15th May 2016

NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER NO 2,046

SUNDAY, 15 MAY, 2016

www.tribuneonlineng.com

Nigerian Tribune

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Nigerian Tribune

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Despite court order, PDP holds zonal congress in South-West •North-East PDP okays Sheriff as national chairmanship candidate Pg43 From left, former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore; Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kolapo Olusola; Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose and the Ondo State governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, at the zonal congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akure, Ondo State, on Saturday.

Again, Fulani herdsmen sack community, kill many in Benue •Bloodshed averted in Oyo Pg41

Labour set to shut Nigeria •Asks Nigerian to stock enough food at home •To close banks, airports, schools, offices, others •Reps meet on price hike pg4&45 tomorrow •Employers kick against strike

I want to have a quiet wedding —D’Banj

French president to Buhari:

Boko Haram is still active Pg5

•Insurgents attack military in Sambisa forest

Pastor defiles another pastor’s daughter on church altar

Pg6

President Muhammadu Buhari introducing the Chairman, Zenith Bank, Mr Jim Ovia, to the French President, François Hollande, during Hollande’s visit to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, at the weekend.

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15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

specialreport

FUELling agony ‘This is terrible, agonising’

As Nigerians begin to adjust to the new fuel price across the country, there are worries, agonies and a feeling that things may get worse. JUDE OSSAI, LEKAN OLABULO, ISAAC SHOBAYO, BIOLA AZEEZ and TADE MAKINDE in this report gauged the pulse of ordinary Nigerians about the hike.

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HEN the Minster of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, announced late March that fuel scarcity would only come to an end in May, many Nigerians called for his head. The call was not misplaced because almost immediately after the announcement, there was perceived rise in the already hiked price of fuel all over the country.

Kachikwu was forced to recant albeit cautiously when he was reported to have said later that the ‘fuel crisis will end soon’ and that the government of the day was doing its utmost best to make the product available to Nigerians and the price cheaper. Not quite long after, there was a reprieve and the prices came down by about 25 per cent.

The month of May came and Nigerians were beginning to wonder if they were still in April as things remained the same. While the debate over the fuel crisis continued, Kachikwu announced on Tuesday that the price of fuel has indeed been fixed for N145 per litre.

Kachikwu in his speech after a meeting of stakeholders which included members of the National Assembly, labour and oil industry unions, noted “that the main reason for the current problem is the inability of importers of petroleum products to source foreign exchange at the official rate due to the massive decline of foreign exchange earnings of the Federal Government. As a result, private marketers have been unable to meet their approximate 50 per cent portion of total national supply of PMS” and that “it has now become obvious that the only option and course of action now open to the government is to take the following decisions: “One, in order to increase and stabilise the supply of the product, any Nigerian entity is now free to import the product, subject to existing quality specifications and other guidelines issued by regulatory agencies.

“Two, all oil marketers will be allowed to import PMS on the basis of FOREX procured from secondary sources

and accordingly PPPRA template will reflect this in the pricing of the product. Pursuant to this, PPPRA has informed me that it will be announcing a new price band effective today, 11th May, 2016 and that the new price for PMS will not be above N145 per litre. We expect that this new policy will lead to improved supply and competition and eventually drive down pump prices, as we have experienced with diesel.

“In addition, this will also lead to increased product availability and encourage investments in refineries and other parts of the downstream sector. It will also prevent diversion of petroleum products and set a stable environment for the downstream sector in Nigeria.”

The ripples of the new price have, however, reverberated across the country. In Enugu State, artisans, workers, transporters, including housewives bared their minds on Continues pg 3

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specialreport

15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

‘Cost of living, businesses at risk’

Mr Kayode Okunola

Mrs Oladimeji

Mr DaSilva

Continued from pg 2

Kayode Okunola, professional photographer: “It will certainly affect cost of living. In fact, the new fuel price hike will affect every sector of the economy. Every sector is connected to transportation, from the manufacturers and producers to the last consumer. This includes all others who use petrol for their production process.

Though, before now, people bought at high price from independent marketers, despite the then official price of N86.50, but it will still affect the ordinary people as individuals will capitalise on the increase to hike fares and prices of commodities.”

“This becomes more worrisome when there’s no salary increase. It will surely affect people’s lifestyle. If one has been spending N100 per meal before, it will now reduce to N70. No more fruits or snacks, only main food. Commercial transporters would seize the opportunity to hike fares, house rent will increase, while pocket money for school kids will also reduce. There’s no money in circulation.

“President Muhammadu Buhari should not allow Kachikwu to destroy his government. We know Buhari is for the masses, but this insensitive step is against the masses.

This is not the right time at all. This is wickedness. Imagine, this is happening when government can’t even pay workers, not to talk of private organisations. Government said they’ve been subsiding fuel price with N12 all along, so the new price should be in the range of N98.”

my family, insha Allah, will not be affected. We will have abundance of God’s mercy.”

how their lives would be affected by the increase.

Christopher Isiguzo (Vice President, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Zone C): “As a labour leader, the new price regime came to us as a rude shock because we did not expect a government that ought to be sensitive to the feelings of the people it is leading to come with such policy at a time when the economy is biting so hard on the average Nigerians.

“We will resist this price increment and ensure that government takes the price back to N86. We recall that the last time there was a price increase, there was also a review of workers’ salaries. You cannot wake up suddenly and tell us that fuel pump price has moved from N86.50k to N145, about 65 per cent increase without equally increasing workers’ salaries by the same percentage.

“This policy is anti-people, undemocratic and totally against the spirit and letter of the change which (President Muhammadu) Buhari promised Nigerians during the campaign. As we speak, the fuel pump price increase has affected the prices of virtually everything. The bus driver has increased his transport fares, the tomato seller in the market has increased her own prices, the prices of bread, garri have also increased and these are common food that the ordinary man in the street eats. You can now see the implication of that policy. We say no to any form of increase.”

Egbo Ogochukwu, food seller: “We do not have enough customers, unlike before, because the high cost of a plate of food. Before, it was N200 but now it is N300, with a piece of meat. The prices of food ingredients such as tomatoes, oil, rice and beans have changed since the new increase in fuel price. We now cook smaller food items which we can sell in a day.”

Larry Onwuta, commuter: “We are passing through hardship now. I decided to trek from Mayor Bus Stop, Agbani Road to Obiagu Road because of the new increase in fuel price. Before, it was N50 from Mayor to New Market but now it is N70. The transport fare increase has affected the business environment negatively. The cost of moving perishable goods from villages to urban areas has increased seriously pushing up the prices of those commodities. The smallest size of water melon sold at N50 before is now N100.”

Regis Aniukwu-Orji, industrialist: “It is terrible, as many of us are contemplating on closing down our industries because of the new increase in fuel price. For instance, we need adequate supply of electricity to operate our machines. Government should revisit the fuel price and bring it back to old price of N86 per litre. The removal of fuel subsidy at this time is uncalled for.”

The story is not different in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, as the ordinary people expressed their feelings over the fuel price increase.

Mrs Oladimeji-Iya Fathia, housewife, medicine/provision store owner: “There’s no way the new official pump price of fuel won’t affect businesses. The cost of things we buy would increase. The difference in the old and the new price is too much. I was in the market to buy some items to replenish stock in my store during the week; I couldn’t buy many things because they are expensive.

“Prices of drinks, provision, drugs, are high. Before, I brought my stocks from the market in cartons, now it’s in nylon bags. Private schools proprietors will want to increase fees. But if government schools are okay, there won’t be any need to send children to private schools.

Most civil servants send their children to private schools.

President Buhari should help us and stop travelling about. However, no matter how hard it may seem, I and

There’s no way the new official pump price of fuel won’t affect businesses. The cost of things we buy would increase. The difference in the old and the new price is too much

Oluseyi Dasilva, printer: “The removal of fuel subsidy that resulted in the increase of fuel price to N145 is not a palatable government policy. Personally, I didn’t expect it at this time from a government that promised us change. As you know, Nigerians have started to increase prices of all goods and therefore, the cost of production has almost doubled overnight.

“Just as the news first got on air, those who sell printing materials closed shops and held an emergency meeting.

This morning (Friday), they increased their prices. On my side too, I will have no option than to increase the prices of my products as a way of reflecting the new increase.

However, we accept it in good faith since government said there is need for sacrifice; we would again sacrifice believing that it would yield a good return for our nation.

Going round Jos, the Plateau State capital, Sunday Tribune discovered that following the government pronouncement of the increase, virtually all the filling stations have adjusted their pump price to N145.

Sunday Tribune findings further revealed that transport fares have also gone up beyond people’s expectations while those selling essential commodities like foodstuffs, among others, have also increase their prices.

A welder, Zubaru Abdullahi, accused the government of being insensitive to the plight of the average Nigerian considering the economic hardship in the country, adding that with the sudden increase, the prices of virtually everything will go up astronomically.

A lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Jos who craved anonymity said the increment was a sign of irresponsibility on the part of government, adding that if the president had campaigned on the basis of this, he would not have got the people’s mandate.

“This is betrayal of trust; there is no basis for this.

President Buhari has failed the downtrodden who overwhelmingly voted for him. He has thrown the people into hardship and slavery. We have passed through this road before without any succour. We are watching,” he said.

A trader, Gang Bang, who claimed to be an ardent supporter of President Buhari, was full of lamentation, while charging the government to rescind its decision and focus on people-oriented programmes.

However, James Pan, also a trader, urged Nigerians to be patient with the president, saying the government meant well for the country.

For residents of Lagos and Ogun states, the increase in the pump price of petrol is simply a ‘fraud’, a policy that the Federal Government should reverse immediately.

Taiwo, a commercial bus driver popularly known as Eji, told the Sunday Tribune that “today (Thursday) was the worst day since this fuel crisis started. I came back home with just N170 after my trips. In the past, I was usually left with between N3,000 and N4,000, but today is the worst.”

The bus driver also said that he might be forced to park his bus and watch the next line of action from the governContinues pg 9

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15 May, 2016

Labour set to shut Nigeria From Soji-Eze Fagbemi, and Olatunde Dodondawa

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HOUGH, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their civil society allies declared on Saturday that prices of foodstuffs have skyrocketted since the Federal Government increased the price of petrol, they have, however, appealed to Nigerians to stock sufficient food items that will last for a while, as an indefinite nationwide strike begins on Wednesday over the fuel price.

After the harmonisation of their respective positions in a meeting held at the Labour House, Abuja, the NLC, TUC, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the civil society groups, rejected the new fuel price increase, describing it as “unrealistic, unaffordable, unacceptable and thus rejected.”

“Nigerians are therefore advised to stock sufficient food items that will last for a while for the prosecution of the current struggle against neo-liberal agenda in Nigeria,” the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said at a joint press conference addressed by the TUC President, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, Comrade Dipo Fashina and the PENGASSAN President, Francis Olabode Johnson.

The labour unions called for the immediate reversal of the prices of petroleum products and electricity tariff to their old prices before midnight on Wednesday or face total and indefinite strike.

Comrade Wabba, who addressed the press conference, said the NLC, TUC and their civil society allies will “mobilise to the streets across the country, ordinary and helpless Nigerians to whom they owe the duty of protection; “Shut down all banks, sea and air ports, government and private offices as well as markets. Commence indefinite nationwide strike action. Fight/resist the machinations and cruelties of the neo-liberal forces in the government as part of the process of saving the government from itself and the generality of Nigerians from slavery.”

However, there were indications that the division within the NLC leadership could affect the struggle from achieving its purpose as the President of the Na-

tional Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Comrade Igwe Achese who is also the chairman of joint NUPENG/PENGASSAN, belongs to Comrade Ajaero’s faction of the NLC. Besides, NUPENG and PENGASSAN have after their joint NEC meeting in Calabar, Cross River State backed the deregulation policy and fuel subsidy removal, which by extension indicated their full support for the fuel price increase.

But the NLC President allayed these fears, saying, “NLC, TUC and other civil society allies are not unaware of the positions taken by the unions in the oil and gas industry. A process of engagement will be put in place in order to ensure the success of the struggle to protect the overall interest of the Nigerian people.”

He, however, pointed out that both have inquired from the PENGASSAN president, who was with them, on their reported position, and that the issue addressed by PENGASSAN and NUPENG was about deregulation and subsidy removal, not price increase.

Wabba said, “we are not working at cross purposes,” adding that there are rooms for further consultation in the interest of Nigerian people.

The PENGASSAN president, Comrade Johnson, who also made a clarification, however, advised that a stakeholders meeting must be called immediately, while advising that the NLC should ensure that it also works along with NUPENG, to achieve results.

TUC President, Comrade Kaigama, while speaking, denied that the NLC, TUC, NUPENG and PENGASSAN were part of the meeting where the decision was made to increase fuel pump price.

He explained that the vice president invited them to a meeting, without them even knowing the agenda of the meeting, adding that as a mark of respect for the vice president, they attended the meeting.

Kaigama stated further that the Minister of Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, came out with a planned position without previous consultations with labour or other stakeholders, adding that when the unions’ opinion was sought, it said that as democratic bodies, they have to go back to their organs, consult and later communicate their decision to the government.

The TUC President pointed out that at no point did labour arrive at a decision

at that meeting, and were therefore surprised to hear from the minister later that labour as represented by the NLC, TUC, NUPENG and PENGASSAN were at the meeting where it was resolved to increase fuel price to N145 per litre.

Comrade Wabba, who spoke on the strike and protest rally, said; “The emergency meeting debated extensively the implications of government’s unilateral increase in prices of petroleum products, noting government’s disinclination for consultation on issues of public interest and its obsession with protecting product marketers at the expense of the Nigerian public. The meeting expressed concern about government’s neo-liberal policies which it considered a betrayal of its electioneering promises and observed as follows: “During the electioneering last year, the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari, had promised that, if

elected president, he would not remove fuel subsidy if there was any at all.

“After his election, President Muhammadu Buhari had maintained that there was no subsidy in the petroleum product price regime and that even if there was, he did not see how its removal would be beneficial to the ordinary Nigerian, noting that the slightest product price adjustment often leads to inflationary spiral and unimaginable suffering for the people.

“Organised labour wondered what has informed government’s sudden and dangerous policy summersault and its desperate attempt to convince the public that labour was part of the decision that led to this price increase.”

Wabba said the increase was illegal, since the board of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), legally empowered to take such decision, has not been constituted.

He said: “In view of the fact that the board of the Petroleum Products Pric-

ing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), which is statutorily vested with powers to recommend prices, has not been reconstituted, the price variation announced by any officer of the agency or outside the agency is not only ultra vires and illegal, it is a criminal imposition on the citizenry.

NECA opposes strike Meanwhile, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has opposed the imminent industrial actions planned by labour.

It said it is throwing its weight behind government’s long awaited deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry.

It averred that the policy is a crucial first step in the resolution of the perennial dependence of Nigeria on imported petroleum products.

Speaking to Sunday Tribune in Lagos on Saturday, the Director General, NECA, Mr Olusegun Oshinowo, praised the Federal Government for the courage it demonstrat-

Sunday Tribune

ed, by embracing a policy option that will jumpstart significant reform in the downstream sector that would impact positively on the economy both in the short and long terms.

“As a key actor in the economy and participant at various committees of the government in the past on the subject at stake, NECA deplored the usual resort of organised labour to threat of strike to impose its position even when such would be to the long term detriment of the economy as we have seen over the year with the subsidy regime.

“One stakeholder’s interest should not loom larger than several other stakeholders and should not be pushed through an illegal strike on an issue outside the primary mandate of the custodian of the interest,” he said.

He argued that government’s policy on oil and gas is not an employment and labour issue, and should not be a basis for a national strike.

Passengers groan as airlines cancel, delay flights Shola Adekola - Lagos

THE ongoing crisis being experienced over the cost of Premium Motor Spirit has spiraled into the aviation sector with airlines now canceling or delaying their flights.

Before now, domestic airline operators have been operating under tough conditions due to inadequate supply of aviation fuel also known as Jet A1.

The situation has become worsened in the last five days with all the domestic airlines being forced to adjust their operations as the non availability of the commodity continues to affect flights across airports in the country.

The development has led to many passengers getting stranded for hours.

According to information gathered by the Sunday Tribune, in the past days, many of the domestic airlines, in order to remain in business, had resorted to either flight reduction or merging of flights as a way of conserving fuel.

Among airlines that have suffered the non availability of the aviation fuel are: Arik Air, Aero and Dana.

According to an official of one of the airlines who spoke to the Sunday Tribune on phone, the situation is biting harder such that an airline like Aero which operates over 100 flights daily only managed to operate about 10 flights on Friday.

Some of the airlines who have been struggling to fly have been forced to adjust the number of their flights or merge them to accommodate more passengers.

Some of the aviation industry’s image makers who spoke to Sunday Tribune on condition of anonymity blamed the Federal Government for diverting all attentions to importation of petrol at the expense of aviation fuel.

While the domestic airlines have been made to operate under a very tight situation, their foreign counterparts have found alternative in neighbouring countries where they lift the aviation fuel effortlessly at cheaper rates.

Some of the foreign airlines while operating into

Nigeria often stop over in countries like Ghana or Togo to get fuel that will be enough for their journey back to their home countries before coming to Nigeria.

The shift in patronage of the foreign carriers from Nigeria to neighbouring countries has continued to make the country to suffer huge losses.

However, speaking on the development, a top official in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) described the situation as a general problem.

“We cannot expect an airline to embark on flights without fuel. Under that condition, it is only wise for such an airline to reduce its operations or merge them.”

Earlier last week, Aero Contractors had alerted of how it said the limited supply of the aviation fuel was disrupting its flight operations in the country.

Speaking for the airline in a statement, the airline’s Media Consultant, Mr Simon Tumba, attributed the disruption of Aero’s flights to the scarcity of aviation fuel.

According to Tumba; “Aero wishes to apologise to its dearest customers over the delay and cancellation of flight operations last night and this morning.

“We are taking appropriate measures to address this issue as soon as possible by engaging other suppliers to ensure a smooth, safe and secure flight operations for our customers.”

2016 budget: Govt borrowing to increase

By Sulaimon Olanrewaju

THE slide in Federal Government revenue occasioned by the activities of vandals and oil thieves has further threatened the full implementation of the 2016 budget in spite of the rise in the prices of crude oil as the government may need to borrow more money to finance the budget.

The Federal Government had been planning to borrow N1.84 trillion, with the local component standing at N984 billion and N900 billion from international sources. This may, however, increase in the light of current realities.

While speaking at the presentation of the budget highlight in Abuja on Thursday, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, Budget and Planning Minister, had said, “We have decided to source from international sources so as not to rely exclusively on domestic borrowing, which may have the effect of crowding out the private sector. Furthermore, we are optimistic that we may be able to access some of the foreign loans on a concessionary basis. The Ministry of Finance is currently negotiating with multiple sources to secure the external financing.”

The Federal Government has, however, indicated its intention to shore up

its earnings by being creative about tax collections, which has resulted in the widening of the tax net.

Nigeria loses about 600,000 barrels of crude oil daily (worth about $28.2m) to activities of pipeline vandals and oil thieves.

This amounts to $10.293 billion yearly, which is likely to increase the 2016 budget deficit by as much as N2,027,721,000,000 (N2trillion). The 2016 budget deficit is currently estimated at 2.2trn or 2.16 per cent of GDP based on an estimated benchmark oil price of $38per barrel, although crude currently sells at $47 a barrel.

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15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

French president to Buhari: Boko Haram still active Leon Usigbe and Chris Agbambu - Abuja with agency report

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RENCH President, Francois Hollande on Saturday met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja, warning that though there have been impressive military gains against Boko Haram, the insurgents, however, remain a potent threat.

He said terrorism was feeding on the weaknesses of the global financial system, stressing the need to fight corruption, dwindling economy as well as tax havens.

Hollande, who spoke through an interpreter at a joint press briefing with Buhari after their meeting, noted that the Boko Haram terrorists had been pushed back, such that it had become easier to target them.

He noted that the successes recorded against the extremist Islamic group had been through better regional coordination.

Hollande said: “But the results are already impressive in the fight against Boko Haram. Some good results are already being obtained.

“This terror group, Boko Haram, which massacres and launches terror attacks and abduction of the Chibok girls in particular, they have been weakened, forced to move back, forced to lose ground, they have been chased about and they had to give up the territories they were controlling.

“But this has been so, thanks to the determination of President Buhari himself, thanks as well to the coordination of the countries in the region.

“It was also thanks to the French taking responsibility because France had been supporting these actions through “intelligence and information sharing, training, by providing equipment to support the missions of the Multinational Joint Task Force and it’s been this coalition, solidarity, strategy, which have enabled the success we are witnessing.”

In his remark, President Buhari also highlighted the efforts of his government in checking the menace of the terrorist groups, saying they had been driven from the 14 local government areas they previously occupied.

Buhari observed that Boko Haram had resorted to technology to perpetrate their deadly acts but assured that they would soon be overcome.

He said the major chal-

lenge in the North-East now was the rebuilding of its infrastructure, noting that displaced persons would soon return to their homes.

According to him, “When we came in, they were controlling 14 local governments where they hoisted a flag and declared it a republic or a kind of caliphate of some sort, but now they are not holding any local government.

“They are exploiting available technology in terms of using improvised explosive devices on soft targets - in mosques, churches, markets and motor parks.

Many of the territories they held captive have been freed and now our main problem is rehabilitation of infrastructure destroyed educational, health, bridges blown etc.

“We have made a comprehensive survey and very soon we will start to empower them.”

EU on security summit The European Union (EU) has said the ongoing Regional Security Summit in Abuja will build on the successes already recorded against Boko Haram insurgents.

This is contained in a statement from the Office of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS on Saturday in Abuja.

“The Regional Summit builds on the work of the first summit focused on the security issues hosted

by France, two years ago, which had helped in degrading Boko Haram insurgency,” it said.

The statement said the EU remained committed to building capacities of the African partner countries in support of security and development.

According to it, doing this will enable them to prevent and manage crises by themselves.

UK approves N14bn to assist Nigeria Meanwhile, the United Kingdom says it has approved 40 million pounds (about N14 billion) to assist Nigeria in the fight against insurgency.

British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja on arrival for the one day Regional Security Summit.

A statement issued by the British High Commission quoted Hammond as reiterating the UK’s continued support to Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram.

“The UK continues to support Nigeria in tackling Boko Haram with nearly £40m of counter-terrorist and counter-extremism support over the next four years.

“The support includes the training of almost 1,000 Nigerian military personnel for deployment to the North-East of Nigeria on counter-insurgency operations,” Hammond said.

He commended President Buhari for the efforts his administration had made in degrading the Boko Haram insurgency.

“President Buhari has shown strong leadership in the fight against Boko Haram.

“Boko Haram is a brutal organisation that has raped, murdered and kidnapped innocent civilians and forced over two million people to flee their homes.

“Their allegiance to, and potential coordination with Daesh is a reminder of the threat they present to the region and to British interests,” he said.

According to him, Britain and Nigeria, with support from the United States, France, and its neighbours, are making progress in degrading Boko Haram.

The Second Regional Security Summit brings together leaders from across the world to address the international community’s intent to support Nigeria in its fight against Boko Haram.

The First Regional Security Summit was held in France.

Troops arrest wanted

Boko Haram terrorist In continuation of Operation CRACKDOWN deep inside Sambisa forest, troops have arrested one of the wanted Boko Haram leaders, and also conducted patrols and clearance operations within the theatre of operations.

At about 1.35 p.m. on Friday, troops of 143 Battalion arrested one Sulaiman Umaru, a suspected Boko Haram member whose photograph is on the poster containing the photographs of the 100 Boko Haram terrorists declared wanted. He has since been moved to 28 Task Force Brigade Headquarters for further investigation.

Troops of 21 Brigade have continued with the clearance operations at Yerimari, while troops of 22 Task Force Brigade Garrison have also embarked on patrols along Dikwa– Mafa-Maiduguri road. The patrol was aimed at picketing the road to keep it safe and open.

Similarly, the same unit in conjunction with some elements of 112 Task Force Battalion conducted a fighting patrol along Dikwa-Gulumba Gana road.

The team had a fierce fire fight with some Boko Haram terrorist elements in which the troops killed quite a number of the Boko Haram terrorists.

Unfortunately, while on their way back, the team ran into an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Antul, a village South East of Dikwa, in which seven soldiers and four Civilian JTF accompanying them

sustained injuries. The injured soldiers and their civilian counterparts have been evacuated to 7 Division Hospital and Medical Services Maiduguri.

However, the patrol killed two Boko Haram terrorists and recovered two AK-47 rifles from them.

The patrol team had earlier intercepted 31 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), including women and children coming from Sunabaya, Gumule, Garno and Mane-Gana villages.

Internally displaced found with N1.9m During preliminary investigations along with the vigilantes, one of the IDPs, Abacha Bulama, a native of Mane-Gana village, was found to be in possession of the sum of N1.9 million.

Although he claimed to be a businessman, his possession of such large amount of money aroused suspicion.

While Bulama has been detained for further investigation, other IDPs have been handed over to Dikwa IDP Camp Manager for screening and further humanitarian assistance.

Army repels Boko Haram attack The Nigerian Army said on Saturday that its troops repelled an early morning attack by Boko Haram terrorists while on harbour inside the Sambisa forest.

Army spokesman, Colonel Sani Usman, in a statement issued in Abuja, said the troops comprised elements of 21 Brigade and the Armed Forces Special

Forces (AFSF) on `Operation Crack Down.’

Usman said the troops, while on harbour for refitting, came under Boko Haram terrorists attack at about 1:45 a.m. on Saturday.

He said the troops followed up the attack with mopping up operations of the general area before advancing further into the forest.

Usman said two corpses of the attackers, two AK-47 rifles, two Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) bombs, five rifle magazines, mortar bombs and belts of machine gun rounds were recovered from the terrorists.

He added that five soldiers were wounded as a result of mortar fired into the harbour area by the Boko Haram terrorists and were evacuated to the rear for treatment.

In another development, Cameroon’s government says the multinational joint forces fighting Boko Haram have arrested five leaders of the extremist group and freed dozens of women and children held captive.

Government spokesman, Issa Tchiroma, said on Saturday that the raids targeted Boko Haram’s bases in the Madawaya forest earlier this month.

He said the operation freed 28 children along with at least 18 women.

The spokesman said Boko Haram had set up camp in the forest after fleeing another military operation in neighbouring Nigeria. He said the fighters had been training young girls and women as suicide bombers.

Pipeline attacks: Military chiefs in marathon meeting Ebenezer Adurokiya-Warri WORRIED by the spate of attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta, military chiefs are having a marathon meeting at the Warri base of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS DELTA).

The agenda of the meeting was not made known as of the time of filing this report, but it was gathered that it might not be unconnected with the recent bombings of oil facilities as well as threats issued by the Niger Delta Avengers to oil multinationals to quit the area within two weeks or face full hostilities.

A source who prefered anonimity told Sunday Tribune on Saturday that the armed forces had been holding meetings for over two days.

The source said he was not aware of the purpose of the meeting, adding “I

don’t know if they are discussing the Friday attacks in Chevron facilities at Makaraba in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.

On the Friday attack, the source said “we have a team patrolling the area as we talk now.”

It is recalled that Niger Delta Avengers had claimed responsibility for the attacks a week ago on some facilities operated by Chevron at Otunana, Abiteye and Makaraba platforms which has resulted in the loss of 40,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

But barely a day after the two-week ultimatum, some persons detonated another explosive on the oil well head 10 on the Makaraba line which has been out of use since last week Wednesday’s attack on the offshore Okan manifold.

Curiously, NDA has not claimed responsibility to

the Friday Makaraba attacks, but some sources said frustrated pipelines repair contractors might have been responsible.

Although the Commander, NNS DELTA, Commodore Raimi Mohammed, could not be reached for comments as calls to his mobile phone yielded no response, the Commandant-General of Riverine Security (Coast Guard of the Federation), Commander Bibi Oduku, has condemned the bombing of oil facilities by the Niger Delta Avengers.

According to him, it was laughable that the Niger Delta Avengers did not come up when a son of the Niger Delta, former President Goodluck Jonathan, was president of the country.

“There is no difference between President Jonathan’s policy towards the Niger Delta and that of the current administration.

“Comparatively, the Buhari-led Federal Government has approved the cleaning of Ogoniland, and is working on measures to make the Niger Delta a better place, something the former president never thought about,” he stated.

Oduku added that the new militant group is not guided by any ideology, saying their demands were vague and unreasonable to any right-thinking person.

He disclosed that the group was being sponsored by unscrupulous and frustrated politicians, former contractors and former militant leaders who have been made wealthy by the last administration.

“We know who you are and where you are, and we are asking you to stop your criminal acts and embrace peace, as we do not want the Niger Delta to become a theatre of armed conflict again,” Oduku pleaded.

6

15 May, 2016

crimereports

Sunday Tribune

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

Desecration: Pastor defiles 7-yr-old pastor’s daughter on church altar Stories by Oluwatoyin Malik

A

sign of the end time was manifested by a 62-year-old pastor in Ibadan, Pastor Isaiah Ojo, when he allegedly took the seven-year-old daughter of his friend and fellow pastor, Bidemi (not real name), laid her on the altar of his church and had carnal knowledge of her.

Though the incident occurred on Monday, May 9, 2016, the little girl had yet to stop bleeding as at Friday, May 13, when Crime Reports stumbled on the story. It was learnt that the randy pastor was arrested on Thursday, May 12 by Egbeda Division of the Oyo State Police Command after initial disappearance, but it was unclear what his motive was in committing the act on a church altar.

Information gathered by Crime Reports revealed that Ojo who is the founder and pastor Dayspring Family Chapel, Egbeda area, Ibadan, committed the act when the sevenyear-old girl went to the church premises with her younger brother to play, as they were wont to do.

The girl’s vagina was reportedly badly torn by forced penetration that she had been bleeding since the occurrence.

Narrating her experience in the hands of Daddy Dayspring, as the suspect was popularly called, to Crime Reports, Bidemi said: Daddy Dayspring is my father’s friend. On Monday, my younger brother and I went to greet him. While my brother was playing outside, Daddy Dayspring asked me to lay on the rug.

“He laid beside me, removed my underpants and then removed his trousers.

He first put his fingers in my private part. He later put his penis in my vagina and I cried. He removed it and blood started coming out. He warned me against telling anyone, saying that

The suspect, Pastor Isaiah Ojo I would die if I did. It was when I went outside to urinate that I noticed that blood was coming out of my private part.”

Narrating how he discovered his daughter’s condition, the victim’s 50-yearold father, who would simply be identified as Pastor T, stated: “I was not aware of what happened on that Monday because I attended a revival held by Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Egbeda. On Tuesday evening, I overheard her elder brother saying: “tell Mummy”, but I did not pay attention because I thought it was the usual children’s pranks.

His victim “It was my wife who told me to check my daughter’s private part and when I did, I noticed that her pants were stained with blood. Thinking that something injured her, I quickly rushed her to the healthcentre; but was surprised when I saw that the blood was coming from her private part when the nurses checked her. She was treated and we returned home.

“The following day, Wednesday, we noticed that she was still bleeding so we took her back to the health centre. A senior nurse started interrogating her and it was there

Idrisu Muhammadu

she revealed that it was my pastor friend who raped her. She said further that the suspect warned her against telling anyone or else she would die. We are both members of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Egbeda branch, and I have informed the leadership.”

When Crime Reports sought the suspect’s explanantion of his side of the story, the pastor, who obviously knew that his deed was shameful, stammered and stumbled over words in his attempt to explain what he did to the minor. Several times, he swallowed hard and mut-

tered ‘Oh! God’ as he talked.

According to Pastor Ojo, who lives at Adekola area of Ibadan, “the little girl and her younger brother used to come to me to play.

Her father is a close friend of mine.

“On Monday May 9, I was in my church premises when she came with her brother. The girl went to lay on the rug on the altar and told her brother that her private part was itching, asking him to come and lay on her. They used to play on the rug before then.

I went near them to ask what was wrong with her.

I had to use my hand to help her scratch her private part. After that, the girl said: “Daddy Dayspring, come and lay on me also. When I moved nearer, I could not do anything with her; I did not insert my penis in her vagina.

“What happened next was that I brought my penis out but I could not penetrate her because her vagina was tight. My intention was to touch her, not to damage her. When I saw that her vagina was very tight, I withdrew my penis and left. There was no blood at that time. I don’t know how blood came out of her.”

When asked when last he had sex with his wife, he said six months ago, adding that it was for health reasons. He denied having sex with the girl for ritual purpose, saying she was young enough to be his granddaughter.

When contacted, the police image maker in Oyo State, DSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, confirmed the story, saying that the suspect had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.

Oyo SARS arrests serial robber-rapist molesting LAUTECH students A suspected serial armed robber and rapist, Habib Ajadi, whose area of specialty was to attack the students of Ladoke Akintola University (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso and rob them, has been arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Oyo/Ogbomoso annex) of the Oyo State Police Command.

The suspect was reported to have severally waylaid the students along secluded roads, attacked them and made away with their valuables such as laptops, phones, jewelry and cash before his latest arrest at a flashpoint at Under ‘G’

Habib Ajadi area of Ogbomoso.

The Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Leye Oyebade, told Crime Reports on Thursday,

May 12, that Ajadi was arrested on May 2 at about 12:30a.m after the SARS operatives received a distress call that he robbed

a LAUTECH student, one James (other name withheld) of his handsets at Under ‘G’ area.

The police commis-

sioner added that previous reports indicated that Ajadi also assaulted his Continues pg 7

7

crimereports

Sunday Tribune

15 May, 2016

I bought automatic pistol in Ghana to protect my cattle from hyenas —Fulani cattle owner

By Oluwatoyin Malik

A

27-year-old Fulani, Idrisu Mohammadu, in whose luggage the Federal Highway Patrol team in Oyo State Police Command discovered an automatic pistol and 15 pieces of live ammunition, has said that the gun was meant to protect his cows from hyena attack in the forests during grazing.

Mohammadu also revealed that he procured the gun from one Sunday in Ghana in December 2015 when he took his cows there for grazing.

The state Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade, had told Crime Reports that Muhammadu was arrested at Adekola area along Iseyin road at about 7:46p.m on April 28, when a commercial vehicle, Astra Opel saloon car with registration number MUS 758 CF, in which he rode as a passenger with four others, was stopped by the Federal Highway Patrol team along the road.

Oyebade said that when the luggage of the occupants of the car were searched, an automatic pistol and 15 pieces of live ammunition were found in the one belonging to Muhammadu, while other items including six assorted mobile phones, the sum of N191,060 and weeds suspected to be Indian hemp were also discovered.

He assured members of the public that the command would not rest on its oars in ensuring that crime is put at bay in Oyo State, adding that the suspect would be arraigned in court after completion of investigation.

Though Mohammadu initially denied knowing anything about the gun when interrogated by the police, he opened up to Crime Reports that he bought the gun in Ghana to protect his cattle which were being killed by hyena when he took them to the country to pasture.

In his confession, Mohammadu said: “My father is from Niger State but I was born in Iseyin, Oyo State. I have a wife and a child. It is true that the police found a gun in my bag while I was travelling to Iseyin from Igboora.

I bought the gun when I herded my cows from Nigeria to Ghana in 2015 in company with my herdsmen. We went to Ghana with the cows when there was no enough pasture for our cattle to feed on. The cows belonged to me, my father and other members of my family. I returned to Nigeria in February 2016.

“What happened was that while I was in the bush with my cattle in Ghana, hyena kept disturbing us and was killing my cattle.

I and my herdsman, Ibrahim, met other Fulanis in the bush and I noticed that they had guns that they were using to kill wild animals troubling their cattle.

“Anytime our cow was killed by the hyena, we would quickly call those who would buy the dead cow for sale in the mar-

Idrisu Muhammadu ket. One of such buyers was a man called Sunday.

I don’t know if he was a Nigerian or a Ghanaian since both are English-speaking countries.

“After a while, I thought that my efforts towards making my cattle increase

in number by taking them to Ghana for pasture were being frustrated by the hyena decimating their number. That was how Sunday told me that he had a gun, advising that I should buy it to kill the hyena anytime it attacked my cattle.

“He sold the gun for me for one million Ghana Cedis, equivalent of N15,000 in December 2015. I told him to give me a document to back up the purchase but he said there was no need for it. Initially, I disagreed, telling him that people might think I was making money from crime if they noticed any increase in my wealth. They would not remember that my father was wealthy. After several failed efforts towards getting a document on the gun sale from Sunday, I gave up the idea.

“When rain started in Ghana, I left for Togo and then came to Nigeria. On arrival in Nigeria, I took the cattle to Igangan town in Oke Ogun and left them there with the herdsman. I went home to see my family in Iseyin, then returned

I went back to Igangan and brought the cattle to Igboora. It was on my journey to Iseyin from Igboora that the police stopped the driver and checked through our luggage. They found the gun in my bag.

“I initially told a lie that I didn’t know how the gun got inside my bag because I was very afraid. I knew that it was illegal to carry gun, and I know that they must have thought that I was an armed robber with the cash found with me, but the money was from the sale of my cows.

“I swear by the Holy Qur’an that I had never stolen N5 from anyone.

My father is well known and he is very comfortable.

Though my brother was in the vehicle, he was unaware of the gun with me.”

Monarch expresses concern over secret cult activities Joe Nwachukwu - Owerri

THE traditional ruler of Umuokanne in the Ohaji/ Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State Eze (Dr) Cyriacus M. Nwokoma, has said that despite his intervention, students of secondary schools in his area may not be able to sit for the ongoing West African Examination Council (WAEC) because of secret cult group activities within

the community.

He thereby appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase and heads of other security agencies in the country to urgently address the growing level of insecurity, particularly in the oil community.

The monarch disclosed this at a day sensitisation workshop on “Voluntary Principle on Security and Human Rights” in Ohaji,

organized by a civil society organisation, CLEEN foundation.

According to the traditional ruler, he investigated the story of the cultists’ activities when it was first brought to his notice and discovered it was true, adding that he had no choice than to invite security personnel to guard these students sitting for their examination.

He lamented the restive-

ness of the youth arising from frequent violent confrontation with oil companies operating in the area which he said had continued to claim lives and lead to destruction of properties worth millions of naira. This, he noted, had led to the Awara community becoming a police state.

He said he was equally worried that incessant environmental pollution and degradation resulting

from the activities of the oil companies operating in the area had become an obstacle to agricultural activities.

The monarch however urged the youth in the area to shun confrontation and restiveness in agitating for their demands, pointing out that they should follow due process and channel their grievances through the appropriate quarters.

Oyo SARS arrests serial robber-rapist molesting LAUTECH students Continued from pg 6 female victims sexually in attempts to rape them.

He listed the items recovered from the suspect to include a Toyota Camry (Muscle) with registration number KSF 563 DU, 35 assorted cell phones and a wheel spanner.

In an interview with Crime Reports, 30-yearold Ajadi confessed to his deeds, blaming the devil.

The suspect, who disclosed that he graduated in 2012 from Nasarawa State University where he read Computer Science, said he was a Computer Engineer who repairs handsets in Ilorin “It is true that I have

been stealing from students. I am from Kwara State. I started stealing some months back. I operated alone around LAUTECH hostels and campus.

I usually collected phones from female students of LAUTECH. “My method was to court their friendship, after which I would ask them to give me their phone to save my number. In the process of pretending to type my number, I would zoom off in car with the phone. In a case where my victim is in my my car, I would scare her with a wheel spanner to make her surrender the phone. I usually operated in the night. I have never used a gun.

“I also visited the hostels a couple of times to steal when the students were sleeping. There was another occasion when I knocked on the door of a hostel room, pretending to be a neighbour. After they opened, I announced that I was there to rob them.

I was using my car to do the operation. I have been to Mecca to perform hajj; I believe my action was devil’s work because I was not comfortable with what I was doing.”

One of the victims, (name withheld), a 500 level student of Agric Economics, told Crime Reports that the suspect attacked her and her friend on their way back to hostel

from church on March 11.

“It was about to rain that evening so there was scarcity of commercial bike operators. He stopped to help us. At a point, he made as if he wanted to turn back to buy petrol but veered off the road towards a deserted road that leads to a cemetery.

“He announced that he had locked the car doors centrally threatening that if we tried anything stupid, he would waste our blood.

He said we should cooperate with him and hand over our phones. He collected our phones and my purse. He saw high cloud (a security device) on my phone and asked me to remove it. When I told him I

could not do it because the phone was given to me by my fiancé, he started hitting me with spanner and I started bleeding from the mouth.

“He asked us to bend our heads and drove us towards Ilorin. He threatened that if he could not access the phone, he would take me to his gang members who would take turns to rape me. He used vulgar words. He started molesting me by touching me, after which he said that he would have to rape us.

“He told us that to get down from the car and lie down. As he was urinating before he could carry out his intention, the two of us escaped.”

8

15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

NEW PARTY OFFICERS EMERGE AS PDP HOLDS SOUTHWEST ZONAL CONGRESS IN AKURE, ONDO STATE

From left, Former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kolapo Olusola, Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose and Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko.

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose (left) and his Ondo State counterpart, Dr Olusegun Mimiko.

From left, Chief Idowu Odeyemi, His Excellency, Chief Paul Alabi, Chief Bola Olu-Ojo and Chief Idowu Faleye all PDP chieftains from Ekiti State.

From left, Chief Ola Apena (Lagos), Asiwaju Tony Ojesina (Ogun) and Honourable Ladi Adebutu (Ogun).

From left, Senator Abiodun Olujimi (Ekiti State), Her Excellency, SalimatBadru, former Deputy Governor of Ogun State and Chief Mrs IyabodeApampa from Ogun State.

Former Governor of Rivers State, Chief Celestine Omehia (right), who was tbe chairman of the Electoral Panel, swearing in the newly-elected zonal officers.

From left, Chief Segun Adegoke (Ondo), Professor Olu Agbi (Ondo) and Senator Remi Okunrinboye (Ondo).

Senator Remi Okunrinboye (Ondo) (middle) and others at the congress.

Delegates at the congress voting during the election of the zonal treasurer.

9

specialreport

Sunday Tribune

15 May, 2016

‘If things don’t change, I will park my commercial bus at home’

Dr Ibe Kachikwu, GMD, NNPC

Continued from pg 3 ment and labour.

“If I watch till Monday and it continues like this, I will have no option than to park my bus. I cannot be working for people. This is not what the government promised us.”

A studio recording operator, popularly known as D Noble, also condemned the fuel price increment. “This government has failed us. The last government did not increase the price like this. We must protest this. How can the government increase the price just anytime when there is no regular power supply and the value of the dollar (against the naira) is high?

In different ways, the recent fuel subsidy removal has begun to affect many Nigerians. From motorists to fuel station owners, it is a case of different strokes for different folks.

Immediately the price increase from N87.00 to N145 was announced on Wednesday by the minister, most stations, fearing protests, shut down their outlets. The manager of a filling station at Molete area of Ibadan, Oyo State, Taju Alagbe, said the shutting down was informed by the nasty experience of his staff at the hands of hoodlums who stormed the outlet weeks ago during the height of the fuel scarcity.

When asked if the outlet will shut down for long, Alagbe said the station would open once the situation was under control. “If there is no protest or negative reaction to the subsidy removal, we shall sell fuel. That is our business.”

An estate agent, Biola Adeparusi, lamented his lot on Thursday as fare has increased astronomically. “At my age, I had to beg for money from many people yesterday when I got stranded at Ojoo. I had N1,500 on me before I went out, only for everything to be exhausted on transport, shuttling from Molete to Apata and Moniya. I never expected it would be that bad,” he lamented.

Topmag fuel station at Sanyo area sells fuel at N145, but most customers won’t notice that the outlet is selling fuel. The three fuel pumps were covered, creating the impression that it didn’t have fuel. Operation was skeletal as only the manager and a lady were on duty when Sunday Tribune visited. “We are trying to gauge the pulse of the people. You can’t be too sure of their reaction to such announcements,” he said.

Fuel price increase in Nigeria (1999 - 2016) January 6, 1999

N25 to N20

-20%

June 1, 2000

N20 to N30

-50%

June 8, 2000

Reduced to N22

-10%

January 1, 2002

N22 to N26

18.18%

June to October, 2003

N26 to N42

23.08%

May 29, 2004

N50

19.05%

August 25, 2004

N65

30%

May 27, 2007

N75

15.38%

June 2007

N65

-15.38%

January 1, 2012

N138 to N250

112.31 to 284.62%

January 17, 2012

N138 to N97 and later to N87 N87 to N86

May 11

N86 to N147

It was not an exciting morning for a commuter on okada on Friday when he got into a fight with the rider over N10. The okada rider, who claimed he told his customers when he picked them from, Molete underbridge to Oke Ado market junction that the ride would cost each of them N50, wasted no time in engaging the customer in a fight after trying hard to make the customer pay. The customer insisted that he would not pay a kobo above the ‘normal’ N40. As the fight wore on, a passerby bailed the already battered customer out with the N10 difference.

Mrs Sadia Akinade, who has been trying hard to find time to excercise her flabs sees the fuel price increase as a blessing in disguise as she said she would trek daily from her Felele Rab house to Challenge. “That way, I should be

able to save N200 each day, and also lose some weight.

I know it would not be easy the first few days, but I will adapt,” she said.

Thirty-Five-year-old Mr Seun Fajana complained to Sunday Tribune about how hard things have gone for his family. “Before the new price, I used to give my three children N500 as pocket money to school daily. Now, I can’t take them to school as I used to, because I have to conserve fuel as N145/litre is killing me. I have cut down on the litre of fuel for our generator. I told my wife that we will only turn our generator on for two hours every day, definitely in the night, and six hours on weekends.

There is no fuel to be wasted anyhow again, whether on the car or the generator,” he said.

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feature

15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Teacher who slumped gets Rep’s helping hand

By Moses Alao

T

HE saying that a teacher’s reward is in heaven has been popular in Nigeria for a long time. So popular has it become that most people have come to take the often poor, impoverishing and unfair treatments teachers receive at the hands of their employers as destined by God. That perception must have run through the minds of many Ibadan residents on getting to know of the predicament of Mr Nasiru Lukman, a classroom teacher at the St. Lukes College, Molete, Ibadan, last week.

Lukman, as the story went, had collapsed while teaching his students, highlighting what, perhaps, might be the reality of the current economic situation in the country where teachers are owed salary of many months and could barely take care of their feeding and healthcare. His wife, Modupe, highlighted this while relating her plight to well-meaning Nigerians, whom she urged to save the life of her husband.

Lukman would, however, be counted lucky for slumping where he could be taken to hospital for quick medical attention; many workers have lost their lives in different circumstances bordering on poverty occasioned by the backlog of salary owed them without such luck. But more than the saving grace of providence, the teacher would, indeed, be counted among the lucky ones, as he has been able to attract goodwill from well-meaning individuals and especially political office-holders.

One of such personalities who had visited Mr Lukman was the lawmaker representing Ibadan North-East/ South-East Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Adedapo Lam-Adesina.

Lam-Adesina, had, last Thursday, in company with the chairmen of the Ibadan South-East Local Government chapters of the All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPPS), Association of Primary School Head Teachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON) and the

Member representing Ibadan North-East/South-East Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Honourable Adedapo Lam-Adesina (with cap), during his visit to Mr Nasiru Lukman, at St. Lukes College, Molete, Ibadan, last week.

Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), visited Lukman, who is currently receiving treatment at the Molete Medical Centre. The lawmaker, who expressed relief at seeing the teacher respond to treatment and made financial donation for his medical expenses, had also gone round the hospital ward to offset the medical bills of other patients.

The son of the former governor of Oyo State, a renowned teacher in his days, Alhaji Lam Adesina, went a step further to show deep appreciation for the teaching profession, which he described as one of the noblest professions while highlighting to its contributions to nation-building. He visited St. Lukes College, Molete where the incident happened and donated foodstuff to

the teachers and a power generating set to the principal’s office. The lawmaker also donated leather footballs to the pupils to encourage grassroots sport development.

Speaking at the school, Lam-Adesina restated his commitment to fulfilling all promises he made to the NUT and other education stakeholders, saying: “The future of our country belongs to the teachers, because in your hands lie the raw materials to be groomed, shaped and prepared to take up responsibilities. I am committed to making sure I do not relent in always being there for and with you.”

In their responses, education stakeholders from NUT, ANCOPPS and AOPSHON commended the lawmaker for his compassion and the value he places on education, describing him as a chip off the old block.

interview Subsidyremovalwillbringcomfortinthelongrun—IPMANchairman Alhaji Kunle Busari is the chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Ibadan Depot. He told DARE ADEKANMBI the gains of the liberalisation of the downstream sector, what the Federal Government needs to guard against, among others. Excerpts:

N

OW that part of your demands has been met and the Federal Government said you can bring in fuel and sell but not above N145, can you assure Nigerians that they will no longer experience agony of fuel crisis?

I don’t agree with you that it was part of our demands that the Federal Government should allow us to bring fuel into the country and sell at any price we want. Our prayer has been that the downstream sector should be totally deregulated. What the government has done actually is not deregulation of the sector but rather a liberalisation of the sector, something like a guided liberalisation wherein the government sets a benchmark for petrol. The government has asked marketers and private depot owners to source forex from parallel market and bring in petroleum products into the country. It is a welcome development in the sense that, as a marketer, the issue of non-supply from the NNPC will be a thing of the past. All the namecalling and harassment from various quarters on those of us who are independent marketers will also be a thing of the past. With that action, there will be enough products in the system and even the masses won’t be wasting their productive time at filling stations.

However, I want to sound a note of caution to the government that it is important for it to ensure it controls the exchange rate. This is the determining factor and it is why currently, the price of petrol is high. Assuming the naira is strong Nigerians would not have been buying petrol for up to N100 a litre. We want the government to ensure that naira does not fall again. Any big fall in the value of the naira will cause another disruption in the supply chain. As it is today, I know the NNPC will be get-

be that as it may, a lot of room has already been given. I am expressing my personal opinion as the chairman of IPMAN in Ibadan and I can’t talk for IPMAN national. If you check the PPPRA template, there is enough room to accommodate any shock currently. But if the naira does not do well, it will not augur well for the system.

In other words, the N145 price can still go higher…

I am not saying the price can still go above N145. It is a sensitive matter and I will not want to go into it now because, already the masses are complaining. I have family members too who are also feeling the heat. My business has been adversely affected too due to non-availability of petrol to sell. The new policy will translate to more products in the system, although at a higher price. We marketers too will do our business without harassment.

Alhaji Kunle Busari ting forex from the CBN, while the major marketers will be getting support from their upstream partners. But on the part of us the independent marketers and the private importers that will come into the system, depreciation in the value of the naira will not speak well for the supply and price of the product.

But naturally, there will be increase in the demand for dollar that will be triggered by this new policy and that will further put the naira under pressure…

I agree that will put further pressure on the naira. But

Although you will be able to do your job without molestation from government agencies, the policy means more hardship for the citizens.

At the initial stage like this, there is no way there won’t be a lot of pain and discomfort to the masses. But if the government gets it right, it will translate to more products and cheaper price in the long run. It will be like we are saving for the rainy day. It is not advisable for government to be throwing money into subsidy payment because it amounts to wastage. It will reduce what the government will be able to do for the masses. Nigerians should bear the pain for about two or three months. By the time a lot of people move in to the sector, the price will be pushed down and at the end of the day, consumers will be the kings.

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feature

15 May, 2016

‘After two months in jail, I lost mum, job within 24 hours’

When Kolapo Abdulai, a factory worker, was arrested over an event that happened when he was not at home, his depressed mother never knew that over two months later, he would still be in detention. TADE MAKINDE writes on Kolapo’s incaceration and what next for the young man after losing his mother and his job.

N

OTHING in Kolapo Abdullai’s 28 years on earth prepared him for the double tragedy that had befallen him since his arrest and detention at different police stations for two months on allegations of murder, stealing and conspiracy. Within hours apart after regaining his freedom on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, the former staff of a Lebanesse company in Ibadan, Oyo State, and only provider for his mother, lost his job of three years and his 54-yearold mother.

The whole story started when Area boys went on the rampage at Oja’ba area of Ibadan while the young man was busy at work. No one knew the cause of the fracas. By the time police arrived at the scene that February 23, one person had been killed and vehicles, among other properties were destroyed, but no arrests were made that day. The following morning, police officers came back to arrest any young boy they saw around.

Unaware of what had happened in his neighbourhood the previous afternoon, Kolapo got back home around 6.00 a.m that fateful morning and went to bed after saying his usual morning prayers in a mosque nearby. He had been tired from work. Hardly had he hit the sack than armed police officers stormed the neighbourhood, ordering women to give up every young man at home else they risked arrest. All residents of the neighbourhood were shocked as the request was strange.

As the officers shouted out instructions, others forced their way into the different apartments. Kolapo, who had been woken by the commotions, locked himself inside his room, but not for long as two officers broke down his door and arrested him. When Kolapo showed his ID card to one of the officers, telling them that he had only just got back from working overnight, his attempt fell on deaf ears. His ID card didn’t help to identify him as a Waffer machine operator at his workplace. It was seized, while he was bundled into a bus in his pair of boxers and singlet, and beaten all the way to Mapo police station.

Kolapo was not the only one arrested that morning. By the time the police officers left Oja’ba, almost 30 young boys had been purportedly arrested and driven to Mapo. Three boys who had come from Lagos State to sit for the JAMB examinations were arrested in one of the rooms in his house including and two mentally retarded boys who were sleeping in a hen’s pen. To help out, neighbours and well wishers went cap-in-hand to Oja’ba market everyday to beg for money on Kolapo’s behalf to effect his release and also for his mother’s upkeep. By 8.30 a.m the following day, his landlady had raised N2,000 from friendly neighbours and

Late Halimotu

PHOTO: Tommy Adegbite another N5,000 from her own sister and headed for Mapo.When they got to the police station, another set of 15 young boys, who had been arrested before Kolapo was, were also in a cell.

“My neighbours couldn’t recognise me when they visited. My head had been shaven clean. My pair of jean and singlet were also taken from me,” he told Sunday Tribune. Kolapo’s neighbours saw as money allegedly exchanged hands between officers and next of kins of 12 out of the 15 were released on bail. They allegedly collected N7,000 from each person before they regained their freedom, including the three students who had come to sit for JAMB. The unfortunate three were immediately taken to SARS station that Thursday evening around 7 p.m. At SARS, Dugbe, Ibadan, he wrote a statement just as he had done at Mapo. He alleged that his wallet was seized at SARS. In it were his Access Bank ATM Card, about N3,000

To help out, neighbours and well wishers went cap-inhand to Oja’ba market everyday to beg for money on Kolapo’s behalf to effect his release and also for his mother’s upkeep

and ID Card. “All of these items are still with them at SARS,” Kolapo told Sunday tribune.

On February 25, Kolapo and others were moved from SARS office to the Magistrate court, Iyaganku, Ibadan. After they were briefed of their offences, they were taken to Agodi police station. It was at Agodi that he told his neighbours that his ATM card and cash had been taken from him.

“At Agodi, my boxers, singlet and wallet were also taken from me,” he said, noting that that was after he had paid N500 at the counter and told that he would be tried for murder.

The next day at the Magistrate’s Court, the three were lumped with four others who had also been arrested on Monday, three days before Kolapo’s arrest, in connection with the same Oja’ba fracas.

Among the latter four was a 16-year-old boy who was charged despite being underaged because SARS officials insisted that he was 18. At the court, some lawyers stood in for some of them, but they had people to pay for them. Kolapo didn’t.

“Later, I got a lawyer who connceted with my people and they got him money to help effect my bail. The court adjourned same day till March and the seven, in leg chains and cuffs, were driven to Agodi where they met 15 young boys who had been arrested from different areas as Asaka and Oredehin in connection with the crime.

As all efforts to secure Kolapo’s release failed, so did his mother’s health as no one was able to buy the prescribed drugs for her psychological ailment. No one knew the drugs she had been placed on, so her condition became badly affected. She kept asking for her son all day long.

Meanwhile Kolapo was in a terrible situation in the police cell. Cash gift from

Sunday Tribune

visitors were saved to buy just six sachets of water each day. Inmates were entiltled to two satchets in the morning, two in the afternoon and two at night. “You decided whether to drink one or the two satchets or you kip water and save it for few days until you have saved enough to fill a bottle of Eva water which you bathed or flushed toilet with,” Kolapo said of his time in custody.

“We ate beans everyday. Gari was a regular in the afternoon. Other senior inmates controlled the activities of fresh prisoners. If you wanted to ease yourself, it means that you won’t have enough water to drink. Anything brought from home goes through the warder. We were served eba with isapa soup at nights. I never ate isapa in my life. Even eba is not my favourite, but we had no choice. Rice was only served every forthnight Sunday or Wednesday afternoon. Bread was a luxury but when it is served, its only on Sunday morning. The loaf is so small that it won’t fill a two year old’s tummy.

“There was a guy I met there who became my helper. His name was Noah. He has been there for four years. He is from Cotonou. The guy said he lived in Abeokuta and had come to Ibadan with three friends in 2012. He smoked Pall Mall cigarette. He had gone to buy few sticks that afternoon only to end up being arrested.

One day Kolapo’s prayers were eventually answered as the judge, the lawyers and the office of DPP hurriedly met. “The Judge advised that they should work on my several statements and be released. I had all along stated my innocence in the statements. That was after I made a second court appearance on March 4. Because it fell on Olubadan’s coronation, the case was adjourned till March 11. Again, it was adjourned till March 24,” he said.

As Kolapo prepared to appear in court again on May 3, surprisingly he was released on Tuesday, 26 April, two months and two days after his arrest with about 30 others. On getting home his mother was happy to see her son as she had been made to understand that he might be hanged if found guilty of murder. The next day, she was up and went about greeting everybody for their support while Kolapo was away.

“After that, she had her bath by herself, changed her clothes, while I asked my sister to get her food to eat. She had complained that she was feeling terribly tired. We bought her malt and milk. She had become so lean, but we didn’t know how badly her health had deteriorated.

She couldn’t talk. She quickly gulped the milk and malt drink and went to sleep on the chair.

“She couldn’t talk when I went back to check on her few minutes later. She had turned her face down. I touched her, but got no response. I pulled her up and realised that she wasn’t breathing. She had died in her short sleep. That was around 9 a.m on that Thursday. I ran to some of my neighbours. They advised me not to shout or cry so that my sister wouldn’t know what had happened else she would raise the roof. I heard them say I should contact the elders and others before I fainted,” Kolapo told Sunday Tribune.

With no job again, Kolapo does not know where to go or who to run to. He lost his job immediately words got to his employers that he had been arrested for robbery. As the saying goes he is ‘on his own’ with nobody to help.

12

feature

15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Nigeria: Wobbling, fumbling toward broadcast digitisation Akin Adewakun - Lagos

A

FTER some faltering steps in the past few years, Nigeria finally assured the world that it was ready to digitise its broadcast space when it commissioned the pilot phase of the Digital Switch Over in Jos, Plateau State last weekend.

Addressing the media after the commissioning, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had described the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting as a new dawn that would revolutionise television broadcasting in the entire West African sub-region.

According to him, with the commissioning, television broadcasting will no longer be the same, as the DSO development signals an enhancement in the viewing experience of Nigerians.

‘The Digital Switch Over (DSO) roll-out was nothing short of a revolution in broadcasting. The DSO is an evolving media landscape that affects us all and how we receive, watch, monetise and develop television and production going forward.

‘Therefore, what happened in Jos at the (last) weekend is momentous, the dawn of a new era for government, TV Channels, producers, advertisers and, most importantly, the Nigerian TV customer,’ the information minister had said.

Interestingly, Nigeria is not new to blazing the trail as far as television broadcasting is concerned. For instance, the nation still holds the enviable record of producing the first television station in Africa when the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, as the then Premier of the Western Region, established the Western Nigeria Television (WNTV) in Ibadan, in October 1959, no country in Africa had done that before then.

And though the nation later lost the initiative to other countries, such as South Africa, whose popular pay TV brand has now become a must-have and a status symbol, in most Nigerian homes that achievement remains to be equalled in the continent.

Digitization, what is it all about?

The Digital Switch Over (DSO) or digitisation of the nation’s broadcasting space simply means a switch over from analogue, as it is presently being used on the nation’s broadcast space, to digital. For instance, after failing to meet the first two deadlines it had set for itself to digitise its broadcast space in 2012 and 2015, the recent roll- out of digital switch over in Jos, is seen by many as a concrete step towards achieving full digitisation this time round.

According to an operator, who would not want her name in print, switching from analogue to digital simply means everybody would need a set-up box (decoder), to be able to have access to television viewing.

According to the operator, it is the set-up boxes (decoders) that actually convert the analogue signal to digital; hence the need to have such boxes affixed to the TV sets before Nigerians will have access to their television sets, when the analogue signals are eventually switched off.

‘Interestingly, there would be two different set-up boxes in the market when digitisation fully takes off. There would be the one that would carry the free- to- air channels and which would be free, while there would be the pay TV options like your Dstv, Gotv, StarTimes and others,’ she said.

For instance, the consumer would have the option of choosing from the two, depending on what he or she wants or how

much contents he or she can consume.

‘The reality is that the choice is actually that of the consumer whether he wants to stay glued to the free to air channels or the pay tv platform. But the only difference is that the consumer would need a set-up box to subscribe to any of the platforms,’ she explained.

What does Nigeria stand to gain?

Despite the fact that Nigerians still discuss DSO in hush tones, experts believe that the advantages of switching over to digital broadcasting quite outweigh the disadvantages, if any, for the country.

I would not be surprised if the government should come up with another form of levies in future that would actually make those on that free to air platform pay

For instance, Mr. Chidi Umeibe, pioneering Corporate Affairs Manager of StarTimes, believes the advent of digital broadcasting would enhance the viewing experience of Nigerians.

‘It guarantees more channels and enhances picture quality for the viewers. But more importantly is the fact that the government will have more radio frequencies available that can be given out to telecom providers to improve on our data, which would include the internet and others,’ he stated.

He also believes that digitisation would provide broadcast stations more content options and encourage more players in the nation’s broadcasting space.

According to him, with DSO eventually achieved, one frequency that had been restricted to one broadcast station under analogue would be able to transmit a minimum of 18 channels.

‘If you switch over to digital, one frequency that you use to transmit to analogue can transmit a minimum of 18 channels. So rather than have 20 frequencies in Lagos, for instance, LTV has one frequency, Galaxy has one frequency, STV has one frequency and others, all of them can actually be on one frequency when that space is digitized,’ Umeibe argued.

DSO, he added, also enables advertisers monitor and track their communication materials more easily than under analogue.

The only difference, he added, is that the end users will now have more options of the contents that would now be available for viewing public.

How prepared is Nigeria?

For the pay-tv channels, they are more than ready for digitisation.

‘In fact, we have already started doing this.

What we do in our own case is digital broadcasting, and you can see this in our picture qualities and other values that we are adding to broadcasting,’ argued an operator of a pay tv channel in the country.

He, however, expressed regrets that despite the race towards digitisation, many Nigerians are still in the dark as to what digitization actually entails.

Interestingly, government’s decision to provide free set up boxes to Nigerians on the free-to-air platform is seen as a way of making up for the failures of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and Nigerian Communications Commission in enlightening Nigerians on this vital broadcasting issue.

‘I think by offering Nigerians the set-up boxes free of charge, government is only trying to be in the game of NOA and NCC. Though in other parts of the world, where these things have been done, government does a lot of subsidies for such migration to be accomplished, it is obvious that we need more than that here because the people must be enlightened and encouraged since many of them don’t even know what this is all about,’ argued Umeibe.

He also insisted that government should properly regulate the sector so as to ensure that Nigerians full avail themselves of digital broadcasting.

‘For instance, it is obvious that these agencies have not done their homework well, as far as regulating the nation’s broadcast space is concerned. For instance, why do I have to pay to watch those free to air channels on Gotv, Dstv and StarTimes when my subscription expires? It is wrong, but nobody seems to be doing anything. And that is why we have to be careful so that Nigerians do not see this as another pay-tv platform. It is rather another platform that has come for digital migration,’ he argued.

Interestingly, as the debate on digital migration in the nation’s broadcasting industry rages on, what seems to excite Mrs. Iyabode Olasunkanmi, a consumer is the promise of an enhanced picture quality and more viewing channels that digitisation offers.

However, but she is sceptical on the government’s promise of providing free decoders.

‘I would not be surprised if the government should come up with another form of levies in future that would actually make those on that free to air platform pay,’ she stated.

But Mr. David Olatubosun, an economist sees the potential of DSO energising the nation’s economy, if well handled.

‘You can imagine the number of Nigerians that would be given those decoders free if actually they are going to be free and the number of jobs this would create, because going by the federal government’s pronouncements, the set-up boxes will be produced locally.

‘Besides you can imagine how easy tracking of communication materials on the platform would further attract advertisers to broadcasting, and when these things happen the trickle-down effects cannot but be positive on the economy,’ he stated.

Perhaps the nation is about to witness another revolution in its broadcasting space as predicted by the information minister.

But not a few believe that the way the whole process is handled will go a long way in determining the level of impact digital migration would have on the life of the average Nigerian.

13 Continued from

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15 May, 2016 last week

AN is therefore, the prime mover in every economy. Without him nothing at all can be produced. In other words, the resources of nature are negative and inert: man, on the other hand, is positive and dynamic. He is the determinant for all economic and social change, and the generator of all the impulses of progress. Above all, he is at one and the same time, the initiator, innovator, accelerator, prime mover, producer, distributor, exchanger and consumer, in every economy.

It should be crystal clear now to you and me that when we speak of the underdevelopment of an economy we are in effect speaking of the underdevelopment of man. But, what is man? This a very large question which cannot be fully answered within the compass of a press statement.

I am, therefore, confining myself to those answers which I consider to be relevant to the subject matters of this statement.

Man is an animal. But he is an animal with a difference. He has a body: every animal- including those in the lower animal kingdom — has this too. He has a mind like all animals: the objective mind or the faculties of sense perception; and, here lies the great difference, the subjective mind. He has other attributes — like soul or subconscious mind, instincts, etc., but these are not relevant to our present discussion.

Now, his body as well as his faculties of perception must be kept as fit as possible. His subjective mind, which distinguishes him from the lower animals and which is the seat of interpretation of perceived objects, the seat of deductive and inductive reasoning, the seat of prejudices, predilections and partial affections, and so forth, this mind must be thoroughly polished, enlightened, and educated. Otherwise, man will remain only slightly higher than the lower animals, and far below the status of the Image of God which is his birthright at Creation.

Consequently, when we speak of the underdevelopment of a man’s mind, we are in effect speaking of: 1 the underdevelopment of his subjective mind, brought about by ignorance, illiteracy, and deficiency in technology as well as technical and managerial know-how; 2. the underdevelopment of his body, brought about by disease, calorie deficiency, bad water, bad housing, and filthy environment; 3. the underdevelopment of his farming technique, brought about by ignorance, illiteracy, lack of savings and

Awo’s thoughts PATH TO NIGERIAN GREATNESS

On the campaign trail Fundamental issues in Nigeria’s economic development

of capital formation.

Furthermore, there are three important points which are worthy of note. In the first place, all men have innate talents or latent abilities. What those talents are, and how many they are, we do not know until all men and women, boys and girls are given equal opportunity to develop. It would be neither just nor equitable to give opportunity to a person with four talents to develop them to the full, while a man with eight has no opportunity to develop any of his own, or has opportunity to develop only two of those eight.

When this kind of discrimination in the provision of opportunity occurs, the individual discriminated against is unable to contribute to socio-economic development according to his ability, and his share from the social pool is proportionately diminished.

In the second place, even when all the talents have been developed to the fullest limits possible, each one must be given equal opportunity to contribute to socio-economic development.

Since his share of the total development will depend on his contribution, it will be unjust and inequitable to deny one this opportunity and provide it for another.

In the third place, when all talents in society are not fully developed it is not the individuals that are adversely affected alone who suffer; the society as a whole also suf-

Sunday Tribune

fers. For the economic, social and political development of society itself is absolutely a function of the aggregate efforts of the entire members of the society.

The conclusion to which all these considerations have led the UPN is that the solutions to the problems of our country’s economic underdevelopment lie in the full development and full employment of every Nigerian - man or woman, child or adolescent. It is in pursuance of these solutions that our four cardinal programmes have been formulated. These programmes are: 1. Free education at all levels and in all institutions of learning in Nigeria, to be effective as from 1 October, 1979. As from the school session of 1980, secondary education will, like primary education, become compulsory.

Textbooks will also be free at all levels. Adult education will also be free as from 1980.

Education is a fundamental right and it is the inalienable right of every Nigerian citizen to be educated free by the State. To treat education as a privilege, the opportunity to acquire which must be paid for from loans given to students by the State, is a most misguided policy. For this and other reasons, all loans given to students in this connection which are out-standing on 1 October, 1979 will be written off.

There is no difficulty or magic about introducing free education on 1 October, 1979. Indeed, those who have given thought to the matter know that there is no question of building more schools or employing more teachers than are warranted by the normal increase in school enrolment. As I said before, if we acceded to power today, we would introduce it this very day; and, if the military are so inclined and have the will, they could introduce it any time from now. Indeed, I would even like to urge it upon the Federal Military Government to introduce it now, in order to help relieve the prevalent sufferings of the masses of our people, and at the same time leave behind them a heritage of which all of us would feel justifiably proud.

For the avoidance of doubt, by free education we mean the abolition not only of fees but also of all kinds of levies that are now being imposed and demanded in certain parts of the country.

2. Integrated Rural Development. Under this programme, we intend to transform the rural areas so that those who inhabit therein may enjoy a new lease of life.

The programme therefore entails more than the mere improvement of farming technique.

To be continued

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Ikeja Marketing Office.

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14

feature

15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Dramatic story of family of 8 who are all gospel musicians The Okokons, a family of eight, popularly known as the Larlebee, are all gospel musicians. The uniqueness of their God-given talent brought them out of obscurity, having won a talent hunt competition organised by CEO Africa, at the last Easter Fiesta event held in Ibadan, Oyo State. SEYI SOKOYA reports the story of this family.

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EFORE now they have been trying to push their music career to the next level. They had performed at the Carnival Calabar festival and several social gatherings. Their dream came through recently when they were certified as a talented group during a talent hunt show which came with cash prize and three-year record deal. The Larlebee - parents, five ladies and a young man - one family voice now set to take off with their music career. One of the family members stated that, “We are one family, one voice and one body set to impact on the nation, Africa and the world.”

The story of the Larlebee, however, became more interesting when Sunday Tribune engaged the family during their recent visit Tribune House. When asked how they felt emerging the winner of the competition, the father of six and head of the family said: “I feel extremely excited because this is the first time, we, the Larlebee, One Family Voice, decided to come out for a competition like this. The Lord ministered to us a month before the event that we should get ready for a programme coming up on March 28 and we had no idea of what it would look like. We have been around quietly in the city of Ibadan for some time now.

“As missionaries, we move around to where God wants us to be at any given time. Fortunately, we heard about the competition over the radio and we put in for it. But we have been preparing even before now and as God will have it, we emerged winners of the competition. Indeed, it was an Easter to remember for the entire family.”

It may be a bit surprising that the whole family of eight is into music, but Mr Okokon explained it saying, “I think that was how God wants it. We can’t even explain it. Personally, I have passion for music; I even waxed an album entitled: ‘Bone of my Bone,’ as a student at the University of Ibadan. I was also involved with the music icon, Evangelist Ebenezer Obey, where we set up the first gospel music competition at the National Theatre in Lagos. This could have served as a genetic factor that has been transferred to my children. I remember I had this vision a very long time ago, precisely when I was in the university; Jesus Christ visited me in person in my hostel and gave me

a revelation that is gradually becoming a reality today.”

Okokon also revealed that the stage name of the musical group, Larlebee, was also divine. He said the name would not have been complete if the group had not been up to eight in number as the stage name was formed with all the first letters of every member of the family. The father is Louis; the wife is Adiki Barasika; the first daughter is Ruth, followed by Louise, Esther, Blessing, Elizabeth, who is the last girl, while the only son is Elijah.

“The Larlebee stands for the family and it is incomplete without us (parents). In fact, we have songs that proved that our voices are better than that of the children; there are songs in which we led and, in other songs, they led,” the mother stated.

When asked how prepared they are to compete in the fierce gospel music sector, the family said they are poised to take the music industry with a storm as well as redefine the gospel music ministry with a divine touch. Also, the team already has over 40 songs to its credit and is also committed to correct the wrongs in the industry, as well as affect lives positively.

“I discovered that gospel music in Nigeria started well.

The people that are carrying the gospel music flag now have no proper understanding of what it is all about. Most gospel songs we hear today are only lyrics that are dotted with singing about the names of Jesus Christ without any

I discovered that gospel music in Nigeria started well, the people that are carrying the gospel music flag now have no proper understanding of what it is all about

inspiration in them. It is not about having the talent, but what one is carrying. I have been in the ministry for 40 years and I have realised that, as a minister, if one’s vessel is dirty, one’s ministration is already polluted, because one is not a good example of what one preaches through songs.

What makes gospel songs gospel is because they carry the word of God and are expected to bring life to the people, share God’s love to humanity and set the people free. But we only have mere entertainment,” the father said.

He, however, advised gospel musicians on the need to re-discover their potential and their mission in winning souls for Christ, by living a sinless life, because a holy life is only acceptable before God. “Aside the fact that we are missionaries, we enjoy music; it is inside us. We compose our lyrics; we sing and dance to our songs. This is why we don’t perform to entertain people, but to inspire the souls of men. We have surrendered ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit,” Okokons said.

The first daughter of the family, Ruth, also established that the Larlebee is one strong united family. According to her, people hardly believe that the children, especially girls, are not sextuplets. She also noted that she had never seen herself as the eldest among her siblings.

“We are one and we protect ourselves. Our parents are good example of how our lives have turned to be. They taught us the way of the Lord and we are one as gospel artistes. Though, we encountered some challenges, especially when we follow our parents on missionary work, we still have the cause to thank God for making our lives meaningful,” she added.

Apart from music, the children are also entrepreneurs in their respective fields of profession. They have all carved a niche for themselves through vocational acquisition.

When asked on the tendency that the group might eventually become extinct as a result of marriage or other foreseen challenges, the last girl, Elizabeth, replied: “The group has come to stay and would rather multiply with the addition of our spouses, which will make the Larlebee spread its tentacles in the nearest future.”

15

15 May, 2016

children’sarena A Fa mo u s I n ve n tion Brief history of dishwasher

dishwasher is a mechanical device for cleaning dishes and other utensils. Dishwashers can be found in restaurants and private homes. A mix of water and detergent is circulated by a pump.

Water is pumped to one or more rotating sprays arms, which blast the dishes with the cleaning mixture.

The first reports of a mechanical dishwashing device are of an 1850 patent in the United States by Joel Houghton for a handpowered wood device.

All the students are from Abundant Life Success group of school, Ibadan

What I like about my school —Grace Ayobami, Basic 4, 9yrs.

I like how my teachers put in all their best to teach us. They always take their time to engage us in sporting activities.

There are many swings in my school which we play with. I also like going to school because of those who come to our school to distribute noodles to us to make us happy.

I also look forward to our curriculum every Wednesday which involves jumping and

dancing.

Olaide Sokoya ollydesanmi@yahoo.com 0807 449 7425

This device was made of wood and was cranked by hand while water sprayed onto the dishes. This device was both slow and unreliable. Another patent was granted to L.A. Alexander in 1865 that was similar to the first but featured a handcranked rack system.

The first reliable (handpowered) dishwasher was invented in 1887 by Josephine Cochrane with the help of George Butters and was unveiled at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

Words from the kids

—Akintunde Precious, Basic 5, 10yrs.

What I like about going to school is that it is a place for me to acquire knowledge so that I will be a pride to my parents and everyone I come across. Our teachers make all efforts to train us and we reward their efforts by excelling in our exams. They correct us when we make mistakes and makes things easier for us.

Sunday Tribune

Agama lizard

Agama is a type of lizard. It is a very flexible animals that can easily adapt to the changes in its environment. Some people keep agamas as pets because of the beautiful coloration of their body.

Interesting Agama Facts: •-Agama can reach 15.7 inches in length.

•Head, neck and thighs of agamas are covered with scales.

•All females are green or brown. Subordinate males have a body that is brown, gray, red, blue, or yellow in colour.

•Because of the impressive colouration of the body of the dominant male, these lizards are sometimes called "rainbow lizards".

•Agama primarily feeds on insects such as ants, crickets, caterpillars, worms and spiders.

•People enjoy having agamas in their neighborhood because they eliminate all the pests from their houses and yards.

•Agama also eats seeds, berries, fruits and eggs of other lizards and birds.

•Agama has well-developed sense of vision, which is used both for hunting of the prey and for avoiding the predators.

•Main predators of agamas are snakes.

Quote

“

—Lawal Semilore, Basic 4, 9yrs.

I like going to school because the subjects being taught are very interesting. Our teachers make the class interesting and educative. I like going to school especially on Wednesdays because we always engage in sporting activities. I see my friends everyday at school and that is what makes school interesting. Our teachers always enlighten us on things we do not know.

— Samson Happiness, Basic 5, 9 years.

I like all the subjects being taught in my class and the efforts my teacher makes to ensure that we understand what she’s teaching us. I like coming to school for training for our inter-house sport and the school always encourages us in all that we do and discipline us when the need arises.

—Victor Babatunde Basic 3, 9yrs.

I like going to school because it is a very interesting place to be and we are also taught many things. Most importantly I like the fact that my school always gives us a lot of gift items during the end of the year party.

—Daniel Aguda, Basic 3, 9yrs.

I like going to school because they teach us very well, our teachers teach us current affairs and hymns. They tell us what is right and what is wrong, they also take us on excursion to the zoo and they also give us plenty of gifts items during our end of the year party.

You'll never be brave if you don't get hurt.

You'll never learn if you don't make mistakes.

You'll never be successful if you don't encounter failure.

”

Compiled by Temitayo Iliasu

16

15 May, 2016

A

S the power house of Africa, Nigeria should show more than a comical interest in a process that would define the sustenance of our most profound foreign relations. Who says we can’t also weigh in, with financial support in our little way?

Nigerian migrants in US either with or without voting rights should also be engaged. Obama’s administration would have armed the opponents for a long-drawn battle if Goodluck Jonathan had won the poll, even if credibly. That was how much it wanted the Russian latter-day ally out. If Buhari’s administration thinks America’s presidential race is the least of its problems now, it should spare a moment to rummage the possibility of a Trump presidency deporting all Nigerian illegal migrants one morning. We took things for granted with South Africa, Ghana et al which now deal unpleasantly with our people. Trump is a xenophobic with potential for greater damages than the whole of South-Africa.

Unfortunately, he is no Herman Cain, the black Republican candidate that made waves and faded out in 2012.

This trash-talking New Yorker is loaded to the hilt and money rules American politics.

Almost exactly nine months after I penned the above, precisely on May 4 2016 at exactly 1.40am (Nigerian time) and 8,40pm May 3 in Indianapolis, Indiana, the world completely stopped laughing at Trump’s perceived buffoonery. Ted Cruz, the only hope of stopping the media-nightmare from putting a foot into the White House, was blown away by the new global phenomenon. I hope Nigeria and her countless illegal migrants in the US also stopped laughing like the rest of the world. How I wish I had good news for them. But no. On November 8, 2016 Donald J. Trump will be president-elect and everybody that should have sleepless nights, can start preparing for years of insomnia.

There are real and imagined odds against Trump. The real, he created to further cement his pyscho-persona. The imagined, are US media-created; for the rest of the world, in desperate moves to stop the only man in America and possibly anywhere in the world to have stood against the all-powerful media institution for decades and ironically bettering the foe he nicknamed “dishonest media”.

While the real odds (enemy-demographies like Latino, African and Muslim) would make him struggle in November in some key swing states (but not potent enough to flatten him out as being projected by the media led by his arch-enemy CNN), the imagined odds are of no threat whatsoever to his chances. Yes, CNN, leading others, kept projecting him as Hitler-reborn to the world

THE warped perception of the purpose of wealth among the rich of our land is quite revolting. Contrary to what obtains in many other countries where wealth is not deemed a weapon of oppression and the poor not treated as the scum of the earth to be trampled upon, the rich in Nigeria want to keep the poor down perpetually so that they would continually be worshipped by the poor.

The rich in Nigeria do not work towards bridging the gap between them and the poor. That is not in their interest because they believe the only edge they have above the poor is their wealth. The rich’s day is made when they are able to flaunt their wealth provocatively before the poor. What gives the Nigerian rich man infinite kick is the number of the poor that line up early in the morning in front of his house, waiting with their tales of woes, hoping he would lend them a hand to lift them out of the pit.

After keeping them in the sun for hours, he struts out of the inner recesses of his mansion, looks contemptuously at the multitude, takes his seat on a high chair, beckons on them to come forward with their requests, one after the other, dips his hand into his money bag after each story and throws some miserable currency notes at the poor story teller.

The same mentality rules our political space. The political office holder does not see himself as a servant of the people that he really is. Rather, his perception of himself is as the lord of all. Therefore, the state must defer to him. It does not matter what the people need, his greed has to be satisfied. He sees nothing wrong with building a new official residence with billions of naira even when millions have nowhere to lay their heads. He considers mingling with the people a crime. Hence, he surrounds himself with security operatives who alienate him from the people he is supposed to serve. He insists on using the siren as a symbol of oppression. It is beneath him to stop when the traffic light turns red. He expects everybody but him to respect the law. He expects loyalty from everybody

0811 695 4647

olanreade@yahoo.com

President Trump! (II)

(a persona selling like hot pizza globally), the sad news for his global enemies is that they have no voting power.

Instead, global objection, especially from the home nations of the minority Coloured migrants in America, can only further drive him into the warm embrace of majority white-supremacist and territorial-protectionist voters in America, who would see the global protest against him as a validation of their suspicion that the world wanted to turn America to its dump-site.

I now give 10 reasons why I’m convinced President Trump will be!

One, the world, has gone bunkers. It is called New Social Order. Conventions, everywhere are tumbling and Hillary is conventional. That is why a certain Leicester City FC with no pedigree and history is now English foot-

With Sulaimon Olanrewaju 08055001708

lanresulaimon@yahoo.com

Poverty of the rich

but is not loyal to any. He expects love from all but he alone is the object of his own affection.

He dispenses political patronage as a reward for what he considers allegiance. Therefore, whichever community or group he perceives as disloyal to his regime is schemed out of the ‘largesse’ of his government; the

Sunday Tribune

ball champion. No one votes traditional sense again. It was so in Nigeria last year. It was so in London with firstever Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan in May. It will be with President Trump on January 20, 2017. Despite being colonized by Britain, America loves being bigger and better (?) than her “father”. Uncle Sam won’t wait for UK to elect a politically-incorrect Prime Minister before electing her own over-the-board non-conformist, straightfrom-the-heart blasting President.

Two, Trump isn’t a political process. He has become a movement in America, just like he is now keeping the world awake every night of the party primaries. The more his opponents--Republican leaders and media heckled him with sponsored protests and outrageously-biased reporting, the bigger his victories got. New things excite.

America hasn’t seen his ilk in decades. Evidences abound of his traction in national polls, running neck-and neck with presumptive Democrat nominee, Hillary Clinton, even besting the one he calls Crooked Hillary in critical swing states like Ohio and leading her everywhere on economy. His momentum can only get bigger.

Three, Washington, despite the US media and leadership whitewash, stinks. No evidence is greater than Trump’s victory, making it the year of the Outsiders.

Against a politically stained and tainted Hillary, Trump will be on a roll. His chances are no longer outside, after putting away a 17-candidate strong field in months, while Hillary struggles to shake the one Trump dubbed Crazy Bennie (Senator Benny Sander) off in a two-person contest.

Four, Trump is gradually having the party support, minus the one he calls Failed Mitten (Mitt Romney). If he pulled through the primaries on his own, the party’s support can only enlarge his coast and the poll numbers are already adding on the support of the top party leaders like Speaker Ryan.

Five, economy is the most important issue of the election as said by Americans. Voters, nationally believe he would do a better job than Hillary. Americans are already enthralled by his tough talk against what he dubbed “trade rape” by China. Americans love their wallets bulging. When Hillary’s husband should have been thrown away for perjury, Americans chose the prosperity he brought over an above happenings around Lewinsky’s under-pants. Xenophobia, respect for women, planned parenthood are only top issues when the economy is doing well.

To be continued

health facilities in such communities would be run down and deprived of the required amenities, its bad roads would not be fixed and no new one, no matter how much it is needed, would be opened up; its schools would not be supplied with teachers and its sons and daughters would not be appointed into political offices. He would almost snuff life out of such community until the leaders go to him cap in hand to beg for their lives. After giving them a lecture on loyalty, he will throw some placebo projects at the community to make them complaisant to him.

But that is not the essence of money or power. Wealth is supposed to be used to improve the lot of others for the simple reason that the needs of everyone are minimal. Once the basic needs of an individual are satisfied, the bulk of what is left is meant for others. Of what use is wealth surrounded by so much lack?

Ditto for political power. Power is held in trust by one for many. Power is not really for the benefit of the holder.

The purpose of power is to ensure balance in any organisation or nation. Power is to be used to bring as many people as possible close to the point of equilibrium.

It is the failure of understanding of the purpose of wealth and power that is at the base of the problems currently crippling the nation. Terror attack, kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent vices are largely a response of the excluded poor to the insensitivity of the rich and powerful. According to a common saying, “When the poor have nothing to eat they will go for the rich.”

As observed by Mother Teresa, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” The solution to every problem is buried in that problem. The solution to the problem of insecurity in our land is in a change of attitude by the wealthy and the powerful; they need to show more concern; they need to exhibit love. Insecurity in the land will continue to escalate until the rich and the powerful come to the understanding that we belong to one another.

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15 May 2016

Sunday Tribune

Drug addict allegation:

Tee Billz fights back

What I do when someone breaks my heart —Vivien Ike

I want to have a quiet wedding —D’Banj

Obesere dragged to court over ‘Ebelusua’ video

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15 May, 2016

Segun Adebayo tegbollistic@yahoo.com 08116954644

By Segun Adebayo

T

HE last may not have been heard about Tiwa Savage and her exhusband’s marriage scandal as reports reaching R revealed that Tee Billz, who was accused of being a drug addict

by Savage is ready to fight back with what a source described as a ‘damning revelation’.

Tee Billz,who has been silent on all social media platforms for more than two weeks is said to be preparing for another revelation, which according to the source is aimed at setting the record straight and putting an end to the controversy.

It will be recalled that the first leg to the new move by Tee Billz was an alleged drug test which

Sunday Tribune Seyi Sokoya seyi_sky@yahoo.com 08075166585

Drug addict allegation:

Praying together as couple better than sex —Tonto Dikeh

Tee Billz fights back

ACTRESS, Tonto DikehChurchill, wants couple to cultivate the habit of praying together.

This, she said, is the most intimate act couples can engage in that would make them stay together stronger.

She disclosed this in a post she shared on her Instagram page, where she said it was high time for women stopped entertaining the satisfaction that comes from mere social media posts.

According to her, “praying together is the most intimate act couples can engage in to stay stronger together. My husband and I do nothing without hitting those knees on the ground to God Almighty. It is better than sex, I tell you, but also gives your spouse good TLC always.”

Vows to shock many with ‘hard facts’ was conducted on him out last week and reportedly turned out to be negative.

R gathered that there had been

moves in the past weeks to reconcile Savage and Tee Billz by their close friends, particularly some popular artistes but the move was not successful because the former loverbirds had ‘spilled too much’.

The source said further that Tee Billz was ready to shock Savage’s fans with what was described as ‘hard facts’.

Obesere dragged to court over ‘Ebelesua’ video

By Segun Adebayo

Why I parted ways with FEW model management —Olajumoke

By Segun Adebayo ‘AGEGE’ bread seller-turnedmodel, Olajumoke Orisaguna, has revealed why she dumped Bolajo Fawehinmi led Few Model Management (FEW). FEW was the first modeling agency that signed her immediately after her discovery by TY Bello.

Speaking on the new development, Olajumoke’s lawyer, Olayemi Adesuyan said Olajumoke is currently signed on by Beth Model Management owned by Elohor Aisien .

Adesuyan said Olajumoke left FEW because it was allegedly not doing enough in the handling the model’s portfolio,” he said.

“Most of the endorsements Ola-

jumoke got are not from the modeling agency. We decided to get a better platform for her through another modeling agency.

“Beth is one of the leading modeling agencies in Nigeria right now. They have done international competitions, that is the kind of platform we want for Olajumoke. She needs to maximize the momentum her popularity has brought to her.

“We are yet to put pen to paper regarding her new contract with Beth modeling agency but we have concluded all plans. We have also served Few modeling agency our letter of termination of contract.”

IT appears that all is not going on well between the socialite and chairman of Solidworth Entertainment, Alhaji Taofeek Abefe Bello, and the popular Fuji musician, Alhaji Abass Akande Obesere.

A source closer to both Alhaji Bello and Obesere, who pleaded anonymity, revealed to R that the ‘friendship between them has suddenly been torn apart’ over the release of ‘Ebelesua video’.

In the said video entitled ‘Ebelesua’, which came out some weeks ago, Obesere teamed up with Olamide to give the song the needed spice. It was, however, shot and directed by Dr Bee Visuals, from the stables of Solidworth Entertainment.

According to the source, “The issue is that Solidworth is dragging Obesere to court over the visuals of Ebelesua, saying the video was released, without his consent, on social media platforms such as Youtube, and Obesere’s twitter and instagram accounts (@obeseremusik, obeseremusic). And as a result of this, Alhaji Bello is claiming to have lost a huge amount of money in the process, asking Obesere to pay back millions of naira he would have made from the video.

“I also know that Obesere did the track for Solidworth Ent. and the

We will handle the matter —Obesere video was sponsored by its chairman, but I dont know how everything has turned out to be like this because they are very close”, he said.

When Obesere was contacted on the matter, he confirmed to R that there is controversy on the new video.

“It is true that Ebelesua video featuring Olamide has caused rift between Alhaji Bello and I. He accused me of releasing the video on Youtube and on my handles and asked me to pay back the money he would have made or we meet in court. But the matter will be handled. Thank you”, he said.

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razzmatazz

15 May, 2016

KIEKIE TV 90’s back with Oldskool Jamz Nuskool THE 90s meets millennium is an event that occurs yearly to celebrate the Nigerian entertainment industry in a special way.

It brings together the best from music, comedy, Nollywood and dance from old school generation and fuses them with the new school acts, to deliver a thrilling entertainment with loads of euphoria and nostalgia.

According to the coordinator and host (MD/CEO KIEKIE TV), Ms Oluwabunkunmi Adeaga, the maiden show which featured Salawa Abeni, Dele Ojo, Toye Ajagu and current acts Reminisce, May D, Mo blow, among others was hosted in Ibadan,

Oyo State last year and was a success.

The project manager, Mr. Oyinwola Don said the objective of the event is to acknowledge and promote creativity in the entertainment industry, promote the fusion of different eras of arts, and promote the culture and tourism values of the host city.

He solicited for organisations to take advantage of the two weeks pre event awareness activation across Ibadan.

Egbeda, Sango-Ota agog for Goldberg Fuji audition

By Rotimi Ige THE city of Egbeda and Sango-Ota came alive on Friday as thousands of up-and-coming Fuji artistes trooped to Havannah Hotels, Egbeda and Maridom Palace Hotel, Sango-Ota the venues for the auditions of the annual Fuji music talent hunt, Goldberg Fuji t’o Bam, to battle for the Wura 1 crown of Fuji and a cash reward.

The fourth edition of the annual Fuji concert which started

Monalisa to fans:

I’m not pregnant

By Segun Adebayo

Seyi Shay, Burna Boy unveiled as ambassadors for NSE GOOD times have continued to trickle in for Nigerian pop stars, Seyi Shay and Burna Boy, as they were both announced as Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) brand ambassadors for its Corporate Challenge.

The announcement, which was made via social media on Thursday, came as a cheering news to Seyi Shay and Burna Boy who have both been rocking the air with hit songs for a couple of months.

Seyi Shay who looked chic in a mustard lace dress paired with black pumps was pictured with Burna Boy holding branded white T-shirts flanked by some members of NSE during the unveiling of the superstars in Lagos State.

According to Seyi Shay, “It has

been a blissful year for me and my management and we are grateful for this new addition. This is something that I am really excited about and I am looking forward to enhance the brand’s corporate image.”

Seyi Shay and Burna Boy were presented with the duty of sounding the gong to close the stock market.

As part of the activities lined up for the Nigerian Stock Exchange Corporate Challenge, Seyi Shay and other celebrities will participate in a run to “e-race” cancer.

Seyi Shay joins a list of top celebrities like Omotola JaladeEkehinde and M.I Abaga who have sounded the gong at the stock market.

Sunday Tribune

A

CTRESS, Monalisa Chinda, who got married in an elaborate traditional wedding less than a year ago was rumoured to be pregnant in a report that surfaced last week with some of her fans dropping congratulatory messages.

In a swift response to the pregnancy rumour, Monalisa denied the report, saying she was not pregnant. The actress has always maintained that she believes in

the institution of marriage and would always welcome the idea of settling down again after suffering marriage breakup in the past.

In a subtle reply to the rumour, Monalisa said she was not pregnant but welcomed the idea of getting pregnant. “I am not pregnant but thanks for the best wishes in advance,” she said.

Monalisa who has featured in many Nollywood movies, has managed to keep her new marriage from prying eyes and always refrained from commenting on the union.

with audition was filled with twists and turns as contestants strived to outsmart themselves to make the list of those who will proceed to the quarter final.

Among the contestants who auditioned in Havannah Hotels was Ibraheem Kareem, a blind man who came from Ilorin, Kwara State to participate in the contest.

Speaking about his participation, Kareem, whose stage name is Fuji Solution, said people should not look him as a blind man but base their assessment on his performance.

He disclosed that he was not born blind, but blamed his plight on an incident.

According to him, he heard about the audition in Ilorin over the radio and was determined to participate.

Kareem, who was led into the venue of the audition earlier than many other contestants, could not make the selection list as he bowed to the superior exhibition of skills in Fuji music by his counterparts.

Meanwhile, Kareem did not lose hope as he disclosed that he would use the experience gained in Egbeda audition to prepare for the audition that would hold in other cities closer to Ilorin.

Salam Wasiu Olanrewaju, an Agricultural Engineering graduate of Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State was another contestant at Egbeda.

Femi Branch set to mark 25 years on stage

By Seyi Sokoya ACTOR, Femi Branch, is set to celebrate 25 years of his acting career. Though he is yet to give the full details of the event, the actor is getting ready.

The event is tagged: Femi Branch 25 years in the Entertainment Industry, Celebrating God’s faithfulness.

Speaking on his career, Branch said, “Many started this race before me, many after. Most have more talent in their little fingers than I have in my entire body but the world is yet to know their name. This shows that the race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong. It is not according to him that willeth or to him that runneth, it is according to God that showeth mercy. “So, I am saying thank you to all the fans who have made the journey such a thrill. I thank my family for bearing the brunt of my excesses and I thank God for counting me worthy and having my back even when I didn’t deserve it. I am truly grateful.

“In these glorious 25 years, I have played very colorful charac-

ters; I have played the high and also the low. I have played kings and also the insane! Acting is one profession in which you can play your highest fantasies and even roles you detest! I have played the rapist, the abuser and all manner of unimaginable depictions. In all, I am thankful to the

fans who have always kept me on my toes to make sure I never lose track of living up to their expectations. I truly hope I have not disappointed you guys too much,” he added.

Babafemi Branch is a Nigerian poet, playwright, film actor, director and producer.

20

15 May, 2016

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

No standard

record label

in Nigeria —D’banj

Koko Master, D’banj is back in the news again. After he was announced alongside South African actress, actress Pearl Thusi, as the hosts of Lip Sync Battle Africa, D’ banj has been telling his fans that he would be bringing life, entertainment and creativity to the show which is the first of its kind in Africa. In this interview with SEGUN ADEBAYO, the Emergency crooner spoke on varying issues.

be talking to my people on this kind of platform, not just the ordinary people, but the superstars like me, It gets me so excited.

It is the first show that is covering the whole Africa and bringing fans and their celebrities together.

S

OME people believe that you are stepping into the big shoes with the Lip Sync Battle Africa, what would you say about this?

First of all, I am not stepping into anybody’s shoes. Africa is different and that’s why it is called Lip Sync Battle Africa. I have not even been watching all the episodes but I saw one or two episodes and I like what they are doing. And, there is going to be a twist to this. So, that’s why I said I am not stepping into anybody’s shoes, I am only playing my own game. I have a wonderful co-host, who is a great personality, a South African and she will actually be anchoring the main techniques, because that’s her job.

What MTV wants me to do is that they have actually built a Koko Lounge for me on stage, so every episode; I will get to be on stage and watch my colleagues from different parts of Africa coming to step into a different platform where they have never been seen before. You are going to see actors, actresses and even models coming to sing other celebrities’ songs. I think somebody actually did my song. Being an entertainer who has travelled around the world who would

do. In this show, it will not be different. It is the first time that I am stepping into a different platform on TV, but it is not totally different, because it is going to be entertaining as you already know. It is going to be energetic and creative.

If you have had a long day and you really want to relax and be entertained, then you will know that what I said in my last album, “are you not entertained, pay me my money” is actually what you are going to be seeing on the show.

We have seen the LL Cool J version in the United States. Coming down to Africa now, what are you adding to this to make it look different from what people have seen before?

Everybody that knows me knows that I am an entertainer.

I think that is what I love to do. I bring life into whatever I

Away from the Lip Sync Battle episode, when is D’banj going to drop another album?

You have asked me a big question. For the album, we have done a couple of listening sessions and I think maybe the next one that I will need to do now is to invite you guys (the media) on a special day, which we will all agree on to come and listen because I have a whole catalogue. You know I just got back from South Africa and I stayed with some executives who are picking some specific songs, after the success of my song Emergency. By God’s grace, all things possible, an album is going to come out this year.

Everybody that knows me knows that I am an entertainer. I think that is what I love to do. I bring life into whatever I do. In this show, it will not be different.

There were reports that you dropped Tonto Dikeh from your record label, how true is this?

No. For me, from last year, I have been working and finding out some things. I have realised that things have changed. I noticed that the amount of music that are coming out and talents that we have right now, it will be in our best interest in the music industry to protect the future by making sure that the platforms that will distribute those contents that are coming out of Nigeria are in the right place. I have worked with Bank of Industry and other organisations to make sure that the right physical and digital distribution that we have is in the right place and Continues on pg21

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glitz

15 May, 2016

LASU students take music to next level

Continued from pg20

finally, the music industry’s pension which has been the missing link for a long time, is coming to life.

That does not answer the question about Tonto Dikeh…

To answer your question, I had a meeting with my team last year and I told every one of them; my producers, songwriters and artistes that in 2016, you all have to go and work and shape up. I said it is starting from me, the CEO. I said I was not going to be using inside producers, I want to get good beats from everywhere. I don’t care if it is coming from Kaduna State or anywhere.

That is why I never even met the producer of Emergency before I released the song.

The next single I am about to drop right now, which featured South African’s big acts like Oskido is produced by a producer in Nigeria that I have never met before.

That’s what I told everybody. As you all know that Emergency came out January 7 at the Glo CAF award ceremony. I told them that we can’t be doing the same thing and expect a different result. I asked everybody to go out. Yes, we are all talented. Tonto and every other artiste that are on the label are big brands on their own and you can testify to that.

Sunday Tribune

By Seyi Sokoya

‘I want to have a quiet wedding’

Aside the reasons you enumerated, did you also consider the fact that she’s married?

You know that when a woman is married, things can’t be the same again. I have not even seen her since she got married. She has been out of the country. Before that, the last thing she told me was that she wanted to work on her foundation. When she comes back, maybe we can sit down and talk. What I am concerned about now is that I want the raw talents from every part of Nigeria to listen to me.

Whether you are from Kaduna, Calabar or even Borno State, I don’t care.

You mean you want to go to Borno to search for talents?

That sounds funny, I know. I can see you are laughing too. Look at the song Emergency that came from Kaduna State, if that guy had not met Olu Maintain who said don’t worry, I know D’banj, I will get across to him. In the Western world, you will see that there are songwriters, producers and artistes. Your job as an artiste is to be an artiste. I have partnered with some people that I don’t want to mention their names now, but very soon, starting from this May, If you are an artiste from Borno and you have a beat and you need a collaboration or you want me or Davido to hear that beat, there is a structure that is going to be on ground that will put things in place.

This platform will serve as a contact point between the producer in Ejigbo or any part of Nigeria and any artistes that you want to contact. If it is collaboration you want, you don’t have to go through the stress of looking for how to reach 2face or D’banj or Davido. This platform will cater for all of that. It is sad that some people have beautiful songs but they have videos. Some people are looking for record labels to sign them. So, I said to myself that this is where I want to put my money and I am glad that it will work out.

What do you think about the proliferation of record labels in Nigeria?

We don’t have to deceive ourselves, record labels died in Nigeria after the collapse of Mo’Hits records. There is no record label again. Anybody that can buy a laptop, produce a song and get his uncle to pay for a video will say I have a record label. That’s not what record label is. A record label must have distribution in place.

Can you do a Koko Concert in Borno?

I can do a concert in Borno. People are still there.

The security will be on ground. My uncle who is in the military just came back from that side and we discussed many things. In fact, he invited me to his church where I performed and spoke to a lot of young ones.

What has happened to your Koko Garri brand?

You see, charity begins at home and they say that no matter how big the structure is, when the foundation is well put in place, the whole structure will crash. What I am trying to say is that I used the first one year to know what the market is saying. To know that my own brand of garri is going to be different from the usual ones, and I am very happy about the success story. Now, distribution wise, we are in a lot of places, we are in Jumia, Konga and we are the highest selling agricultural brand on Konga.

Now, we are entering Shoprite and we are about to do our first TV commercial, because we now have the proper partnership. I have always had access into finance due to my relationship with the Bank of Industry. You know they released N5 billion cottage agro-process loan but I don’t want to take the money yet, because the moment you take it, it starts counting. The money is not free, so you have to be very careful. I am glad to tell you that we are expanding; we have about 700 hectares of land in Ogbomoso.

Are you from Ogbomoso?

No, I am from Sagamu, Ogun State. So we are everywhere and we are about to start rolling out very soon.

We don’t have to deceive ourselves, record labels died in Nigeria after the collapse of Mo’Hits records. There is no record label again.

THE Department of Theatre Arts and Music, Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos State, on Wednesday presented performance workshop/music fiesta at the new university auditorium.

The performance showcased genres such as African choruses, Western choruses, Highlife, Afro beat, traditional, hip hop, R and B, Jazz and Blues, Apala, and Fuji, Reggae and Juju performed by students of the institution.

The Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor, Olanrewaju Fagbohun, who was the guest of honour at the event, noted that the institution was aware of the economic situation in the country and as such, has incorporated entrepreneurship in the school curriculum to equip students to survive after school.

According to the project manager of the event, Dr. Isaac Ajenifuja, “the performance workshop and music fiesta is a platform designed by the music unit of the department under the headship of Dr. Femi Faseun some years ago to identify and promote the talents of students of the university.

“This platform has been quite productive; this is evident in numbers of LASU graduates who are celebrities in music, theatre and broadcasting industries such as Yaw and others,” he said.

When is D’banj getting married?

Who said I am not married?

Why did you do a quiet wedding?

I chose to do that because I want it to be like that.

So, D’banj is officially married now?

I am not married, but even when I am ready, I will opt for a quiet wedding. I am tired of people asking me that question. It is my personal life. It is not going to change my music or my life. People will say that when you are married, you are out of the business. That’s not true. Nothing is going to change when I finally settle down. My wife is not looking for fame. My fame is enough for the two of us.

K1 celebrates with new Asiwaju of Ibadanland POPULAR Fuji musician, K1, was in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Friday to felicitate with Chief Ismail Akinade-Fijabi, who was decorated by the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, as the new Asiwaju of Ibadanland.

K1, who was among the dignitaries that graced the event, described Fijabi as a hardworking man, who is very accomodating, saying that he deserved the recognition bestowed on him by the royal father and the Ibadan people.

He added that "Today, Chief Fijabi is being honoured as Asiwaju of Ibadanland, every chieftaincy in Ibadan carried enormous responsibilities and that responsibilities, I'm sure, Fijabi would perform them creditably.

Dignitaries present at the ceremony were his son, Honourable Saheed Akinade-Fijabi; Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Oyo State chapter, Alhaji Taofeek Oyerinde (Fele); Oba Saheed Elegushi, among others.

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15 May, 2016

makeover

Sunday Tribune

Rita Okonoboh 08053789087 rosarumese@gmail.com

W

HETHER in the privacy of your closet, in a private pool, or out on the beach having fun with friends, there will come that time in the lives of many ladies when they are faced with the task of donning a swimsuit. Besides, with the heat comes the urge to take a swim. Not many women can stand to bare anything except their face, hands and legs, and for some, even the thought of wearing a crop top is a distant dream.

However, choosing a swimsuit shouldn’t be so hard, if you follow the tips and tricks below: Gain confidence No matter how your body looks, the key to looking great in a swimsuit is the confidence that exudes from within. Besides, there are no rules that you have to bare it all before you can get in the water.

There are appealing designs that are also decent. And if you desire to bare some flesh, focus the baring on your good sides, which may include your laps, arms, cleavage, and for those who can, your belly. You can also use your back, if you’ve got the right presentation, to your advantage. Even if your breasts need to be supported by a bra for the right lift, by all means, go for options that have a bra angle. The important thing is comfort.

Before you buy Many swimsuits look more appealing to the unguarded shopper before the actual testing. And because of their sensitive nature, for the Nigerian fashion market, you may not have the luxury of trying it out before you buy. As such, know the shape of your body before buying. Swim suits can rarely be adjusted by a tailor so be absolutely sure of your size, shape and features before buying. Unless you look absolutely the same in height, weight and bodily feature, resist the urge to buy the same suit which looks great on a friend because it may not work for you. And for the new shopper, be prepared to splurge a few times before getting your perfect fit. Besides, there is a swimsuit for everyone, whether you want to bare or not. Even Photo: www.prima.co.uk Muslim ladies wear swimsuits.

Suiting up with swimsuits

Even when the shopping conditions are perfect, you’re still going to have to sort through dozens of suits to find the one that’s right for you. To save time, here are eight tips to help you zero on styles that will work:

Photo: www.aliexpress.com

TO camouflage bumps and bulges: Look for large bold prints in light and dark combinations, Kauchner says. When possible, pick up a pareo or wrap to match.

To hide a tummy: Choose a skirted suit, but look for one with edges that turn up at the sides in a ‘shirttail’ style. “This will make your legs look longer and the skirt look more flirty.

To diminish a full middle: Opt for a one-piece suit with a blouson top, or a long tankini-style top over a bottom that

hits at the waist.

To create curves in all the right places: Try a deep V-halter top and highcut legs to fill out your figure and give you curves instead of bumps and lumps.

To detract from a large waist and hips: Go for a low-cut suit with a wide neckline to create balance between the upper and lower body. A solid-color bottom with a printed top will minimise hips.

To slim a full chest: Choose a halter top to lift you, cover jiggly areas at the side

of the bust, and put all the focus up front.

To enhance a small bust: Get a suit with a bright or printed top and an underwire bra or molded cup to enhance cleavage.

For the best overall control: Opt for a one-piece suit with tummy and derriere lift panels. Or choose a two-piece with a bottom that reaches your belly button and has an interior support panel.

Source: www.webmd.com

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15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

foreignfeatures

Pope hints of ordination of women as deacons in Catholic Church

P

OPE Francis has announced he will create a commission to study the possibility of allowing women to serve as deacons in the Catholic church, signaling a historic openness to the possibility of ending the global institution’s practice of an all-male clergy.

According to the National Catholic Reporter, the pontiff indicated he would create such a commission during a meeting at the Vatican on Thursday with some 900 leaders of the world’s congregations of Catholic women religious, who asked him during a question-and-answer session why the church excludes women from serving as deacons.

The women religious, meeting with the pope as part of the triennial assembly of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), told Francis that women had served as deacons in the early church and asked: “Why not construct an official commission that might study the question?”

The pope responded that he had spoken about the matter once some years ago with a “good, wise professor” who had studied the use of female deacons in the early centuries of the church. Francis said it remained unclear to him what role such deacons had.

“What were these female deacons?” the pontiff recalled asking the professor. “Did they have ordination or no?”

“It was a bit obscure,” said Francis.

“What was the role of the deaconess in that time?”

“Constituting an official commission that might study the question?” the pontiff asked aloud. “I believe yes. It would do good for the church to clarify this point. I am in agreement. I will speak to do something like this.”

“I accept,” the pope said later. “It seems useful to me to have a commission that would clarify this well.”

Francis’ openness to studying the possibility of women serving as deacons could

represent a historic shift for the global Catholic church, which does not ordain women as clergy.

Pope John Paul II claimed in his 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis that “the Church has no authority whatsoever” to ordain women as priests, citing Jesus’ choosing of only men to serve as his 12 disciples.

Many church historians have said however that there is abundant evidence that women served as deacons in the early centuries of the church. The apostle Paul mentions such a woman, Phoebe, in his letter to the Romans.

In the modern day, the Catholic church reinstituted the role of the permanent deacon following the reforms of the landmark 1962-65 Second Vatican Council.

The role is generally open to married men who have reached the age of 35.

Such men are ordained, similar to priests, but can only conduct certain ministries in the church.

While they cannot celebrate the Mass, they frequently lead prayer services, offer the sacrament of baptism, and even manage parishes as pastoral administrators in the absence of priests.

Francis said on Thursday that the professor he spoke with years ago had told him that female deacons had helped the early church particularly in baptizing women, when the practice of baptism at the time called for full immersion of the person’s naked body in water.

The pontiff’s words about female deacons were only part of a nearly 75-minute meeting with the members of the International Union of Superiors General, which represents nearly half a million Catholic women religious on five continents.

The women religious asked the pope four notably strong questions, leading with an inquiry on how to better integrate women into the life of the global

church.

Quoting the pontiff’s frequent use of the phrase “feminine genius” to describe women’s role in the church, they noted that while the pope uses that phrase “women are excluded from the decisionmaking processes of the church” and from giving the homily at the Mass.

Francis responded that the integration of women into the life of the church had been “very weak,” and said: “We must go forward.”

The pope noted that the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace has a woman serving as its second-in-command and said he wanted to appoint a particular woman to a similar position in another office but that she had been preferred to serve elsewhere.

“For me, the elaboration of decisions is very important,” said the pontiff. “Not only the execution, but the elaboration; namely, that women, whether consecrated or lay, are inserted into the process of the discussion.”

“Because [a] woman looks at life with true eyes,” said Francis. “We men cannot look at it so. The way of seeing problems, of seeing whatever thing is totally … different than men. They have to be complementary. In consultations, it is very important that women be there.”

Francis said that it is a “theological/

liturgical” issue of whether women can give the homily at Mass. He said there is “no problem” for women to give reflections or homilies at prayer services, but that during the Mass the priest is serving “in persona Christi” and is therefore the person to give the homily.

The pontiff also told the women religious that the church needs to treat them with more respect, saying he has seen many times that sisters are made to do the “work of servitude and not service.”

The pope told them that should someone “ask you to do something that is more of servitude than service, you are courageous to say no!”

“Your vocation is for service, service to the church … but not of servitude,” said Francis.

The pontiff then asked aloud: “What would the church miss if there were no more religious?”

“We would lack Mary on the day of Pentecost,” he responded. “There is not a church without Mary. There is not Pentecost without Mary.”

“The consecrated woman is an icon of the church, an icon of Mary,” said Francis. “The priest is not an icon of the church, he is not an icon of Mary. He is an icon of the apostles, of the disciples ... but not of the church of Mary.”

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Sunday Tribune

Sunday Tribune

15 May, 2016

glamour ‘Day my slit tore to my backside’ Ashley Mariam Yusuf, is from, Benue State, and is also the 2013/2014 Miss Ambassador for Peace South-South Nigeria, the 2015/2016 Miss Peace Nigeria: Face of Idoma Carnival, and the owner of a modelling agency. She speaks on the many sides of beauty pageantry, her fashion preferences and her thoughts on the herdsmen crisis that has affected her people with RITA OKONOBOH.

WHAT I have been up to lately I have been working with kids; I have been putting smiles on their faces. I just got back from Benue State, where I went to visit victims of the Agatu crisis. As a matter of fact, I am an Agatu girl. I went to see my people, to give them relief materials and to also encourage them that all will be well again.

Experience as a beauty queen My experience as a queen has been a wonderful one. God has been faithful. I can say I have been able to achieve part of my dreams in life.

Next on my agenda My next plan right now is the massive children’s party I am organising on Children’s Day, May 27. I would be hosting 500 orphans in Otupko, Benue State.

What I do aside pageantry I run a modelling agency called ‘Amazing Amy’. Apart from modelling, we also provide ushering services for events.

My assessment of beauty pageantry in Nigeria Truth be told, we have too many pageantries in Nigeria now. There is no crime in that but I just want the queens to do their jobs; they need to know why they are crowned. Some of these queens have this idea in their head that once they have been crowned, the world is theirs. Some of them begin to rent big houses, buy big cars and what have you. That is not encouraging because these queens are ambassadors. They are supposed to be a point of contact to the needy and are expected to stretch their wings of love to the needy.

Other things are secondary.

On whether I see other beauty queens as competitors No, I don’t see any other queen as a competitor. It is not a do-or-

My take on the herdsmen’s attacks I really want the government to wade into in this matter because it is a very serious one. I am from Agatu Local Government in Benue State. I lost some family members in the course of the crisis. I want my people to go back home to live like normal people; I want government to compensate those who lost everything during the crisis. Our kids need to go back to school; my fathers need to go back to their farms.

What is your definition of style?

Style to me is all about comfort. Whatever you put on, you should be comfortable in it. Don’t forget the way you dress is the way you will be addressed. Nigerians need to embrace decent dressing. Ladies should cover up properly so they don’t encounter disgrace in public. Style is all about comfort. Go for what fits you.

Most embarrassing moment It was a day the slit of my dress tore in a club, up to my backside area. My backside was out!

I mean completely. I was shocked and highly embarrassed.

Favourite designer(s) I love channel, LV, MK. Self description I am a fun loving person.

Beauty regimen I don’t really have any beauty regimen.

I just try to rest well; eat good food and shower all the time.

Favourite perfume(s) Elizabeth Arden and Mid-night tresor.

Special treat I love to travel, listen to good music, and I sleep a lot.

Opinion on toning and cosmetic surgery It’s totally bad! God has beautifully and wonderfully created us. So, why should a person try to change our body?

Opinion on involving children in beauty pageants I don’t really like it. As kids, they shouldn’t be distracted. There is time for everything.

Greatest challenge My greatest challenge right now is to raise funds through good spirited and well-meaning Nigerians to build my own foundation; from the start to finish.

With Tayo Gesinde temiligali03@yahoo.com 08054727801

What I do when someone

breaks my heart —Vivien Ike

Actress, Vivien Ike, is the elder sister of the popular actress, Chika Ike. The actress has chosen to make a career in TV reality shows and acting.

SEYI SOKOYA brings excerpts of her career and fashion preferences. Excerpts:

die affair. You work, I work! You run your race, I run mine. There is no hurry in life.

On whether I have reached my peak By the special grace of God, being a beauty queen has opened doors. God has been faithful. I feel fulfilled partly. I haven’t got to the peak of my career. Maybe when I get there, then I would feel completely fulfilled.

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M

Y principle about life It is what I describe as godly principle or divine principle; the principle of having the fear of God. You have to be born again Christian, seek the kingdom of God and every other thing will be added unto you.

Background I grew up in a home where family values lay in teaching the golden rule and practicing what we were taught. That golden rule, as my mum would say, is to treat others the way you would like to be treated. For me, that is true religion. Added to that, pray without ceasing and have faith in God. My relationship with my sister, Chika Ike We have an understanding relationship and treat each other with much love and respect.

Importance of my new reality show, ’Blind Tasters’ Blind Tasters is a healthy competition that celebrates family values, promotes the concept of love, friendship, and cooking.

It employs blind tasting as a means of evaluating, promoting, strengthening and rekindling the bond among people. This healthy competition involves seven contestants and seven blind tasters. These blind tasters could be family relations or friends of the contestants. The contestants are assigned to cook while the blind tasters are to identify their contestant’s dish. If they fail, they send their contestants to the danger zone where each of them has to identify whatever is presented to them. They do this with their eyes closed and noses clamped. Any contestant that fails the test goes into the elimination room to face a celebrity judge and two other judges. There, they are judged based on the presentation and taste of their food. The contestant with worst food is eliminated and the one that has the best food wins. The overall winner of the competition leaves with N2 million and a brand new car.

What stands the initiative out among other reality shows Blind tasters already speaks for itself as its format has been reviewed by top production companies. As I said earlier, it is a show that celebrates family values, which include: social, political, religious and work values. All these strengthen the bonds families have and help kids make good choices. I am confident that it will appeal to a broad demographic due to its varied content and entertainment value. For example, a mother can be the contestant and her seven year-old child can be her blind taster. The experience of the cooking competition is colorful, fun and rewarding. It is not about financial reward aspect, but fixing broken relationships, restoring peace, trust and unity among families and friends. For me, there are two relationships that really matter­–our relationship with God and relationship with your family.

How this initiative will contribute to the country’s economy Creativity is important for economic growth and development. As a result of this, my focus has always been to create wealth by promoting a creative economy. Everything in this world begins with a simple idea and this has created job opportunities and generated income, thereby contributing to the development of countries. The reality show is not different in the sense that it is a brilliant idea that has the potential of doing the same thing which will generate income and create job opportunities.

Inspiration Creativity inspires me because it breaks down walls and dissolves fear. It boosts one’s self-esteem and makes one begin to see one self as a creative genius.

My mentor I am a perfectionist. So, I will go for Jesus, because He is perfect. But if you had to rephrase the question and ask me the ones I truly admire, I would not mince words when I say Steve Jobs and Oprah Winfrey. I love people that think different and also those that are cheerful givers.

Favourite quote I have two favourite quotes. The first one is ‘your purpose begins and ends with God’.

While the other one is ‘I’d rather sweat

Creativity is important for economic growth and development.

As a result of this, my focus has always been to create wealth by promoting a creative economy.

and smile now than smile and sweat later.’

My goals

By His grace, my production company, ‘Vivien Ike productions limited’ will produce more shows, movies, documentaries and more in the future. My team and I strongly believe that greatness lives here and we are determined to prove it.

Lesson life has taught me Life has taught me to walk by faith and not by sight.

My ideal man He must be God-fearing and be in alignment with his purpose and mine.

Definition of style I believe I fall under the classy-chic umbrella. It is timeless, effortless and elegant. I consider myself a stylish person not a fashionable person. A fashionable person follows trends closely because he/she is concerned about keeping up with the latest fashion trend, while a stylish person keeps an eye on fashion and only takes what he/she feels has that timeless appeal and is appropriate. For me, it has always been about the fit and not the trend because trends come and go, making it hard to keep up, but I applaud those who can.

Fashion item that takes a large part of my wardrobe That has to do with jumpsuits. I love it to a fault because it is simple and classic on me.

Fashionista I admire Rita Dominic has a good sense of style.

Misconception of fashion I think people, especially ladies, should be mindful of what fashion really entails. We need to get things right. A trendy fashion idea or item doesn’t mean it fits or will look good on you. We as women should not follow trends at all times, but be independent and creative with our choices. Try getting something ordinary and make it extraordinary.

Movies I have feature in They include: ‘Monster Under My Skin’ and ‘Lost Trust’ produced by Chioma Okoye, and directed by Ekenna Igwe. Also, Different Women produced by Lisa Onu and directed

by Iyke Odife. I would describe the character I played in ‘Lost Trust’ was the most challenging. I was a mediator, whose only plan was to cause havoc and destroy my friend’s home. I was thrilled about my first role, but then I put myself in the other characters’ shoes and I became moody. So, to avoid falling deep into depression, I reminded myself that it was just a character and it would never be me. The most interesting thing about acting is that I get to play or act out other peoples’ lives and learn from that experience.

How I cope with stardom The best way to cope with it is to always remember where I came from, the reason I am doing what I am doing and achieving my dreams; more importantly, to make other people’s dreams come true.

How I handle heartbreak Heartbreak comes in different forms, but the best way to deal with such is to learn from it and move on. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.

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15 May, 2016

With Akintayo Abodunrin akinjaa03@yahoo.co.uk 08111813058

Kunle Afolayan unfolds grand plans for The CEO In-flight premiere on a Paris, France bound flight, red carpet event at the check-in counter and cinema releases across Africa on the same day are some of the plans for the movie starring Grammy Award winner, Angélique Kidjo and others.

F

ILMMAKER Kunle Afolayan walks his talk. Having always spoken of his desire to make a quality pan-African movie, Afolayan has finally achieved his dream with ‘The CEO’, a mystery thriller with cast drawn from Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Benin Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco, among others.

Though only 45 minutes was shown to the press, guests and partners of the project at a screening held at Silverbird Cinema, Ikeja, Lagos State, on Wednesday, it was enough to show that Afolayan has another blockbuster on his hands.

Featuring the likes of Benin Republic’s Grammy Award-winning singer, Angélique Kidjo; Haitian actor and model, Jimmy Jean-Louis; Wole Ojo; French-Ivorien actress and model, Aurelie Eliam; South African actor and presenter, Nicolaos Panagiotopoulos; Kemi Lala Akindoju; Moroccan star, Fatim Layachi; Kenyan actor, Peter King, Hilda Dokubo , singer Adekunle Gold and Moroccan artiste, Ahmed Soultan, the acting, of course, is top notch. The picture is crisp and the audio excellent. Afolayan, essentially, upholds all the production values he cherishes by paying attention to details But it is the story, written by celebrity script writer, Tunde Babalola that wows.

The chief executive officer of a multinational telecoms firm in Nigeria, Transwire Nigeria, has just resigned and plans are afoot to find a replacement. But rather than just appoint the new CEO, the management decided to throw it open to five senior managers handling its operations in other countries. In the frame are a Nigerian (Ojo), Moroccan (Layachi), Kenyan (King), Ivorien (Eliam) and South African (Panagiotopoulos). The plan is for them to spend a week at a management retreat at a beach resort in Nigeria and for the new CEO to emerge at the end.

The quirky Professor Zimmerman, played

by Kidjo, is the facilitator while the efficient but impish Lisa (Lala Akindoju) is the secretary assigned to the group. But then, Murphy’s Law comes into play. Things go awry and we are left with intrigues and dead bodies.

“No, continue” shouted some people in the cinema hall as the screening was stopped after 45 minutes while others simply applauded Afolayan and his team for a good job.

Unveiling plans for the movie during the interaction that followed, Afolayan disclosed that there would be an in-flight premiere of ‘The CEO’ aboard Air-France flight AF149 to Paris on June 1. He disclosed that a red carpet at the check-in-counter at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport and a cocktail at the boarding gate will precede the screening.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Lagos State governor, Akin Ambode, officials of partners including Air FranceKLM, Peugeot Automobile, Africa Magic, Hip TV, Bank of Industry, Inagbe Grand Resorts, the cast of the movie and other travelers will be on the flight. “It is going to be a complete event show with the

From left, Kunle Afolayan; Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu; Shepuya Icha and Cynthia Nwuka, at the media briefing after the movie screening. usual razzmatazz. Just imagine an after party happening 35,000 to 40,000 feet above the sea level. It is sure going to be a unique experience,” he said.

On arrival in Paris, the movie will open the Nollywood Week Paris on June 2 at the popular Cinema l’Arlequin.

Afolayan further disclosed that a grand premiere would happen at Eko Hotel on

July 10 before Silverbird Distribution starts screening the movie in all Nigerian cinemas and its African outlets on July 15.

On why he went pan-African with the movie, Afolayan said it was to bridge the distribution gap as the movie would be able to screen across Africa. He added that aside commercial considerations, he decided to involve other Africans because “we need to

start documenting history; there’s a lot of cross-border movement across Africa.”

Afolayan described ‘The CEO’ as an experiment to develop value for Africa cinema and that, “apart from Nigeria where the cinema is expanding, we are also targeting a huge market for this film in other African countries. Take for example, South Africa which has close to 500 cinemas; if my films could screen in 200 South African cinemas, it would be great; this is what cinema distribution can do to the success of a filmmaker.

If we can lock down Africa, then we do not need Hollywood.”

Speaking, Commercial Director, Air FranceKLM, Arthur Dieffenthaler, disclosed that this is the first time a Nigerian movie was allowed to film at Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris and that partnering Afolayan for the movie “is one of the most amazing things we ever did as a company.

He described the June 1 in-flight premiere as “exporting one of Nigeria’s finest products to the world.”

Director, M-Net West Africa, Wangi MbaUzoukwu said: “The CEO promises to be unlike anything we have ever seen from Africa. We are familiar with the stellar work that Kunle Afolayan does with his Golden Effects Company and were therefore more than excited to jump on board The CEO project right from its inception. This partnership is in furtherance of our continued drive to support Nigerian and African cinema by investing in people, ideas and talent, and we can’t wait for fans and lovers of good cinema to watch this movie.”

Others who spoke at the interaction included Ojo, Babalola and representatives of Bank of Industry and PAN amongst others.

Hear Word! ends international tour with command performance in Abuja AFTER a successful tour of the US and Europe, the Etisalat-sponsored episodic stage play that highlights issues that hold Nigerian women back from reaching their full potentials, Hear Word! has shown in Abuja.

The Abuja staging was the climax of a thrilling three-continent tour which kicked off in April at Harvard University, and made a stop at Torp Theater - Central Connecticut State University both in the USA before moving to the Frascati Theatre in Amsterdam.

Hear Word! which premiered at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, attracted eminent guests led by the wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo. Others at the event were Chairman of Etisalat Nigeria, Hakeem Belo-Osagie and his wife, Myma; Patron, Etisalat Prize for Literature, Dele Olojede; Mrs. Gimbiya Yakubu Dogara; Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili and wives of service chiefs including Mrs. Omobolanle Olonisakin; Mrs. Theresa Ibass; Mrs. Sadique Abubakar, Mrs. Agharase Arase, among others.

The stage drama featured a collection of 10 stories of real life accounts of inequality, discrimination, abuse and violence, and other social, cultural, traditional, economic and political manifestations and practices of the society which limit women from reaching their full potentials and becoming meaningful contributors to the development of the

From left, Elvina Ibru; Ifeoma Fafunwa; Myma Belo-Osagie; Hakeem Belo-Osagie; Taiwo Ajai-Lycett; Deborah Willsher and Ufuoma McDermott, at the Abuja premiere ofHear Word! society.

It is an advocacy piece of performance that uses artistry, social commentary and humour to tell real life stories of issues affecting the lives of women across Nigeria and also examines factors that limit their potential for independence and leadership.

Speaking at the occasion, Etisalat Nigeria’s Director, Brands and Experience, Elvis Ogiemwanye, said Hear Word! captures in part the company’s vision of creating and supporting platforms that empower people to discover themselves and reach their full potentials.

“We are an innovative and expressive company and are delighted to have pulled

this through with the Hear Word! team.

We share in the everyday experiences of our customers, and also seek for appropriate channels to create desirable experiences for them. We believe in providing people the opportunities to express themselves, be it in innovation, music, sports, literature, photography, theatre arts, education, entrepreneurship and any other way we can contribute to the development of the society,” he said.

Produced and directed by Ifeoma Fafunwa, Hear Word! features actresses Taiwo AjaiLycett, Joke Silva, Bimbo Akintola, Omonor, Elvina Ibru, Ufuoma McDermott, Zara Udofia, Rita Edward, Debbie Ohiri and Odenike.

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15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

thepolity As thick clouds hang over PDP’s convention

LEON USIGBE and JACOB SEGUN OLATUNJI write on the fresh crisis threatening the May 21 national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ali Modu Sheriff

A

S the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) looms large in the horizon, the sky is heavily overcast. There is palpable tension, with contending forces doing their best to rip apart what is left of the tenuous unity of the former ruling party.

A house divided against itself, goes a saying, cannot stand. This seems to perfectly illustrate the scenario in the once governing PDP, a party that now seems to be now a shadow of its former as a result of the battle for the control of its soul.

The suggestion of an implosion has become more rampant at a time the opposition should be clearing up the mess arising from its defeat in the 2015 general election.

But no; there seems to be an eternal struggle between those who say they are the founding fathers led by former information minister, Professor Jerry Gana and those they regard as impostors under the leadership of the acting national chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff. The struggle between the sides is fierce and has degenerated to name-calling in the last few days.

Sheriff emerged as the new party boss mainly with the support of some of the state governors elected under the party’s banner and got the nod of the National Working Committee (NWC) and the highest decision-making organ of the party, the National Executive Committee (NEC). Its Board of Trustees (BoT), on the other hand, maintained a tepid disposition towards the choice of a relatively new entrant in the party as its boss. Besides, Sheriff’s appointment was intended to afford the NorthEast the opportunity to complete its tenure, following the resignation of the Bauchi State-born former national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu.

Sheriff’s opponents argue that he has already overstayed, since the North-East’s tenure lapsed in March.

The dynamics have now changed, bringing with it more complications in the already dire condition of the PDP. Splinter groups have sprung up in state chapters of the party as well as the six zones with calls for the postponement of the May 21 convention becoming louder.

Jerry Gana

Ayo Fayose

Investigations from the states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja show that less than seven days to the controversial convention, there have been more troubles for the party than there were immediately after the 2015 election. The crisis is only being compounded by the different positions and statements coming from the national secretariat, the leadership, its governors, zones, interest groups and individual members of the party.

The party’s NEC has extended his tenure till May 21 convention, re-zoned his seat to his North-East geopolitical zone and apparently favours his re-election for the post at the convention. With that in mind, the Sheriffled NWC is at an advanced stage in the preparations that will culminate in the convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. It has already conducted ward, local government, state and zonal congresses, many of which have resulted in more acrimony within the party across zones and in states.

The Gana group, which styled itself as Concerned PDP Stakeholders, will have none of it. Its position is that since their tenure has expired, the Sheriff-led NWC, which they referred to as “hoodlums and gangsters” cannot conduct congresses or the national convention for the party. At its last meeting in Abuja, on Thursday, the group was unequivocal in its call for Sheriff to step aside and allow a 21-man steering committee to run the affairs of the party pending the proper reconstitution of its leadership.

In an eight-point resolution, it observed that at the expiration of the tenure of the members of the NWC on March 24, 2016, a national convention to elect the new executives ought to have taken place or a caretaker committee put in place to run the affairs of the party till such a convention was undertaken by the party. Therefore, it noted that the purported extension of the tenure of the chairman and other members of the NWC by the NEC was an “illegality, untenable and contrary to the provisions of the party’s constitution which gives such powers only to the national convention of the party.”

According to the group, following from the above position, therefore, all actions purportedly taken by the NEC

and the NWC, including the congresses and the planned national convention of the party constituted a nullity and were of no effect. The group also declared the new zoning arrangement as announced by the chairman of the “purported” zoning committee, and Governor of AkwaIbom State, Udom Emmanuel, unacceptable, as according to it, it clearly runs contrary to the party’s established principles and practice, which have sustained the party in continuous unity for the last 18 years.”

The Concerned PDP Stakeholders noted: “Deriving from all the above and in order to stop further slide into unconstitutional confusion and widespread disenchantment of party members nationwide, we the founding fathers, stakeholders and leaders of the party from all the six geopolitical zones hereby announce a 21-member steering committee to manage the affairs of the PDP, and work intimately with our respected members of BoT who are the conscience of the party till such a time that a proper, lawfully organised national convention of the party, where a new authentic leadership of the party will be duly elected in accordance to the provisions of our party constitution and guidelines.”

The stakeholders are planning their own reconciliation of aggrieved members and are resolutely against the ongoing effort to amend the PDP constitution by the “illegal” NWC “in order to muzzle and control the BoT and thereby subject the BoT to the villains and caprices of the NWC.” There have also been calls for the postponement of the convention from a northern group which met recently and led by the immediate past governor of Niger State, Dr Babangida Aliyu, as well as the PDP former ministers’ forum.

Expectedly, the Concerned PDP Stakeholders have elicited a feisty response from Sheriff, who immediately after the stakeholders ended their meeting, launched a tirade against Gana for his audacity and threatened to drag him before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions Continues pg 30

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interview

15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

FUELlin

Buhari right to remove subsid He didn’t consider Nigerians’ Dr Doyin Odebowale, a lawyer, teaches Classics at the University of Ibadan. He speaks with DARE ADEKANMBI on the reason subsidy was removed, the Buhari government and other matters. Excerpts:

A

S a sympathiser to President Muhammadu Buhari, did it come to you as a surprise, the announcement of a new price regime for petrol?

Let me clarify an issue. I am not his strong sympathiser. I support Buhari and my support for him is predicated on the fact of his personality as a sincere person who means well. That is where my support for him stops. Concerning his policies, every one of it will be scrutinised and the outcome of the scrutiny will determine where my support will be. My support for him is not blind; it is not that I will support everything he does. As his policies unfold, I will engage them and see how they will impact on the generality of Nigerians.

The increase in the pump price of petrol came to me as a shock. I was not anticipating it. I travelled out of Ibadan and still got fuel at a filling station in Benin (Edo State), where I was able to buy petrol for N115. I came back to Ibadan, believing that the fuel crisis was subsiding. I woke up in the evening and found out that Ibe Kachikwu had announced a new pump price. That was insensitive on the part of Kachikwu and whoever advised him to go on air and make such announcement. It is hazy and unclear because if we talk about deregulation, we don’t talk about fixing a price for the independent marketers who are going to use their money to purchase the product from the international market, having sourced forex from the parallel market. Kachikwu needs be told that. So, that really got me worried. If we say total deregulation and that everybody is free to bring in the product, we can’t be talking about price regulation.

They called it ‘guided deregulation.’

That is stupid and does not make any economic sense. If I go to Sabo to buy dollar at N320 or even N400 and another person is lucky to have got his own forex from people who must have stolen from the treasury and kept dollars in their soak away, is government going to ask the two set of people to sell at the same price?

We need some clarification on that. All of us must come to terms with the fact that we can’t just continue like this. I reliably gathered there was a heated argument between President Buhari and those who are close to him on the payment of the subsidy arrears he inherited. Before he finally signed the budget, he ensured that there was no inclusion of subsidy in the budget

is how we must look at it. When we look at the price of crude oil in the international market, we should also consider what the marketers will be going through before they bring in the products. And of course, as they will be bringing in the products, we expect them to make a big margin of profit. So, I don’t think that expectation is realistic. Nigerians should know that the PDP destroyed this country. Unfortunately, there is no difference between PDP and APC. Why some of us are worried is that the itinerary of government appears to be on hold. We are just depending on the sincerity of one man, that is, Buhari. That is dangerous. He is an old man. Some of those who are in the APC came from PDP and they are still crossing over to the APC. Most of them are disappointed now because Buhari is not sharing money. They had expected to continue what they did in the PDP for 16 years. This is why they are all saying they are disappointed in Buhari. So, I won’t be surprised if those who are going to lead the protest against fueld price hike are from APC and PDP. I am only worried about the epileptic approach to issues of the economy and this can’t assist us in the long run. The president has to sit down and work on this. There are members of his cabinet that he must drop.

People who stole money have found their way into the cabinet. I don’t want to mention names.

Dr Doyin Odebowale

so that he will start on a clean slate.

Where I think the government has failed, and we have to make this clear, is in the area of information dissemination.

Lai Mohammed has suddenly gone quiet.

Femi Adesina goes to London and all he does is grinning all over. Garba Shehu comes on air once in a while to drop some things and goes back. All of them are behaving as if we should run after them to know what the government is going to do with us. No, that is not right. That arrogance has to stop. Who says we can’t insist that a litre of petrol should not sell for more than N20? It is our oil and if this is a democracy, they have to consult us. This arrogance about knowing what is best for people should stop. Epileptic policy statement from government media machinery is unacceptable.

Nigerians had actually expected a drop in the price which was what the APC and Buhari reportedly promised before the election. They even said the refineries would be

fixed quickly and to end importation of refined petroleum products…

Those who are saying that are behaving as though they are not in this country.

They are trying to fix two refineries and I read in the newspapers that the Warri and Kaduna refineries have started to function, though at low capacity, until the Niger Delta Avengers decided to bomb the pipes carrying crude to the refineries. We can’t run away from the fact that the nefarious activities of those people have had a negative impact on the plans of government.

About drop in the pump price of petrol, we should not forget that the independent marketers are in business to make profits.

They have been making profits from our blood and sweat. Now, this government does not want to sustain subsidy and is so insistent on knowing how its forex is spent. This is unlike what obtained before now when government was bringing in toothpicks, Buhari’s government wants the marketers to source their forex since they are in a profit-making venture. That

Labour leaders, civil society organisations, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and others have threatened mass action from next week over the fuel price hike…

I don’t believe in any labour movement in Nigeria. I hate NLC and TUC with a passion. They are a bunch of insincere people. I participated in the ‘Occupy Nigeria’ protest which started in Lagos State.

Mrs Fawehinmi invited us because she had had the hint through somebody in the Presidency that subsidy would be totally removed. We moved to our various zones and I participated fully in the protest in Ibadan. The labour leaders sold out. Unlike before, President Buhari may not likely bribe any labour leader. Any minister who wants to grandstand that he is close to ASUU is also telling lies. I know Buhari won’t give anybody one kobo. We were at Mapo, Ibadan, dancing to Fuji music from Taye Currency when the labour leadContinues pg 30

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interview

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Sunday Tribune

ng crisis

dy —Varsity teacher ’ pains —PDP chief Mr Dennis Alonge-Niyi is the Deputy National Youth Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and an aspirant for the post of the party’s National Publicity Secretary. He speaks with MOSES ALAO on the recent announcement that pump price would cost N145, the implications of the decision for Nigerians and what his party would do as an opposition party. Excerpts:

I

N 2012, the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan removed fuel subsidy and that policy led to a massive protest from Nigerians, with most APC leaders taking sides against it back then. As a PDP chieftain, what is your response to the step taken by the Buhari administration on May 11?

First, I want to say that the former president, who was our leader and is still our leader in the PDP, was not firm enough on the issue of removal of fuel subsidy. He could not take a firm decision on the issue of deregulation; so Nigerians, particularly the opposition, took advantage of that to sabotage his effort. So, the situation in 2012 is not the same as what we have today. There is no way I can compare the situation of 2012 with the situation we have today. Second, the so-called social critics and the labour unions have compromised their positions and integrity; they are now toothless bulldogs. All of them are afraid of being attacked by the Federal Government.

In the 2012 situation, we had a friendly but weak president, friendly to labour but weak in decision-making but now we have a man whose body language is creating fear in the people despite his ineptitude and shortcomings. That is why I said we cannot compare the situations. But look at my pain, your pain and the hardship that Nigerians have been passing through under the APC government and then add the decision to deregulate at this period; you would see that this government wants to kill the ordinary Nigerian.

But the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu and the supporters of President Buhari have been quick to explain that the decision would be in the general interest of Nigerians. Why can’t you see things from their point of view?

Personally, I can’t see thing from that angle, because the current government is only looking for revenues by all means without giving considerations to the pains and hardship the people are going through. So, the argument that the removal of subsidy is long overdue cannot hold, because in 2012, the APC leaders said the removal was at a wrong time. Today, if deregulation should come, they should have

understand what I am saying. For someone to come out and tell Nigerians that they were invited to a meeting, given information on a development and they responded that they would go to consult, that is ranting. In 2012, they didn’t tell President Jonathan they were going to consult; right on the negotiation table, they emphatically told the president ‘no.’

So, this time round too, they should have told the vice-president ‘don’t try it, if you do, we will clash.’ They have failed in their responsibility; they have compromised and they are not representing Nigerian workers well. In 2012, an average Nigerian could still have three meals a day; today, if you are lucky to have one, you will give glory to God. Yet, the government wants people to buy fuel at N145.

Mr Dennis Alonge-Niyi

convinced the ordinary Nigerians that they meant business and that they can move the country forward and not just add to their pains. You know what Nigerians went through in the last two months in terms of fuel scarcity and general hardship. But in the previous administration, when the decision to remove subsidy was taken, people didn’t have to go through this kind of hardship first. There were effective solutions to fuel crisis back then.

Look at how the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, was able to satisfy this country’s fuel needs.

Irrespective of anyone’s assessment of her and her alleged shortcoming, she was decisive when it comes to Nigerians getting fuel at the appropriate time. There was no fuel queue for the three or four years that this woman was in the saddle. But today, we have a very helpless president, who also unfortunately calls himself the minister of petroleum. I said unfortunately because we have not seen any impact of

his being petroleum minister; he has lost the control of the oil industry. Kachikwu cannot be said to be in control, because Nigerians cannot ask him questions. Ordinarily, questions should have been directed to whoever is the minister of petroleum but we have a president who has declared himself minister of petroleum by word of mouth and not by action, because I have not heard or seen one action or pronouncement from President Buhari as minister of petroleum.

You accused the labour union and critics of being compromised but the labour has also rejected the latest effort and is already threatening to mobilise against it.

If you look at the labour union in 2012, led by Comrade [Abdulwaheed] Omar and the viciousness with which they attacked the government and President Jonathan then, and you compare that with the current labour leadership’s ranting, you will

As the deputy National Youth Leader of the PDP, which is now the opposition party, is the PDP youth wing planning any action to save the Nigerian people if the labour union and critics have, indeed, been compromised?

Thank you for that flashback. You would recall that in 2012, Nigerians youths were misled into thinking that they were fighting a just cause. Through the effort of an opposition party that was desperate and determined to get into government by all means, the youth were mobilised into the streets. But today, you will see what is called a constructive opposition from the PDP. Opposition is not just about criticising every move of the government. For us in the PDP, we give room that government might have made a mistake on a policy and could correct itself; we just don’t rush to the press as attacking dogs against the ruling party. We have been there and we know what it takes to rule a large country like Nigeria, so we are not dreamers like the present ruling party who attacked destructively. If we are not leading the youth to the streets today, it will be because of the interest of the country, which is very paramount to us.

Are you saying the PDP will not fight for Nigerians, since you accused the labour union of having compromised?

I have not said that. The PDP as an Continues pg 30

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thepolity

15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Convention: To be or not to be?

Continued from

pg 27

(EFCC) for allegedly obtaining money in the name of the party. Sheriff certainly took exception to the activities of a group and held nothing back through his Special Assistant on Media, Inuwa Bwala, who said that the party boss might be forced to drag Gana before the anti-graft agency for allegedly money using the PDP machinery.

The chairman’s spokesman revealed that Gana had previously recognised his leadership and had, indeed, written to him requesting for an appointment to submit the report of the Finance Committee, which Gana heads.

He revealed that Sheriff had avoided the collection of the report, noting, “it is on record that he same Jerry Gana, using the machinery of the party, collected money on behalf of the PDP, for which the PDP has been dragged to court, for which PDP is being compelled to pay back.”

Bwala went further to disclose that leaders of thought in the party had prevailed on the chairman not to make this matter public in order to save Gana of the embarrassment. “But as it is, chairman may be left with no option than to drag Jerry Gana before the EFCC to explain his role in obtaining a facility on behalf of this party and let him also explain what was done with that money.”

Bwala said Sheriff had closely watched the activities of Gana and his group but had restrained himself, believing that there would be a forum for them to iron out their differences. Noting that the former minister had always sought to make himself relevant in every government, the national chairman’s aide declared: “given his recent actions, I don’t think there is much left in this man to add value to the repositioning of the PDP.” He explained further that since Sheriff’s emergence as the party chairman, the former information minister and his group had never seen anything good done by the former ruling party, as he accused Gana of nursing personal grudges. According to Bwala, some of the stakeholders

Adamu Mu’azu

had requested for one favour or the other including forwarding nominees for various committees but where he could not meet up, they held it against him. But he maintained that Sheriff was determined to weed out party members who used the platform of the party to feather their nests to the detriment of the party’s interest.

“Some of these individuals at one time or the other played ignoble roles to squander the fortunes of this party. They seem to forget that their generation is no longer relevant to contemporary politics,” he said. Therefore, he was certain that Sheriff would not heed the group’s call to resign from office as he would go ahead with all the programme already lined up culminating in the national convention on May 21, 2016.

Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun, a member of the zoning committee and BOT member of the party said that the convention should be allowed to hold as planned, adding

that the results of all parallel congresses would be harmonised by the national secretariat in the overall interest of the party.

Oyedokun said with all hands on deck, the PDP would regain its glory sooner than later.

Hon Kayode Amusan,a former member of the House of Representatives and Governorship aspirant in Ogun State opined that, despite all the shortcomings of the party hope was not lost and that the PDP remained the party to beat once all the contending issues were justly and fairly addressed.

Chief Ebenezer Babatope, a member of the BOT, called on Sheriff to leave as chairman on May 21 along with the NWC to allow a steering committee and the BOT to take over the party. He vowed that genuine members of the party would stay back to ease out Sheriff and his group.

Observers, however, worry about what could be the consequences of the latest crisis for the future of the opposition party. Can it afford a new split, knowing well how such development ruined its chances in 2015? Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, considered to be the major backer of Sheriff, has, however, said there is no cause for alarm. Giving the assurance after a meeting with the national chairman in Abuja, on Thursday, Fayose said the convention would go on as planned and be successful. To him, it was time for the elders who are still struggling for relevance in the PDP to give way to younger and more dynamic leaders to chart for it a more viable path into the future.

Should the convention go on as scheduled, what becomes of the crisis in many state chapters where parallel congresses were held? What signal will the threatened national convention have on the future of the umbrella party? Will the hopes of the much-vaunted return to control of central government be sustained or dashed? Answers to these question and more will come in the fullness of time.

interview ‘APC govt wants to kill ordinary Nigerians’ Continued from pg 29 opposition party will do everything needful but we will take into account the general interest of this country. We will not criticise destructively, because we know the effect of such untoward step; we have suffered the consequences. And it is not our wish for government to fail, but where they desire to fail; it will be our responsibility to call on the Nigerian populace, particularly the youth, to highlight their failures.

Currently, we are still analysing the situation and very soon, we will come out strongly on behalf of Nigerians, not just the youth. Though my directorate relates more with the Nigerian youth, the Nigerian youth we are leading will not be unnecessarily be pushed to the streets.

We will lead them as and when necessary when we have been able to establish that deregulation has brought more hardships. We will leave no stone unturned, because we cannot allow any government to use propaganda to erode all the achievements of our government.

Your party just held its ward, local government and state congresses, with the convention still ahead despite pockets of crises across the country. Given the promise that the party would place more importance on youth participation; do you see that happening as the party sets for the future?

I will say that PDP is a party for Nigerians; it is the party for Nigerian youths. It is the only party Nigerians can rely upon. It is, however, unfortunate that some hawks have come to hijack the entire structure. Some months ago, we assembled Nigerian youths and we assured them that we were giving the party back to them. A committee was set up to see to that but as I speak with you, I can’t even say if the committee met let alone submit its report.

That committee was not empowered to sit.

The truth about party politics in Nigeria is that the current leaderships across the parties are not ready to submit the party structures to the youth. Whether PDP or APC, they are the same in terms of not allowing youths to take active parts in leadership. You will recall that Timi Frank should have been the National Publicity Secretary of the APC after Alhaji Lai Mohammed became minister; today, he has been denied. The elders are not ready to leave the corridors of power; they are not ready to give any chance to the youth. Unfortunately, the few chances the youth have had, they don’t use them to mobilise other youths.

In the last 17 years, young persons have been fortunate to become speakers of the House of Representatives, but have any of them ever thought of mobilising Nigerian youths and creating awareness that the youth needed. It goes beyond political parties, because if the government does not fund the youth directorate of any party, there is nothing they can do.

All is not well in the PDP for now, but I know God will take control. If our leaders will give more room for youth participation and engagement, things will be better and the sky will be the limit for the party.

‘PDP destroyed Nigeria’ Continued from pg 28 ers announced that the strike, which they never initiated in the first place, had been called off. So, anybody who wants to follow them is free.

Do you see the new policy putting further pressure on the naira?

Whether we like it or not, until we start to produce things in this country, we will never be able to get the real value of the naira. Production determines the value of a currency and not the nominal value we attach to it. If the marketers like, let them source their forex from cocaine dealers or anywhere. The GSM telecommunication people did a similar thing when they newly came. We were on queue for about three days to get a SIM for almost N30, 000. If any of them misbehaves today, I will just throw away their SIM and get another one. Ultimately, the new fuel policy will get to that in a matter of 12 months. Initially, we are going to face some problems from some

unscrupulous marketers. But by and large, those who want to market will remain in the business and those who have been bringing in water as fuel during the Jonathan administration and get an alert for doing so, will be exposed. The billionaires without enterprise will be exposed. We can’t use our forex which is meant for other useful things to be subsidising petroleum products. It is not going to work.

Does it worry you that the goodwill account of Buhari may further go down with this policy?

It will go down. There is what we call selfish interest and enlightened self- interest. It is the bounden duty of anybody who claims to be educated to at least let people know that the true situation of things in this country.

Things are difficult and there is no doubt about that. But it should not be about popularity. A leader who does the right thing is not popular initially. But when people begin to see the fruits of his plans, they will flock towards him.

31 thepolity

15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Tenure elongation for Lagos LG bosses: Will it enhance better performance?

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode recently signed into law a bill extending the tenure of local government chairmen and councillors from three to four years, in line with what he described as his administration’s resolve to improve on laws that impacted on people’s lives, writes BOLA BADMUS.

L

AGOS State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, last Thursday, signed into law a bill that approved the four-year tenure for council chairmen and councillors, who are representatives of the people at the third tier of government in the country.

Before now, the affected officials serve only three years once they are elected into office through an election that is conducted by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), which has been put in charge of the task by relevant state laws.

The Lagos State House of Assembly, headed by Honourable Mudashiru Obasa, had deliberated on the bill sent to the House by Governor Ambode, a few weeks back, before finally passing it, to enable the governor to sign it into law. The bill, entitled ‘Local Government Administration Amendment Law,’ has one of its major amendments targeted at reviewing the tenure of the chairmen and councillors from three to four years starting from the date of taking their oaths of office. With the signing of the bill into law, council chairmen and the councillors now have their tenure adjusted in line with that of other elected officials at the state and federal levels.

Governor Ambode, after appending his signature to the amendment, said: “The amendment is also proactive, as Section 64 now provides that incumbent chairman who wins a rerun election will have a period spent in office prior to the rerun taken into consideration.”

According to the governor, the essence of the local administration amendment law is to regulate human conduct, recalling that his administration identified the need to improve on laws that impacted on people’s lives, upon his assumption of office. Such laws, he said, were “particularly those that are relevant to us at the local government level, which is unarguably the most critical level of governance in the state.” It is in this vein that these laws have been amended to meet current realities,” he added.

For some time now, local council administration in the country has always been the focus, with opinions divided as to whether or not they have actually justified their creation by the constitution. In the end, there has never been a consensus opinion on the debate. But while justifying the passage of the law, Deputy Majority Leader, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Muyiwa Jimoh, said the need arose because it was felt that the local government chairmen and councillors needed more time in office to discharge their constitutionally-assigned duties and responsibilities like the state governors and House of Assembly members, who were elected for a tenure of four years.

The lawmaker, who was the vice-chairman, Committee on Local Government in the seventh Assembly, stated that it had long been observed that the three-year tenure that council chairmen and councillors were allowed to serve was not enough, arguing that it did not allow them sufficient time to complete the execution of most of their projects.

“The bill for extension of tenure for elected executive chairmen of local government was passed by the House and signed into law by the governor to allow the chairmen enough time to carry on with the execution of their projects, because it has been discovered that the three-year tenure was not enough.

“It was considered inappropriate to get things done, because it has been discovered that the chairmen used the first year in office to settle down. They have the second year to plan and execute their projects, while in the third year, they prepare for elections, in the case of those who want to seek reelection. So the three-year tenure is not enough,” he said.

Some political observers have, however, read politics to the development, with some noting that Ambode had to sign the tenure extension bill so that he would have strong and already-established foot soldiers who could prosecute the battle for his re-election, if and when he decides to seek re-election. A resident in the state, Mr Davies Olaoye, while

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode

Honourable Mudashiru Obasa, Lagos Speaker

speaking on the tenure extension, maintained that the idea behind the extension was political.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is the main opposition party in the state, however, said it had no problem with the idea, expressing the belief that any party that comes to power in the state stood a chance to benefit.

The party’s publicity secretary, Mr. Taofik Gani. He, however, picked holes in other areas, which the law touched. According to him, it was wrong for the law to have empowered the state governor and the House of Assembly to sack ‘erring’ local government chairmen, saying this was wrong in law. Gani said it was wrong because much as the “president cannot just sack a state governor, so also can a state governor not sack a local government chairman, because he or she was elected by the people as the president or state governor was elected.”

Besides, the PDP spokesman insisted that the 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state remained illegal, enjoining the state government to approach the National Assembly for their listing since it is the All Progressives Congress (APC) that is now in control of government at the centre.

“Even the LCDAs stand illegal, but we are participating for political reasons. The APC should now go to NASS for listing, they now control the NASS. Also, the idea of executive secretary should be barred in local government administration. Section 7 of the Constitution allows only democratically elected councils,” he said, just as he declared that the PDP was fully prepared for council election any time the APC-led government in the state was ready for it.

In his submission, former governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Dr. Rotimi Olulana, also said there was nothing wrong with the tenure extension, describing it as normal. The LP chieftain, who spoke on telephone, said the state government would have considered some issues, including the cost of elections, to arrive at such a decision.

The politician, however, observed that council administration in the state and the country in general “no longer justifies the purpose for which it was created,” urging that it needed to be given its autonomy to enable it to discharge its duties as the third tier of government and

as government that is closer to the people at the grassroots.

In addition, Olulana called for thorough supervision of all the local governments in the country by the Federal Government and the states, just as he demanded that Joint State and Local Government Account be abolished to ensure optimal performance of the council administration.

“Local governments in Nigeria are no longer effective; there is need for autonomy to be given to them. Then, there must be thorough supervision by the Federal Government and let them abolish the Joint State and Local Government Account,” he said.

Mr Davies Olaoye observed that local governments have their challenges, as most of the areas through which they could generate revenues, have been hijacked by the state government. According to him, this has left most of the local governments with no adequate funds to operate with, which has made them unable to undertake capital projects besides just paying salaries and allowances of elected officers and staff of the councils. “It would be difficult for the impact of local governments to be felt if the present arrangement remained,” he said, adding that “the fouryear tenure makes no difference; the impact cannot be felt.”

However, Olaoye expressed the belief that given the disposition of Governor Ambode, who he said was resolved to make positive impact, Lagosians should rest assured that the tenure elongation would be a blessing at the end of the day.

The enactment of the law shows that a government that is closer to the people, which the local government administration represents, needs constant innovation or re-engineering to enable it to deliver on its mandate to the electorate, with the tenure elongation said to be capable of giving sufficient time for elected chairmen and councillors to prosecute their programmes as they promised during campaigns. But will such realisation come to pass? Will the elongation culminate in effective service delivery or good governance or end up being an extension of job for the boys?

These are the questions most Nigerians are wont to ask, as beneficiaries of the law on elongation of tenure are set to take over after being elected into offices.

opinion North-East: After crushing insurgency, what next?

32

15 May, 2016

By Sanni Onogu

F

OLLOWING the insurgency which ravaged the North-East zone of the country for the past nine years and the consequent destruction of properties, dislocation of people and the resultant number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) now scattered in various camps set up for the purpose in the zone, the National Assembly has taken up the gauntlet. The legislative institution is putting in place a legal framework to support the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari, aimed at winning the war against Boko Haram and restoring normalcy, resettle displaced communities and re-develop the affected states.

Towards this end, both chambers of the National Assembly are currently considering “A Bill for an Act to establish North-East Development Commission charged with the responsibility of, among other things, receiving and managing funds from allocation of the Federation Account and International Donors for the settlement, rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads, houses, and business premises of victims of insurgency as well as tackling menace of poverty, literacy level, ecological problems and any other related environmental or developmental challenges in the North-East states and for other related matters.” The Senate version of the bill was co-sponsored by Senators Ali Ndume, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Binta Masi Garba, Sulieman Nazif, Isah Hamma Misau, Abubakar Kyari, Emmanuel Bwacha, Abubakar Sani Danladi, Joshua Lidani, Ahmad Lawan, Danjuma Goje, Bayero Nafada and Abdul-Aziz Murtala Nyako. Other sponsors are Senators Ali Wakili, Ahmadu Abubakar, Bashir Marafa, Mohammed Hassan and Baba Kaka B. Garbai. The Senator representing Kano North Senatorial District, Kabiru Gaya, had also sponsored a similar bill, which has now been duly harmonised. States to be covered by the proposed commission include: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.

To ensure financial viability for the seamless operation of the commission, the bill made provision for the Federal Government to credit the account of the commission “the equivalent of 15 per cent of the total monthly statutory allocations due to member states of the commission from the Federation Account.” In addition, the commission shall also receive three per cent of the total annual budget of any solid mineral extracting mining company operating in the North-East States, including agricultural processing companies as well as 50 per cent of money due to member states of the commission from the Ecological Fund. Besides, to ensure efficient and transparent management of the resources accruing to the commission, the bill made provision for a governing board to oversee the affairs of the commission. According to the Bill, the board shall consist of a chairman and a person each who shall be an indigene of the six states comprising the North-East zone. The board, it said, shall also comprise one representative each from the Army, Police and Civil Defence Corps. Others include one representative of solid minerals extracting and mining producing companies in the North-East states nominated by the companies; and one person each to represent the Federal Ministries of Finance, Education and Environment. The managing director of the commission will also be a member of the board.

Furthermore, the commission, when established, “shall have powers to formulate policies and guidelines for the development of the North-East states; conceive, plan and implement in accordance with set rules and regulations, projects and programmes for the sustainable development of the North-East states, in the field of transportation, including roads, health, education, employment, agriculture, industrialisation, housing and urban development, water supply, electricity and telecommunications.” The bill also provides for the North-East states to be surveyed in order to ascertain measures which are necessary to promote its physical and socio-economic development; prepare master plans and schemes designed to promote the physical development of the North-East states and the estimates of the costs of implementing such master plans and

schemes; implement all the measures approved for the development of the North-East states by the Federal Government and the member states of the commission.

The commission would also identify factors inhibiting the development of the North-East states and assist members states in the formulation and implementation of policies to ensure sound and efficient management of the resources of the North-East states; assess and report on any project being funded or carried out in the North-East states by solid mineral extracting and mining companies, agricultural processing and any other company including non-governmental organisations and ensure that funds released for such projects are properly utilised. The body would in addition tackle ecological and environmental problems that arise from the extraction and mining of solid minerals in the North-East states and advise the Federal Government and member states on the prevention and control of water and environmental pollution.

It must be noted that the NEDC Bill has enjoyed popular support extending beyond the chambers of the National Assembly as exemplified by the sheer number of stakeholders who thronged the public hearings on the NEDC Bill organised by both chambers of the National Assembly during the week. In his remarks before declaring open the public hearing organised by the Senate, President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said it had become imperative to pass the bill on time to permanently mitigate the precarious situation of those affected by insurgency in the North-East.

He said: “We must all rise up and say never again. We have seen families wiped out, children orphaned, incomes plunged below a tenth of what they were a decade ago. Families that have survived this onslaught have largely survived with little to live by and now rely directly on handouts for food rations. More than a quarter of the children in this area are either malnourished or in danger of malnourishment. Schools have become deserted and the social fabric of our national unity severely perforated in this area, threatening to create deep set divisions amongst us, fueling animosities amongst Muslims and Christians, leading to the entire economy of the region bleeding. It is in this unique and dire context that we must appreciate the importance and urgency for us as a legislature and government to act, to restore hope and rebuild the North-East.”

Sunday Tribune

Saraki said that for members of the eighth National Assembly, the bill is a priority, because “it reflects our mandate to make laws for the good governance, peace and security of the entire country. The effort at this bill therefore, is aimed at creating the legislative framework to enable government provide the basic structures and capacities that will enable it rebuild the North-East. It will also provide an avenue for external collaborators such as international development agencies to make effective contributions towards the region; further ensuring internal stability, a base for restoration, rehabilitation and conflict resolution. All the aforementioned are crucial not only for the sustained futures of the people of the North-East but also for the country as a whole. This is a peculiar time in our history,” he said.

“Thankfully, we can talk about rebuilding due to the remarkable bravery, patriotism and courage of our armed forces who continue to take the fight back to the Boko Haram who have now largely retreated and now resort to soft attacks. We are, therefore, here to show solidarity with their gallantry and act like leaders of a united and indivisible nation. However, we must not forget that this war against terrorism cannot be won by might but through the hearts and minds of citizens who are certain that they have a secure place within the fabric of our society and thus choose to live and act in harmony towards collective growth. Thus, in making a conscious, collective decision to focus development efforts in this region, we are fostering a strong sense of place and rebuilding a positive, shared identity. It is my firm hope that your contributions to this public hearing would further enrich the bill, deepen our discussion at Senate plenary and help provide us the missing links if any towards the process of giving back hope, belief and optimism to our people that wherever they may be, their welfare and security will remain the central purpose of government. I urge you to make haste in bringing this bill to pass. Every day we wait to take legislative action, we delay the opportunities that ought to abound within and from the North-East,” Saraki said.

He, however, said he would hold the Chairman of the Senate Joint Committee on the NEDC Bill, Senator Abdul-Aziz Murtala Nyako, to his promise to lay the report on the bill on the floor of the Senate on May 25 for third reading and passage.

While welcoming members and stakeholders to the two-day public hearing, Senator Nyako said it is time Nigerians came to terms with the alarming fact that the North-East zone is rapidly deteriorating as a result of the insurgency that began in 2009.

According to him, “we often consider death as the most noticeable effect of this insurgency, but we need to look at our current situation holistically. Hundreds, if not thousands, of schools have been reduced to rubble; magistrates courts that used to resolve communal conflicts have been destroyed; hospitals and small clinics that used to treat nursing mothers, children and the elderly are non-existent; Police and law enforcement structures have been demolished; homes, markets, public parks and community centers are completely ruined; women, men and children fleeing their homes have been forced to take shelter in completely foreign communities; our fellow brothers and sisters have been murdered, tortured, raped, dehumanized and rendered homeless,” he lamented.

He reiterated that the establishment of the NEDC will not only benefit the zone but the entire country and neigbouring countries that share border with Nigeria. He said that NEDC when established would coordinate the efforts of all relevant stakeholders - Federal Government, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), States, Development partners and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to stop insurgency, stabilize the North-East Zone and place the zone on the path of sustainable growth by harnessing the regions vast potentials and resources.

Most stakeholders who made presentation at the public hearing expressed optimism that the Bill would be passed soonest by the National Assembly and assented to by the president to kickstart and facilitate the resettlement, rehabilitation and sustainable development of the NorthEast Zone.

Onogu writes from Abuja.

33

L

AST week, British Prime Minister, David Cameron was caught making some preliminary remarks about Nigeria’s participation in the anti-corruption summit in the United Kingdom to Queen Elizabeth II, during which he described Nigeria and Afghanistan as two “fantastically corrupt” countries whose leaders were attending the summit.

The comment went viral on different channels, the same goes for Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari’s response to the verbal attack, which asked Britain to return Nigeria’s looted funds starched away in the country instead of castigating her. Notwithstanding the pat on the back for fighting corruption received by Buhari’s government from Cameron at the meeting proper, it was obvious that the comments by the PM was not in any way a mistake. President Buhari himself had helped in laying the foundation for Cameron’s attack when he had ensured that in all his trips around the globe in his one year in charge, he has consistently painted his country as desperately corrupt.

Check them out. The president’s trips to the world capitals have been dotted by speeches indicating that his country was deep in corruption. In the United States, he asked the country to help Nigeria locate some $150 billion allegedly siphoned by his countrymen. He restated the same lines in Germany, London, France and even China. At a stage, looted funds by Nigerians was said to be equal to, if not more than global aid to Africa. So, if President Buhari has spent one year castigating his countrymen as some of the most corrupt on the surface of earth, what does he expect Cameron to say about Nigeria?

It should not, therefore, come as a surprise when the powerful UK newspaper, Daily Mail, on May 8, questioned even Buhari’s claim to probity. To the newspaper, it is a simple logical question. If your country is so deeply sunk into corruption, how come you are clean? The paper’s editors would simply draw inspiration from the famous novel, The Beautiful Ones are Not Yet Born and the effect of their logical conclusion was what eventually sparked the fire ignited by Prime Minister Cameron.

The Daily Mail, in its publication, queried President’s Buhari’s anti-graft war, alleging hypocrisy and alluding to insinuations of partisanship and selective execution. The newspaper lamented that while the British government was going to give aids of nearly £250million to oil-rich Nigeria in the coming year, the country’s “President sends his daughter to a top school in England” and “Nigeria has the highest-

CORPS Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, said the commission would commence impounding vehicles with expired tyres across the country as from next week. Since the comment was made last Thursday, I want to believe that his “next week” starts tomorrow, Monday, May 16.

What makes this worrying is that Oyeyemi made this fact known at a capacity development workshop for Zonal and Sector Heads of Operations of the commission in Enugu and we all know what an order from above means to the average Nigerian civil servant. They would literally fall over themselves to “be in the field next week to enforce the ban on usage of expired tyres on our roads.”

So help us God! Oyeyemi said that the use of expired tyres and speeding was among the most significant challenges in traffic management in the country currently. He pointed out that “tyres are like drugs and last for four years. Some cars move on tyres produced in 2008.” I agree with Oyeyemi.

Most of us are aware as he rightly pointed out that most fatal accidents in Nigeria are caused by expired tyres and over speeding. But has he stopped to consider the effect of this policy on Nigerians and the economy as a whole?

Why is he adding pepper to an already weeping wound?

As it is, Nigerians find it difficult and very expensive to feed and move around given the harsh economic situation and the recent increase in fuel pump price. Adding Oyeyemi’s recent brain wave is probably going to bring the economy to a complete standstill.

Is he aware that about 98 per cent of the taxis and commercial buses that ply our roads will be affected? I am sure that he is also aware that majority of the private vehicles on our roads, at least about 70 per cent, are fairly used vehicles (which is what most Nigerians can afford).

What is the guarantee that his officers and men are not as guilty of this as the average Nigerian?

Oyeyemi seems to be putting the cart before the horse.

“You must go all out to educate. We must save all those lives; those crashes must be brought down,” he said at the end of his address. Is this not what the FRSC should have done first? Educate the people, sensitize them to the

15 May, 2016

the lynxeye with Taiwo adisa

08072000046

Fantastically corrupt: Why fight David Cameron?

paid government officials in the world.”

The story reads: “The presence of Nigeria’s president at David Cameron’s anti-corruption summit this week may surprise many in his nation – which receives vast amounts of UK aid. Self-proclaimed ‘People’s President’ Muhammadu Buhari began a war on corruption after taking power last year, but critics allege it is a political witch-hunt. The

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

The FRSC and my tyres

fact that tyres indeed do expire, and that these expired tyres are very dangerous. I have been driving since 1975 and until now, I never knew that tyres had expiry dates.

Don’t get me wrong; I know that they wear with use, but expire? That’s new on me. And if I did, I wouldn’t know

Sunday Tribune

UK government is giving nearly £250 million in the coming year to oil-rich Nigeria, whose president sends his daughter to a £26,000-a-year English school.

“In April, the opposition PDP party unearthed a ticket stub showing Hanan, 16, had flown first-class from London to Nigeria, despite her father’s ban on officials using premium travel. And a Nigerian newspaper claimed Mr. Buhari has spent £150,000 on educating his daughter Zahra, a Surrey University student. The president is reported to have failed to give a full account of his worth, but even his partial admission included more than £1 million in the bank, five houses and two plots of land. Supporters say 49 arrests of members of the previous regime show the anti-corruption war is genuine, but opponents say it is politically-driven.”

The following day, Cameron simply drove the nail further, accusing Nigeria as “fantastically corrupt.” That looks like a hit below the belt really, especially considering the fact that the UK is host to hundreds of Nigerians who are making waves in different fields. But this also raises the question of he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. In recent weeks, we have seen the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission intensify its probe of campaign funds of the PDP ahead of the 2015 elections without a corresponding probe of the finances of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Though a chieftain of the ruling party explained away the situation saying when a giant holds you down, you can only sweat under the weight; this does not justify the need for level playing field in the fight against corruption.

Some months ago, a PDP-led state government indicted a former office holder who is a member of the APC. The EFCC simply ignored the indictment without even launching a probe. The alleged indictment would certainly not get such a snub if things were to be the other way round. That does not speak of a country conscientiously fighting corruption.

So when we get such jabs such as the one from Cameron and leaders like that, Nigerians should only embark on introspection rather than yelling at outsiders who only help us re-echo the sound bites we ourselves have repeated so often.

That should also serve as a lesson to President Buhari to market Nigeria in his foreign trips, rather than perpetually tracing the corruption to his predecessors as if he was leading an APC versus PDP campaign. You do not see the president of South Africa go about mouthing how his country has become the world’s rape capital, the same way you don’t see a Mexican leader visit world capitals to portray his country as ravaged by drug lords.

what to look out for or where to check. I rely on my vulcaniser who duly notifies me any time he thinks any of my car tyres should be changed. I must confess that it was only recently that I heard about the OEM’s tyre pressure recommendations.

Most Nigerian motorists are like me and we need to be educated about these issues before the FRSC starts impounding our vehicles. Would it not be better for the FRSC to look into educating the populace, with particular focus on the local vulcanizer, who not only repairs tyres but also helps procure it for his client’s use? Others are commercial vehicle drivers and other motorists like me who should be properly informed about tyre care and usage. An informed reader gave a hypothetical case using the four-year tyre expiry date. He noted that if a tyre was manufactured say in 2012, was imported and kept on the shelf only to be sold say in November 2015; such a tyre would have less than a year of useful life. He then wondered how the FRSC would monitor such complex issues.

I wonder too!

One other thing Oyeyemi and his men should focus on, are roads. How motorable are they? Does the FRSC have, does it maintain and update a database of parameters related to travel safety? Are they pushing for government to rehabilitate all roads as accidents are also caused as a result of bad roads? And what about road surface temperature and its effect on tyres? The FRSC should work in tandem with the Customs Service to prevent the importation of used and expired tyres, and also stop the sale of such tyres rather than impounding the car of the man on the street. If these tyres are not sold how can we buy them?

The FRSC’s major concern right now is expired tyres; but what about the broken down vehicles on our roads constituting death traps? Should that not be a major concern to Oyeyemi and his team and not how to make life more difficult for the average Nigerian? Really, I am in a dilemma. Should I leave my car at home tomorrow and go by public transport? Something I haven’t done for years.

And would those commercial vehicles also be available, since, as I have pointed out earlier, about 98 per cent of these might get the shock treatment from the FRSC? Perhaps I should just wait and see.

34

15 May, 2016

ON THE

Sunday Tribune

With Bolanle Bolawole turnpot@gmail.com 07052631058

lord’sday Fayose and old brigade politicians

“I

have been hearing about Ahmadu Ali since 1976 when we sang ‘Ali must go’ in secondary school. Chief Bode George has been governor of Ondo State almost 40 years ago.

They are our leaders and we love them. But they should (now) take the backstage” – Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state.

“With age comes wisdom but sometimes age comes alone” – Oscar Wilde.

If, as Wilde posits, age comes with wisdom, then, it will be foolhardy to disdain age. If the words of our elders are the words of wisdom; and wisdom, as the Scriptures say, is the principal thing, then, why disparage age? A Yoruba adage says “agba ki i wa l’oja k’ori omo tuntun wo” literally meaning nothing goes wrong when elders are around to give words of caution and seasoned advice. Wilde, however, recognises that age can also travel alone – that is to say, it can come unaccompanied by wisdom; which means that one can be old and yet be no repository of wisdom; those whom the Yoruba call “agba iya” or “old-fornothing” fools. They only “carry age for head” or count years and decades like calendar but have no sterner stuff.

This may not be what Fayose meant when he asked oldies likes Bode George and Ahmadu Ali to withdraw from the limelight and hug the backstage. Fayose probably only wants “asiko youth” (allowing the youth to call the shots) as afro-juju music king, Shina Peters, once crooned. Younger elements simply want to take over the PDP; the elders must yield the crown and clear out of the way ”jejely”; failure which the Fayoses of this world are ready to elbow them out of the way or club them in the head - if need be!

I, too, have been hearing of the Ahmadu Alis and Bode Georges for decades; but I think Fayose got the “Ali must go” or, better still, “Ali mon go” date wrong; not 1976 but 1978 was the peak of the epic students’ struggle to stop the commercialisation; nay, debasement of education under the Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo military junta. I was in the Sixth Form (HSC) at Ilesa Grammar School when that stuff broke. I recollect a students’ union leader, Aibinuomo or Aibinuori was his name, who said he came from the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) to sensitise and mobilise secondary school students at Ilesa to join the nationwide “Ali mon go” struggle.

The school authorities drove him away and immediately shut the gates. But a few of us scaled the walls and went with him to other secondary schools in Ilesa to get the job done. I remember him telling us the struggle was not only for those of them already in the university but also for those of us hoping to join them there in future.

Truly, I got admitted into the same Ife a few months after (in August 1978) and witnessed, first hand, the havoc that the commercialisation of education under Obasanjo had wreaked on hapless Nigerian students. Col. Ahmadu Ali, as he then was, was Obasanjo’s Federal Commissioner (now called Minister) of Education. Meals at the university-run cafeteria that used to be 10 kobo/breakfast, 20/lunch, and 20k/dinner skyrocketed to a flat rate of 50k per meal, in addition to other amenities and facilities now denied university students and staff alike.

That was the beginning of the 0-1-1 or 0-1-0 feeding formula, whereby indigent students skipped meals because they could not afford to pay the new rates. Progressively, the standard of university education and quality of life on campus dropped. In addition, brave and courageous students’ leaders and lecturers who stood up against the Obasanjo military junta were brutalised. Students who led the struggle were rusticated, beginning with Segun Okeowo, National President of the then students’ umbrella organisation, the National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS); NUNS itself was proscribed and that was how the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS)

came to replace it. Lecturers who got a raw deal in the hands of Obasanjo/Ahmadu Ali included Prof. Ade Ajayi, Vice-chancellor, University of Lagos: Dr. Bade Onimode and Comrade Ola Oni, both of the University of Ibadan; Comrade Laoye Sanda of The Polytechnic, Ibadan; Dr. Edwin Madunagu and his wife Bene; Dr. Omafune Onoge, to mention but a few.

If only for those atrocities, Obasanjo and Ahmadu Ali should never again have been allowed to hold any public office in this country! Unfortunately, this is Nigeria!

Obasanjo not only went ahead to become civilian president; not only ran two terms of four years each; not only attempted a third term; not only amended his party’s constitution as he prepared to step down as president to enthrone himself as Board of Trustees chairman and “conscience” of the party. He also positioned himself as “afobaje” (kingmaker) and “Baba-isale” (power-behindthe-throne) until the late Umaru Yar’Adua at first, followed by Goodluck Jonathan, decided to bite the fingers that fed them and shove the Otta farmer aside. While he held court, Obasanjo ensured that his Man Friday, Ahmadu Ali, also hugged the limelight, despite the blood of Nigerian students shed during the “Ali mon go” struggle.

In saner climes, such fellows would have had no further business in public office, let alone over-staying their welcome.

Olabode George, too, I have known since his appointment as military governor of my native Ondo State. Here, again, Fayose missed the date; it couldn’t have been 40 years ago but about 30! I was head of the Features Desk of The PUNCH and Bode’s wife at that time, Feyi, had invited us on a facility tour of Better Life projects in the state; those were the days of Maryam Babangida as First Lady and originator of the Better Life for Rural Women programme. Maryam was visiting Ondo State and Feyi had been given marching orders to make preparations, which included adequate publicity and priming up of places and personalities to be visited by Maryam. Feyi did not enjoy it at all; especially her visits to the shrines

and abodes of the “babalawos” Maryam was scheduled to visit. Feyi was a delight to interview; Bode George himself no less so. BG, as he is fondly called by his friends, or Lagos Boy, as the now defunct National Concord christened him, regaled us with stories of what I will describe as the Sociology of Corruption in Nigeria. I will recount only one here.

After his swearing-in and he resumed duty in Akure; the Protocol people led him into his office and opened an office cabinet filled with brand new currencies. Bode said he screamed: “What is this? You want to corrupt me? I cannot be corrupted!” He ordered them to pack the money away and be ready to properly account for every kobo.

Trust civil servants; they said “Yes, Sir” and complied.

Now, everyone had come to welcome the new governor: traditional rulers, top military brass, and other VIPs and soon, every available space were taken up. No one was leaving even after they had exchanged pleasantries with the governor. Bode said he was tired and needed to retire but the crowd would not disperse. It would be insolence to walk away on them. Confused, he called the Protocol, “what the heck is going on here?” as the Yankees would say. It was then he got his first lecture in Sociology of Corruption 101: Everyone was waiting for “kolanut” from the new Oga; what IBB later perfected into “welfare” or “settlement” and what Fayose has now made popular as “stomach infrastructure”. Miffed, he asked if they were sure the crowd would disperse once they got the nonsense. The Protocol guys assured him and Bode reversed his earlier order; the crisp Naira notes were brought back; brown (?) envelopes were procured and as everyone got their own envelope, they began to disperse!

My path and BG’s also crossed when he became Principal Staff Officer to Gen. Oladipo Diya, Chief of General Staff and second-in-command to vile dictator, Sani Abacha. The PUNCH had suffered one of its many closures during those giddy “June 12” days and I, together with another PUNCH manager, had been dispatched to interface with Diya on the matter. BG received us warmly and led us to Diya’s office; Diya told us the PUNCH issue was beyond him and we should make personal requests. I declined to make any. Back in BG’s office, he told us stories of how high-wired power-play in Aso Rock had whittled Diya’s power; how the Northern cabal had knocked the heads of Diya with those of Yoruba Obas and other VIPs and had, in the process, compromised both. It was not long thereafter that Diya and many other top Yoruba military officers like Adisa and Olanrewaju fell from the pinnacle of power. BG himself soon left the Navy, never achieving his target of becoming the Chief of Naval Staff.

BG and Ahmadu are, however, not the only oldies in politics: Tony Anenih, Jerry Gana, Audu Ogbeh, Ebenezer Babatope; President Muhammadu Buhari; Olu Falae etc. are also members of the Old Brigade.

Notwithstanding, the youths have had their fair share since 1999. I dare to say that they have not justified the confidence reposed in them by Nigerians. They have been as corrupt – if not more corrupt – than the oldies.

They have been arrogant, violent, audacious, and selfserving. Most of the governors, past and present; most of the National Assembly members, past and present; exPresident Goodluck Jonathan and most members of his cabinet – majority of those who have sucked this country dry in all manner of scams, be it pensions, Immigrations, fuel subsidy, arms scandal etc. are youths. In Ekiti, where Fayose himself holds sway, the governors since 1999 have all been youths – Niyi Adebayo, Segun Oni, Kayode Fayemi – which of them has Fayose given a pass mark? The tragedy of our situation is that the young as well as the old are both like six and half-a-dozen; half-full and halfempty. A choice between both is like that between the devil and the deep blue sea; and the frying pan and fire.

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15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

With Rita Okonoboh rosarumese@gmail.com 08053789087

tribunechurch

Faith-based varsities:

In whose interest?

That private universities, some of which are establishments of religious institutions, are here to stay, would be stating the obvious. RITA OKONOBOH examines the issues arising from church members’ funding church varsities.

T

HE history of the establishment of institutions of higher learning in Nigeria, dates back to over 80 years ago, when the then Yaba Technical College, Lagos, was established by the colonial government. Fast-forward to 2016, higher institutions have evolved, with religious bodies contributing in no small quota to the founding of varsities.

However, the establishment of educational institutions by religious bodies in Nigeria is nothing new, with the popularisation of mission schools, theological institutions and even Bible colleges.

According to Enahoro and Badmus in their 2013 study entitled, “Emergence of Private Universities in Nigeria and Monitoring Standards between 2002 and 2012,” published in the American Journal of Business and Management, “Running a private university is a more serious business than profit making. Quality is therefore, significantly a function of costeffectiveness, application of current technology, accountability and transparency in expenditure and strict adherence to requirements set out in the academic briefs and Master Plans, strategic planning and uncompromising adherence to estimate as contained in the annual budget.

“Funding by proprietors is usually considered critical by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to the successful operation before maturity of the university. Proprietor’s funding will be augmented through other sources or inflows from linkage programmes and various forms of internally generated revenue means.

Priority should, right from inception, be placed on optimal or near optimal utilisation of available human and non human resources to ensure that quality of services is comparable to those obtainable in developed countries.”

Funding is a major challenge for many private, and even public universities, and thus, it is not strange to find in the case of some faith-based institutions, source for some form of augmentation through contributions from their congregation, whether compulsory, required or strictly voluntary.

Seeing as members contribute, in no small measure, to the running of these institutions, it is thus expected that the schools be equally affordable so as to accommodate as many members as are interested in attending these schools. However, some respondents across various churches, who spoke with TribuneChurch, noted that while they provide some form of sponsorship towards the running of these schools, they have no plans to send their children and wards to these schools, because the schools are expensive.

the first student to report on campus who was a Muslim student – and that is the beauty of Catholic education – that one of his parishioners was saying ‘but we contributed,’ and his response was, well, you probably contributed N1,000; if you subtract N1,000 from N630,000 you will see that you are still left with a huge amount.

There are some people that have donated a whole building. There are parishes that have donated a whole hall of residence for about 360 students. So the donations have been in categories: there are people who have donated N100. So, you aggregate all of these and you come up with what you think is average for the average parishioner to pay.”

Primate Nicholas Okoh

Prelate Samuel Uche

Pastor Enoch Adeboye

Bishop David Oyedepo

Management and church leaders of these faith-based institutions have, however, come out to defend the contributions sourced from members.

The fees are affordable –Augustine VC Professor Stephen Afolami, the pioneer vice-chancellor of Augustine University, the Catholic University of Lagos Archdiocese, currently in its first year of admission, who noted that the proprietor and the entire archdiocese had spent over N4 billion on the facilities on ground, stated

Nigeria led by low-quality politicians —Bishop Ighele

Pg 37

that middle class families can conveniently afford the fees, the least of which is N630,000 and the highest, N760,000.

He also posited that parishes are encouraged to sponsor students and that the school has “at least three students whose fees are paid by their parishes because either they have only one parent, or the two parents cannot afford the cost and they have gained admission.

“Many can afford it, but would prefer to spend money on something else. One of the monsignors visited the campus a few days ago, and jocularly told us as we discussed

What to do when a pastor falls

Pg 39

We give scholarships regularly — BOWEN VC For the Vice Chancellor of Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, Professor Matthews Ojo, the moderate and affordable tuition is informed by the missionary spirit of the church. The institution also has welfare packages, and scholarship schemes for undergraduates in different categories based on merit.

Citing some examples of the scholarship schemes, Professor Ojo stated that, “we have scholarship for undergraduates whose CGPA must not be less than three points. We have other scholarship schemes for students whose parents are members of the Baptist Church and whose parents are Baptist pastors. We also have a scholarship scheme for indigenes of Iwo who are students in the university. The staff’s children also enjoy some facilities.

Similarly, we have a special scholarship programme for first-class students who come back for their postgraduate studies.

These categories of students enjoy free tuition with additional N40,000 as monthly salary.”

There shouldn’t be sentiments in donations —BOWEN bursar The Bursar, Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, Mr Amos Okunade, also reiterates the church’s commitment to providing affordable education.

According to him, “Fund is generated through tuition fees paid by the students.

Continues on pg38

Economic challenges mustn’t separate us from Christ’s love —Bishop Ogundeji

Pg 36

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15 May, 2016

With Olaide Sokoya ollydesanmi@yahoo.com 08074497425

churchnews US Bible Society clocks 200 years

T

HE American Bible Society has spent 200 years increasing access to the Bible in the United States and around the world helping people in every generation engage with God’s Word,” said Roy Peterson, the ministry’s president and CEO. “Across two centuries, American Bible Society has led translation efforts in many languages, including six of the world’s most spoken; distributed some six billion Bibles, including

more than a million Scripture portions at ground zero following the September 11, 2011 attacks; and assisted hundreds of millions of people in discovering the hope and encouragement of God’s Word.”

American Bible Society’s roots are closely entwined with those of the country itself. Some of American Bible Society’s founders were integral to the founding of the United States, such as Elias Boudinot, president of the

Continental Congress and American Bible Society’s first president; John Jay, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court and a delegate to the first Continental Congress who served as the ministry’s second president.

Francis Scott Key, who wrote the lyrics to the national anthem, became vice president of the ministry a year after its conception until his death.

The sixth US President, John Quincy Adams, also

served as an American Bible Society vice president for more than two decades.

Another hallmark of the ministry has always been its deep commitment to the entire Christian community.

Cleric counsels politicians to serve humanity

By Victor Ogunyinka THE Ondo State Director of Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), Reverend Father Patrick Adebayo, has

called on politicians at all levels to use their offices to serve humanity and not for selfish purposes.

Father Patrick made the call in his office at Akure, Ondo State, in an interview

with newsmen, hammering on the need for politicians to always remember the promises made to electorate during campaign.

Worried over the present economic challenges the

country is faced with, he said: “when I look at Nigeria and ponder on some of the challenges like workers not being paid salaries for months, I feel sad that we have found ourselves in

Motailatu Church holds community crusade MEMBERS of Motailatu Church, Lagos District, Okeira, Ogba, Lagos State, led by the Reverend (Dr) James Akinadewo, visited Iju Ishaga, Oke-Aro, Lambe, Agbado crossing, Alagbado, and climaxing at Matogun, Ogun State, delivering the demonically oppressed, drug addicts, and the sick with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The train, which commenced movement by noon and lasted till 7pm, featured spiritual cleansing of the communities.

There were prayers for traditional rulers, restoration of destinies, and conversion testimonies in what was best described as a city-wide revival.

Two of the residents, Joanah Yakubu and Isaiah Bababunmi, gave glory to God for witnessing the the miracles and divine transformation of their communities.

The event also featured gospel singers such as Faith Slessor Akinadewo, Mary Obidiran, Emily Abdulsalam, Elijah Jacob, Hannah Shoyemi and Mary Adeboye and a deliverance session by Prophet James Akinadewo.

Among the evangelical team were Most Senior Apostle Franklin Adeala, Phillips Adebiyi, Prophetess Leah Adeboye, Christianah Adeala, Reverend Mother Deborah Akinadewo and Levite Israel Bolarinwa.

The crusade ended with special prayers for Nigeria and leaders.

Sunday Tribune

From left, Mrs Bola Adeyemi, who represented the wife of the Ogun State governor, Mrs Olufunso Amosun; Ogun State deputy governor, Mrs Yetunde Onanuga, who represented the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Bishop of Egba West diocese (Anglican Communion), Right Reverend Samuel Ogundeji, and his wife, Rebecca, at the third session of the third synod of the diocese, held at St. David’s Church, Ofada, Ogun State, on Friday.

Economic challenges mustn’t separate us from Christ’s love —Bishop Ogundeji

By Rita Okonoboh DIOCESAN Bishop of Egba West, Ogun State, the Right Reverend Samuel Ogundeji, has charged Nigerians to hold on to Christ’s love, even in the face of challenges.

Bishop Ogundeji stated this in his bishop’s charge, delivered at the third session of the third synod, held at St. David’s Anglican Church, Ofada, Ogun State, with the theme, “Who Shall Separate us from the Love of Christ?” based on Romans 6:35.

According to the cleric, “Whatever challenges we face as a nation must not separate us from the love of Christ. There is no doubt that the economy is going from bad to worse, therefore, government must wake up to its responsibility and salvage the situation before it gets out of hand.”

He also called on government to step up its efforts in

providing security, and congratulated the Ogun State government on the 40th anniversary celebration.

He called on government to make refuse dumps readily available, especially in major cities of the state.

While Bishop Ezekiel Dahunsi of Idoani Anglican diocese, Ondo State, presided

over the opening service, the closing service, which will hold today, will be presided over by Bishop Michael Oluwarohunbi of Yewa Anglican diocese, Ogun State.

Present at the event were Bishop Jacob Adeyemi of Badagry diocese; Bishop Andrew Igenoza, Rector, Crowther Graduate Theo-

logical Seminary, Abeokuta, Ogun State; Bishop Emmanuel Adekunle of Egba diocese; Bishop Nathaniel Ogundipe of Ifo diocese; Bishop Akin Atere of Awori diocese; Alake of Egba and paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Aremu Gbadebo, who led tradrional rulers of Egbaland, among others.

Convene sovereign national conference now or risk breakup, prophet tells Buhari Banji Aluko-Benin City A cleric, Prophet Jordan Iwuala, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently convene a sovereign national conference to address all agitations in the country to ensure that the country remains united.

Prophet Iwuala, who is the General Overseer of Redemption Tabernacle Church of all Nations, Be-

nin, Edo State, told journalists that he received a revelation from God that the presiden should convene the conference as quickly as possible.

He also called on the Federal Government to negotiate with leaders of the South-East, South-South and other sections of the country to avert crises that may lead to disintegration.

According to him, “the

Lord said that if the Nigeria project must remain united, I, Prophet Jordan Kelechi Iwuala and Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God should convene a crusade on behalf of Nigeria at different locations namely, Abuja, Imo and Rivers states. At the end of the crusade, a coconut seed will be planted at the venue in the presence of Imams.”

this mess.”

The priest cited irresponsible leadership as well as corruption of past administrations as the source of problems the country is faced with today.

The director admonished the people on the need for enlightenment regarding their fundamental human rights as available in the constitution.

He said: “we have been involved in human rights education, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice in Ondo State; we have also translated the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria into Yoruba Language, so that indigenes would be conversant with their rights and responsibilities.”

Solomon’s pool at risk of collapsing TOURISTS visiting Solomon’s Pools in the West Bank, located southwest of Bethlehem, have asked authorities to do more to care for the ancient reservoirs as they are falling apart from harsh weather and neglect.

According to an online publication, Christian Post, the pools, which date back to the Second Temple Era, are located southwest of Bethlehem in the Palestinian village of Al Khader, and therefore the Palestinian authority is responsible for maintaining and repairing the pools.

Solomon’s Pools were built during King Herod’s reign. They provided water to both Bethlehem and Jerusalem from ancient times until recently.

The three pools are each over 100 metres (328 feet) long and 10 metres (32 feet) deep and have a combined capacity of nearly 300,000 cubic metres of water.

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Sunday Tribune

Nigeria led by low-quality politicians —Bishop Ighele

Bishop Charles Ighele is the General Superintendent of Holy Spirit Mission Church, the Happy Family Chapel, with over 60 branches, outreaches and neighbourhood assemblies. Ighele, a Political Science graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, in this interview, with BOLA BADMUS, speaks on various issues of national interest.

W

ITH a few days to its one year anniversary in office, do you think the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is on the right track?

About being on track, it is a pity to say that it has not been easy to find a government being on track in Nigeria, as politicians spend most of their time fighting for power. When in office, they spend their spiritual and mental energy watching their backs and also fighting for more power.

Afterwards, there is now less time used to think about the development and welfare of the people. Only a few politicians really spend their time to think about the problems of the country. One of them was Chief Obafemi Awolowo. It is unfortunate that most politicians don’t know Nigeria’s problems. So being on track is out of it.

There are insinuations that Nigeria has a long way before attaining development. What is your take on this?

Let’s ask ourselves: what is development; what makes development and what forms the concept of development? When people know what development is, they would know how to raise an underdeveloped people. As it is now, we are not even developing, we are an underdeveloped country, as you can’t use a third class brain to build a first class world, and most

What is your take on Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s religious bill?

You’ll find out that both Christian and Muslim leaders have come out to kick against the bill. There is something about leadership; a good general knows when to attack and when to retreat. Even when you are right, when you notice the heat generated by what you want to do, you stop to think about whether you are right or not and how can peace reign instead of winning the war. I will want Governor El-Rufai to withdraw the bill and let peace reign, even though to him, the bill is intended to bring peace to Kaduna State. The bill has been one of the hottest religious arguments since the Sharia-generated controversy in Zamfara State in 2003.

of our people have third class brains. So, it is not possible for this nation to develop and that is the way it has been over the years.

Don’t you think Nigeria needs to change its system of government?

You see, we are still making the mistake.

Nigeria’s problem goes beyond the executive and legislature; it is about what the Nigerian leaders value. As to what they value most, it is being in power, though not all are guilty if this. But the truth is that you will spend most of your time on what you value most and only a few value the plight of the common man. I believe politics should be about lifting up the lives of the people, so it not about the system of government we are using. Both politicians in the legislature and executive arms of government are birds of a feather. They are all the same; always having clash of interests, in which they fight for everything.

What do you mean by hardly on track?

Though I am not referring to any government, when you talk about government being on track, you talk about the prosperity of the people. Are Nigerians poorer and richer than they were years ago? Is life better? Is quality of urban life better now than it was in 1961? Is education and health care better? In the village where I stayed, there was a dispenser in

those days, are they still there? How can the question of being on track come up? In fact we are off track.

But the president has said we need a change of character...

I have said earlier, that hardly any Nigerian government is on track and I am not selective nor am I referring to his government.

Which is Nigeria’s problem, followership or leadership?

Everything. It is the elite that determine the quality of people. It is like parents determining the quality of education the children will have, food to eat, among other decisions. So the fortune of a nation is determined by the elite; they are like those who parent the nation. When I say elite, I mean politicians, business owners and religious leaders to which materialism is key and not the people’s prosperity, although not all, but majority of them have corrupted the citizenry who behave like them. The quality of leaders that we have determines who we are.

Women need God’s direction before learning skills —Akinfenwa THE President, Women’s Organisation, Ibadan Anglican Diocese, Mrs Comfort O. Akinfenwa, has called on women to always seek divine direction before embarking on skill acquisition.

She stated this during an empowerment scheme which focused on women and youths, organised by the Women’s Organisation of Ibadan Anglican Diocese, recently.

Speaking on the basis for the programme, President, Women’s Organisation, Ibadan Anglican Diocese, Mrs Comfort O. Akinfenwa, stated that the programme was aimed at teaching women and youths various skills to create employment and make them self-sufficient.

While commenting on the achievements of the programme which has held since 2002, Akinfenwa stated that the organisation runs a vocational training centre which had graduated three sets.

According to her, “This is a Christian organisation and the financial efforts are put together by the women in this organisation. We have started that with five widows whom we give revolving loans on yearly basis.

“Each woman should seek for an avenue to learn at least a trade. You know, God gives diverse gifts to individuals. They should ask God for direction when it comes to learning a skill. Women should also cultivate the habit of farming, especially little vegetables

President, Women’s Organisation, Ibadan Anglican Diocese, Mrs C.O. Akinfenwa (left); Mrs ‘Yinka Faleye (right), with participants at the empowerment programme organised for women and youths by the Women’s Organisation, Ibadan Anglican Diocese.

like bitter leaf, okra, ewedu, pepper, etc., so, as to proffer solution to the present economic downturn in their own little way.”

She also noted that another empowerment scheme will take place from August 15

to August 27, 2016, and will target youths on long vacation, who will be trained in making shoes, fruit juice, local drinks, bags, among others. The event will also feature cooking competition and talent-hunt.

Clerics hold national prayers for peace AS part of efforts to encourage leaders and those in government to rule with the fear of God, select clerics are currently spearheading prayers for peace for the nation.

The event, according to Primate Elijah Ayodele of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Lagos State, and Apostle Johnson Suleman of Omega Fire Ministries, Edo State, will bring together Christian leaders from across the country, to seek God’s face regarding Nigeria’s affairs, and especially to pray for divine guidance for the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and for divine intervention regarding the country’s present challenges.

Calling on government at all levels to support the project, the clerics stated that it was time ministers of God who were truly concerned about the country, came together for peace to reign. They also noted that Nigeria needed divine help, and thus, the vision to pray for Nigeria will only involve pastors who are serious and are concerned about the state of the country.

Also speaking on the preaching licence proposed by the Northern governors, they

stated that the stand against the licence was in defence of Christianity, noting that the word of God could not be regulated. While noting that the Lagos example in which religious centres are cautioned against noise pollution, the clerics stated that Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State should avoid religious crisis by considering the views of clerics regarding the issue.

Primate Elijah Ayodele

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Sunday Tribune

‘There shouldn’t be sentiments in donations’ which Asaju reportedly stated that it is “like a drop in the ocean,” ACU is venturing into profit making businesses and starting new programmes so that they can have more students.

Continued from pg35

Funds are also generated from the Baptist Convention, the founder of the institution, through members of the church. We also have some individual philanthropists who contribute to the infrastructural development of the institution While calling on government to review its policy on the TETFund allocation formula, he stated that “I would want every Baptist Church member, home and in the diaspora, to see themselves as stakeholders in the Bowen University development process by contributing generously to it.

If every Baptist member can volunteer to donate N1,000 to the university’s coffer annually, it will reduce the tuition fee drastically and the university will start witnessing a drastic development in the areas of research, teaching and physical advancement.

“Moreover, I want Nigerian Baptist members to know that if their children cannot come to Bowen University now, they may become staff members tomorrow. So, let us come together to build the institution with N1,000 contributions annually. We should not put sentiment in this donation scheme. It is going to be a mutually beneficial for all and sundry in the system.”

Landmark University offers assistance —Financial Aid Office President Landmark University, Kwara State, owned by Winners’ Chapel, where Bishop David Oyedepo is the founder and presiding bishop, offers assistance in funding education.

According to the President, Landmark University College Financial Aid Office, Simon Legah, through information available on the school’s website, “The Landmark University College Financial Aid Office understands that reaching one’s education goal is both a personal and a financial decision. There is a great deal of responsibility involved in pursuing a college degree, and both prospective and currently enrolled students require a commitment and sensitivity to their personal and financial needs. At Landmark University College, we make every effort to assist qualified students in finding the financial resources necessary to cover the cost of a college education. Our tuition costs are reflective of our specialised approach, yet we make every effort to make Landmark University affordable.”

It is morally wrong for private universities to be exempted from TETFund —ACU VC The Vice Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther

‘CAC members benefit from JABU by way of special fee reduction packages’ Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU), has as its proprietor, the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), with Bishop Alfred Martins Reverend Olasupo Ayokunle Pastor Abraham Akinosun Pastor Abraham Akinosun as its President.

According to Pastor Ade AlaUniversity (ACU), Oyo State, Right Rev- tiary Institutions Educational Trust Fund erend (Professor) Dapo Asaju, in an in- (TETFund). It is morally wrong for private wode, a cleric with the CAC, “CAC memterview was reported to have also fore- universities to be exempted from receiving bers benefit from JABU by way of spegrounded the reason for the high cost of funds from TETFund. It was established cial fee reduction packages for direct faith-based universities as a consequence at the initiative of Academic Staff Union offsprings of CAC members. Once it can of operational cost. of Universities (ASUU) in those days and be proved that the candidate is a biologiWhile noting that some pentecostal the idea was for government to levy com- cal child of a membver, fee reduction is universities can afford to lower their fees panies, whereby certain percentage of automatic.”

For the Wesley University of Science because they have rich proprietors, in the their profit was to be ploughed into educareport, according to Asaju, “The Anglican tion. So, if these companies and owners of and Technlogy, Ondo State, on the issue Church doesn’t have a regular subvention these universities are contributing to these of members supporting the school and to support this university, same thing with funds, then why are their universities not how the school can improve funding, Prelate, Methodist Church Nigeria (MCN), Dr the university in Awka, Anambra State. benefitting from it?”

We have to survive on our own. I need Noting that ACU is the cheapest of all S.C.K. Uche, stated that, “The MCN is alabout N65 million monthly to run this faith-based universities in the country, ready working and very soon, there will university. We don’t have many students and even allowing payment in three instal- be activities regarding Wesley University, unlike the federal and state schools. With ments, Asaju stated that “the poor also con- including the appointment of a substanthe few students we have and the money tributed to the growth of this university, so tive vice chancellor. That was part of our they pay, we can hardly break even. This is their children should not be excluded from discussions at the just concluded council why some of these universities charge high attending. At our Josephus, established by of bishops held in Ibadan. We are working fees.

Chief Tunde Afolabi in the Lagos diocese, on that.”

“I think all universities should charge he gives scholarship to 25 students every ‘Redeemer’s University provides lower fees, and this can be possible, if the year. With this, children of the poor and support for indigent students’ government allows for more student in- priests have the opportunity to go to school For Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun take. There are other funds state univer- in a conducive learning environment.” sities have access to, especially the TerAcknowledging the funding by dioceses, State, under the proprietorship of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), with Pastor E.O. Adeboye as the General Overseer, according to information from the school’s website, “The school fees which include hostel accommodation, medical inYou probably contributed N1,000; if you subtract N1,000 surance, ICT certification training and enfrom N630,000 you will see that you are still left with a huge trepreneur studies is very affordable with amount. There are some people that have donated a whole a flexible payment plan of 60 per cent first and 40 per cent second semester. building. There are parishes that have donated a whole hall semester The university provides scholarship to of residence for about 360 students. So the donations have students based on academic performance. been in categories: there are people who have donated N100 Students Support Scheme (SSS) is a university support scheme that provides financial support to indigent but academically brilliant students.”

Baptist president reemphasises importance of skills acquisition PRESIDENT of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), Reverend (Dr) Olasupo Ayokunle, has reemphasised the need for graduates and non-graduates to embrace skills acquisition as a means of cushioning the effect of unemployment.

He stated this at the maiden graduation ceremony of the NBC Skills Acquisition Training and Empowerment Centre, held last week at the headquarters of the NBC, Oke-Bola, Ibadan, Oyo State.

According to him, “the unemployment situation in Nigeria is not demand-induced; it is supply-induced. The quality of employable manpower is low. The solution should come from building capacity and skills from artisan vocations. Skill ac-

quisition helps to create self-employment.

It is the antidote to unemployment and idleness among youths.

“A major antidote to the problem of unemployment in Nigeria is the development and promotion of entrepreneurial education. Efforts should be made to introduce the study and acquisition of entrepreneurial skills into the curriculum of secondary and tertiary education. Skill acquisition should include, but not limited to, agriculture, computer training, wood technology, poultry, fish farming, salons, pedicure/ manicure services, tailoring, etc.”

Reverend (Mrs) Adenike Victor-Tade, in her speech, challenged the graduates, who were trained in fashion design, produc-

tion of bags and shoes, hairdressing and other handicraft, to excel so as to build a formidable society and a great future, and admonished them to imbibe truthfulness, honesty and diligence.

The trainees, who were graduates of tertiary institutions, were counselled to place emphasis on character building and good attitude above the desire to market their products and services.

Chairman, Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Entreprises (NASME), Oyo State chapter, Reverend (Dr) Taiye Adeyemo, urged the graduands to be prepared for competition, be ready to offer better products and services and must have registered business entities, take-off

capital, savings on regular basis and relate well with people professionally.

Present at the event were Vice President, Finance and Investments, Reverend Moses Babatunde Adebayo; Vice President (Administration and Human Resources), Pastor Marcus Audu; Vice President (Ministerial), Reverend Dickson Madogo; Director of Social Ministries, Reverend (Dr) Titi Eniola; Director of Medical and Health Services, Reverend (Dr) Peter Olushola; Director of Youth Affairs, Reverend Samuel Olaleke; Director of Publications, Revd (Dr) Ade Ijaola; Director of Christian Education department, Revd (Dr) Mrs Olushola Obiremi, among others.

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livingword

dawnofanewera with Most Revd J.O. Akinfenwa

By Bishop David Oyedepo Call 7747546-8; or e-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

Bishop of Ibadan Anglican Diocese

When the righteous rule:

Gateways to financial dominion! (3)

Overcoming evil advisers Continued from last week ESTHER 3:8-11 And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore Jt is not for the king’s profit tosuffer them. If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that.have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries. And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy. And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.

An evil adviser was going to manipulate the king into committing genocide, if not for God’s divine intervention. God had graciously made a way of escape for the Jews in the person of Esther who had become queen around the same time. It was Esther that eventually blew open Haman’s evil plan, whereby at the end, the destruction that he planned for the Jews came upon him and his family.

There was also Ahithophel, the evil counselor (2Samuel 15). Ahithophel was David’s counselor who detected and joined Absalom’s rebellion. Truly, he had the pedigree of a great royal adviser: 2 Samuel 16:23 And the counsel of

Sunday Tribune

Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.

However, he had a moral lapse. His quest for personal gain and advancement, or his desperation to remain in the corridors of power, made him to subvert his king and join forces with insurrectionists. His end was similar to the end of Ahithophel. God disgraced and destroyed him.

2 Samuel 17:23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

Today, our prayer for our leaders, with respect to evil counselors that may surround them, should be similar to the prayer that David prayed to God concerning Ahithophel: 2 Samuel 15:31 And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, 0 LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Abithophel into foo’ishness.

As we approach the first year anniversary of the current politicat leadersbp, may the Lord expel from the corridors of power all those who manipuJate readership to obstruct common good and advance sinister, selfish or clannish interests; in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

LAST week, we discovered from scriptures that there is no shortcut to a world of financial fortune; it is engaging in covenant practice that empowers us to prevail in hard times (Isaiah 1:19-20; Hebrews 6:12. In this week’s edition, we shall be examining the covenant financial fortune and how reliable it is.

First, understand that financial dominion anchors on the covenant of seed time and harvest. It is written: While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease (Genesis 8:22). ‘Seedtime’ and ‘harvest’ means giving and receiving, which provides the gateway to financial dominion. Our giving is a spiritual transaction for provoking allround favour (Genesis 22:15-22; 2 Samuel 24:24-25; 2 Corinthians 9:6-11).

However, we need the giving grace to sustain an ever-growing giving life. Concerning the Macedonian Church, the Bible says: How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also (2 Corinthians 8:2-3, 7; see also Philippians 4:15-19; John 10:17-18). Therefore, the greater the

giving grace on our lives, the greater the coast of financial fortune we access.

How reliable is this covenant?

In the course of my encounter on March 22, 1982, I asked God, “How reliable is this covenant?” He spoke to me from Jeremiah 33:20-21, 25-26: Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

That means as long as the day and night keep changing position and the sun and moon continue to rule the day and night, all God’s covenants in scriptures remain in force, including the covenant of financial prosperity. This makes every covenant of scripture ever reliable, dependable, guaranteed and binding on God for delivery (Psalms 89:34).

However, being born again is the first step to accessing God’s blessings that is sorrowfree.

What to do when a pastor falls

By Russell Moore RECENTLY, another high-profile pastor was removed from ministry for immorality, this time a friend of mine.

This is not the first time this has happened. I’ve seen it since I was a child, from preachers whose names virtually no one would know to preachers most would recognise. Maybe you’ve experienced this, and like me you find yourself reeling in sadness, regret, and even anger. So what should we do?

One of the immediate reactions to a public fall of a respected pastor is a sense of betrayal. Those who have benefited from the pastor’s ministry feel as though they have been personally deceived. That’s even more true when it’s your own pastor—the one who baptised you or did your premarital counseling or was there with you in the hospital when your parent died. When we hear of these things, we feel as though we were personally lied to—and sometimes we were.

Our sense of shock is, in one sense, understandable. God has called leaders within the church to be above reproach (1 Tim. 3:2), aware of the stricter judgment he will undergo (Jas. 3:1). We should not be shocked, though, that our leaders are capable of falling to temptation. We are taught this explicitly in Scripture, with a warning not to be prideful lest we fall (1 Cor. 10:12-13). Why do we think the Bible so repeatedly warns against the whole litany of sins? This is because we are vulnerable, all of us.

We are sometimes shocked because we think a particular leader “ought to know better.” We assume that the strategy for fighting temptation is cerebral, as though a knowledgeable teacher would be exempt from falling because he knows the content of Scripture or because he has taught others so effectively. We are wrong.

Sometimes I find myself fuming after a leader has fallen at the stupidity of it. Why would he risk his family for this?

Why would he jeopardize the witness of Christ? The reason I am so frustrated is because of my inadequate doctrine of sin. It doesn’t matter what I confess in creedal documents

or teach from pulpits; when I am surprised by the irrationality of a particular sin, I am demonstrating that I’m a latent Pelagian of the heart. All sin is irrational and selfdestructive. If we don’t get that, we don’t know what sin is.

My reaction is a reminder to myself of how much I need the sanctifying presence of the Spirit.

The sins of others are always more shocking to us than our own sins. We are always able to “contextualise” our sins, to find justifications for them, to weigh them against alternative sins we aren’t committing. That’s part of the power of deception. This sort of public scandal can expose how much we are unaware of what it takes to fight against sin.

The Bible doesn’t have the gauzy view of human nature that we do. Leaders, even prophets, matriarchs and apostles, are presented with glaring flaws. Moses saw the glory of Israel’s God in the flaming bush, saw the fire of Sinai, and fell anyway. Simon Peter heard the Sermon on the Mount first-hand, washed his beard out in the streams of Judea alongside Jesus Christ himself—and still denied he ever

knew him by the charcoal fire. The fact that we are shocked when our leaders fall is a demonstration that we are not nearly as realistic about human nature—and about spiritual warfare—as the Bible is.

This also shows up in the way that we often want to use a leader’s fall for our inter-tribal skirmishes. I’ve seen leaders more liberal than I am fall and have heard many say, “This is what happens when you try to accommodate to the culture.” I’ve seen leaders much more “legalistic” than I am fall, and have heard some say, “See, this is what happens when you try to pile up man-made rules.” In recent years, we’ve seen high-profile falls from Calvinist complementarians to peace-church Mennonites, from high-church sacramentalists to low-church entrepreneurs. Are there sometimes ecclesiology issues that cause an evasion of accountability? Of course. But the common issue in pastoral falls is human sin. No set of policies, and no set of creedal affirmations, will eliminate that.

One of the issues most difficult after a pastoral fall is a temptation to a loss of faith. That’s especially true if the fallen leader was your minister. There’s a spectrum of these kind of falls. Some of them are temporary stumbles. Like Peter, they are restored after discipline and care. Some of them are, by the nature of the sin, disqualifying permanently for ministry. Like Moses, they enter God’s kingdom but don’t carry on their vocation. Others reveal predatory false teachers, like those Paul warns about in 2 Timothy 3.

The church must be wise and brave to know the difference between these scenarios and respond accordingly.

In all of those cases, though, the faith delivered to the saints can withstand the falls delivered by sinners. The church is not dependent on you or me or any pastor or leader but on the promises of Jesus, which he will keep with or without us.

Russell Moore, ordained Southern Baptist minister and author, serves as the eighth president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

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15 May, 2016

language&style

by Samson Dare 0805 500 1770 samsonadare@yahoo.co.uk

Another harvest of errors (II)

T

ODAY, we continue the discussion of the excerpt whose features we began to analyze last week. That excerpt serves as the first sample today.

Sample 1:“Umar Midala, a schoolteacher and an indigene of Biu, was still enjoying his early morning sleep on that unfaithful day when he was roused from slumber by his sister as gunshots rent the balmy air, shattering the serenity of the somnolent town…Early on November 1, 2014, about 42 Boko Haram fighters were killed by the civilian JTF from Biu who saw about 50 Boko Haram fighters hiding under a truck conveying sheeps and goats…The near decimation of its fighters who embarked on that unfaithful mission has sent shills down their spines…there is another factor accounting to non-conquest of Biu by the insurgents: spiritual…Sadly, social and cultural activities have almost grinded to a halt in Biu. To forestall the insurgents from infiltrating Biu in the guise of being participants in cultural activities or detonating bombs in gatherings, the annual durbar have been kept on hold…”(Borno Town Where Boko Haram Saw Hell, The Sunday, April 24, 2016) We started last week by complaining about the presence of numerous blemishes in the excerpt. We were able to address only one of them before we ran out of space.

Now let’s note the form grinded which occurs in the following context: “social and cultural activities have almost grinded to a halt.” Preceded by the verb-form have, the form grinded is obviously intended as the past participle of the verb grind.

This is erroneous. The past participle is ground; the past form is also ground.

Now read the following sentences: 1) The activities of the company will soon grind to a halt. 2) Three years after he took over power, the country ground to a halt. 3) Following the collapse of the power sector, business activities ground to a halt. 4) Nobody was able to explain why the traffic ground to a halt. 5) The country was grinding to a halt when Abacha passed on. 6) When the family was very prosperous, its members were grinding pepper and other materials for soup every week. 7) All the villagers come here to grind their pepper and dried yams. 8) Members of the family watched helplessly as the deceased’s heart ground to a halt. 9) When he heard about the failure, he began to grind his teeth in disappointment and sorrow. 10) As we approached the scene of the accident, the traffic ground to a halt.11) The beverages we buy at exorbitant prices are nothing but our cocoa beans ground into powder.

The major issue is that Nigerian users tend to regard ground as the basic form, a form possibly derived from Pidgin English. Not surprisingly, some Nigerians would say: 1) *I want to go and *ground some pepper. 2) *The sugar cubes have been *grounded. 3) *The grains have been *grounded to powder.

4) *The next stage is to *ground the pieces of rock into very fine powder. 5) *Add a measure of *grounded pepper to the boiling soup. 6) *What is the difference between finely *grounded stones and cement? 7) *The bomb blasts *grounded the entire building to power. 8)*The concoction is prepared by mixing *grounded charcoal with sheabutter and some other strange substances. 9) *Grounded rice prepared like amala can be a delicious meal especially when eaten with rich soup. 1o) *Some people would prefer to *ground their tablets and mix the powder with honey before taking it.

The corrected version of each of those sentences is presented as follows: 1) I want to go and grind some pepper. 2) The sugar cubes have been ground. 3) The grains have been ground to powder. 4) The next stage is to grind the pieces of rock into very fine powder. 5) Add a measure of ground pepper to the boiling soup. 6) What is the difference between finely ground stones and cement? 7) The bomb blasts ground the entire building to power. 8)The concoction is prepared by mixing ground charcoal with sheabutter and some other strange substances. 9) Ground rice prepared like amala can be a delicious meal especially when eaten with rich soup. 1o) Some people would prefer to grind their tablets and mix the powder with honey before taking it.

There are some similar forms that require our attention.

When we say that someone is grounded in a subject, we mean he has a good knowledge of it. Please read the following sen-

tences: 1) Grounded in Mathematics, the young man decided to study Electrical and Electronic Engineering. 2) To live a godly life, you must be grounded in the Christian Scriptures. 3) Our students are grounded in literature and language. 4) All Nigerians should be grounded in traditional cultures and native languages. 5) The products of our secondary schools should be grounded in the basics of English and Mathematics.

A ship or plane that is grounded is one that is prevented from moving either because it has developed a fault or because the pilot decides not to move it: 1) The ship used for the oil theft has been grounded. 2) Something vital happened to the engine and the boat was grounded. 3) The ship collided with a mighty shark and was forcibly grounded. 4) The ship strayed into our territorial waters and was grounded. 5) Following a mighty storm, the ship conveying the refined product became grounded. 6) The militants were said to have grounded many Nigerian and foreign ships.

When we say that an idea or truth or teaching is grounded in or on something else, we mean it is based on it: 1) The Pastor’s sermons are always grounded in the Bible. 2) The theory is grounded in Aristotle’s principles. 3) All Islamic teachings should be grounded in the Quran. 4) All Soyinka’s ideas are grounded in the Yoruba tradition and culture. 5) Every academic paper should be grounded in a well-known theory. 6) His philosophy of life is grounded in the wisdom of the elders.

7) Christians’ actions should be grounded in love.

And grounding? To have a grounding in a subject is to have a good knowledge of that subject. Now read the following sentences: 1) To qualify for admission into this Department, you must have a grounding in Mathematics. 2) The advantage she has is that she has a grounding in computer. 3) The workshop aims to give the participants a thorough grounding in the theory and practice of basic accounting. 4) In the first two years, the students are expected to have a grounding in practical survey. 5) Our products secure jobs easily because they have been given a good grounding in the fundamentals of the profession.

One of the most surprising errors is found in the word sheeps which occurs in the following context: “…about 42 Boko Haram fighters were killed by the Civilian JTF from Biu who saw about 50 Boko Haram fighters hiding under a truck carrying sheeps and goats.” Every user of English does know that it is utterly irrational to accept books as the plural form of book; houses as the plural form of house; trees as the plural form of tree; goats as the plural form of goat; etc and at the same time to saythat the plural form of sheep is sheep! It is equally irrational, in the light of the plural formation by the addition of s or es or ies which characterizes many nouns, to say the plural form of ox is oxen; of toothis teeth; of foot is feet. Do you also know that in the conservative British English, the plural form of counsel (solicitor) is counsel (no change in form for the plural); that although we can talk ofone dozen, we are not permitted to talk oftwo or three or four…dozens (Of course we can say, ‘Dozens of eggs were broken’ or ‘Dozens of houses are affected’ or ‘Dozens of workers were dismissed, etc); that the plural form of aircraft remains as aircraft? (We must acknowledge, however, some dictionaries are already offering forms that go against the grain)The English language has many forms that are completely erratic, irregular, unpredictable.This puts the user operating in a second language context in a challenging situation.

But a challenging situation is not exactly an impossible or dire situation. This takes us back to the nounsheep whose plural form has been given as *sheeps by the reporter. It could well have been a slip of the pen, as it were, or a typo. But can we be so sure? This is an elementary grammatical fact that elementary education ought to have taken care of. It should be strange indeed that an error of this character survives up to this level.

Please read the following sentences: 1)This is a village in which every household owns at least one sheep. 2) The problem is that the sheep is always wandering around the neighbourhood.

3) During the festival each family is expected to slaughter a ram or a sheep. 4)Ten sheep were killed by a wolf. 5) The sheep that were stolen were later recovered. 6) Sheep are used by Christ as examples of simplicity and innocence.

Sunday Tribune

line

life with

Niyi Osundare

Random Blues The slowest among us Are sometimes the most advanced Say, he slowest among us Are sometimes the most advanced The lowly in the eyes of the lofty Sometimes end up as the most enhanced

I don’t know when last anyone Said to me: “I love you” Yes, don’t know when last anyone Said to me: “I love you” Just anyone from our crowded town No matter what time or by who

A knock on the door A rap on the roof Say, a knock on the door A rap on the roof When hunger kills a lonely man It needs no licence, or legal proof

I shouted in the night The dark swallowed my voice Yes, I shouted in the night And the dark swallowed my voice I wondered through the streets Without any chance, without a choice

The marketplace of life Is surely no place to be alone Say, the marketplace of life Is no place to be alone You cannot purchase happiness With a lien or measly loan

41

news

15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Victims of Ogun building collapse responding to treatment, says govt FIVE of the victims, two males and three females, who were injured in a building which collapsed in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Friday, are responding to treatment at the State General Hospital, Abeokuta.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, disclosed these on Saturday while conducting journalists round the ward during a condolence visit to the victims.

According to him, 16 workers were on duty when the building suffered a partial collapse, saying that eight of them escaped unhurt, while seven others were rescued.

Ipaye said one person was brought in dead into the hospital and that no more death was recorded.

He explained that two of the seven were discharged after treatment, while the remaining five are still receiving treatment at the hospital at the expense of the state government.

The Commissioner debunked rumours that two people died in the incident. He also clarified that there were no more victims under the rubbles, as evacuation work had almost been completed in the full glare of the public.

Lagos State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode (second left), with his Special Adviser on Lagos Global, Professor Ademola Abass (third left) and Managing Director, Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Engineer Abisola Kamson, during his inspection of the bad portion of Berlett Bus-Stop on Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, Lagos, on Friday.

Again, Fulani herdsmen sack community, kill many in Benue Johnson Babajide -Makurdi

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HERE was a renewed crisis at Agwabi community in Binev ward of Buruku Local Government Area of Benue State, leading to the killing of some people by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

Sunday Tribune gathered that the incident happened on Friday, leading to the sack of the community while fear has gripped residents of nearby villages, many of whom were said to have fled.

The state Police Command, however, disclosed that five persons were killed by the herdsmen.

It will be recalled that about eight council areas of the state had in the past been attacked by Fulani herdsmen including Buruku Local Government Area where the latest incident occurred.

One of the fleeing villagers who simply gave his name as Aondoaver said the Fulani invaders stormed the village around 8.00 p.m. and started shooting, killing anyone they saw.

Asked if there was any

problem between the Fulanis and the villagers in the area before the invasion, he said there was no rancour that could warrant attacking innocent people.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Moses

Yamu, while confirming the death of five persons, explained that two persons died on the spot while three others died at the hospital.

Yamu, who said that the suspected Fulani herders struck the village in a guerrilla manner, however,

noted that the Area Commander had immediately deployed police patrol teams to the area.

He disclosed that normalcy had been restored to the area and urged all fleeing members of the village to return home.

China trip: Demand for N13m loan in order, says Lai Muhammed MINISTER of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said a letter he endorsed requesting for a loan from National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to cover travelling expenses of a delegation to China was in order.

The position of the minister was contained in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja by Mr. Peter Dama, the Director, Public Relations and Protocol in the ministry.

The statement recalled that the letter to the NBC requesting for the loan was leaked to the social media by staff of the commission.

“The loan being requested for is for the ministry to meet up its

obligations to enable the minister and members of his delegation attend the important conference. The loan is not meant for the minister alone as personal expenses, but for the expenses of all members of the delegation.

“The conference is being organised by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation in conjunction with the Government of the People’s Republic of China, under the overall theme, “Tourism for Peace and Development.”

“It will feature among others, discussions on major issues for sustainable development including the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and peace.

“The conference is a veritable platform to develop synergy and partnership with players in the global tourism industry which will go a long way in boosting our drive to diversify the Nigerian economy,” it stated.

The statement said that on the sideline of the conference, the delegation would have discussion in China with Set Top Box manufacturers.

It stated that the manufacturers were meant to establish manufacturing factories in Nigeria for the boxes for digital broadcasting processes rather than the current situation in which the boxes were being imported.

Ambode orders repair of Oshodi-Apapa expressway LAGOS State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, on Friday, expressed dissatisfaction at the deplorable state of some sections of Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, saying the road was too strategic to the economy of the state and therefore could not be ignored.

Governor Ambode, who made an unscheduled

inspection tour of the road while returning from the grand opening of a 70, 000 capacity motorbikes assembly plant in Mile 2, directed the state ministry of works and infrastructure and other relevant government agencies to immediately move to site and fix the bad portions of the road.

A worried Governor

Ambode had stopped his convoy and come down from his vehicles to inspect the bad portions of the road alongside top government officials who accompanied him.

The governor specifically inspected the bad portions of the road between Berlett and Ilasa, and Cele Bus stop inward Oshodi.

Governor Ambode not only directed the officials of the Ministry of Works to immediately move to site, he also ordered that an immediate palliative measure must be put in place to alleviate the sufferings of motorists who have been complaining about the state of the road through various means.

10,289 candidates seek admission into Lagos model colleges NO fewer than 10,289 candidates on Saturday sat for the Lagos State 2016 screening test into the 15 junior model colleges and upgraded secondary schools in 28 centres across the state.

Mr Adesina Odeyemi, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Education, disclosed this to newsmen after monitoring the exercise.

Odeyemi was accompanied by the Director, Lagos State Examinations Board, Mr Oluwafemi Hassan to monitor the examinations across the state.

Odeyemi expressed satisfaction in the smooth conduct of the examination at the centres visited.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that this is an improvement compared to the 8,900 candidates that sat for the test in 2015.

No crisis between herdsmen and Delta community —Police Ebenezer Adurokiya -Warri THE police in Delta State have refuted claim by an online media that herdsmen and people of Illah community in the state were spoiling for a showdown.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Celestina Kalu, in a statement on Saturday in Warri, said the report was false and misleading.

He said: “What really happened was that on 12.5.16 at about 1410hrs, an unknown assailant wearing a mask macheted one Shefatu Garba, a Hausa woman of Ngegu camp, Illah, to death, injured two women who were with the deceased and escaped,” she noted.

According to Kalu, the corpse of the victim has been deposited at the Ebu General Hospital for an autopsy, while the injured victims are receiving treatment in the hospital.

She added that efforts to apprehend, and bring the culprit to justice, had been intensified.

‘I’ll re-unite factions in Osun PDP’

By Olaide Sokoya A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairmanship aspirant in the forthcoming election in Osun State, Mr Soji Adagunodun, has charged members of the party to support him as he positions himself for state chairman, just as he pledged to reunite all warring factions within the party to make it more formidable in the state.

Adagunodo, who made the appeal while speaking with newsmen on his PDP chairmanship ambition in the state on Friday, maintained that his tenure in office would be fruitful and profitable to all.

He added that: “Strong politicians like the former governors of the state, Alhaji Isiaka Adeleke, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and others who defected to APC are currently on sabbatical leave and very soon, they will come back to the PDP they belong to.”

42

news

15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Buhari assures on safe rescue of Chibok girls Clement Idoko-Abuja

From left, Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio; Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel and his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike, during the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South-South zonal congress, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Saturday.

Lamentations in Lagos over demolition of 100 shops

O

fficials of the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, on Saturday morning, demolished no less than 100 shops at the Rauf Aregbesola Modern Market in IyanaIpaja, Lagos State.

A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who visited the market, reported that some of the traders were seen running around to remove their goods and valuables there.

Some of them told NAN that they got to the market in the early hours of the day to see that some of their shops were being demolished without any prior notice from the local government.

Others claimed that they got wind of the development through telephone calls from fellow traders who had got to the market at dawn.

Secretary of the market, Mr Adegbite Omoluabi, popularly known as ‘Baale,’ said he had no prior knowledge of the demolition.

Omoluabi said: “I don’t know anything about this demolition, I don’t know what is happening. It took us by surprise. I was called on my cell phone that shops were being demolished.”

The scribe, however, said that the traders could not

fight the government and win, hence had to agree to whatever the government wanted.

Another trader, Mrs Ajose Laoye, who deals in toiletries said: “This is the height of impunity. It is madness; there was no notice, we got to the market to see this.

“If we were given notice, one or two occupants among 100 shop owners would have packed out. Each of us bought his or her shop with huge amount from one of the past administrations of the local government.”

Laoye, who said that the market leaders had run away, claimed she kept some money inside her shop which she alleged had got missing.

Similarly, Mrs Bukola Alao, another trader in the market, said that the officials of the council came to the market earlier in the day to paste notices of demolition.

Immediately they had done that, they began to de-

molish after taking photographs of the pasted notices, Alao said.

Alhaji Rasheed Ijadunola said that the council had, two years ago, made the move to demolish the market for redevelopment.

However, town planners from the state Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development stopped it, he said.

According to him, the town planners, in a letter to the council and the leadership of the market union, stated that the site could not accommodate two-storey buildings as planned by the council.

Ijadunola said he lost about N3.5 million in the demolition, apart from N800,000 which he used to buy the shop in 2002.

He, however, urged the council to consider the occupiers of the shops first after the completion of the redevelopment.

NULGE asks members to join proposed strike by NLC The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has asked its members nationwide to join the planned strike and mass protest declared by the Nigeria Labour Congress and scheduled for next Wednes-

day.

In a statement by the General Secretary of NULGE, Comrade Joshua Irapakob, on Friday, the association directed its members to embark on indefinite strike slated to commence

Revert to N86 per litre, Ajaero-faction of NLC tells Buhari Olatunde Dodondawa -Lagos The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), led by Comrade Joe Ajaero, has warned that except the Federal Government reverts to the old price regime of N86:50 per litre, it will close down the entire country to protest the hike in fuel price.

It said it planned to mobilise for national protests

by Wednesday if the gov-

He had appealed to the local government to ensure the cost of leasing the shops out to his members to be affordable.

Mrs Olaide Okupevi, another occupant of one of the shops, said: “This is not good, it is unfair and unjust. I was still in bed when some of my neighbours called me that our shops were being demolished without prior notice.”

Okupevi said that the market union and the council had not reached an agreement on the development before the demolition, stressing that she bought her own shop for N850,000.

Mr Udechukwu Onyekachi, a fabric dealer, said he lost about N500,000 worth of clothes to the demolition.

However, the Executive Secretary of the council, Mr Jelili Sulaeman, in a reply to an SMS sent to his cell phone by a correspondent of NAN, said: “Sorry, I’m busy. Call back later.”

ernment does not revert.

Addressing journalists in Lagos on Saturday, Ajaero said there had been claims that the Federal Government deliberately fixed the pump price of petrol at N145 per litre from N86.50 in order to allow for negotiations after which it may be fixed at N120 per litre.

“We want to state here that we are in partnership with our civil society affiliates and we are not ready for negotiation but ab-

solute reversal to the old price.

“We have also aligned with the position of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) that deregulation is the solution to the challenges confronting the downstream sector.

“However, the condition for the deregulation must be fulfilled which is repair of the refineries, and promotion of domestic refining capacity,” he said.

on Wednesday across the country.

According to the statement by the General Secretary, “I am directed to convey the resolution of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Nigeria Labour Congress held on 13th May, 2016, while deliberating on the above subject matter.

“You are by this circular directed to sensitise all local government workers in your state towards embarking on indefinite strike/mass protest action slated to commence on Wednesday, 18th May, 2016, across the country till further notice.

“You are advised to liaise with the Nigerian Labour Congress in your state for further arrangement concerning the protest and give this directive the widest publicity it deserves.”

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, on Saturday, restated the commitment of the Federal Government to ensuring the safe rescue of the over 200 Chibok school girls who were abducted from their dormitories in Chibok, Borno State, over two years ago.

Buhari spoke in Abuja at the 2nd Regional Security Summit which had French president, François Hollande, in attendance.

“Let me reiterate our firm commitment to safely rescue and re-unite the abducted Chibok girls with their families.

Our government will not spare any effort to achieve this important mission. It is my firm belief that this summit would usher in a period of improved collaboration to address the menace of terrorism in the region. Inspired by the promise of sustainable peace and development, we must redouble our efforts to implement all agreements.

“I assure you all that Nigeria will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other countries in the fight to combat and eliminate terrorism in all its forms in West Africa,” Buhari stated.

Buhari said since the May 2014 maiden summit in Paris, Nigeria had achieved a lot in its onslaught against terror.

Kogi East rerun: Court stops PDP candidate Yinka Oladoyinbo-Lokoja The crisis over the Kogi East senatorial rerun continued on Friday as a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja affirmed that a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Isaac Alfa (rtd), was the duly elected candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the election.

The court held that Alfa was the candidate elected at the primary election of the PDP towards the 2015 general election.

A former senator that represented the zone between 2011 and 2015, Senator Attai Aidoko, who stood for the 2015 and the inconclusive elections held on February 20, 2016, had approached the court for a stay of execution of an earlier judgment that confirmed Alfa as the authentic candidate of the party.

However, Justice Nnamdi Dingba, who dismissed the motion filed by Aidoko, held that granting the prayers contained in the application would amount to standing justice on its head.

Rep member decries denial of NOUN law graduates from attending law school Ayodele Adesanmi-Abuja Denial of the law graduates of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) enrolment into the Nigerian Law School has been described as unfair, unconstitutional and demoralising to the students .

A member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Ayodele Oladimeji, who made this known, stated that the students’ ambition to become a lawyer was not complete without attending the Law School.

Oladimeji, who is representing Ado Ekiti/Irepodun Ifelodun federal constituency of Ekiti State, has sponsored a motion to support this, urging the Council of Legal Education and Body of Benchers to re-visit the decision with a view to allowing graduates from NOUN to be admitted to the Nigerian Law Schools.

Lagos NSE inducts 57 members

By Seyi Sokoya NO fewer than 57 new members were inducted into the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Lagos State branch, in a ceremony organised by the society and which was held at the Oyebolu Engineering Resource Centre, University of Lagos, recently.

The society also used the occasion to confer award of excellence in engineering practice on the Chairman of Saprta contractors, Dr Atilade Olufemi Oshoniyi.

In his opening address, the chairman of the branch, Mr Oludayo Oluyemi, congratulated all the inductees and urged them to participate fully in all the branch activities, and called on government to engage indigenous engineers in the planning and execution of developmental projects.

Among the dignitaries who graced the occasion were the Deputy President of the NSE, Mr Babangana Mohammed, who represented the President, Mr Otis Anyaeji; Managing Director, Clemeng Limited, Mr Folu Olusanya; immediate past chairman of the branch, Mrs Yetunde Holloway, among others.

pdpzonalcongress S/West PDP elects officials despite court order 43

15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Akure PDP congress, a nullity —Ogundipe From Hakeem Gbadamosi and Sam Nwaoko

D

ESPITE a court order restraining the SouthWest zone of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from holding the zonal congress, leaders and members of the party converged on Akure, Ondo State capital, to elect new officers for the party.

The congress, which produced a former Commissioner for Information in Ondo State, Honourable Eddy Olafeso, as National Vice Chairman (SouthWest), was attended by the Governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko and his Ekiti State counterpart, Mr Ayodele Fayose Other members of the party elected included the zonal secretary, Reverend Bunmi Jenyo (Osun); Organising Secretary, Honourable Wasiu Bankere (Ogun); Youth leader, Honourable Femi Adetola (Oyo), and Women leader, Mrs Ajigbeda (Ogun).

Others were the zonal Publicity Secretary, Honourable Abiola Makinde (Ondo); Financial Secretary, Chief Aifoji; Auditor, Honourable Biliaminu Ogundele (Oyo); Treasurer, Mr Adeola Ogunrinde (Ekiti) and the Legal Adviser, Mr Sunday Ojo-Williams (Osun).

Some elected officials of the party emerged unopposed, while the position of the treasurer was contested for between Ogunrinde and Kolawole who are both from Ekiti, as the leadership of the party had earlier zoned the post to the state.

Ogunrinde, who was the candidate of Governor Fayose, had 62 votes, while Kolawole had 12 votes.

Other leaders of the party at the congress were Senator Iyiola Omisore, Honourable Ladi Adebutu, Honourable Albert Adeogun, Senator Abiodun Olujimi, Honourable Bade Falade and Chief Bayo Faforiji, among others.

Governor Mimiko, in his remarks, called for unity among all members of the party, saying the future of the country lies in the hands

of the PDP. He said: “PDP has a bright future in this country. But our actions and inactions will determine the future of our party in Nigeria.

“We must, therefore, stand for integrity as a party with history of integrity and progressivism.

“The truth, which we stand for, will vindicate us in PDP in the South-West region. Governor Ayo Fayose and I are working for the progress of the party in the South-West and we shall continue to do that.”

Mimiko added that, “the

extent to which we stand up for the truth will determine the future of our party.”

Also speaking, Governor Fayose emphasised the need for the party to unite and work together to reposition the party in the zone and called on all members to work towards the victory of the party in the 2019 presidential election.

He denied insinuation that he was working against the interest the elderly people in the party, saying: “I love our elderly people, but the elders should play the role of ad-

visers and allow the young generation to take over.

This is in line with my stand against President Muhammadu Buhari who is too old to rule Nigeria.”

Fayose declared any other congress held in the South-West zone as illegal, saying that members of the party who failed to recognise the Akure congress are enemies of the party and progress.

He appealed to the judiciary to be weary of those who only wish to win elections through the court and not through election.

government come 2019.

Meanwhile, the National Vice Chairman (South West) of the PDP, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, has insisted that the zonal congress of the party held in Akure, is “a nullity,” citing court’s stoppage of the event.

Ogundipe said on Saturday that the national secretariat of the PDP had received the court order barrideaths congress and said they were ready to abide by it by not going ahead with the zonal congress as earlier planned.

South-South PDP elects consensus exco members Dapo Falade - Port Harcourt THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), South-South zone on Saturday, elected its new 16-member executive body at the zonal congress of the party, held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Saturday.

The process was rancourfree as the new executive, who were all consensus candidates, were voted for by 574 delegates from Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross Rivers, Edo and Edo, the six states constituting the zone.

The congress panel was headed by Mr Owoseni Ajayi, Ekiti State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and other members, including Honourable Chuma Nnaji (Secretary); Mr Ferdinard Ibetimi; Mr Kola Kolade; Mr Babade Ige; and Chief (Mrs) Tosin Aluko.

However, conspicuously absent at the congress were leaders of the party, including former President Goodluck Jonathan as well as

former governors from the South-South zone.

The sitting governors in the zone; (except that of Edo which is controlled by the All Progressives Congress, Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Ben Ayade (Cross Rivers), Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), Udo Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom) and Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), were present.

Speaking, former Akwa Ibom State governor, Senator Godswill Akpabio, said the congress and the peace-

ful voting process presented another opportunity for the party to correct the noticeable lapses that led to its lost of power at the federal level in the 2015 elections.

He described PDP as a caring party which pampered Nigerians with love for 16 years, adding that the people, now experiencing pains under the present Federal Government, were clamouring for the return of the party to power.

Also speaking on behalf

of his colleague-governors, Governor Wike reiterated that the South-South zone was for PDP, assuring that everything humanly possible would be done by the party to retain the zone.

He told party members and supporters not to bother about what he described as “rantings of anybody”, adding that PDP remained the most formidable party in the country and that, that explained why many people wanted to join it.

Muhammad Sabiu -Kaduna AMBASSADOR Ibrahim Kaura from Jigawa State emerged as Zonal Chairman North-West, of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), in Saturday’s zonal congress held in Kaduna.

The congress held at the Trade Fair Complex, also saw the emergence of Bashir Tanimu from Katsi-

na State as the zonal treasurer, Alhaji Umar Farouk from Zamfara State as exofficio.

While the position of zonal secretary was allocated to Kaduna State, zonal organising secrtary went to Kebbi State.

The positions of financial secretary and deputy national vice president were allocated to Zamfara State.

Meanwhile, former gov-

ernors of Jigawa and Kogi states, Alhaji Sule Lamido, and Alhaji Idris Wada have said that the PDP will overrun the ruling APC in 2019 general elections to relaunch itself back to power.

Both state ex-governors spoke separately with newsmen in an in Kaduna, shortly after the North West zonal congress.

Wada, who chaired the congress, said: “I think the

Crisis almost marred S/East congress as party elects leaders Jude Ossai - Enugu VIOLENCE almost marred the South-East zonal congress of the PDP, on Saturday, in Enugu, even as Augustine Umahi, the younger brother of the Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi, was elected as National Vice Chairman for the zone.

ment was moved by Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba and seconded by his Gombe State counterpart, Governor Ibrahim Danbaba.

With the endorsement, Sheriff will be presented as the zone’s only candidate at the party’s upcoming national congress.

The News Agency of Ni-

Also speaking after emerging as the new PDP zonal chairman, Elder Emmanuel Ogidi (from Delta State) assured that aggrieved founding members of the party would be reconciled in an effort to reposition it for the 2019 elections.

He declared that PDP would return back to power in 2019, describing APC as party that had somersaulted several times and would therefore the rejected by the people at the poll.

Kazaure emerges zonal chairman for N/West PDP

The exercise, which started on a peaceful note, was almost disrupted midway, when a fight broke out at the venue.

Sunday Tribune observed that trouble began when the Congress Committee Chairman, Casmir Igwe mounted the podium and brought up a petition by Governor Umahi

against one of his aides, Ali Odefa, who was contesting the position of National Vice Chairman with his brother, Augustine.

In the petition, Governor Umahi notified the Congress Committee that Odefa, his Senior Special Assistant on Internal Security, intended to contest for the position of National

North-East PDP endorses Sheriff as sole chairmanship candidate THE North-East zone of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Saturday, endorsed Senator Ali Sheriff as its sole candidate for the party’s national chairmanship position.

The endorsement was made at the North East zonal congress of the party.

A motion for the endorse-

Inaugurating the new zonal officers of the party, the congress chairman and former Rivers State governor, Dr Celestine Omeha, urged the new leaders to work for the progress of the party in their different capacities.

In his acceptance speech, the new zonal chairman, Olafeso pledged to do his best to reorganise, reposition and reunite the party in the zone and therefore called on all members of the party to support him.

He said that the party would send the All Progressives Congress (APC) out of

geria (NAN) reported that all other positions in the zone were filled by consensus.

The positions include: the North East Vice chairman, Mr Emmanuel Njiwah from Taraba; the secretary, Alhaji Kabiru Wamba from Gombe, the Treasurer, Alhaji Baffa Haruna from Yobe state, among others.

Responding, the acting national chairman of the party, Senator Sheriff, commended the congress for the trust and confidence reposed in him.

He said his ambition was to take PDP to greater heights, pledging to unite the party and carry its aggrieved members along.

Vice Chairman but was yet to resign his position in government.

It was observed that while the chairman of the congress, Igwe, was about making a pronouncement on the petition, Odefa forced his way up to the podium and attempted to stop him.

Some thugs believed to be loyal to the governor immediately rushed up to the podium and in an attempt to drag Odefa down, a fight broke out at the arena.

Angered by the development, Odefa moved towards the table where Governor Umahi and other dignitaries were sitting, but security operatives swiftly stopped him from creating further scene.

reality of being in an opposition party is dawning on our members, and everybody is begining to see in one way or the other in which they can cooperate for the party to rise again to become a strong party that has a future in the leadership of our country.

“So, I could see spirit of cooperation, determination on the part of our members to see that we have a smooth zonal election. And we came up with a strategies that have worked. We are having several meetings by the national working committee to resolve whatever intra party crisis we may have.

Lamido noted that PDP is now a united party that is ready to rescue power from the APC, as well as delivering Nigerians from political bondage.

He said, “Our party, PDP, is coming out strongly to rescue power from the APC, and deliver Nigerians from political, economic and social bandages. There is no doubt, we will take over power in 2019 election”.

“We are having alot of consultations to iron out our differences, so that we can move forward as one united People’s Democratic Party ( PDP )”.

44

news

15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Police arraign 3 for stealing rice worth N3m in Osun Oluwole Ige - Osogbo

From left, chairman, Trade Promotion Board, LCCI, Mr Sola Oyetayo; Director of Commerce, Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperative, Mr Hakeem Adeniji; president, LCCI, Dr Nike Akande; deputy president, Mr Babatunde Runwase and Director-General, LCCI, Mr. Muda Yusuf, during the presentation of the 2016 Lagos International Trade Fair Prospectus, in Lagos. Photo: Sylvester Okoruwa.

Only INEC has right to audit parties’ campaign funds, S/West coalition tells EFCC

•Accuses anti-graft agency of persecuting Yoruba politicians

By Dare Adekanmbi

A

coalition of sociopolitical organisations in the SouthWest zone under the aegis of Network for Equity and Justice (NEJ) has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of persecuting politicians from the zone under the guise prosecuting anti-corruption campaign.

NEJ said it was in total support of the anti-corruption policy of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, but would not endorse the singling out of opposition figures for punishment while members of the APC remained untouchables.

The organisation said it came to the conclusion after reviewing the circumstances surrounding the arrest and detention of the immediate past senator for Oyo Central, Senator Ayo Adeseun.

Adeseun was arrested on Tuesday by officials of the EFCC over involvement in campaign funds disbursement, detained for a night at the State CID in Ibadan, before he was whisked to Lagos by EFCC operatives on Wednesday.

In a release signed by its Media Officer, Elder Joshua Obadare, NEJ said more

than five days after Senator Adeseun was picked up, no charges had been preferred against him, querying why he was only allowed access to his lawyers after his third day in incarceration.

According to the release, only the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is empowered by law to look into campaign funds of political parties and ascertain whether they have overshot the stipulated limit.

“They said the granted him administrative bail and one of the bail conditions is

that he should provide the Certificate of Occupancy of a property in Ikoyi, where houses costs hundreds of millions of naira.

“The EFCC has a zonal office in Ibadan, why did it take the Senator to Lagos?

Obviously, EFCC is acting a script written for him by Aso Rock. It knew Adeseun would not get someone with such property to stand as surety for the accused and would therefore keep him in detention for as long as it would take to meet the bail conditions.

“From our findings, the

EFCC arrested Adeseun in respect of campaign funds disbursed to mobilise for the last elections. Curiously, similar recipients of such funds in the North-West and South-South zones were last week only invited by the EFCC, asked to make statement and then asked to go.

“It is on record that some of the recipients of PDP campaign funds in Katsina State, where the president hails from, have never been invited by the anti-graft body either for question or to make statements.

Plank sellers resist ejection by Oyo govt

By Tunde Ogunesan TEMIDIRE plank sellers, Sawmill, Gbagi road, Ibadan, on Saturday morning resisted an attempted forceful ejection from the market by the representatives of the Oyo State government.

The agents of the state government, which include some officers from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), it was gathered, were about to commence work on the site by putting up a fence to cordon off trespassers from the market when construction work will commence fully.

But the traders resisted them from entering the market and stood firm to “defend” their right of ownership of the land.

They made bonfires on the street to prevent government representatives from gaining entrance into the market, while workers were also not allowed access.

They accused government of attempting to take possession of the land, despite a subsisting court injunction to maintain the status quo, pending the determination of the case failed in court.

Speaking with journalists, one of the traders, Mr Mat-

thew Ojeyinka, appealled to Governor Abiola Ajimobi to allow rule of law reign over the matter.

According to Mr Ojeyinka, “In the first instance, government has no right to take over the land because it is a private property and without due process.

The second reason is that the matter is currently in court, hence there is no reason for Saturday’s exercise. If the court rules that the government should take over, we will abide by it. But as of today, we’re standing on that injunction until there is a contrary pronouncement by the court.”

Rescind your decision of fuel subsidy removal, Adegboruwa tells FG Ayomide Owonibi Odekanyin - Lagos LAGOS-based human rights lawyer, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has asked the Federal Government return petrol price to N86.50, saying it is insensitive for government to “add to the economic trauma” of Nigerians instead of making them feel

its positive impact.

In a statement entitled The Struggle Continues and made available to newsmen on Saturday, Adegboruwa, who was last week granted N10 million bail after his arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged fraud, said he would submit to any attempt to cow him.

Adegboruwa said he had never been under any illusion that a critic of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government like him would not be clamped down upon, but was surprised that it came in “form of some vendetta.”

Adegboruwa said since it was the constitutional responsibility of government

to ensure the security and welfare of the citizen, Buhari must continue to subsidise petrol for the sake of the poor and indigent.

“I am told to accept the fact that there is a new administration in the country, which does not like opposition and criticisms and that anything can be done to silence all voices of dissent.

THE police in Osun State, on Friday, arraigned three accused persons, Adijat Oyebamiji, 40; Olufemi Falola, 35; and Femi Awoniyi, 45, over alleged stealing of 280 bags of rice worth over N3 million.

The Police Prosecutor, Sergeant Sunday Osanyintuyi, informed the court that the accused committed the offence on April 19, 2016, at Cooperative Area, Modakeke- Ife. Osanyintuyi said that Falola and Awoniyi received 100 bags of rice valued N1.3million from one Oyebamiji, describing it as stolen property of one Bolanle Olaoye.

He added that on April 23, 2016, at Isale-Ijesa, Garage Olode Ile-Ife, Olorunfemi and Falola received 180 bags of stole rice worth N2.3 million, being Olaoye’s property from Awoniyi.

He added that Oyebamiji, Falola and others, now at large, cheated one Bayo Olorunnisola by driving his truck from Ile-Ife to Lagos and refusing to pay him N120,000 charges fees.

Ex-education minister, Adeniran, Bolanle Awe, others to dissect Ofeimun’s book

EMINENT Nigerians, scholars, including the former Minister of Education, Professor Tunde Adeniran and Professor Bolanle Awe, will tomorrow, Monday, gather to dissect one of the latest books written by poet and gubernatorial aspirant in Edo State, Odia Ofeimun.

Scheduled to be held at the University of Ibadan’s International Conference Centre (ISGPP), Aganga Hall, the event, said the school, would take off by 2.00 pm.

The book, entitled Taking Nigeria Seriously, a 679-page effort of the author, a compendium of analyses of issues of contemporary society that have the tendencies of limiting the nation’s growth and representation among the comity of nations, will be read by Ofeimun.

The dissection of the book, put together by the Readers’ Club of ISGPP according to the school, is its maiden effort at contributing to the knowledge industry in Nigeria.

CD seeks OBJ’s support for Buhari’s war against corruption THE Campaign for Democacy has said that it has resolved to give the Federal Government its full backing in its war against corruption, noting that the vice had become a threat to national development.

The CD spoke through its president, Mr Ifeanyi Odili, during the group’s visit to former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, at his Hilltop residence, in Abeokuta, on Thursday.

Odili lauded Chief Obasanjo for establishing the Economic and Finacial Crimes Commission (EFCC), while urging him to give President Muhammadu Buhari’s goverment his total backing in its war against corruption.

“The stories of serial looting of our commonwealth are frightening and threatening our collective survival as a nation. Any nation where such money is stolen from its treasury can never be the same again, but we pray that God in His abundant mercy will restore our lost glory,” he said.

Subsidy removal will eliminate corruption —Yakassai Kola Oyelere -Kano ALHAJI Tanko Yakassai, former special adviser on National Assembly to former president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, has declared support for fuel subsidy removal, saying it will eliminate the massive corruption in the sector.

Yakasai, who stated this in Kano State, noted that the enquiries had shown that a handful of individuals siphoned billions of Nigeria’s money and converted it to their personal use “I have been a strong supporters of the withdrawal of fuel subsidy for the last 20 years or thereabout, I have many reasons that informed my position. First, is that the ordinary Nigerians are not the actual beneficiaries of the subsidy regime. The marketers and smugglers are the main beneficiaries of subsidy.”

news 2015 polls: Coalition petitions human rights commission, CJN, INEC, NASS 45

15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Seeks probe of APC, PDP election funds Taiwo Adisa - Abuja

A

Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Coalition for Equity(CE) has petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the National Assembly and the Chief Justice of Nigeria(CJN) as well as the Inspector General of Police, seeking a thorough probe of the campaign funds used in prosecuting the 2015 general elections by the major political parties.

The group, in a petition sent to NHRC and copied the other agencies, including the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) said that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) which is looking into the matter so far has failed to take a wholistic view of the issue.

The group, in a petition signed by its national coordinator, Abdullahi Bello, said that it was wrong for any government agency to restrict its probe of the 2015 election campaign funds if it was interested in cleaning the Augean’s stable.

The coalition said that since all political parties spent almost at equal rates, the probe of whether public funds were involved in the campaigns should be thorough.

“For fairness, the coalition, in a letter to National Human Rights Commission, the Independent National Electoral Commission and others wants a detached assessment of the funding of all the political parties that participated in the 2015 general

elections,” a statement by CE’s coordinator read.

The statement further indicated: “By singling out

PDP members for labelling and harassment over election campaign funds, the EFCC has dropped its

THE House of Representatives is to hold a special session on the new pump price of petrol announced by the Federal Government on Wednesday last week.

The House, in a statement signed by its Deputy Clerk, Basil Edhere, said that the special sitting would hold on Monday at 12 noon.

above all sycophancy to the government in power - the All Progressives Congress.

The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade flanked by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Sanusi Buba (left) and the state Police Public Relations Officer, Adekunle Ajisebutu (right) while addresssing journalists in Agbada community, Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State on Friday.

Fulani/farmers clash averted in Oyo

As CP deploys mobile police, APC to maintain security

By Oluwatoyin Malik THE Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Leye Oyebade, on Saturday deployed dozens of mobile policemen and an Armoured Personnel Carrier to Agbanda community via Ikoyi-Ile in Oriire Local Government area of the state in order to avert a face-off between the indigenes and the Fulani cattle owners and herdsmen living in their midst.

The deployment was a follow-up to the police commissioner’s visit to the community on Friday, after reports he received indicated that the Agbanda

indigenes had given ultimatum to the Fulanis in their midst to vacate the community.

They were said to have gone ahead to charter vehicles into which they loaded the property of the Fulanis to show that they were serious about their stance.

At the joint meeting the Commissioner of Police held with the two sides on Friday in Agbanda, he enjoined the indigenes that they should avoid actions that could breed war, saying that he was acting on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Inspector General of Police,

Reps meets on fuel price tomorrow Taiwo Adisa - Abuja

hitherto pretentious status and has fully and clearly shown the world its partisanship, partiality and

The statement entitled “Notice of re-convening of the House in a special session,” indicated that Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, arrived at the decision following his consultations with leaders of political parties in the House.

“The Speaker, House of Representatives, in consultation with leaders of political parties in the House

hereby give notice to all members of the House of Representatives that the House shall re- convene in a special session as follows on Monday.”

The statement indicated that the sitting would have an interactive session with the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu on the recent deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector in the country.

Solomon Arase, and the governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi.

He reminded them of the communiqué that was signed in October 2015 in which the leaders of farmers and Fulani settlers agreed on points that would ensure harmonious living, saying that anyone who contravenes the content of the communiqué would be arrested.

He enjoined the people to cooperate with one another and live harmoniously, pointing out that globally, migration from one place to the other is a common phenomenon.

“Whoever contravenes the templates we have set and the content of the communiqué will be regarded as a saboteur. And a saboteur is an enemy of the nation who wants trouble.

“I am warning you that there must be peace and we must cooperate with ourselves to maintain the peace. The law of the country respects each person and his fundamental human rights. The police are here to ensure to ensure that no one is molested,” the police commissioner said.

But the Agbanda residents insisted that they would not allow the Fulani to stay in their midst again, saying that they were tired of the pain and anguish they have caused them.

It got to a stage that the indigenes were unruly and the atmosphere became charged so much that the police had to fire teargas canisters to create an avenue for the Fulanis to leave the community square where the meeting with the Commissioner of Police was held.

A woman, Abiba Ibrahim, who spoke with Sunday Tribune said that they had no problem with the Fulanis but their herdsmen who she claimed had destroyed the indigenes’ farms, leaving them hungry.

The Fulanis who also spoke with the police commissioner said that 15 of their people were missing after the attack by the Agbanda community, but the police commissioner assured them that they would be safe wherever they were, as they must have left the community to avoid attack by the indigenes.

“Otherwise, how would one comprehend the fact that the PDP launched its campaign fund in December 2014 and realised a princely N21.27 billion then? Is the EFCC saying that nothing from this fund went into the elections? That every kobo spent to prosecute the election was drawn in the near cliche $2.1 billion arms deals money or the now fangled $115m allegedly ascribed to Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke?

“Assuming but not conceeding, were the people now haunted told the source of the money they were given for campaigns?

Then it trickles down that a printer would inquire of the sources of funds before he prints a political poster.

The aircraft owners would ask before he goes on charter and so on.

“Come to think of it, can the APC people swear by Ogun (apologies to Fela who said other media of oath hardly kill) that all funds used for the campaigns were legitimately earned through selling of party cards, souvenirs, and N1 contributions from each member as they have been orchestrating?

If, so why are we having after-elections storms and bring-back-our-money cries from indigenes of Rivers, Lagos, Kwara, Osun states among others? EFCC has refused to investigate any of these allegations even when valid petitions have been written and receipt acknowledged by them.

“Nobody has refuted the widely reported dollar rain at the APC primaries in Lagos. Who was paying to mobilise party supporters and hired crowd from the 774 local government areas to the 36 state capitals and Abuja? Who paid for the stadiums and other venues in all the states and the local government areas that hosted the APC campaigns in the country?

“We implore you, all the agencies we have written to, to cause and impartial investigations to be launched on all campaign funds of all parties that took part in the 2015 general elections and not the PDP alone.”

46

15 May, 2016

Sunday Tribune

PHOTOS: ALOLADE GANIYU

THE 34TH COUNCIL OF BISHOPS OF METHODIST CHURCH NIGERIA (MCN) HELD IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF IBADAN FROM MONDAY, APRIL 18 TO MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016.

The Archbishop of Ibadan, Most Rev Michael Kehinde Stephen (left) and the Prelate, MCN, His Eminence, Dr Samuel ‘Emeka Kanu Uche, JP.

The Secretary of Conference, Rt Rev (Dr) Raphael Opoko (left) and the Prelate.

Archbishop Stephen (right) and Mr Seye Makinde, who represented his brother, Seyi, at the dinner in honour of the bishops.

Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi (middle); the Prelate (right) and Most Rev M. K. Stephen at the Archdiocesan luncheon.

Mrs Iyabo Stephen (right); Mrs Janet Uche and her husband, the Prelate; Archbishop Stephen; His Eminence, Makinde and his wife, Elizabeth, and others at the Archdiocesan luncheon.

From left, Most Rev M. K. Stephen; the Prelate; the immediate past Prelate and the Most Rev Dr Lawrence Sanda Ayo Ladigbolu, retired Archbishop of Ilesa Archdiocese.

Cross section of the Council of Bishops.

Children entertaining the Council of Bishops at the Archdiocesan luncheon at Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu House, Maafohun, Molete, Ibadan.

Former Chief Judge of Oyo State, Chief Mrs Badejoko Adeniji and one of the Archbishops at the dinner in honour of the Prelate and the bishops at the Civic Centre, Idi-Ape, Ibadan.

Dancing time for the Prelate; his wife; Mrs Ola Makinde; Archbishop Stephen and other bishops at the dinner with Bola Sunshine (left) on the bandstand.

Representative of the Anglican Diocese of Ibadan, delivering the goodwill message of the Anglican Church at the opening ceremony.

Representative of All Saints’ Church addressing the Council at the opening ceremony at Agbeni Methodist Cathedral, Ibadan.

Representative of the Catholic Archdiocese of Ibadan at the opening ceremony.

47

15 May , 2016

sport

SUNDAY

Sunday Tribune

Editor: Ganiyu Salman tribunesporteditor@yahoo.com 08053789060

Ejidike donates N.1m to Yekini’s family NIGERIA’S Pillar of sports, Chief Donatus Agu Ejidike on Saturday, in Ijagbo, Kwara State donated N100,000 to the family of the late Nigerian international, Rashidi Yekini.

Ejidike was received by the mother of Nigeria’s first World Cup goalscorer (in 1994), Alhaja Sikirat Yekini and the younger brother of the deceased, Mr Akeem Yekini.

Speaking before the presentation, Ejidike stated

that he was in the home of the fallen soccer hero to show respect and send message to all Nigerians that whoever has done this country proud and distinguished himself in his chosen field should not be neglected even if he is no more.

“I’m here today to pay respect to the late goal poacher, Rashidi Yekini and tell Nigerians that we should not forget our heroes. That will

encourage budding talents that they have hope in their country, Nigeria. It is very imperative for us to appreciate our heroes and give them hope,” said Ejidike, who is also the president of Karate Federation of Nigeria.

Speaking with Tribunesport, Ejidike said he read of the plight of Yekini’s mum in the Nigerian Tribune adding that, the publication served as a wake up call to him and other football stakeholders in the state to rally

round the family of the man who has brought the name of Kwara State to the world map through his exploits in football.

“This is just a token to support the ageing mother of Yekini and members of his family and I believe more support will come from other wellmeaning Nigerians. Yekini remains a household name even in death and we must always appreciate him for his role to take Nigerian football to world reckoning,” Ejidike told Tribunesport.

Ighalo

Can Ighalo dust Ayegbeni’s EPL goal record today?

By Ganiyu Salman

N Nigeria’s Pillar of Sports, Chief Donatus Agu Ejidike (left) presenting the N100,000 cash donation to Alhaja Sikirat Yekini, the mother of the late Nigerian international Rashidi Yekini, yesterday in Ijagbo, Kwara State.

IGERIAN international, Odion Ighalo will be eyeing a brace today , as he leads the Watford attack at Vicarage Road against Sunderland in the last English Premier League

fixture of the season.

Ighalo remains the Hornets leading scorer this season with 15 goals and a brace against Sunderland will crown him as Nigeria’s all-time scorer in EPL. He’s having 17 goals in all com-

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petions this season.

Yakubu Ayegbeni holds the record of being the only Nigerian to have scored 16 goals in a season in the Barclays Premier League, when he played for Portsmouth in 2003 season.

Ighalo’s goal on Wednesday in the 2-4 loss to Norwich City matched Osaze Odemwingie’s 15-goal EPL record which he recorded during his stint with West Brom Albion in 2010 season.

Interestingly, Ighalo would have been eyeing at least a goal today had his strike against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge not overruled by the board and recorded as own goal by Gary Cahill.

Aside, the former Flying Eagles captain, also played 12 games without a goal after his famous strike against Arsenal in the FA Cup, before he eventually ended the goal drought in the midweek clash with Sunderland.

Ighalo on a good day could score a brace in a game especially at the Hornets slaughter slab (Vicarage Road). His first brace this season was against Newcastle United last September which gave the newlypromoted side a 2-1 away win at St. James’ Park. He also scored all two goals in his team’s victory over West Ham last October, while Ighalo also netted a double in the 3-0 spanking of Liverpool last December.

Thus, another brace today for Ighalo cannot be described as mission im-

possible, moreso that he has regained his scoring formula.

Ighalo will also want to give his coach, Quique Sanchez Flores a befitting parting gift as the manager has been asked to leave after today’s clash with Sunderland.

It could also be Ighalo’s valedictory match as offers continue to come his way, the latest being from another premiership side, West Brom, after Arsenal’s interest did not materialise again.

The Edo State-born player whose contract with Watford runs till 2020 received plaudits from his teammate, Troy Deeney after his goal against Norwich.

“It was lovely for Odion to get his goal. It’s been a little while for him but I think he’s on 17 (goals) now, and you can’t argue with that for a first year in the Premier League,” Deeney told watfordfc.com.

Ighalo who earns £30,000 per week says he is ready to stay put at Watford if the management wants it so.

“My agent will sit down with Watford and I will be happy if they want me to stay at Watford,” Ighalo told Sky Sports.

Ighalo, it will be recalled, emerged the best striker in 2015 having scored 30 goals in England’s top four leagues.

He was crowned early this year the Premier League Player of the Month for December 2015 following his exploits.

SIDELINES NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER

15 MAY, 2016

NO 2,046

www.tribuneonlineng.com

N200

When the Federal Government announced a new price of petrol, virtually all the filling stations adjusted their metres immediately to reflect the new price. One only wonders what would have happened if the government had reduced the price, they would have complained of still having old stock and would have refused to reduce the price.

President Buhari needs to work smarter Owing to reactions from readers asking that last week’s column be repeated, it is hereby reproduced.

M

MOST Nigerians are still expectant of good things from theBuhari presidency. Buhari has done much that Nigerians did not expect and do not appreciate. For instance, he has more or less disbanded the political party that brought him before us for election – and he is thus generating fears of coming instability and chaos. He is, surprisingly, bungling his very popular war on corruption, and he seems to think that salvation for his presidency resides abroad. But, in spite of these foibles, he is fortunate that most Nigerians are still ready to wait and see.

On the other hand, Nigeria is being shaken by anxiety – resulting mostly from the terrible and worsening condition of the economy under Buhari. Nigeria’s GDP is contracting (already down from 7% to under 3%). Direct foreign investment has reduced by over 70%. Jobs are being lost. The inflation rate is assessed to have risen from 9% to about 13%. Nigeria is no longer rated as one of the 15 fastest growing economies in Africa.Various international agencies are dropping Nigeria lower in their assessments of the world economy. Nigeria is no longer one of the leading producers of crude oil in the world.Sabotage is increasing markedly on oil installations, especially in the South-south, and electricity and gasoline supply is troublingly erratic.

These economic disasters have their roots in a variety of causes. Most notable is the sharp drop in world oil prices and the loss of market for Nigeria’s oil, resulting in serious declines in revenue and foreign exchange. But the perennial poor management of the economy is widely reported to be worsening under Buhari. And the loss of economic development initiatives in the regions, states, and localities of Nigeria is also worsening, as a result of decades of relentlessly concentrating all of Nigeria’s power and resource control in the hands of an overwhelmed, confused, incompetent and corrupt Federal Government.

Poignant manifestations of anxiety are present in virtually all parts of Nigeria.

First, in the Southeast, we have been having protest demonstrations by youths of the Igbo nation – in the name of “Biafra”.

In various influential quarters all over the world, the Biafra cause appears to be attracting attention and gatheringsympathy.

Secondly, we have the stubborn youth revolt in the Northeast, which has chosen Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism as its banner. In spite of frequent optimistic

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reports from the Nigerian military since Buhari’s presidency began, Boko Haram remains a big problem. Its support base in parts of the Northeast does not appear to have seriously eroded – and that is because youth unemployment, hopeless poverty, and Kanuri nationalism are adding fuel to it.

Thirdly, there is the old revolt in the South-south, with its many terrorist organizations. When Dr. Goodluck Jonathan from the South-south became president, there arose big hopes that very important changes would happen under him.Unfortunately, Jonathan just settled indulgently into enjoying the Federal Government’s unrestrained powers and limitless resource-control. Since his replacement

by Buhari, the terrorist groups in the South-south have returned powerfully to business – because Buhari continues the

hari’s Federal Government of tilting Nigeria’s affairs against the Arewa North.

Finally, we must not forget that there are several “self-determination” groups among the Yoruba nation of the Southwest. For most of these, the fervent desire is to have the Nigerian federation properly restructured so that each region of Nigeria may develop and prosper in its own way and make its own kind of contribution to the overall prosperity of Nigeria. Heavily educated, strongly equipped to move their communities forward, but massively unemployed, the masses of the Yoruba youths and self-determination groups have frequently lamented in their statements the fact that excessive federal power and resource control constricts regional, state and local development energy in their Region. Some years ago, they held large dem-

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regime of total federal power and resource control, ignores all advice and demands for the restructuring of our federation, and believes that the use of federal power will crush the South-south insurgency.

Fourthly, we may forget (but we must not forget) recent agitations fromthe Arewa North. In 2014, large numbers of youths belonging to the Arewa Youth Development Forum held demonstrations during which they decried the poverty in the North and the “discrimination” by the Federal Government against the North. Speaking through their Chairman, Aliyu Usman, they issued a call “on all Northerners to rise and support agitations for a peaceful dissolution of this union called Nigeria”. They then warned all Southerners resident in the North “to relocate to their respective states to make room for Northerners who would be returning home”. Nor has the voice of these youths been an isolated voice from the North. Even eminent citizens (such as Prof. AngoAbdullahi) have said almost exactly what these youths have said. Only days ago, Northern elders, led by the august statesman, MaitamaSule, issued a statement accusing Bu-

onstrations simultaneously in all six state capitals of the Southwest on one single day.

The big question now is ‘How should Nigeria handle this whole situation?”. As an immediate response, many of us are hurling denunciations at those youths who dare to revolt and strike at our country. And our law enforcement agencies are also being mobilized and thrown against centres of trouble. These are the usual responses of insensitive governments; we need to recognize that they do not reach the roots of our country’s mounting troubles.

The Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics says that nearly 70% of Nigerians live in “absolute poverty”. Unemployment among our youths is believed to be close to 70%. Unemployed and often having to lean on parents to survive, many of our youths cannot marry and begin to build families of their own.

Those of them who do have little children live in sadness about the horribly poor quality of education available to their children in our public schools. Those who need health care are devastated by the poor quality of our healthcare delivery system. More Nigerian mothers than mothers in most other

lands die during childbirth, and more Nigerian babies die at birth or in childhood. Per head, we Nigerians receive disastrously lower supplies of electricity, potable water, good quality roads, dependable administrative service, etc, than most other peoples of the world do. Our lives are hounded by crimes, and those who can afford it must live behind barricades. In this ugliness of life, basic loyalty, even among family members, has perished. Most of us dare not dream, create and start enterprises. We have made our youths the hopeless generation. Now, their anger and despair are rising like a terrifying demon to lash at us and batter our country.

Our youths know that things have not always been like this in our country. They know that there was a time, not long ago, when their Nigeria was a land of hope. They know stories of Regions led by mostly public-spirited leaders and civil servants, where the struggle for progress was a consuming passion. They know stories of Regional Governments which had much autonomy to manage the affairs of their citizens, and who, to generate resources for their development projects, did find ways to encourage and promote their farmers, their produce traders, and their exporters. They read of the steadily rising wealth, in those times, from cocoa in the Western region, groundnuts in the Northern Region, and palm produce in the Eastern Region. They hear of youths of those times daring to venture into all sorts of enterprise or easily walking into employments straight after their final school examinations. They hear that their universities and teaching hospitals of those times were rated among the best in the world.

They hear that Nigerians who studied abroad usually hurried back home after their studies – because opportunities were plentiful back home. And they know that the removal of all power and control to a federal centre has contributed enormously to wrecking most of these beautiful prospects of the past.

We just must find the answer to the growing anger and desperation in our country. President Buhari’s war on corruption is a good first step. But he must quickly move to the bigger steps. He must learn to listen and show deference to other Nigerians. This country is rich in persons with knowledge and expertise. He must avoid behaving as if he is an agent of any special interest.There are many othersteps to take, but one of the biggest is to restructure this federation and restore development initiative to our regions, states and localities. That step cannot possibly weaken our country; it can only solidify and strengthen our country. Without taking that step, we are merely playing foolish games with destiny. It is rapidly becoming difficult to deceive Nigerians.

FIFA’s independent audit committee boss resigns DOMENICO Scala, FIFA’s head of auditing and compliance, has resigned in protest over reforms at the governing body of world football.

Scala is angry the new Fifa council will have the ability to appoint and sack those in charge of its committees, including auditing, ethics and finance.

The council replaced the FIFA executive committee in the aftermath of a corruption scandal at the organisation.

Committees had been “deprived of their independence”, said Scala.

FIFA said the Swiss “has made unfounded claims which are baseless”.

Scala says he is “consternated” by a decision that makes it possible for the council to “impede” investigations by either dismissing committee members or “through the threat of a dismissal”.

This, he added, “undermines a central pillar of the good governance of Fifa and destroys a substantial achievement of the reforms”. “[This is] a wake-up call to those persons who genuinely advocated for implement-

ing reforms,” he said.

FIFA, which accepted Scala’s resignation and installed his deputy Sindi Mabaso Koyana as acting chairman, insists the Swiss has “misinterpreted the purpose of the decision taken” by its congress.

It added in a statement: “The decision was made to permit the council to appoint members on an interim basis.

“In addition, the measure allows for the swift removal of members who have breached their obligations.”

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