was the outsider but buoyed by her win over Williams in Melbourne, and the swirling wind added another element of uncertainty to the final.

The German’s serve was under pressure immediately but after she saw off three break SPIRIT OF SPORTSMANSHIP: Serena and Kerber after the epic final.

points in the second game, Kerber managed to contain Williams for the most part with her relentless hitting from corner to corner.

A pumped-up Williams roared in celebration after one lunging volley, and again when three serves got her out of trouble at 5-5, and it was Kerber’s resistance which broke first.

After a carefully managed

12 games, the German made only her fourth and fifth errors of the set to fall 15-40 behind, before Williams converted her second set point with a thumping backhand into the corner.

Kerber was not about to fold, however, finally earning her first break point of the match at 3-3 in the second set after one hour and 13 minutes - only to watch as Wil-

liams hammered a 117mph ace out wide.

And moments later, an engrossing final came to a sudden end.

Kerber mis-hit a backhand to drop serve and Williams then powered through her final service game, punching away a forehand volley on match point and falling back on to the Centre Court turf.

She can become greatest ever —King Six-time Wimbledon champion, Billie Jean King has said Serena Williams has what it takes to become the world’s greatest tennis player if she desires it.

“The difference was the serve, because their groundstrokes they matched up so well.

“It is the most beautiful serve ever. I remember seeing Serena when she was probably 11 or 12 and her technique was beautiful and she is such a terrific athlete.

“Serena hates losing and I think that is what makes her so great. If Serena can keep her motivation and stay healthy I think she can be the greatest ever.

I think she is and will be, but she needs to do it,” King stated.

Lindsay Davenport, 1999 Wimbledon champion said: “This has been the goal since Serena left the tournament 12 months ago, to get to 22 and seven Wimbledon titles.

“She has been a woman on a mission for two weeks. She had one iffy match against [Christina] McHale and that was it.”

Also, John McEnroe, three-time Wimbledon champion said: “I do think it is highly likely that will happen [Williams overtaking Court], she has tremendous will and desire. If you want to be the greatest of the great, that is the way you have to play.

“I don’t see anyone on the horizon that will mean she doesn’t get at least a couple more quickly.”

sport EURO 2016 SPECIAL:

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10 July, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Griezmann is as good as Ronaldo —Sagna

The trophy at stake.

Deschamps

Santos

Be wary of Ronaldo, Deschamps warns France F rance coach, Didier Deschamps has urged his players to be constantly mindful of Cristiano Ronaldo in today’s Euro 2016 final, just as he stated that the Ballon d’Or will be a battle between the Portugal captain and Lionel Messi.

Deschamps said he wanted France’s rising star Antoine Griezmann to be on the world player of the year list, but he would have to wait to get the honour.

“Antoine is still a young player, even if he has had a very great season. Ronaldo has been at the summit for seven or eight years. There are two men in for the Ballon d’Or – its between him and Messi,” said the tactician.

Deschamps accepts that Ronaldo is often unstoppable.

“If there’s an anti-Ronaldo plan, no-one’s found it,” Deschamps told a press conference at Stade de France on Saturday.

Ronaldo, 31, carries his country’s hopes of victory into the final, where Fernando Santos hopes to become the first coach to lead Portugal to a major title.

The Real Madrid megastar provided an illustration of his gifts with a majestic, soaring header in Portugal’s 2-0 semi-final win over Wales and Deschamps is wary of his aerial prowess.

“He’s a really great player with athletic quality, particularly in the air,” said the former France captain, who has a fully fit squad at his

disposal.

“He really hangs in the air – those chocolate squares (abdominal muscles) don’t count for nothing.

“In football, the most difficult things to fight against are pace and aerial ability. It will be important to remain attentive and restrict his influence.”

Deschamps, 47, is bidding to win his first trophy as France manager,

having previously led the country to glory as a player in the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship.

Asked how he transmitted his winning mentality to his players, he said: “It’s the quality of the players, above all, and the team spirit. It’s my work with my staff.

“We’ve had two years of friendly matches (because France, as hosts,

did not have to qualify). We didn’t win them all, but we did our best to preserve that team spirit.

“There’s nothing greater than winning and you have to do everything to get there. Football is not an exact science and it often comes down to the little things.

“But when you feel like you’ve given everything, you have no regrets.”

France right back, Bacary Sagna, who will face the daunting task of keeping a close eye on Cristiano Ronaldo in today’s Euro 2016 final, said team-mate Antoine Griezmann now belonged to the same elite club as the Portugal forward.

“Ronaldo, we know him.

He’s one of the best players in the world – if not the best – and he has worked very hard to get there,” Sagna told a news conference on Saturday.

“Antoine, to me, is right up there too, in the same league as Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.”

Griezmann, who left for Spain as a teenager after being turned down by French academies because he was regarded as not being big enough, matured to become one of the world’s most dangerous strikers.

“It’s a kind of revenge for him after the French academies wouldn’t take him,” Sagna said. “He made it the hard way and he deserves to be where he is.”

Griezmann, who steered Atletico Madrid to the Champions League final this season, has scored six goals so far in the tournament, more than any player since France’s Michel Platini hit a record nine at the 1984 finals.

Sagna’s immediate problem is Ronaldo, recovering from a sluggish start to the tournament and hungry for his first major title with Portugal.

Pepe returns for final showdown Portugal on Saturday received a boost when central defender, Pepe trained with his team-mates and appeared to be free of any injury problems ahead of today’s Euro 2016 final against hosts, France.

The Brazilian-born defender missed the semi-final win over

Wales on Wednesday because of a thigh injury and had trained separately on Friday.

But Pepe, 33, took a full part in Saturday’s exercises which were witnessed by reporters during the 15 minutes in which training was open to the media and he appeared to be ready to face the Les

Bleus in today’s final.

Pepe, who was sent off against Germany in the 2014 World Cup, was outstanding in the centre of the Portugal defence in their first five games at the tournament.

The Portuguese football federation did not comment on his condition.

This is my highest career point —Portugal coach

Pepe

MANAGER Fernando Santos has said today’s clash with hosts, France remains the highest task in his career, as he leads Portugal to Stade de France for the final of the Euro 2016 championship.

Portugal has never won the prestigious title before, while Santos believes he would rewrite history in France tonight.

Santos has remained unbeaten in 13 competitive games, covering Euro 2016 qualifying and the finals.

“The final will be the highest point

in my career so far,” the 61-year-old Santos said. “It’s about my country, my flag, my fatherland, my friends, and my family. From a personal point of view it’s very important.”

The mission to revive Portugal’s fortunes began 21 months ago against France with a friendly that was lost 0-1 on the outskirts of Paris.

Santos will return with Portugal to the same stadium today to face the Les Bleus in a winner takes all affair.

“My first game at the helm of the team was two years ago, and our

goal was to reach here (the final),” Santos said. “Thankfully everything worked out for us. We are stronger, more solid, more united.”

Portugal crashed out of the 2014 World Cup in the group stage, while Euro 2016 qualifying opened with an embarrassing 0-1 loss to Albania, a result which led to the resignation of coach Paulo Bento.

Santos, a title-winner with Porto took Greece to Euro 2012 quarterfinals and the 2014 World Cup last 16 before he took over Portugal.

SIDELINES NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER

10 JULY, 2016

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www.tribuneonlineng.com

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The former coach of the Super Eagles, Sunday Oliseh, has cried out to the country’s football administrators to pay him his outstanding salaries while he is still alive. Well, we quite understand Oliseh. He does not want anyone to describe him as a ‘national icon’ or a ‘national symbol’ by some fellows in case anything happens, God forbid.

We Yoruba say it again: We demand meaningful change (III)

I

N this column last week, I stated the case for the very definite demand of our nation, the Yoruba nation, for immediate change in the making and management of Nigeria. I hereby complete the first part of this series. Inevitably, some parts of last week’s article are included here. Yes, so important is what we are dealing with that we must emphasize and re-emphasize aspects of our demand. We have passed the point where we can continue to wait for Nigeria to start to put its house in order. We can no longer wait. Some leaders of our delegation to the 2014 National Conference in Abuja made the following statement on our behalf, “Regional autonomy now or nothing”, and “Our autonomy, with or without Nigeria”. At a civic event in Akure some weeks ago, one of the fathers of our nation proclaimed, “No restructuring, no Nigeria”.

That is now our resolve.

All in all, our Region was the leader, and the pace-setter, in virtually all spheres of development and modernization in Nigeria – until 1966. We the youths of the Western Region proudly called our Region “First in Africa”. We were proudly confident that we were going to become a highly developed part of the world – and that we would contribute mightily to the development and prosperity of Nigeria.

But since the independence of Nigeria in 1960, we Yoruba people, like most other peoples of Nigeria, have been continually robbed of initiative and progress – as a result of the vicious manipulations and distortions of Nigeria’s affairs, the senseless accumulation of power and resourcecontrol in federal hands in this country of many different nationalities, and the deliberate obstructions of Regional and local initiative by the all-powerful Federal Government. We have been relentlessly pushed backwards and downwards.

Most of our roads (especially the so-called “federal” roads) have disintegrated, and so have water installations in most of our towns. To pull us back, the Federal Government seized our cocoa economy and put it in charge of a federal board, resulting in the collapse of the government support systems that had served our cocoa farmers so well. Discouraged and denied their usual profits, most of our coca farmers abandoned their cocoa plantations, and our cocoa economy virtually died for

years – and has never fully recovered.

Similar disasters were made to befall other export crops in the other Regions – palm produce in the East and Midwest, groundnuts in the North, gum-arabic in the Northeast, etc.

Local and Regional initiatives would have boosted electricity supply across our country; but in the perverse interest of centralization, that has been refused – and, as a result, our country has been suffering abominably from lack of electricity and from declines in entrepreneurial and business development. Because of low and inconstant supply of electricity, even the most successful industries in Nigeria are forced to operate at low capacity; most of the industries in all parts of Nigeria at independence in 1960 have shut down; and most Nigerians desiring to embark

and hopeless, and large numbers of them are fleeing abroad daily. In total desperation, many of our youths even embark on walking across the Sahara Desert and continuing across the Mediterranean Sea in smuggling boats, in their attempt to reach Europe – and very many of them die in such attempts. Many others fall for various foreign job scams and end up in various kinds of slavery abroad.

We can easily see that these disasters which we and most other peoples of Nigeria have been suffering, are welcome to the controllers of the Nigerian Federal Government, whose sole interest is to control all peoples and all sections and resources of Nigeria. In fact, from Nigeria’s all-powerful federal authority, perverse ideas have been generated to the effect that the nationalities of Nigeria must be

on businesses are discouraged out of their dreams.

Educational standards in our schools in the Southwest, once our great source of pride, have declined horribly. Our Regional university which we built at great expense and with great love and care at Ife, was taken over by the Federal Government and, under insensitive or even hostile federal handling, has been made to decline in every respect. Our Yoruba pride and morale, and our confidence in our ability to achieve and develop, is being continually assailed in Nigeria. We now live in a degree of poverty that is alien to us and that we do not deserve.

Our youths used to hurry back home after studying abroad, because of abundance job and professional opportunities, especially in our Region. Now, most of our educated youths are unemployed

subdued and destroyed, so as to make way for the building of a united Nigeria under sole federal control. Among many other things, federal interferences in the curricula of schools have subtly prohibited the teaching of the histories and languages of most of Nigeria’s nationalities – a step designed to speed up the death of most Nigerian nationalities. Unlike nationalities in other multi-nation countries all over the world, we the peoples of Nigeria are watching our children being robbed of the knowledge of the history of their nations, and being perversely guided into shunning their indigenous languages. The Indian Union, with many nationalities too, recognizes twenty-two official languages, and supports the teaching of these in the schools of the regions where they are indigenous languages; and the Union of South Africa has followed suit with eleven

Results

NPFL: Today’s matches

Nigeria Premier League

Euro 2016 final:

France attles b

Griezmann (France)

Portugal Inside

Ronaldo (Portugal)

Rangers

2

Abia Warriors

1

Heartland El-Kanemi

1 3

Enyimba MFM, Lagos

0 1

Serena wins 22nd Grand slam title Inside

official languages. These countries recognize that the cultures of their various nationalities are treasures that must be preserved and enhanced; but Nigeria sees the cultures of Nigerian nationalities as evils that must be subdued and eliminated.

For us Yoruba nation, and for most other Nigerian nationalities, the above is the heritage of Nigeria in our lives. Some persons may respond that we have not been without some gains. Yes, we have had some gains, but not nearly as much as we could, and should, have made if our various peoples have been able to advance in their own ways and at their own paces. The perpetual resistances, inhibitions, and outright pushdowns by Nigeria’s federal authority have hurt us and are hurting us. Our losses have been horrendous - in the level of development, development pace, the quality of life, morale, confidence, focus, momentum, quality of leadership, and pride.

We Yoruba now want to stop our decline and our pains. We want to propel ourselves upwards and forwards again.

And we are not asking for favours from any Federal Government; we demand the regional and local autonomy that will empower us to achieve progress in our own way and at our own pace in Nigeria. We know that other Nigerian nationalities want the same for themselves too. That is how successful federations all over the world are organized and run. We want to revive success and progress in our lives; we want to revive our capability and ambition as a people to succeed and prosper; we want to revive the spirit of service among the leaders of our Yoruba nation.

The resistance of some Nigerian nationalities to the perpetual federal obstruction and disruption of their lives has produced violent confrontations for decades. Horrendous violence is going on now in parts of Nigeria. We Yoruba have preferred to resist in peace, and we will continue to make our resistance peaceful. But we will recapture success and progress now – “with or without Nigeria” as our 2014 National Conference leaders put it. We very seriously demand of President Buhari, whom we voted for as President of Change, to respond expeditiously and forthrightly to our needs and demands.

We have lost too much already. The slippage must stop now. It will stop. We will stop it.

3SC vs Nasarawa Utd vs IfeanyiUbah Ikorodu Utd Kano Pillars vs Lobi Stars Plateau Utd vs Akwa Utd Warri Wolves vs Wikki Tourists Rivers Utd vs Tornadoes POOLS result:

2, 4, 6, 24, 26, 27, 32. PP 13 and 48.

Today’s matches: 3, 9, 11, 12, 22, 29, 36, 44, 45, 46, 49.

Printed and Published by the African Newspapers of Nigeria PLC, Imalefalafia Street, Oke-Ado, Ibadan. E mail: sundaytribuneeditor@yahoo.com Website: www.tribuneonlineng.com ABC Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation. 10/7/2016 MANAGING DIRECTOR/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: EDWARD DICKSON. EDITOR : SINA OLADEINDE. All Correspondence to P. O. Box 78, Ibadan. ISSN 2712.