19th June 2016 by Nigerian Tribune

NO 2,051

SUNDAY, 19 JUNE, 2016

www.tribuneonlineng.com

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Nigerian Tribune

Edo APC guber primary: Aspirants in shouting match, brace for outcome

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1 Pg4

SEX SCANDAL:

Nigerians tackle Dogara over pg4 accused reps •Speaker insists US yet to supply evidence •My inclusion, mistaken identity, says Ikon 2

OJB Jezreel’s last words with Tribune

...Let me die and rest!

Prices of bread to rise —Bakers Lawmakers Pg42 propose life pension for Saraki, Dogara, others Pg44

(1) Some residents of Imushin sympathising over the incident in which 11 people were killed by suspected militants. Inset is blood and slippers of some of the victims. (2) Top-Cat Hotel vandalised by the rampaging militants. (3) A car damaged by the militants. PHOTOS: OPEYEMI OWOASEYE.

Militants kill 11 in Bad loans worsen power Ogun/Lagos supply, cripple banks •Only 3 persons die —Police

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•As DISCOs threaten force majeure

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19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

life&living Gambling for survival

A typical lotto kiosk

By Tade Makinde and Segun Adebayo

N this age of mass unemployment, many young Nigerians are finding new means of making ends meet and getting fully engaged to keep body and soul together. At every nook and cranny of the country, one often finds young people gathered around kiosks painted in various colours and staking their money on sport events taking place thousands of kilometres away, hoping to make big money should they make the right predictions. Across the country, the different platforms of sports betting include Nairabet, Surebet, 360bet, Merrybet, 9jabet, Fortunebet, 1960bet, Bet9ja, Bet365 with several others in the offing. Though religious leaders frown on gambling, millions of unemployed and under-employed young Nigerians are willing to lose as little as between N50 and N5,000, depending on how much is at stake, to place a bet. Week in week out, huge amounts of money running into millions of naira are staked on football matches in different leagues across the world. With just N100, a huge win may turn around the financial status of the staker. It is a situation of the higher the stake, the higher the risk and the gain. This, according to a young man popularly known as Sure Banker, a gambling addict, is the main reason he will continue to participate. Reports say Nigerians spend around $11.3 million daily on bets, making roughly $4.2 billion a year. “The popular Lotto is played twice a day,” says Abdullai Adetunji of Golden Chance Lotto. “There is Ghana game and Indoor game. The latter applies to Nigerian games and bettors

stake cash for the former between 4 p.m and 7.30 p.m daily while bets are made for indoor games between 7 a.m and 4.30 p.m. For both games, stakes are placed from a chart that are released from Ghana each week, but are printed in Nigeria. The charts are used to forecast scores like that of pool stakers and it costs N1,000. Lottery on the other hand is basically about football matches. Those who bet on football often have very good knowledge of players and past games. Adetunji, who has been in the business for six years, said he started from a passive interest as he had no other means of livelihood and later got familiar with other agents. “To start out, I got a kiosk; that was after I got attached to a licensed agent. I got a machine, (Terminal), on which all transactions and betting are made. It is the play equipment; the machine looks like a PoS. It is used to print out tickets and results. “The biggest single win I ever paid out was N900,000. That was three years ago. The guy staked an amount I can’t remember again across board. He played all-two sure, three direct and permutation. I heard the guy bought a plot of land with the money,” Adetunji told Sunday Tribune. Big business In the last four years, betting has not only become a big attraction, it has also become a reward for the betting passion. Sunday Tribune gathered that sport betting

cuts across all strata of the society - from the educated to the semi-literate and even among artisans. The reason is not far-fetched. The amount needed for betting is well within the reach of all, and the thrill of the game is sufficient reward. Somewhere at Oke Ado area of Ibadan, Oyo State, a young man placed N500 bet on 20 games played in England, Spain, France, Germany and Scotland. By the time all the results came in, he had won N6.8 million. For the young, jobless man, his life suddenly turned around. He had dreamt of living the life of celebrities, so now was the time to live his dream. He asked three of his friends to travel to Lagos with him for a swell time. “He spent the entire money on girls, booze, hotels and unnecessary pleasures,” one of his neighbours who would not want his name in print told Sunday Tribune. “That is how most of them waste their money. Investing it does not come to mind,” he added. After two weeks of living large in Lagos, the young man reportedly came back to Ibadan in the night with a little less than N50,000. He is currently walking around the city, hoping for the next big splash from the ‘game of luck.’ Realising that football fans have now caught the bug of sports betting and the possibility that people may soon get tired if they keep placing money and not winning, several other games have been introduced into gambling since about two years ago. A betting addict popularly known as Eruku said people are now getting tired of Continues

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life&living

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

‘Only death can stop me from gambling’

Bettors ‘at work’ you play the best of five, in virtual betting, the best of six is either 4-2 or 5-1; 3-3 is a draw, but the player with the highest score wins. The minimum amount that can be staked is N150. One is however allowed to go above N150. Depending on how much is staked, one could win N2,000, N3,500 or even N70,000. To win a high amount, the risk will have to be high. A poultry owner who simply identified himself as Seyi is also an avid bettor. He has three workers on his payroll but also seeks to make extra money from betting. “I have won N7,000 several times with N150. That is enough for me to make it through each week. For over a year now, I have been making that much. I have also lost money though,” he told Sunday Tribune.

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football betting because it is really hard to predict correctly and win. “It is only one out of 10 people that is likely to win and this does not happen every time. I have staked more than N250,000 in the last three and a half years but I have only managed to win four times. In those four times, I earned a paltry N67,000. I prefer to place bets on other games that are very reliable and fast,” he said. According to him, there are other dimensions to betting as people can bet on horse racing, snookers, cricket, scratch cards and dog racing. The latter is by far the most popular form of gambling in the country today, ahead of football betting, according to Eruku. “Recently, I staked N3000 and I predicted 11 matches correctly. This fetched me about N56,000 in return. Two days ago, I staked N5000 on four matches, but I lost. A single match which ended in goalless draw spoilt my luck of winning about N150,000. Today, I have lost another N4,000 but that is nothing to me. I have lost more than that before. The truth is that death is the only thing that can stop me from betting,” he said. Betting has its language...

For every avid bettor, there is always a language that comes with every loss or win. It is believed that most betters speak pidgin and majorly Yoruba depending on the locale. Seyi Odeyemi, whose specialty is virtual betting, says this category of betting is about football, but it is played on a computer, not the pitch. Virtual betting is played for a maximum of between five and seven minutes. From one goal end to the other, both players are allowed to make just six touches. Like in lawn tennis where

You need to know how much people are staking every day. The real bettors have shown no obvious signs of tiredness; they keep coming to bet

Online opportunities... Speaking on what prompted him to float Nigeria’s first online betting site, founder, Nairabet, Akin Alabi, said he discovered that Nigerians are football-crazy and decided to put his money where his mouth is. “I discovered that their passion for the round leather game is unwavering and coupled with my love for football, I decided to put my money where my mouth is. This is what brought about the birth of Nairabet, Nigeria’s first online sports betting portal, with outlets across Nigeria,” Alabi said. It has also been observed that many viewing centers that used to enjoy regular patronage have closed down as football fans have now shifted their attention to sport betting centres where they can watch live matches for free and monitor different live matches while they stake their money. “I have been running my viewing centre for more than 10 years, but sales have dropped as football diehards who patronise us have stopped coming. They now prefer to go to betting sites where they can bet and watch the matches free. This is one of the reasons I decided to upgrade my centre to a betting centre so that my customers can come back,” said Jelili Olagunju, who operates a centre at Oshodi in Lagos. Investigation also revealed that two other developments have arguably brought gambling further into the mainstream.

The first is the opportunity for operators of sports betting platforms to advertise on television, especially before or during the English and La Liga football matches. The second development is the advance of online gambling. Smart phones and tablet computers enable people to gamble at any time of the day without having to leave the comfort of their homes. Many of these websites and apps have also developed chat rooms or communities to allow players to interact, with some listing the acronyms for players to use in text-message-style language. A journalist, who gave his name as Kambi, told Sunday Tribune that he would only place a bet on Arsenal Football Club due to his unwavering support for the English club. “I am an Arsenal fan and a proud supporter of the club. Arsenal is the only team that I can place my money on. I don’t have to go to any betting centre to place my bet since I can always follow the actions live on my tablet right inside my office. I know of bankers and car dealers who place bets regularly. In fact, there is a man who lost half of his investment to football betting. That is an extreme case and I don’t see myself toeing that path,” he said. ‘Win or lose, real betters don’t quit’ Tunji Adeyemi, an agent with Surebet, explained that as against the general belief that some bettors quit when they don’t win, real bettors often play for life. Adeyemi added that when a bettor keeps losing, nobody gets to hear about it, but the moment he wins, the whole world turns their attention to the winner. “You need to know how much people are staking every day. The real bettors have shown no obvious signs of tiredness; they keep coming to bet,” he said. The cost and benefit... While some people are happy about the growth of the gambling industry, others are worried about the growing problem of addiction. While the gambling business has created employment opportunities, a ‘backwash’ effect has been the increasing incident of compulsive or ‘problem’ gambling, where the gambler does not know how or when to stop, and can go to extremes to continue to fund his addiction. It was gathered that the growing phenomenon impacts negatively on individuals’ financial, personal, health and family status. ‘Gambling in Africa is a vice’ According to Professor Oyesoji Aremu of the Department of Psychology, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, gambling in Africa is a vice. “When you talk about gambling, one has to look at the context in which gambling is practised. It is also cultural for some people. In the western world, gambling is a way of life. It could be a social or sporting activity. People in that part of the world often engage in gambling, better known as betting whereby people go to casinos and other betting sites to practice how to stake bets; it is their way of life. “But in the African setting, gambling is a vice and people see those who go into it as abnormal people in the society. This is because the virtue of hard work in hinged of the fact that people must work to earn a living. These are people who are not contributing anything meaningful to the society but want to earn a living in a dubious way,” he said.

news

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Sex scandal: Nigerians tackle Dogara over accused Reps By Dare Adekanmbi with Agency Report

PEAKER of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, on Saturday, traded tackles with some Nigerians who took to twitter to condemn the alleged attempted rape and sexual molestation by three members of the House during their recent trip to the United States. The three members — Mohammed Garba-Gololo (Bauchi State Samuel Ikon (Akwa Ibom State) and Terse Gbillah (Benue State) — were mentioned in a letter to the Speaker by the US mission in Nigeria for allegedly soliciting prostitutes and attempting to rape a hotel worker while in the US. The House had announced that it had directed a probe of the allegations and promised to make the outcome of the investigation public. But apparently unsatisfied with the step taken by the House on the issue, Nigerians pressed Speaker Dogara on twitter for comments on the development, particularly the angle of attempted rape. Responding through his twitter handle @Speaker-

Dogara, the Speaker, who cautioned against conviction of the lawmakers on social media pending the outcome of the investigation, said the issue of rape was a “social media creation,” as the US did not make “reference to any attempted rape” in the letter sent to him. “I got a letter from the US Ambassador, but there’s no reference to any attempted rape. That’s a social media creation.” “As disconcerting as the allegation is, it’s still an allegation. Judgement can only be passed when it’s proven.” A tweeter respondent, one Mr Kayode Ogundamisi replied Dogara that he was not out to convict the lawmakers but was only interested in the Speaker confirming the receipt or otherwise of the complaint letter from the US Embassy, which Dogara had done. Seyi Opeolu Ajayi, reacting to the probe instituted by the House, queried why the House would be a judge in the matter, telling Dogara that the US did not “just make a noise” on the matter. Alluding to the US allegation of Weapons of

Mass Destruction (WMD) against the regime of slain Iraq leader, Saddam Hussein, which were not found when Iraq was stormed by an international coalition force, Dogara said: “I can’t agree any less with you. Like they didn’t when we ultimately discovered Saddam had no Nuke arsenals. “I see Nukes as the most potent WMD. I have also forgotten whether any WMD was found. Please educate us. However, Poju who commented via @Pojugreat, sought to know how the evidence in support or denial of the allegations would be secured, asking if the House would write the US government to provide the evidence. To this, Dogara responded, saying “He who alleges must prove. That is the law.” The speaker promised that, “Together with the US Embassy in Nigeria, we will get to the bottom of this matter and until then, let’s not be judgemental.” Another respondent, Mr Clutch, contributing through @Mohova, asked Dogara if the affected lawmakers would agree to a trial of the matter in the US. Dogara responded that

the lawmakers had not only expressed readiness to travel back to the US for trial but were also prepared to do so “at their own cost.” Tunde Olaifa chided the speaker for what he called his “distasteful” defence of the lawmakers as opposed to the neutrality expected as the irreducible minimum position from Dogara. “My position is very neutral,” replied Dogara, asking rhetorically, “Cautioning against social media trial and conviction is taking sides? Saint Martins, in his handle, cautioned Dogara against defending his colleagues to avoid being embarrassed “when evidence is released.” Martins expressed skepticism about any meaningful result coming out of the probe of the matter on account of Dogara’s defence of the involved representatives. Commenting, the Speaker said he was already “more than awfully embarrassed at the moment,” adding, “what’s more offensive, to be defensive or convict people based on an allegation? Is that the standard in the US?

Charles, another respondent, lashed out at Dogara and asked him to “learn to speak properly,” adding that the Speaker’s ‘I don’t care’ attitude was “the bane of African politicians.” Dogara reacted: “Tell me who has ever been convicted in the US without a trial. I should care because someone is watching? What’s improper? However, Deji Seye and Dimeji Joseph backed Dogara, lambasting the US for making such weighty allegation without backing same up with instant evidence. They asked that stakeholders dig into the matter to unearth the real facts of the matter before a decision could be taken. Woye, via @woye1 charged Dogara to suspend the alleged representatives before investigation if he wanted Nigerians to take him serious, adding that “The US is watching you guys.” The speaker became furious, reacting “I really don’t care who is watching. We have a standard under law and by my oath of office, that’s what I will uphold.” When Chukwunyere told the Speaker that the lawmakers were caught in the

Customers flood banks with forex bids

•As banks determine exchange rate from tomorrow NIGERIA’S commercial banks have asked customers to submit bids ahead of the start of new interbank foreign exchange trading tomorrow, a senior banking source told Reuters on Saturday. The Central Bank of Nigeria had said on Wednesday it would begin marketdriven trading of the naira to alleviate chronic foreign exchange shortages, but it has given few details on how. Banks asking customers to submit bids is a signal that the new forex trading platform would be driven by market forces and not dominated by internal bank trading. After a meeting with CBN officials and bank chief executives late on Friday, banks asked their clients to send them pending letters of credit (LCs) for them to resubmit and to quote a rate at which they want to buy dollars, the source said. Customers have so far submitted bids between N210 and N290 to the dollar, the source added. “I got a memo from my bank yesterday asking us to contact all our customers with pending LCs to

resubmit their LCs and say at what rate they would want to buy the dollars,” the source said. “Liquidity will likely return to the market because CBN will now sell its dollars at higher rates.” The apex bank has pegged the naira rate at N197 to the dollar for the past 16 months after a slump in oil revenues hammered public finances and its foreign reserves. But the currency trades at around N355 on the parallel market. A Reuters poll found that analysts expect that

when the naira floats freely on Monday, it would trade at N275 to N300 per dollar. Commercial lenders would set the first exchange rate of the naira versus the dollar when the currency is allowed to float freely after the CBN abandoned its dollar peg, bankers have said. The average rate at which the market clears the demand would become the new exchange rate, the banking source said. An insider source said that CBN Governor, God-

win Emefiele, was at the Friday meeting and confirmed that commercial banks would determine the market rate on Monday. The CBN officials also told the bankers it did not commit itself to clearing up a backlog of hard currency estimated at around $4 billion but would intervene if needed. He also said the CBN would open up licenses for primary market dealers beyond the initial target of eight to 10 participants

that it had announced on Wednesday. Bid-offer spreads for trading would be set at one naira, and banks are required to publish their buy and sell rates on a daily basis, the banking source said. The CBN would evaluate performance of the new regime by December, he added. Primary dealers could handle volumes of $5 million between themselves as the standard order size and can trade up to $1 million with any other dealer, the source said.

FRSC boss urges staff to donate blood, harps on physical fitness THE Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi has urged members of staff of the body to generously donate blood in the ongoing campaign for free blood donation by the National Blood Transfusion Service, saying the life saved through blood donation could be that of the donor. He stated this on Saturday during the FRSC’s monthly walking/jogging exercise for the month of June at the National Stadium Abuja, in commemoration of the 2016 World Blood Donor Day.

In a press release by Mr Bisi Kazeem, Head, Media Relations and Strategy, the Corps Marshal said there is an existing partnership between the FRSC and the National Blood Transfusion Service to raise public awareness on free blood donation by volunteers who are motivated by love for life and safety of humanity. He noted that the donated blood could be used on any patient that is in critical need of it, including victims of road traffic crashes. He therefore, urged staffers of the FRSC to come out and identify

with the good cause by donating their blood to save lives. “What the National Blood Transfusion Service is doing complements what the FRSC does on the road by saving lives of the road users. We must, therefore, support them by encouraging blood donation, not only by our own staff, but other stakeholders and members of the public,” Oyeyemi stated. The Corps Marshal further stressed that in demonstrating FRSC’s commitment to the success of

the partnership initiative, the June edition of the walking/jogging exercise was dedicated to the 2016 World Blood Donor Day organised worldwide by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This, he said was to raise public awareness on the importance of blood donation and need for members of the public to show commitment to saving lives of those that might be in need of blood at critical times. “You must all therefore, show sincere commitment to donating your blood to save lives,” he further stated.

act via CCTV footage, the Speaker lashed out at him, saying “This assertion is at best preposterous, until we see the CCTV footage. If you have it please send it to us.” Dogara reminded Nigerians that “The members are ambassadors of the House and indeed Nigeria when they were in the US. They must not bring dishonour to us. No Ambassador brings dishonour to his home country without some dire consequences. This all members know.” “No further comments on this matter. My points are very clear. We ‘ll uphold our laws and nothing else or less,” Dogara. My inclusion, mistaken identity - Ikon Honourable Ikon, one of the three lawmakers, has dismissed the allegation as untrue, saying his identity had been mistaken. Ikon, a member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), representing Etinan/NsitIbom/NsitUbium Constituency of Akwa Ibom, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, on Saturday, that the allegation was in bad taste. The lawmaker said that he was at a loss as to what the U.S. envoy intended to achieve with the allegation, insisting that he had been mistakenly dragged into a matter he knew nothing about. He said that he was happy that the lower chamber had commenced the process of investigating the allegation and expressed confidence that he would be cleared. He also said that he had briefed his lawyers to initiate legal and diplomatic steps to get to the root of the matter “to clear my name and the institution I represent.” “There are many questions left unanswered by the actions of the U.S. mission but I believe it will become clearer in the course of time.” He urged his constituents and Nigerians to be patient as the truth would be unveiled, adding that God would vindicate him. “I want to reassure all of my innocence in this matter and I call on all relevant authorities and jurisdictions to commence full investigation to correct this great injustice to me. “I have an unwavering faith in God to see me through this trying moment and plead with all not to be hasty in condemning me as the final outcome will surely clear my name,” he said.

news

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

High non-performing loans worsen power supply, cripple banks As DISCOs threaten force majeure By Sulaimon Olanrewaju

ANKS have been counting their losses since the prices of crude oil plunged, as many of the companies operating in oil and gas sector with bank facilities have failed to meet with the repayment terms. This is just as Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) are threatening to declare a force majeure due to the difficulty they face in servicing the dollardenominated loans they took when the exchange rate was just N155 to a dollar. The inability of oil companies to meet the repayment terms has resulted in a rise of nonperforming loans profile of the banks and consequently scaled down their profits at the end of the 2015 financial year. According to a bank chief executive, who spoke with the Sunday Tribune, “Since the oil companies are losing money due to the slide in crude oil prices at the global market, it has been difficult for them to service their loans and that has become a nightmare to many of us (banks).” Since the prices of crude oil began to tumble, banks that financed deals in the oil and gas sector have been faced with the dilemma of restructuring such facilities without extending the repayment period beyond the span of the licences granted by the Federal Government on the assets used in securing the loans. While some of them have found a way round this, those who have not have had to battle with mounting nonperforming loans. First Bank’s nonperforming loans ratio rose from the 3.8 per cent it was last year to 22 per cent at the end of March, 2016. This affected the bank’s profit both at the end of 2015 financial year as well as in the first quarter of 2016. At the end of the 2015 financial year, Union Bank’s non-performing loan was 6.99 per cent, an increase of 1.85 per cent from its 2014 5.14 per cent. Similarly, the bank reported a nonperforming loan of N383 billion for the first quarter of 2016, a two per cent increase from N370 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2015. At the end of the 2015 financial year, FCMB’s non-performing loans rose by 9.5 per cent to N25.37 billion from N22.95 billion in the previous year, while Diamond Bank saw its own non-performing loan rise from 5.1 per cent posted in 2014 to 6.9 per cent in 2015. But the Central Bank of

Nigeria (CBN) believes that the banks are adequately capitalised to weather the economic shocks because it (CBN) has consistently increased their capital adequacy ratios. CBN’s Director of Banking Supervision, Tokunbo Martins, had earlier, while speaking after the 326th Bankers’ Committee in Lagos State, said the apex bank had issued a circular to banks to mitigate against the risk of high non-performing

loans to their balance sheets. According to him, “We all know that there have been an economic downturn and things are hard at the moment. If people are finding it difficult to get paid their salaries and are not able to pay their loans, it is not unexpected. The DISCOs’ threat of force majeure came during an interview with the Chief Executive Officer of one of the companies. A force majeure is a

term included in contracts to shield parties from bearing the burden of unavoidable developments which may hinder them from fulfilling contractual obligations. The CEO, who complained about the operating environment, said, “All of us should declare a force majeure because, given the condition under which we are operating, there is no way we can meet our obligations.” Last year, the Federal

Government had to take over one of the DISCOs, Yola Electricity Distribution Company, after the core investor, Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Company, declared a force majeure on six occasions between November 10, 2013 and May 13, 2015, following incessant attacks on its facilities by Boko Haram insurgents. Justifying the need for the DISCOs to declare force majeure, the CEO said,

Three of Imushin community residents in Ogijo area of Ogun State killed on Friday by suspected militants. PHOTO: OPEYEMI OWOASEYE

Suspected militants kill 11 in Ogun Opeyemi Owoaseye and Olalekan Olabulo -Lagos SOME suspected militants have killed 11 residents of Imushin community in the Ogijo area of Ogun State. It was gathered that the militants stormed the community around 11.00 p.m. on Friday. Sunday Tribune saw some of the corpses, which families were preparing for burial, in accordance with Islamic rites, when it visited. A technician, Waheed Buhari, aka Yah Alau, was said to have been shot dead in front of his room. A travel agent, Mr Oladele Ogundare, was said to be returning home in his car when the militants opened fire on his car and killed him. Another resident, Umaru, who was said to be eating noodles, was chased, hacked and shot dead, along with a friend, Danladi. A mosque in the community was reportedly attacked and a Muslim cleric killed. Two hotels were said to have also been raided and their customers robbed and injured. Many of the residents, who spoke with Sunday Tribune, said they had threatened to return to continue the killing.

A resident said the militants were suspected to be from the oil-rich area steep in pipeline vandalism. She said, “The whole thing began around 4.00 p.m. on Friday. I was at the backyard of Catcher Hotel, weeding the grass when some SARS officers came in. They were shooting and ordering people to stop moving. There was confusion in the hotel. “The SARS officials did not leave until after three hours. They killed two of the vandals and took away the owner of the hotel, a woman. “Around 10.00 p.m., I went to urinate when I saw so many hoodlums coming from the waterside down the road. They carried sophisticated weapons and when they got to the place, they started shooting. They blew off the hotel windows and shot people dead. They killed two men in Lapete village.” A friend of Waheed, the electrician killed in Oke Muti, said the Ilorin, Kwara State indigene had tried to shut his door when the militants killed him. Waheed’s corpse was still lying in a room and being prepared for burial when Tribune visited. His friend said, “He was going to urinate when the militants started firing.

“We took loans in 2013 when the exchange rate was N155 to a dollar. Now, it is over N300 to the dollar. How can we pay back our debts? “Apart from having to pay back debts at a higher rate, we need equipment to run this industry. Nearly 90 per cent of what we need is imported. What makes our own case peculiar is that whenever anything goes wrong, we have to replace immediately. But can we do that if we do not have access to dollar at the official exchange rate? Even with the liberalisation of forex market, it will cost us a lot. “In my own case, my corporate customers contribute 60 per cent to my revenue. But now many of them have either closed down or scaled down their operations. If my customers are out of business, how am I supposed to generate revenue?” The man said one other factor affecting the conduct of their business which might force them to declare a force majeure was the debt owed the DISCOs by government and its agencies. On way out, he said the government had to give the DISCOs special concession concerning access to dollar.

•Only 3 killed —Police

He tried to quickly shut his door, but it would jam. They opened fire on him at the doorstep and did not stop until he dropped dead. “Not satisfied, they entered his room and sprayed everywhere with bullets. Waheed’s child, Mariam, that was in the room, was hit. She is still at the hospital.” The widow of the travel agent killed in the Ereko area of the community said her husband, Oladele, who worked on the Victoria Island, Lagos State, had left for work in his car Friday morning without any foreboding. She said, “He gave me money for foodstuff after dropping me off in front of a bank where I wanted to do a transaction. “By 6.00 p.m., we spoke and he asked me to prepare rice for him that night. “It was this morning (Saturday) that I saw a crowd of people in my house. They said he was a few distance away from home when he was shot dead. I can’t believe this because we have barely spent a year in this community and this has never happened before.” However, the hoodlums were said to have carted away valuables from the hotel and vandalised all the electronic gadgets.

A soldier, who was not in uniform at the time of the attack, said the vandals attacked him with cutlass and smashed bottles on his head. He said, “I had entered the beer parlour in the hotel when the militants came in. They cannot be fewer than 200. At first, I thought it was a festival they were having until they ordered all of us to lay flat on the ground. “They asked for my phone and when I gave them one, they became angry. One of them macheted my head and followed it with a bottle. I was drenched in blood. The militants had sophisticated weapons that I have never seen before. A Disk Jockey in the hotel said one of the militants wanted to shoot him dead, but one of them warned him against it. “The were arguing among themselves whether or not to kill me. One said, ‘If you

don’t want me to kill him, then let me cut off his leg.’ But his colleague asked him not to. Before I knew it, he had smashed three bottles on my head. “They went away with my laptop, phones, money and everything I had. They refused to carry away the beers in the hotel. They took the hard alcoholic drinks,” he said. However, a man, who spoke for the Imushin community, pleaded with the government to intervene before the community is completely deserted. He said, “These people are militants and even the police cannot withstand their superior fire power. We need help from the government. We will appreciate anything they can do for us.” The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the attack, but said three people were killed.

RAMADAN MESSAGE

And We have enjoined upon man [care] for his parents. His mother carried him, [increasing her] in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. Be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the [final] destination. But if they endeavor to make you associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them but accompany them in [this] world with appropriate kindness and follow the way of those who turn back to Me [in repentance]. Then to Me will be your return, and I will inform you about what you used to do. —Surat Luqman verses 14-15

19 June, 2016

crimereports

Sunday Tribune

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

Suspect who swapped ATM cards in guise of helping bank customers nabbed in Oyo Stories by Oluwatoyin Malik

HEN next you see a stranger around an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) offering to help you with the use of your ATM card, it is better you be on the watchout because he is likely to be one of those who are out to swindle bank customers using the cash dispenser. This was the discovery made by the Oyo State Police Command on Friday, May 20, with the arrest of a 38-year-old man, Joshua Adejuwon, who allegedly specialised in offering assistance to prospective bank customers, only to withdraw money from their accounts after cleverly stealing their ATM cards. Speaking with Crime Reports on Thursday, May 26, the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Leye Oyebade said that the arrest of the suspect was sequel to a complaint lodged at Iyaganku police station. According to the police commissioner, Adejuwon approached a sales girl, Abosede Ganiyu, who was sent by her boss, one Mrs Akanbi, to withdraw from the ATM in one of the first generation banks at Dugbe area of Ibadan. In the guise of helping the young lady, the suspect cunningly obtained the card’s PIN number, pretended as if the card got stuck in the ATM, only to swap it with another card. Oyebade disclosed that Adejuwon, using the ATM card, quickly withdrew N214,000 from the owner’s account, after which he transferred N130,000 to his friend’s account. “During investigation, 14 different ATM cards were recovered from the suspect,” the police commissioner stated further, adding that Adejumo was arrested over a similar offence a few years ago and was charged to court.

He enjoined members of the public to protect their ATM cards and should on no account give it to someone who offers help to use it. In his confession to Crime Reports, Adejuwon disclosed that he decided to engage in the act after he was also swindled in a similar way. “What I usually do is to offer assistance to anyone

struggling to use the ATM. In the guise of helping to withdraw the money, I would tell the owner that the card is stuck, asking the person to enter the banking hall to complain. Before his or her return, I would have removed the ATM card and swapped it with a disused ATM card. I would thereafter use it to withdraw from the account of the owner,”

the suspect said. He stated further that he could not give account of the gains he had made from the crime as he had been using what he got to sustain life and living, saying that he was a driver before he got engaged in the criminal act. Oyebade said that the suspect would be charged to court at the completion of investigation.

The suspect

Man graduates from illegal oil bunkering to tanker hijacking Says ‘I was frustrated by Nigeria’s economy’ TWO suspected members of a criminal gang, whose area of specialty is the hijacking of trucks loaded with petroleum products, have been arrested by the operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Oyo/Ogbomoso annex in Oyo State Police Command. The suspects, Dauda Akanji (42) and Nurudeen Odetola (41), were arrested after they snatched a truck with registration number XT 643 FKJ, loaded with 33,000 litres of petrol, from its driver at Gbede Village, along Oyo/Ilorin expressway on Monday, May 23 at about 1:30a.m. The state Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade, while briefing journalists on the arrest on Thursday, May 26, said that the suspects had criminallyminded petrol dealers who connived with them by purchasing the stolen products from the gang. Oyebade disclosed that the hijackers made a uturn and faced Ogbomoso before they were arrested at Takie area of the town. He attributed the success in the arrest of the suspects and the recovery of the tanker to intelligence gathering and the supply of credible information to

Two of the suspected vandals the police. Dauda Akanji (42), who told Crime Reports that he was into sale of spare parts before his venture into tanker hijacking, admitted the allegation against him. “On Thursday, May 19, we hijacked a tanker loaded with petrol from its driver along Oyo-Ogbomoso highway. We are a six-member syndicate. Our method is that one of us, Lukman, would cling to the tanker and move to where he would remove the throttle cable. This would make the driver to stop,

after which we would take over the tanker,” Akanji revealed. On what the gang member used to attack the victims, Akanji, said that their presence was enough to make the driver run for fear of being attacked. He added that the driver in the recent attack fled before his gang members got to where he parked his vehicle. “We were on our way to selling it to those who buy from us when we were apprehended. We have hijacked two of such in the past along the same road.

We sold one in Ibadan,” the suspect said, attributing his decision to engage in crime to the frustration brought about by the economic situation in Nigeria. The second suspect, Odetola, who said he lives at Sanyo area of Ibadan, also confessed to taking part in the hijacking of the tanker, but said it was his first time of joining the gang on such venture. “I was into illegal oil bunkering at the pipeline that passes through Ode Remo and Saapade before joining the current gang. We have a group that would go

into the bush with vehicles loaded with our kegs to where the pipeline is while we would wait by the road side. I used to buy one keg for N1,000. The Audi car we used to trail the tanker driver belongs to Akanji. We did not touch our victims because they ran away before we got to the tanker,” Odetola said But this claim was countered by their victim, Mukailu Attah, an indigene of Niger State who drove the trailer. According to Attah, “unknown to me, the hijackers removed my vehicle’s throttle cable, forcing it to a stop. As I got down with my boys to check what was wrong, the hijackers came upon us and started beating us. We ran away to save our lives and they took the tanker away. “I called some of my colleagues who were also driving along the same route to intimate them of what happened to me. I also informed the SARS operatives office in Ogbomoso and they helped me in arresting the people and recovering my truck.” The suspects gave the names of their gang members at large as Sunday, Sola, Lukman and one other whose name was unknown to them.

crimereports

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Robbers order woman, daughters to lay on broken bottles A 31-year-old man, Adegboyega Tunji, who claimed to be an Economics graduate from the Obafemi Awolowo Univeristy, IleIfe, Osun State, has pleaded ‘extreme hunger and poverty’ as the reasons behind his robbery activities, when he was arrested on June 3 with his partner-incrime, one Kelvin Eluwa. Crime Reports learnt that Tunji and Eluwa were arrested by the police from Ashi Division of the Oyo State Police Command, in an operation led by the Divisional Police Officer, one CSP Julie Ajao, following a strong link given by the victim, one Dr (Mrs) Aluko. The state Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade, told Crime Reports that the suspects invaded the home of the victim on the night of May 29 and hibernated within the compound until following morning when they attacked Dr Aluko when she stepped out into her compound, injured her and her daughters and carted away valuables. One of the suspects, Eluwa, was reported to have worked as a security guard in the area before the invasion. Narrating her experience to Crime Reports, Dr Aluko said: “I woke up around 7a.m. on Monday, May 30. I opened the door to the kitchen to step into the compound. I noticed a strange cloth by my car. I walked towards it to see who brought it there. As I was about picking up the cloth, I noticed two strange men within my compound walking towards me with knife and broken bottles in their hands. “They actually wanted to stab me and I shouted: ‘Blood of Jesus!’ I also tried to flee from them to avoid being stabbed but one of them grabbed my hand, twisted it behind me and broke it. Immediately, I was destabilised because I could not do anything again. They pushed me into the house where my two daughters were. “While inside, the robbers broke bottles on the floor and asked me and my daughter who had woken up to lay on them. One of them noticed I was looking towards a room, went in there and dragged my second daughter out. She was beaten and asked to join us on the broken bottles. The cuts and scratches we got from the bottles are just healing. “They rushed into my

The suspects, Kelvin and Tunji

study and packed four laptops, my tablet, my trinkets and those of my daughters, phones, DVD. They had a field day as they took their time to pack virtually everything in the house. They asked for my car key and when I didn’t want to disclose where it was, they put the knife they had on my daughter’s neck. “They could not start the

car because of the security, so they locked us in the car and went away with my valuables. How they left with those things still remains a mystery to me because they were loaded into boxes. We had to break the car window to get out of the car.” Recovered from the suspects were four laptops, a gold Rolex wristwatch, a Samsung tablet, a Sony

digital camera, Sony DVD player, five necklaces, Blackberry phone, a cable TV decoder, among others. In an interview, Eluwa confessed to the crme, saying: “We sneaked in through the fence at night. I had worked in the area before as a security guard. My friend and I went on Sunday night and slept in the victims’ compound until the

next morning. We attacked them when they came out in the morning. We boarded two motorcycles and went away with the items we took from the woman’s house. “Police came to my house at Samonda area. During investigation, I confessed to the crime and took the police to my partner’s house. We did not use any gun for the operation; we only took a knife. The bottles we also used were found in her compound. I finished from Ikolaba High School, Ibadan. I did not go beyond that,” he said. Tunji, the graduate, also said: “I got to know Kelvin when he used to come and eat in a canteen at my neighbourhood. My involvement in robbery was as a result of extreme hunger and poverty. I just finished from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. I studied Economics. I have tried to get a job but I have not been successful. I have engaged myself in teaching

children, but some of the parents would not pay me. They would ask me to come back. “We never planned to rob on the day we attacked our victim. Kelvin and I were hungry and he told me that there was a rich man in that neighbourhood and that a party was going to hold. We decided to attend the party to pick remnants to eat. Unfortunately, the party did not hold again, so we decided to try our luck on that woman. We saw the knife we used to threaten the woman and her children on our way to her house.” When asked whether he was a member of Aye Confraternity, going by their emblem, an axe, which was among the exhibits recovered by the police, Tunji said it was not recovered from him, adding: “I regret my action.” Mr Oyebade said that the duo would be arraigned in court after the conclusion of investigations into their case.

419 is my source of livelihood, suspected fraudster declares Stories by Oluwatoyin Malik

self-confessed member of a fraud syndicate, Adeniran Olawale (34) was without shame recently when he boldly declared that swindling innocent members of the public is of no big deal to him. He proudly declared that his arrest “is just an incident to me. Everyone knows that 419 is everywhere in the city and it is my own source of livelihood.” The suspect made the declaration on June 9, 2016 at the headquarters of the Oyo State Police Command, during an interview with Crime Reports. The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade, had, during a press briefing, disclosed that Olawale and two others, CIement Akinleye (40) and Opajobi Adetunji (35), were arrested in Ibadan on May 26 while trying to swindle an innocent passenger, one Olusola Ige, who boarded a taxi the syndicate members were using as their operational vehicle. Mr Oyebade said that luck ran out on the suspects

The suspects when the victim raised the alarm at Iwo Road roundabout and attracted members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and policemen nearby. The police commissioner stated further that the fraudsters used to pose as commercial vehicle driver and passengers to deceive a targeted victim; and had been in the unlawful business for over 10 years. Speaking with Crime Reports, the leader of the

syndicate, Olawale said: “I cannot deny that I am a fraudster. On the day of our arrest, I was the one driving while two of my boys were with me. As usual, we picked our victim – a woman—in the presence of some touts who later made away with our phones and money. I had N17,000 with me and my phone’s value was over N40,000. We were beaten to a state of coma before NURTW officials rescued us and took us to their office.”

Disclosing how their operations were usually carried out, the suspect stated: “We devise different methods to swindle our victims. Sometimes, I would act as a herbalist; other times, I would be a taxi driver and act as if one of the passengers is having dollars he stole from his boss with him. “We normally go with a vehicle belonging to me. I would pose as a driver while two others would pose as passengers. Once

we sight a potential victim that we suspect might have some money, we would try to convince him or her through smooth talks by bringing up an argument on the bag of dollars in the car boot. We don’t employ the use of charms. “Those who fall victims are usually the greedy ones. We would take him/ her to our office, dramatise for him/her, and ask him/ her to go and bring money. We make enough money for our day-to-day living, but it is not every outing that yields money. When we realise that our victim does not have money, we ask such to go and they don’t return to us. “I have been in the business for about three years. I was a produce buyer but when I became a victim of fraudsters and lost over N7 million, I decided that if I could not beat them, I better joined them. And here I am. The only mistake I made was that I did not convert my personal car to lawful use instead of using it as an operational vehicle to swindle.” The police commissioner however said that the suspects would be charged to court at the completion of investigations.

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

feature Killing in the name of love, ego

Experts speak on reasons behind spousal murders Recently, cases of spousal murders have been widely reportedly in the media, raising concerns about the state of mind of the alleged killers. In this report, GBEMI SOLAJA writes that the reasons behind the murders are diverse and even include extreme love for the victim’s spouse.

HEN Jafaru Sougie, the man who allegedly murdered his wife, Rose, in Oshodi area of Lagos State recently was reported dead several days back, many Nigerians who have been following recent cases of spousal killings must have felt relieved that justice had been served, at least in this particular case. The 48-year-old man was reported to have died at the Police Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, where he had been on admission since May 26. He reportedly drank some substances in an attempt to commit suicide after he allegedly slit his wife’s throat and never recovered from the effect. Cases of spousal murders have of recent been widely reported in the media with several reasons adduced to the tragic acts. In many other cases, the causes are not manifest. In fact, some of the couples seem perfect together, thus camouflaging a more serious problem within the marriage. Mr Steve Moye, (not real names) a 40-year-old self-made entrepreneur had verbally abused his wife for years; they have been married for over 15 years. He is very prone to anger; even people who worked with him knew this. However, what they did not know was that he was a chronic and unrepentant wife-beater. Moye on the fateful day of May 5, had done the worst, he finally sent his beautiful wife, Morenike, to her early grave dashing her lifetime dreams, while her daughters were thrown into confusion asking what had happened to their mother. Morenike was an accomplished 36-yearold oil and gas lawyer who had everything going for her. If there was anything she loved most, it was being a good wife, mother and then an exceptional lawyer. With all the skills she possessed and a resilient spirit in the court room, she possessed none when she was home as a wife. For years, she suffered at the hands of a man she devoted her life and love to. The case of Bisi, (not real name) was similar. She was noticeably in awe of her husband; everyone, including members of her immediate family, hailed her as a loving and respected wife. But in her heart,

respect was not the word. Fear aptly describes her situation. She walked around eggshells in her own home, always watching what to say and do and always avoiding a blow up. Globally, about 40 per cent of all female murder victims, and just about six per cent of male murder victims, die at the hands of a former or present spouse or lover. Additionally, most of the homicides committed by females against their male partners were reactions to severe domestic violence, according to a report. Domestic abuse, also often referred to as spousal abuse, is when one partner in an intimate relationship abuses the other. This abuse can be physical, sexual, emotional or a combination of all. It occurs when one person in an intimate re-

lationship or marriage tries to dominate and control the other person. Domestic abuse that includes physical violence is called domestic violence. Domestic abuse can happen to anyone, yet it is often overlooked, excused, or denied in most cases. According to Mr Akin Olagbami, a marriage counsellor, the first signs of an abusive relationship that should never be ignored include living in fear of one’s partner. According to him, an egoistic relationship that involves a partner belittling and controlling the other should never be tolerated. In Lagos, Nigeria, cases of spouses killing one another occur on a daily basis. Most went unreported. Cases like the Egbeda spousal murder in May involving one Lekan Shonde who absconded shortly

after the killing was widely reported and attracted public attention. The suspect, who denied having anything to do with his wife’s death, admitted that they had a quarrel over infidelity. The American footballer, O. J. Simpson, who was convicted of his wife’s murder years ago, was reported to have said: “Let’s say I committed this crime; even if I did, it would have to have been because I loved her very much, right?” According to Doctor Olofinlade Joshua , a psychiatrist, there are mental conditions that could predispose an individual to kill his or her spouse, adding that although generally speaking, there are many other factors but none is excusable. Continues pg 14

interview

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

My mum died of shock after I became blind, says ex-corps member just employed by FG Mr Adeigba Daniel Oluwatobi, an ex-corps member, in this interview with OLAYINKA OLUKOYA, speaks about his situation since he lost his sight in an accident during a national assignment as an INEC ad-hoc staff in the build-up to the 2011 elections. Excerpts:

OW did the whole story about your blindness begin? My name is Adeigba Daniel Oluwatobiloba. I am an indigene of Kogi State. I was born in the early 80s. I’m a graduate of History and International Relations, Kogi State University. I lost my sight in the course of my assignment as an INEC ad-hoc staff during the 2011 elections. I lost my sight to my nation and not to National Youth Service Corps. I have been in darkness from Tuesday January 4, 2011 in the election that brought in former president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan while serving in Yobe State. I have been on my own with the help of God and some individuals who made life meaningful and made me not to resign to fate. I know that resigning to fate is not a good option for me. I am a happy man. I love music. I love talking to people. I love reading and making enquires a lot. What was your aspiration like having studied History and International Relations at the university level before this incident happened? It has always been my dream to be a representative of Nigeria anywhere, because some of Nigeria’s foreign policies are not vigorously protected or pursued to better the interest of Nigerians. I have always dreamt of becoming a diplomat, resolving conflicts. Back in my days in the university, we addressed ourselves as diplomats and our slogan was ‘Conflict, we resolve.’ I believe so much in dialogue and roundtable talk rather than picking up the sword. I also dreamt of representing Nigeria as an ambassador. It is so unfortunate that despite my dreams to go to London to study and obtain a Masters Degree, there is this great calamity that has befallen me. So, when I read about the ministerial and ambassadorial nominees, I said ‘God, I wish I was one of these people.’ It has always been my dream to become a Nigeria’s representative abroad, to be a member of diplomatic corps. How do you feel when you realised that you have lost your sight after the accident? When it happened, it was a bad day for every Nigerian, because the news was all over in the national dailies. It happened at a place in Yobe State, at a place called Kaunta, a border side of the state capital. When I was taken from the spot of the accident, I was rushed to General Sani Abacha Hospital, believing that I was gone. But the people that took me to the hospital only discovered that there was still life in me and another lady (unfortunately the lady died). From Sani Abacha Hospital, I was taken to University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and the following day,

ed people. Therefore, I don’t settle for what I have, rather what I want and what is that I want? My dream place and my sight cannot stop me. That is nothing to feel bad about.

Mr Adeigba Oluwatobi I came back to life and discovered I had no sight again. My eyes were out. It is not what you are seeing now. If you see my picture then, you will be afraid because you will think I was a kind of a monster. Initially, I felt bad that I was not attended to on time. I was made to understand that if I had been given proper attention, I might not have lost my sight. What will I do? The NYSC has not offended me. The NYSC as a matter of fact is an institution of government or parastatal that oversees the affairs of corps members. The NYSC did not cause the accident and I need to get that into people’s minds. I didn’t feel bad about NYSC and people should not see the NYSC as a bad scheme. It is a very good scheme; just that the system and the way things are going there is wrong. The scheme itself, the institution, is a very good concept, as it was established by General (Yakubu) Gowon after the Civil War, to help re-unite the country. Scrapping the scheme will not do us anygood, we must all join hands together to make it better. When it became glaring that you have lost your sight, did you at any point in time think or feel that all is over with your dreams and aspirations? No. I have never for one day thought of resigning to fate or believed that nothing good can come out of me. The sense of seeing is just a part of the body. There is a saying that sight is the king of the body, but in the concept of kingship, if the king

is late, there will always be a replacement. The world of the blind person is very difficult and expensive to maintain, but other organs will serve as replacement. The organs become very active. In view of this, I got to understand that I can’t give up on myself because I have no sight. There are better things that I can do without sight. I can do better than those who are sighted. All I need to do is believe in God, believe in what I do. I believe that someday, sometimes, I’m going to see. Although the doctor said that there is nothing medicine can do about this. I believe in miracle. The doctors tried their best, but it is left to God. Initially I felt bad about my predicament, but I don’t think I do anymore because I believe that I can do so many things. For instance, when I came out of the hospital, I went back to school to study radio programme productions and radio programme presentations from the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria and had two certificates same year from the same school with good results. When we did the entrance exams, as a blind person with some of my friends who are blind, we had the highest score, the blind people in the first and second exams that I took. Therefore, I want to say that there is so much ability in me. Like I said earlier, it has always been my dream to represent Nigeria. I don’t need my sight to think. I don’t need my sight to tell the truth. I don’t need my sight not to compromise justice. I don’t need my sight to do the right thing, but it is so unfortunate that people with sight don’t think the way we think because we think for both the impaired and the sight-

How did your parents receive the news of your accident? It was a shocking story to my mother, my friends and folks. I lost my father when I was in JSS 3, so I have been responsible for my life and my mother and younger ones. I was born and brought up in Ogun State, Owode-Yewa to be precise. I was born at Onipanu Hospital in Ota. I grew up there and went to school there. In that area, we are familiar with smuggling cars and what we do specifically was to wash cars and that was what I did to send myself to school, to take care of my mother and younger ones. We are eight in the family, I am number seven. In all these, I struggled very hard to make ends meet and go to the university. My mother was not informed about the situation that befell me until I left Maiduguri Teaching Hospital for Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu. I am a child my mother loves so much. By the time she got to hear this, she could not cope. Gradually she began to die slowly until 2014 when she finally gave up because of the troubles, the pains that I went through, the details of which I will not want to go into. I lost my mother. I called her ‘Mama Nigeria.’ She was a loving mother with her good moral lessons which makes me to miss her so much. Were you abandoned by your friends at this critical period of your life? Of course yes. I had so many friends when things were good. We cruised in my car together, but in the struggle, I had to sell this car to treat myself. I sold my land. I called on friends for help, some of them denied me. I checked on brothers who could help me; they failed me. Then, I began to look up to God for new friends, new family and new good people around me, circle of strength and I tapped them. Life was rough for me at that time, very rough. At a time, God changed my story and gave me good friends who encouraged me. Good friends like Mrs. Funke Egbemode, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), Chief Afe Babalola, Chief Segun Oni, Senator Smart Adeyemi and other prominent Nigerians. I will never forget Senator Adeyemi for encouraging me to get married. I am married now. Also, I will never forget my own uncle, Sunday Adeigba, who had always been with me and always making sure things are better. In Nigeria, we do not believe in people living with disability, despite our huge Continues pg 14

feature

19 June, 2016

Flying in unfare circumstances

How high prices, CBN policy are affecting Nigerians

Sola Adekola - Lagos

OR close to four months now, the country’s aviation sector has been enmeshed in a fresh controversy over the astronomically high fares on international routes. The international airlines involved, British Airways, KLM Iberia Delta among others known as mega carriers, are, blaming the high fares on the that has been traced to a new forex policy rolled out by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which they claimed has negatively impacted on their operations. According to the mega carriers, the policy has denied them the opportunity of repatriating the revenues of about N600 million, which they generated through tickets sales. The airlines had complained that the policy, apart from preventing them from accessing the funds, lamented how the situation has brought hardship on them and subsequently put them under pressure both in their home countries and in their operations in Nigeria. As a way of cutting cost to remain in business in the face of the unresolved issue, some of the carriers had threatened to sack over 2000 of their Nigerian workers. The height of the crisis is the threat from some of the airlines to pull out of the country or relocate their offices to neighbouring countries, particularly Accra, Ghana, where they believe the government is more flexible in their policies. While some of the foreign carriers have denied any plan to pull out or relocate, two of them have actually declared their intention to withdraw their services from Nigeria saying; “Repatriation has been a significant issue”. First to pull out in April was the Spanish national airline, Iberia over what its management called financial hardship imposed on the airline in Nigeria due to lack of access to its revenues. Penultimate week, an American carrier, United Airlines also announced its intention to withdraw its services from Nigeria from June 30, 2016 for the same reason. Apart from the two, there are indications that more of the foreign airlines have concluded plans to stop operations in the country while others are considering relocating their services. According to information gathered, as of March 2016, the total of British Airways fund trapped in Nigeria is put at $100 million while Iberia had $5 million trapped before it left Nigeria.

While the two American carriers, Delta and United jointly have $180 million trapped, Air France-KLM has $150 million trapped in Nigeria. Reactions: As the controversy rages on with government keeping silent on the way forward, many key players across the sector have expressed mixed feelings towards the controversy with some describing the situation as a payback time for the foreign airlines while others declared that if the government allows the foreign carriers to relocate or withdraw their services it will create a chaotic situation in the country’s air transportation system. For retired Group Captain John Ojikutu, the Chief Executive Officer of Century Securities and a one-time Commandant of Murtala Muhammed Airport, if any foreign airline decides to stop flying into Nigeria because of forex restrictions, the domestic carriers should waste no time in taking over flight operations on the routes. His words: “Time has come now for the Nigerian airlines to take back what has long been taken away from them by state officials unilaterally and given to foreign carriers to operate multiple frequencies and landings at will to all our airports. “If any foreign airline decides now to stop flying to Nigeria because of forex restrictions, let local airlines take up the chances, lease more aircraft or merge and take over the unbalanced use of the Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASA) which had been skewed to the advantage of the foreign airlines. “Right now, out of about 78 BASAs, just about 25 are

Time has come now for the Nigerian airlines to take back what has long been taken away from them by state officials unilaterally and given to foreign carriers

Sunday Tribune

Bye for now; Iberia has already left Nigeria

operative with about 48,000 seats per week and Nigerian carriers barely operate 4,000 out of these. They operate in and out from all our four international airports, while we operate only from two. “We need capacity and this is the time for domestic airlines to take advantage of the foreign airlines’ bad situation. They repatriate their earnings home through our CBN but our airlines hardly make returns home on BASAs. “The question to ask those who give these foreign airlines multiple frequencies on BASAs and commercial agreement is, what have been Nigeria’s commercial benefits from mutual agreements that are supposed to be symbiotic which for more than three decades has been unilaterally skewed to the advantage of foreign airlines by some political officials in the ministry? The day of reckoning has come on them”. On the contrary, Ikechi Uko a Nigerian travel business consultant and travel tourism development expert, said if the foreign airlines are allowed to pull out of Nigeria air transportation will become chaotic as it will bring hardship to the Nigerian traveling public. Going down memory lane, Uko cited the rigour Nigerian travellers went through at a time the country’s aviation sector was blacklisted until the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo who brought relief to the travelling public through the open skies agreement he signed with the United States and the dual designation policy signed by Dr Mrs Kema Chikwe, a former aviation minister which made air travel between Nigeria, Europe and America more seamless. According to him, if the foreign airlines are allowed to relocate it will make air travel more expensive as passengers may have to pay close to N1 million for economy seat while flying from Nigeria to places like Lome, Togo will be more expensive than flying to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Uko, who said Nigeria stands to lose if the mega carriers relocate from Nigeria, declared that the country’s economic growth will definitely drop as it will restrict movement. On the news that many Nigerians now prefer to travel out through Accra, the tourism consultant attributed this to two reasons, which include; the unstable exchange rate in Nigeria which makes price of tickets cheaper in Ghana Continues pg 12

feature

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

‘Let local airlines take up the chances’

Continues pg 11

compared to Nigeria. Also, because of this, many Nigerians who prefer to travel on first or business class will prefer to travel through Accra where the price of tickets for either of the two are cheaper because of stability of the Ghanaian currency. “The major problem is that the foreign carriers cannot repatriate the money they made through the services they rendered to Nigerians back to their countries. I’m not expecting our own situation to be as tough as Venezuela’s, where airlines have pulled out. I’m not sure all the airlines will pull out here,” Ikechi added. Mr Azu Aligbe, Managing Director of Belujane Konsult and a former General Manager, Public Affairs for the former national carrier, Nigeria Airways, declared that if the government fails to urgently address the situation it may push the Nigerian travelling public to other neighbouring countries. Aligbe did not see all the airlines pulling except the American carriers that may withdraw because of their country’s business model which does not unnecessarily give room for trapped cash. According to him what the foreign airlines may do to remain in profitable business in Nigeria because of the policy include; reduction of seats through the introduction of smaller aircraft or reduction in the number of the frequencies they operate into Nigeria. Amidst the controversy, he said, there are some foreign airlines that will not pull out of Nigeria. Such airlines he said include Turkish Airline whose country have a lot of investments in the country and the British Airways whose country have many investors transacting business between Nigeria and the United Kingdom. He urged the government to come up with a clear position on the new exchange rate which will be better for transactions for the foreign airlines just as he said the old rate should be used to pay the trapped funds of the airlines. While describing the circumstances surrounding the forex policy as unclear, Aligbe reminded the government of the need to float a new national carrier and assist the domestic carriers.

See you later; United leaves by month end

According to him, those discouraging the government from floating a new national airline are not truthful insisting that government will not need to spend a dime on the project as all that needed to be done is to make the airline private sector driven. Aligbe, who maintained that the foreign carriers have a genuine case, slammed the banks for using the unclear status of the new exchange rate to defraud Nigerians on tickets sales. International reaction In its reaction, the International Air

The issue involved is a general problem globally and not peculiar to Nigeria. Nigeria needs the understanding and cooperation of all. This moment will soon pass away

Transport Association (IATA) the global airline clearing house in its ongoing Annual General Meeting in Dublin asked Nigeria and governments of four other nations in similar situation to respect international agreements obliging them to ensure airlines are able to repatriate their revenues. Speaking in Dublin, the Director General of IATA, Tony Tyler said in view of the crisis rocking foreign airlines operating in Nigeria and other four countries over the inability of foreign carriers to repatriate their revenues, the efficient repatriation of revenues is critical for airlines to help play their role as a catalyst for economic activity. Other countries where airlines have difficulties in repatriating their revenues are: Venezuela, Sudan, Egypt and Angola. According to Tyler, the IATA monitors blocked funds round the world which exceeds $5 billion. In its breakdown of total money of the airlines locked in the five countries, Nigeria alone is responsible for $600 million, being revenues of the mega carriers trapped in the country because of the latest Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) forex policy. Repatriation issues arose in the second half of 2015 when demand for foreign currency in Nigeria outpaced supply and the country’s banks were not able to service currency repatriations.

Tyler declared: “Blocked funds are a problem in a diverse group of countries, some of them undergoing significant economic challenges particularly with a falloff in oil revenues. But one thing all five nations have in common is the urgent need for robust air connectivity that is being hampered by airlines’ difficulty in repatriating funds. “Air connectivity is vital to all economies. The airline industry is a competitive business operating on thin margins. So the efficient repatriation of revenues is critical for airlines to be able to play their role as a catalyst for economic activity. It is not reasonable to expect airlines to invest and operate in nations where they cannot efficiently collect payment for their services.” Government’s position: Speaking for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the country’s aviation regulatory body, the General Manager, Public Affairs, Sam Adurogboye said though the situation was not peculiar to Nigeria, the experience will soon pass away. “We have opened the line of communications with the affected Airlines. The issue involved is a general problem globally and not peculiar to Nigeria. Nigeria needs the understanding and cooperation of all. This moment will soon pass away”, he said.

19 June, 2016

Whither the poor under the new dispensatlon*

Awoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thoughts

An address to the Unity Party of Nigeria delivered on the 20tl-i of May, 1979.

PATH TO NIGERIAN GREATNESS

On the campaign trail

Fundamental issues in Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economic development Continued from

Sunday Tribune

last week

Table 8.7 Projected Revenue of each Level of Government 1978 - 79 - 1983 - 84 (N million) Year

Federal Governments

State

Local

Total

1978/79

9,995

921

224

11,140

1979/80

11,200

1,200

300

12,700

1980/81

16,800

2,000

500

19,300

1981/82

17,900

2,500

1000

21,400

1982/83

18,000

3,000

1250

22,750

1983/84

20,000

3,500

1500

25,000

Note: The projected revenue targets should be of the levels where the 19 State Governments should be able to raise at least 50 per cent of the total revenue raised by the federal government and the 303 local governments should be able to raise at least 50 per cent of the revenue raised by the state governments. The result will be that if the Federal Government raises N4, the State governments should raise at least N2 and the local governments should raise at least N1, thus having a revenue raising ratio of 4:2:1 respectively.

IN my address this afternoon, I want to direct your attention to some of the economic and social objectives of the Unity Party of Nigeria. Before dealing with these matters, however, there are issues of Constitution and principle which I would like to consider. Paragraph (a) subsection (1) of Section 16 of our Constitution provides as follows: The State shall, within the context of the ideals and objectives for which provisions are made in this Constitution control the national economy in such manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity. Paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (2) of Section 16 also provide: (2) The State shall direct its policy towards ensuring - (c) that the economic system is not operated in such a manner as to permit the concentration of wealth or the means of production and exchange in the hands of a few individuals or of a group; and (d) that suitable and adequate shelter, suitable and adequate food, reasonable national minimum living wage, old age care and pensions, and unemployment and sick benefits are provided for all citizens. There are three points in these provisions which require emphasis. First is the maximum welfare and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity. Second is the non-concentration of wealth in the hands of a few individuals; and third is that reasonable national living wage, suitable and adequate food, and suitable and adequate shelter shall be provided for all citizens. This last provision does not expressly include decent and adequate clothing, but, from the totality of the provisions in Sections 15, 16 and 17 this can be clearly implied. For example, Section 17 provides, in part, that: human dignity shall be maintained and enhanced. In addition there are issues of principal which are akin and basic to the above constitutional provisions. Five of them are relevant to our discussion this afternoon, and I state them. First: The central problem of man and of any society is economic. All other problems are ancillary. Second: The evolution of a State - that is, the coming together of families and clans to form a society - is a creature of economic necessities. These economic necessities are popularly termed necessaries of life and they are food, shelter and clothing. Let us pause for a brief while to hear what Plato has to say on this point in The Republic: A state ... arises out of the needs of mankind; no- one is self-sufficing, but all of us have many wants ... Then as we have many wants, and many persons are needed to supply them, one takes a helper for one purpose and another for another; and when the helpers and partners are gathered together in one habitation the body of inhabitants is termed a State. And they exchange with one another, and one gives, and another receives, under the idea that the exchange will be for their good. The true creator of a State is necessity, which is the mother of our invention. The first and greatest of necessities is food ... the second is dwelling, and the third clothing.

To be continued

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19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

‘Most marriages today are on auto-pilot’ Continued from

pg 9

According to him, we must establish that a partner does not necessarily have to have any disorder or medical condition, adding, “we have had cases where some kill their partners for rituals.” Looking at it from a psychology angle, he stated that mental conditions such as psychosis, also known as persecutory delusion, “a scenario where somebody has an odd belief that an individual wants to kill him and in selfdefence, wants to kill that person.” Another one, he said, is auditory hallucination, which he described as a situation where an individual hears strange voices telling him or her to do something and carries out the command. “The voice could be telling the person to kill a particular person,” he said. Psychological jealousy on the other hand is a condition where a partner feels extreme love for his or her spouse. It is also a condition in which this extreme love may become too much and lead to over possession. This partner may become aggressive to the point of taking the life of the other person out of jealousy. Ironically, in some cases where a spouse is believed to be cheating, the suspicion often turns out to be wrong. According to Dr Joshua, depression also accounts for a lot of murder in marriages. This is a situation where a partner feels it is better to die and rather than dying alone, feels it is better for him or her to die along with the spouse. “In this case, dying is seen as a form of escape and killing the spouse may be beyond mental or psychological factors.” Seizure disorder is a behavioural trait where an individual behaves abnormally. For instance, a partner suddenly pushes someone and then recovers.

Mrs Sade Oye, a marriage counsellor, told Sunday Tribune that poor anger management, frustration, incompatibility and lack of contentment are some of the reasons crises often arise in marriages. Furthermore, Dr Joshua posited that in the case of any verbal aggression, the person involved must call for help. “If a spouse has been abused, he or she may seek help as

to what should be done and seek treatment for the other person where it is noticed that the person may have psychological problems or not,” he stated. He explained further that at the preliminary stage, the individual may be evaluated to find out what the problem really is. “If it is psychological, then they will have to be assessed and treated by a psychiatrist, though they may have to be admitted. “Whatever the conflict, it is enough to degenerate into spouses killing one another if they are not counselled; whatever could cause conflict may push anyone to commit homicide,” he said. According to Sam Aroge, another marriage counsellor, “factors responsible for the modern day crises in marriages include communication breakdown, a problem discussed is a problem half solved. Today, most marriages are on auto pilot drive. Cordiality is non-existent.” For him, zero level of concession is another issue. “Life is give and take, no one can have it all. Most men and women in relationships today are selfish, egocentric and parasitic. Denigration of religious values is also a problem affecting marriages today. The churches and mosques today are encouraging and promoting ‘castle in the air’ marriages which are not in consonance with the reality as espoused by the holy books,” he told Sunday Tribune. In Olagbami’s words, love is not just enough where killings take place. “No one should kill whoever they claim they actually love. Forceful coupling is another factor which could bring about serious problems and breakdown in marriages. Rushing into a marriage by so-called faith end in spousal frustration and depression,” he said, adding: “in a case where someone goes into a marriage based on any of these reasons, anything can happen.”

interview ‘My fiance of 5 years dumped me after the accident’ Continued from pg 10 abilities and so much that we can offer. Like me, the issue of insecurity in Nigeria and other crises can be handled without shedding blood. I believe that the money being spent on buying weapons is just like throwing money into the ocean. You can always use this money and save situations without crises; that I believe. The moment we start believing in people living with disability, I know that Nigeria will be better because these people are deserted and lived a lonely life. As I speak to you, there are other related diseases that I have developed now because I couldn’t do hard jobs, I couldn’t do anything like I used to. I am now diabetic. I have excess of sugar in my body. I have also developed arthritis in my bones. Before the accident, I didn’t have any of these diseases. These diseases are very expensive to manage and I need money to survive. I want to say that if Nigerians will start believing in people living with disabilities and get us integrated into the society, we will be glad. Talking about your life, did you have any lady in your mind to marry before this incident happened? Yes. Is she the one you eventually married? No. When this happened, I thought she was going to stand by me. Her name is Funke. She left because she couldn’t cope. I understand that being a blind man, one is going to be a burden, a great stress on another person. I quite understand, but if the love was really genuine and sincere as she claimed and as we both professed, I think she shouldn’t have bothered over my situation. It was

a relationship of five good years. She left me. I was not moved or bothered until 2013 that I went to Radio Nigeria, now Nigeria Broadcasting Academy, where I studied programme production and presentations. I met a lady; then her name was Funke Suara, from Oyo State. A pretty queen, very beautiful lady, black and shine, (sic) cool in heart, sincere in mind and so compassionate. She was a contract staff of the Ekiti State Broadcasting Service during the administration of Dr Kayode Fayemi. She was in that school for training. We met under a mango tree in front of the hostel. I was lonely and worried about the lady who abandoned me. Then, a man of God had fellowship with me saying that I will be leaving the training school with my wife. I thought it was one of these nonsense pastors just talk about. This changed my perspective about prophecies because I am a man that does not believe in prophecies. It was after three days of the prophecy that a lady walked up to me and we exchanged pleasantries. We exchanged phone numbers. There was this particular day I sat in front of the female hostel, dehydrated. She just walked up to me to offer me a glass of water. I didn’t tell her I needed anything. Immediately I got strength. That very point in time, I took a pen and wrote in her palms- Please will you marry me? And she equally took my hand and wrote-yes I will marry you. Just a word at a time, not like every other girl that you talked to and several years there is no answer. That brings something into my mind that when something serious comes your way, you don’t waste time. I looked for somebody to read it and it was pronounced. Out of several relationships on campus, mine and hers was the only successful one. We met in September 2013, we did our introduction on December 14, 2013 and we had our wedding on April 12, 2014. We are blessed with a son and I’m still expecting another child. Then in the hospital, I was

told, this is a testimony anyway that I can never had erection anymore because of this accident, but now I’m an expectant father. I love my wife so much, Mrs. Adefunke Adeigba. Now that you have some other diseases as a result of this accident, are you seeking assistance from well meaning Nigerians for you to live long? Well, I don’t want people to be thinking that I’m asking for too much. I just got a job and still seeking for assistance to live. I want the Federal Government to assist me to keep me going because managing diabetes, arthritis and other things is not easy. I need to move my family from Ekiti State to Ogun State and also need accommodation here in Abeokuta. Why the choice of Ogun and not Ekiti State? I am not familiar with Ekiti State. My wife was a contract staff in Ekiti State Broadcasting Service. She is earning a meagre salary. I am born and bred in Ogun State. Life is better here. Did you lobby for this appointment? I didn’t write or lobby for this appointment. It was the former Director General of the NYSC that discussed the issue with the present chairman of INEC. He gave his promise before the former DG stepped out. That is Brigadier General Johnson Olawunmi. He has always been there for me as well; a very good man. The appointment was just a compensation for me. It was just the decision of the NYSC to compensate me. Which department are you posted to? I am in the administrative office.

19 June, 2016

children’sarena

History of metal detector the experts at A&S Company: “In the late 1920s, Dr Fischar, the founder of Fischar Research Laboratory was commissioned as a research engineer with the Federal Telegraph Co. and Western Air Express to develop airborne direction

ILD E CHF TH K O EE W

finding equipment. He was awarded some of the first patents issued in the field of airborne direction finding by means of radio. In the course of his work, he encountered some strange errors and once he solved these problems, he had the foresight to apply the solution to a completely unrelated field, that of metal and mineral detection.

Penguins

Sokoyaclocked Happy birthday.

Honesty

STORYLINE EVERYONE knew that Stuti was the best speller in the whole class. She could spell difficult words like "encyclopedia" and "amendment" very easily. She used to get perfect scores during each weekly spelling test. Ms. Daisy, her English teacher, made a rule for the spelling tests that any child who doesn't get at least 60 per cent correct spellings would have to copy each word 50 times for next

5. A dad and his son were riding their bikes and crashed. Two ambulances came and took them to different hospitals. The man’s son was in the operating room and the doctor said, “I can’t operate on you. You’re my son.” How is that possible?

4. I’m tall when I’m young and I’m short when I’m old. What am I?

3. What comes down but never goes up?

2. Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it you die. What is it?

1. What has a foot but no legs?

RIDDLES

PUZZLE

OluwafeyijimiEmmanuel

time in water and the other half on land. • The Emperor Penguin is the tallest of all penguin species, reaching as tall as 120 centimetre in height. • Emperor Penguins can stay underwater for around 20 minutes at a time.

week's spelling test. Seema, who sat next to Stuti, always struggled in spellings. Last Thursday, she received 56 per cent which meant copying each word 50 times. Stuti was so confident in her spelling abilities that she had felt and decided not to study for her next spelling test. The test began. Ms. Daisy pronounced each word and then repeated it. Everything was okay until she spoke "Handkerchief". Stuti scribbled h-a-n-d-k-e-r-c-h.....now what?? i??...or…e?? Her mind was blank. Ms. Daisy started to move on to the next word. It occurred to Stuti that Seema knew how to spell it!! Seema had written this word fifty times. There was wide open space between Stuti and Seema. Stuti's eyes rolled to the right. There it was, spelled out in Seema's handwriting. Her eyes went quickly back to her own paper and finished the word with the letters "i-e-f". Stuti remained tense and nervous as Ms. Daisy read the last spelling word. She had cheated just for the first time in her life. She thought, "Is this the way I want to keep my perfect record - by being a cheater?" Frantically, she erased what she had written earlier and replaced it with what she knew was the wrong answer. She wrote "e-i-f". As her sweaty hands released pencil and passed the test up to the front, she sighed with relief. She thought, "So, what if my perfect scores are no longer intact? At least my honesty is." Answers Moral: There is a saying, "Honesty is the best policy." Every time that you are dishonest, do pratikraman. Know dishonesty as dishonesty and repent for it. Without doubt, one who repents is an honest person. Dadashri says that honesty is the highest religion of all and dishonesty is the best foolishness.

6. What goes up when rain comes down?

• PENGUINS are flightless birds. • While other birds have wings for flying, penguins have adapted flippers to help them swim in the water. • Most penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere. • The Galapagos Penguin is the only penguin specie that ventures north of the equator in the wild. • Large penguin populations can be found in countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Argentina and South Africa. • No penguins live at the North Pole. • Penguins eat a range of fish and other sea life that they catch underwater. • Penguins can drink sea water. • Penguins spend around half their

7. If I drink, I die. If I eat, I am fine. What am I?

device he called the induction balance. In 1925, Gerhard Fischar invented a portable metal detector, his model was first sold commercially in 1931 and he was behind the first large-scale production of metal detectors. According to

Olaide Sokoya ollydesanmi@yahoo.com 0807 449 7425

1. A snail 2. Nothing 3. Rain 4. A candle 5. The doctor is his mom! 6. An umbrella! 7. A fire!

N 1881, Alexander Graham Bell invented the first metal detector. As President James Garfield the 20th US president, lay dying of an assassin’s bullet, Alexander Graham Bell hurriedly invented a crude metal detector in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the fatal slug. Bell’s metal detector was an electromagnetic

Sunday Tribune

Compiled By Temitayo iliasu

19 June, 2016

F you don’t pun the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), what better joke then is out there? Didn’t awada (jokes) sound like Wadata, the party’s headquarters of comical absurdities? Didn’t kerikeri (massive) sound like the jingling and mingling of charms and cudgels of peace-making jesting hunters and misguided rampaging youth at the centre of the current tragicomedy? By now, there must be unanimity of something being profoundly wrong with the party both within and outside power. Could it be the name? The peoples that represent its values, if any? The demon of its craze? Or its unending forlorn parties of crisis? Could it be its progenitors, the combo of the good and ugly that rocked its cradle and nurtured it through infancy? Did anything even suggest it ever staired infancy? Or the succeeding generations of inheritors who now piss on the decorated graveyard bequeathed them? Did anything even suggest the party ever witnessed any forms of generational mutations? In power, it was ugly, outside of it, its features are getting more monstrously contorted. PDP needs help. Those seeking to salvage what remains of it need salvation themselves. Those that could offer genuine help would become problems to be solved if they get involved now. Top-notchers whose natural political habitation fits the mud are the ones contending now. Anyone who is desirous of his sanity can’t get in the mix. There is good news however. Generals leading the current battles of survival and relevance have capacity for fight-of-death. The two principal warriors and erstwhile collaborators, former Borno State governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State are not known for easy retreat in political battles, talk much, surrender. Both fight to extinguish or be extinguished. Both should have been extinguished before now, but survived. They started out as collaborators. Many alleged that the two presidential slots were already settled between them. It was known to all that Fayose practically exhumed Sheriff from political sepulchre. Controversial Senator Buruji Kashamu from Ogun State was said to be the under-water drummer for the duo and the rumoured presidential agenda. Cookies reportedly crumbled when Fayose was allegedly dumped for Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State. Fayose alluded to this without mentioning names last Thursday. The line between political friendship and scorching enmity used to be thin but now

IN her groundbreaking 1969 book, On Death and Dying, Elisabeth Kubler-Rose identified five stages of grieving over a loss. These are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. According to the author, the first reaction to a negative development is to deny it. No man warmly welcomes any untoward occurrence; none gladly embraces the reality of a loss or disaster. This is followed by anger, which is an extension of the first reaction. In an attempt to deny the actuality of what has occurred, the victim becomes exasperated. Rather than being rational, he allows emotions to get the better of him and this is expressed in the form of anger. After the simmering of the anger, he begins to bargain with himself. “Perhaps if I had done A, B or C, this might not have happened,” he reasons with himself. As he continues to think along this line, he gets into depression sequel to being overwhelmed by the reality of the situation and his inability to reverse the trend. Eventually, the victim gets to a point that he accepts what has happened and is then able to take rational decisions that will help him continue with his life. Although the stages are essentially about those who have lost their loved ones and those who might be faced with dying themselves, research has established that many people who are confronted with one difficult situation or the other also travel the route of the five stages of grieving. President Muhammadu Buhari has just completed his round of grieving over the Naira. On his assumption of office, President Buhari was unpretentious about his intention not to be a party to the devaluation of the Naira. Even when it became glaring that with the unrestrained decline in the nation’s foreign exchange earnings occasioned by the plunge in the price of crude oil it was best to devalue the currency, the President refused staunchly to admit the ill health of the Naira. He never agreed that salvaging the Naira would necessitate its devaluation. He said repeatedly that he would not devalue the currency. At every forum where he addressed Nigerians, the President persistently verbalized his conviction about retaining the official value of the currency. He was still in denial over Naira’s state of health. He then moved to the stage of anger. The President ex-

0811 695 4647

olanreade@yahoo.com

PDP’s awada kerikeri

completely blurred. Two collaborators are now sworn enemies. One must be extinguished for the party to enjoy some breath. None of the duo had been political extinguished before now. That is the story of PDP. That was its story before now. That had been its story from creation. It has always been about self for the leaders. A few exemptions to this peculiar “golden rule” were never allowed to blossom. This fight-of-death should be good news for those expecting the party to survive. There are those who believe that a strong opposition party is needed to check an unruly ruling party. I disagree. But PDP should live for the sake of those holding this ground. Or better still what is left of it, be sane enough to transit into a saner platform, where a bit of common-sense will rule. In all honesty, the sore that sticks out as PDP today must and should die. It has to be genetically- modified. After all, even The Holy Bible makes it imperative for those

With Sulaimon Olanrewaju 08055001708

lanresulaimon@yahoo.com

Buhari’s five stages of grieving over Naira

pressed his angst against the idea of devaluing the currency when he said that devaluing it was synonymous with killing the currency while interacting with Nigerians living in Kenya in January this year. His statement was merely an expression of his anger against the idea of properly valuing the currency. During his Democracy Day address to the nation, President Buhari had said that he supported a stable currency, though he would keep “a close look at how recent measures affect the Naira and the economy.” On another occasion, his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said in a statement that “The president is opposed to devaluing the Naira, he has said so

Sunday Tribune

who want to live meaningfully, to die and experience a rebirth. But there is a problem with this well-intentioned wish. The two principal actors, Sheriff and Fayose (Makarfi is just a smokescreen) may not allow either a peaceful or violent death once and for all, to allow a rebirth. While Fayose and his co-travellers may not be completely averse to mid-wifing the needful “born-again” opposition party from the carcass of what is now a forest of a thousand deamons where local hunters even hunt for games, their battlers, going by their antecedents, would possibly ensure a long torturous incremental death. Sheriff’s most-potent weapon in this mind game of wits is Kashamu, the undisputed King of ex parte order. With the Ogun senator combining with his equally-billionaire rugged ally, Fayose and co. are in for a long thing. But what does it matter if PDP lived or died? In power, it was practically useful to only those exploiting it for the usual selfish gains. Not even those elected on the platform could point to positive contributions to policies from Wadata. Outside of power, it fell so badly that even a proud beggar may likely reject it for a gift. But it isn’t all that had passed through the platform that are ugly. Only that the ugly are usual inexplicably pushed out to the dazed public as its face. Only a PDP, seeking redemption after a bruising fall, would showcase a Sheriff, with due regard to his person. You will want to ask if public sensibility is ever a criterion with Wadata. Guess, the public is past caring now, though enjoying the ongoing farce. Yes, the ruling party is wobbly, wobbling and fumbling. But I doubt if Nigerians need PDP as opposition party, whether credible or not, to tell them Buhari and his team are mismanaging their political capital. With the limitless platforms available to electorate today to air their views of political actors, it is the disappearing opposition party that needs Nigerians more than the other way round. Since PDP began the new round of sitcom, many have been asking if the jesters in tow are not operating under a curse, that could be more institutional than personal. Is it likely that a grievouslyoffended and unforgiving member at formative stage released the troubled water curse on Wadata? Why not? It is obvious that not all offended by its knify and knavish politics would forgive. Can those struggling for the carcass of the party then just take a few step backward from the maddening crowd for an introspection? repeatedly…but he has given them (CBN) the leeway to introduce what he has called ‘flexibility in managing the currency’s value.” At this stage, the President had already gotten into the bargaining mode. He was definitely opposed to the idea but he had already started seeing “the sense” in what the economists were saying. So, he was involved in an internal debate. But as usual, the debate resulted in depression. During a meeting with members of the Council of Retired Federal Permanent Secretaries at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, President Buhari had said, “When I was military Head of State, the IMF and the World Bank wanted us to devalue the Naira and remove petrol subsidy but I stood my grounds for the good of Nigeria. The Naira remained strong against the Dollar and other foreign currencies until I was removed from office in August 1985 and it was devalued.” The dawning of reality and the enormity of the decision he had to take certainly had taken a toll on the President, so he had to romanticize the past. Then last Tuesday, in an article published in the American Wall Street Journal, entitled “The Three Changes Nigeria Needs”, President Buhari wrote, “The central bank has moved to introduce greater flexibility in our exchange rate policy. These actions are a down payment on our people’s ability to succeed.” With that, the President, finally came to terms with the inevitability of depreciating the Naira, thus paving the way for the CBN to announce it as a floating currency the following day. While recognizing and appreciating the humanity of leaders, which comes into play in form of sentiments that bar them from taking right decisions at the opportune times, leaders who are slow in taking right decisions often engender more evil than good. The slide of the Naira and the bleeding of the economy would have been arrested long before now had the right decisions over the issue been taken early enough. John Keynes, that outstanding economist, once said, “When the facts change, I change my mind.” No matter how painful it is, a leader should not dither about taking right decisions in the face of obvious facts. Being prompt in taking appropriate decisions is a leader’s weapon for shielding his subjects from avoidable pains and anguish.

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

What I ’ll miss about Henrietta

—Jide Kosoko

Harrysong suspends album release, plans peace concert in Delta

...Let me die and

rest! —OJB Jezreel

‘I don’t have time for make-up’

19 June, 2016

Segun Adebayo tegbollistic@yahoo.com 08116954644

Sunday Tribune Seyi Sokoya seyi_sky@yahoo.com 08075166585

Harrysong suspends album release, plans peace concert in Delta

WhatIwill missabout Henrietta

—Jide Kosoko Stories By Segun Adebayo

EREAVED actor, Jide Kosoko, is back in Lagos State after the burial of his wife, Henrietta Kosoko, who died last week Monday and was buried on Saturday, June 11. The veteran actor said he was yet to come to terms with the sudden demise of his wife and would need more time to recover. Speaking in a brief chat with R on Thursday, Kosoko said it had been a difficult moment for him and his family, adding that he would bounce back in due time. Asked what he would miss about his wife, the actor insisted that he would not want to comment on the death of his wife for now because he’s still in a mourning mood. But he said that he would miss Henrietta’s joviality and sumptuous meals. “I don’t want to talk about her death now as you know that I am still in a very bad mood. I am speaking to you now because I respect you. The fact is that I will miss her jovial moments. She was a very lively woman, and of course she was a great cook. I will miss her good cook,” he said.

TIERs launches discussion series on sexual rights THE Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERs) is set to launch Untold Facts, a discussion series focusing on sexual health and rights in Nigeria. The show, according to TIERs, will clarify myths and clear up misconceptions around sexual orientation and gender identity. TIERs is a Nigeria-based registered non-profit organisation working to protect and promote the human rights of sexual minorities nationally and regionally. “We’re committed to bringing about a society that is free from discrimination and harm on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender iden-

tity. We work towards this goal through education, empowerment and engagement with the many publics in Nigeria. We were founded in 2005 as a response to the discrimination and marginalisation of sexual minorities in both HIV prevention programming and mainstream human rights work. We currently have 11 full time members of staff and over 50 volunteers peer educator,” it said in a statement.

Ruth Kadiri’s outburst on state of floods in Lagos ACTRESS, Ruth Kadiri, was not in a good mood last week when she ventilated her anger and frustration at the state of the country, particularly as it affects the downtrodden whose lives are daily affected by the inability of successive governments to put the country in a good shape. Kadiri, who took to her Instagram page to express her discomfort after a downpour took over some parts of Lekki, Lagos State on Tuesday and Wednesday and forced many people to stay indoors, said she could not contain her sadness at how things have taken a turn for the worse in the country, especially when it rains heavily and many people are forced to stay inside their houses because everywhere is usually flooded. “I can’t contain my hurt, sadness, biterness and disaapointment right now. What exactly is

wrong with this country? Who should be blamed for the lack of orderliness and planning in this country. GOD didn’t give us certain weathers, yet the only two seasons we have, we can’t plan for them. “The gorvernment will not provide the jobs yet they will not put things in place for those who have managed to secure one. TIRED OF WRITING. I’LL JUST TURN BACK AND GO HOME. GOD WILL PUNISH EVERYSINGLE MAN IN Government that has not kept to thier promise of making Nigeria a better country.

FIVE Star Music act, Harrysong, has suspended his much-anticipated album release. The suspension, according to Harrysong, would now be subsituted with a peace concert in Delta State to preach peace in the region following the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers. The musician, who is from the region is said to be worried by the vandalism of pipelines in Niger Delta and wants to use the peace concert to foster unity and peace among the people of the region. Speaking with R in an interview on Thursday, the MTN ambassador, who would have dropped his first album under Five Star music next month, said he had now set his mind on the peace concert, which is aimed at re-orietating the people of Niger Delta and shift their attention to the need for them to embrace peace and dialogue with the Federal Government. “Yes, it is true that I have suspended my album release for now. I am planning to have a peace concert in Asaba on July 30. This is going to be the biggest concert in the region and I am optimistic that it would yield a positive result. We are worried about the wellbeing of our people and this is why we are bringing a peace concert to them,” he said. The concert will kick off with one week seminar before the music concert would cap it all. “All Five Star artistes have already been billed to perform. I am also speaking with some of my colleagues currently to know their plans for that day. The truth is that the concert will hold on July 30 and everybody will be happy and the region will remain peaceful ever after,” he said.

razzmatazz

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

I’m working on my first English movie project —Mercy Aigbe By Seyi Sokoya

9ice, Taye Currency, Lil-Kesh, others shine at Ile-Ife Fiesta

As Ooni endorses concert By Seyi Sokoya

HOSE who witnessed the maiden edition of the Ile-Ife Fiesta will not forget in a hurry the glitz and glamour that the event brought to Ile Ife, Osun State. 9ice, Taye Currency, Lil Kesh, Falz, Simi, Goke Bajowa, among other artistes shut down the city with excitement that got the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi and other dignitaries at the event dancing to the sounds of the music stars. The event which held penultimate Saturday inside the premises of the king’s palace, according to the people, was one of a kind. Alapomeji crooner, 9ice was the first act to mount the stage and got the excited youth chorusing his songs and lyrics. His performance was followed by Taye Currency, who added a touch of Fuji and Hip hop. Lil Kesh proved why he’s rated as the man of the moment as he wowed his fans and made them to yearn for more. Falz and Simi seemed to have mastered their game very well as they both dished out songs and performed on stage to the amusement of their fans. The event, which was anchored by comedian, Bash also featured performances from promising artistes, especially from a 10-yearold rapper, Omotomi Temitope, popularly known as Baby Gangster, who was the cynosure of all eyes. The high point of the event was when the Ooni stormed the event amidst fun and glamour with his entourage. He reaffirmed his

commitment to the fiesta and promised to make it an annual event. “The event has come to stay in Ile-Ife. I want to urge youths and citizens of the state to be lawabiding and be interested in the existing peace of the land. I am delighted to associate myself with you because I am also a youth. This kind of event is one of the things that will promote unity. I want to assure you that I am part of this and this event

has come to stay in the history of IleIfe, he said.” The event also featured award presentation to prominent Nigerians including: JAMB Registrar, Professor Dibu Ojerinde; Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Honourable Mudasiru Obasa, among others. The organiser, Ayo George, expressed his delight that the edition of the fiesta recorded success and acknowledged all the sponsors for contributing to its success.

ACTRESS, Mercy Aigbe, is a common face in the Yoruba speaking movies, but she is now ready to take her trade outside her comfort zone. Over the years, Aigbe has been asked by her fans to test her popularity among her colleagues in the English speaking movies, but she has always maintained that she was not scared of taking english roles, saying the scripts have not been coming. The actress, who runs a fashion boutique, has revealed her plans to delve into her first major english movie project and she appears ready to give it all it takes. Speaking on what to expect from the new project, Aigbe said that a lot of people who have known her as Yoruba actress would have a change of mind when they see her in another role that is different from what she has been doing. “A lot of people know me in the

Charly Boy dangles $300 before fans to mark birthday By Segun Adebayo MAVERICK entertainer, Charly Boy is planning to surprise his fans in a special way with his birthday which comes up today. Charly Boy, who announced this on Thursday, said he would be celebrating his birthday in a special way this year and asked his fans to be part of the fun. According to the man who now goes by the name Area Fada, there are lots of freebies to be won by his fans this time round, with the lucky winner going home with $300. There are six questions and any lucky winner who could answer three correctly will claim the star prize. “It is once again that time of the year. Loads of freebies to be won, to mark Areafada’s forthcoming birthday on the 19th of June 2016. You can visit my Instagram page to see the questions and provide answers to them before Sunday. The best three answers wins $300. Let the brain tussle begin. Happy birthday in advance to CharlyBoy, The

2Baba takes TRIP N TREAT winners to Kenya LUCKY winners in the Buckwyld ‘n’ Breathless: The Disruption concert have landed in Nairobi, Kenya. The winners who all beamed on their arrival have now settled down well for what is described as Trip N Treat concert. It will be recalled that on June 9, Innocent Idibia, otherwise known as 2baba, took some of his fans from Nigeria on an all expense paid trip to Nairobi, Kenya, for the much-talked about Trip N Treat trip. The lucky fans who attended the

yoruba genre of Nollywood and this is going to be my first project in english movie”. On why she thinks people refer to as a Yoruba actress, Aigbe said people don’t understand what acting is all about. To me, acting is acting. Whether you speak English or Yoruba, it does not matter. As long you are acting and you are good at it, I don’t see why there should be any problem with that,” she stated.

concert are set to be treated to the very best of Kenya for one week. The press conference unveiling them had in attendance, Hypertek Digital C.E.O, Efe Omorogbe; 2baba, Kelly Handsome, Sauti Sol, Alibaba, Vanessa Mdee , Jenifer Eliogu, Kenyan press men, and others. After the conference, the winners attended the much anticipated Buckwyld ‘n’ Breathless : The Disruption concert. The Simba Saloon Carnivore which was the venue for the concert was filled with fans screaming and dancing to performances by Vanessa Mdee, 2baba, Mwalim Churchill, Kelly Handsome among others.

Areafada himself. Commitee of Die Hard Fans,” he wrote on his Instagram.

19 June, 2016

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

...Let me die and

rest!

—OJB Jezreel

“We hear people dying everyday but when you become so close to death like I did and it dawns on you that it is real, you will start realising a lot of things you could have done and some that you took for granted.” These were the exact words of ace music producer, Babatunde-Okungbowa, otherwise known as OJB Jezreel during his last interactive session with Sunday Tribune SEGUN ADEBAYO, at his Surulere residence in Lagos State last year. He struggled with his words as he spoke of his pains, agony and expectations as he stepped up his recovery from kidney transplant he underwent in 2013.

OU have been back in the country for some time, but you have been silent. What have you been doing? I have been back in the country since 2013 December. The reason I have kept a low profile is because I don’t want my return into the country to be feasted on by the media like it was when I wanted to go for the surgery. I have been trying as much as possible not to turn the whole thing into another media issue. So, I just wanted it to be as silent as possible, because the whole essence of the thing is that one is alive again. It was not like I was totally silent, at least, in that year we did the thanksgiving service for a successful surgery. I had my birthday too so that I could thank God for sparing my life for another one year after what I had gone through. I celebrated my 48th birthday last year 2014. So, it was not totally silent like some people have been saying. I have been involved in some activities outside entertainment. If you say I have been silent in the entertainment industry then you are right. You know one is just getting back and you can’t just rush back into the industry like that, you have to take it one step at a time. Secondly, the ideal time to bounce back fully after that kind of surgery is six months, and I have been back for two years now, so I will say I have been back trying to recover fully. While you were away, did you ever think of

getting back to music? Yes, I did. Every step of the way, I thought about music even before and after the surgery, I never stopped thinking about music. Music, for me, is not something that I just found myself doing; it is something that I really wanted to do. So, for that reason it will always be on my mind. And, funny enough, even in the sickness and after the whole surgery, I have been working. I did a couple of productions for some artistes like 2face, Yemi Alade, Jo el and at the same time, I have been working for myself too.

Music, for me, is not something that I just found myself doing; it is something that I really wanted to do. So, for that reason it will always be on my mind

In 2013, when the sickness first struck you, did you think you would overcome it? We hear of people dying everyday but when you become so close to death like I did and it dawns on you that it is real, I think you will start realising that a lot of things that you could have done and some that you took for granted. You start wishing that God should give you another chance to set things right. I think what was running in my mind was not about whether I would survive it or not, I think it was more of doing the right thing. Try to look at your life to see what you could have done better or avoided. That means you gave up on yourself’? Not really. You know at a point, I felt like they should just let me die and go rest, but when you see the number of people in this country and outside, especially from Germany, United State, South Africa, China and other places, asking you to be strong and telling you they were willing to help you have your life back, then you will throw away the idea of wishing yourself dead. So, I will say I became strong when I discovered that many people really wanted me to still be around them. It is one thing to be strong in the face of challenges Continues on pg21

glitz

19 June, 2016 Continued from pg20

and it is another thing to have people telling you all will be well. What do you think worked for you and in the midst of it, did you try to draw closer to God? Did you fear your end had come? In that direction, I think I have always been a believer in God. I have always been a worshipper of God. I don’t think I need to fall sick to realise that God actually exists. The only thing that went through my mind was that I had so much to do. So much to do does not mean music; it means so much in the sense that you still have a lot of lives to touch and many wrongs to right. I don’t think I was far away from God or He was far away from me at any time. A lot of things worked for me, but the only thing that has kept me alive till date is God. With your new kidney, do you think about life and death now? I think God still wants me alive to fulfill some obligations. And that is what I am trying to discover about myself now. I am in that discovery stage now. Kidney transplant goes beyond what anybody can start to describe. Until it happens to you, you can’t really explain what it is all about. I live everyday as it comes now with the daily reminder that I am back on a second journey, which is very uncommon. A Nollywood actor, Muna Obiekwe, died recently and he was said to have died of a similar kidney failure which you survived. What do you think was largely responsible for your survival? The only thing I can say about what happened to me and to him is that we both had the same problem. It was not that what happened to me was serious and his was less serious. I think everything was just about God factor; that’s the way I see it. Take, for example, we went to do health camp and we saw a 12-year-old boy suffering from severe kidney failure. Even 12 year old was there trying to have kidney transplant. We saw a boy whose mother came to donate her kidney for him to survive. So, it is bigger than what you can understand here. Everything was just God, because to be candid, a lot of people have had this experience before and after me that didn’t survive it despite the fact that they had the support. So, let’s just thank God for the gift of a new life. Some people have said that too much consumption of alcohol contributed to your problem. Some said the rate with which you consumed alcohol could have taken a toll on you. What did the doctors tell you was responsible for the sickness? It is bigger than alcohol. Take for example, I had stopped drinking eight years before the problem started. When they check you, your toxic result will come out and they will tell you what your problem is. Mine was zero in alcohol. What it had to do with was basically your diet pattern and your stress and rest pattern. It is either you get it from high blood pressure or you get ft from diabetes. Yes, you can say sometimes, alcohol could play a role because the end product of all the alcohol we were drinking was sugar. For me, mine was blood pressure-driven, because most of the time, I was working double more than I used to work. Of course, one is growing older and there is a limit to what the body can take. When you are sleeping four hours in a day, it will definitely take its toll on you. It may not happen immediately, it could happen five or six years later. That was my own case. Now that you are gradually recuperating, do you miss drinking or would you go back to drinking? As I said, I stopped drinking eight years ago. Secondly, before the sickness came, I was already planning rebranding the OJB concept. I started growing my locks then, I started watching my weight because I was getting close to 90 kilogram. So much has not really changed now, except that I try to reduce my carbohydrate intake. We should not take anything more than our first. Most of us when we eat, what we eat is the size of our heads. People who are a lot slimmer, when they have this problem, their chances of surviving are very huge compared to a fat person. So, I always advise people to eat normally and watch their weight. Is it true that you have started recording again? We heard you may even drop an album soon. Yes, I have been recording, I am working on my album. I don’t want to talk much on that now. I like to keep the collaborations I am doing on under wraps. For me, I don’t really like talking about collaborations because when I hear people say they have 15 people on an album, then I will want

‘Losing N40m at stock market

caused my ailment’

to ask what exactly has the person done in the making of the album if you already have 15 people on the tracks. We threw out a couple of songs last year just for people to know we are still here. In the midst of your sickness, unconfirmed reports about the identity of the kidney donor surfaced. Some people said it was your wife while others insisted that you bought a new kidney from an undisclosed person. Could you tell us who the donor was? My first wife was the donor; she gave me the kidney. It got to a time when there was nowhere else to turn to. I even heard that many people came out to be tested to know if they could donate their kidneys. That actually touched me. Your first wife was the donor. That means you have more than one wife. How did you feel when your first wife said she would donate her kidney? Yes, I have more than one wife. I have three wives. The fact is that the three of them actually came out and they were all tested. It was not that I told them that they must come for the test; they did it voluntarily. I had made up my mind how I was going to go about the surgery. There are places where you have donor banks. I had said I was going to go for that but they shocked me when I heard they all wanted to donate their kidneys. In the last minute, they didn’t tell me what they were up to, I just noticed that they were always going to the hospital for one test or the other. I later got to know that the three of them were tested, so what happened was more of who would the donor be? The thing they were looking at was that the third one just had an operation, so it was difficult to open her up again. The second one could have done it too but the first one felt since she is the first wife, she should do it. How do you feel about her in your heart now? That is for my heart, not for the newspaper. You just mentioned my heart, so why do you want to know? Unless you would open my heart to see it yourself. Don’t you think having three wives could have been one of the reasons you have not been resting well, which ultimately led to the kidney failure? No, there was never a problem with that. Having three

Sunday Tribune

wives does not affect my life in any way. It was not like these women were staying together under one roof. When the stock exchange crashed in 2006 and 2007, ft really affected my finances. You can imagine when have lost about N40 million. That situation would definitely leave a devastating mark on your life. If you have what I had in stock now, that’s about three times what I lost to the stock. So, having three wives was not the problem I had. MKO Abiola had more than three wives, but he lived comfortably with them before he died.

When you were growing up, did you actually see yourself having more than one wife? What exacfly was the attraction? That’s what I can’t explain now because when I was growing up, my plan was that I was not going to get married. I had figured it out that I was just going to have children and move on with my life. There are some women that are never going to get married in life. That does mean they would not have the best of their lives. Are you saying you might not have had these problems should you have remained single? You know sometimes, in life, we try to go out of God’s plans for our lives. I don’t believe my problem is connected to having three wives. Only God knows why I had to go through what I went through and He’s the one who saved my life when all hope was lost. It is not because you like women? No. Do you know why it shocked many people? You have been hearing a lot of things about me but not about the women in my life. That tells you that I have managed my home very well until the situation of things took a sorry turn. I have stopped asking myself how I arrived at having three wives because I can’t even explain it. It is just a mystery to me because I didn’t plan to have a wife in the first place. While you were sick, were you hurt by some people’s actions? I can’t say I was hurt. I think the best word to use is surprise. But you were said to have been hurt by some of your friends who did not come to support you when you needed them most. Is that not true? I was not hurt by anybody. It is people that wanted me to be hurt by some people. They said how could this man have done this to his friend and all sorts. What did this person do when he was sick? What did that person do? What did this person do? I will only say I was surprised. Surprised in the sense that a certain of group of Nigerians were praying and holding small concerts here and there to support me. It also taught me how cheap twitter is. You will find out that a bulk of people you find on twitter don’t even know what they are thinking. A lot of them spent more time calculating how much did you get than how well are you feeling. That was surprising to me. Then, the ones that went out to say they have given me money, if you look at how they painted ft, you would think they have given me N200 million. If you look at me very well, you will know I know how to spend money. So, if I had realised that kind of money, I would have been very happy. I would have relocated to America. But you got some money from some of your friends in the entertaimnent industry? Yes, we did, but it was not as big as we read on twitter; it was not a large figure like some of them were quoted to have said.

aspire

19 June, 2016

BY OLAIDE SOKOYA 0807 449 7425 (sms only)

BB pin: 290B9652

Govt should create global campaign on made in Nigeria products —Olasupo Ruth Olasupo is the brains behind Bloomkids Fashion brand which sews for children. Launched on May 1, 2016, the brand is seeking to showcase African designs and preserve its culture. In this interview with SEGUN ADEBAYO, Olasupo opens up on the uniqueness of her brand.

OW did the journey begin? I have always nurtured the idea of creating a fashion clothing brand, to showcase the richness of African culture. I had trained for this, and developed my own unique approach to designs and stitching. The choice of kids, and the Bloomkids journey began after the birth of my daughter. I began to style her, and people loved it, and this has become my passion. “Showcasing African designs, and preserving our culture”. How would you describe the early beginnings? Early beginnings are tough. The first tough phase is putting the Bloomkids vision in my head down on paper and then aligning it with the mission and down to daily tasks and routine for each team member. The second phase is defining our standard and sticking to it at any cost. The amount of thought, care and diligence defines the excellence that makes Bloomkids unique. We continually improve everyday.

How did you come about the idea to start sewing for kids? It followed the birth of my daughter. Like every parent, I want my daughter to be unique, so I drew some designs, brought out my machine and made some dresses for her. Everyone loved it - friends, family and strangers. I made some more, and they loved it even more. We started talking with mothers to get their input which we have included in our clothes. A few months later, we are launching with over 200 pieces of clothes at a shop near home. Have you ever considered sewing for adults too? At Bloomkids, children are our number one choice and we are a ready-to-wear brand. However, we have had kids who had a special need for a special occasion, mothers who wanted a matching outfit with their kids, and families who wanted a customized outfit for a specific occasion. We have structures in place to meet this group of clients. Did you learn this trade from professionals or it was something that you never planned to do? I am a professional, as I have a Master’s degree in Public Health from the United Kingdom. However, on sewing and designs, I did go through training and internship and spent a lot of time practicing. At a time when many people are looking to secure a job with companies, you are sewing for children, what is the motivation? Bloomkids is a brand, a trademark registered under Ruthie Bloom. It is part of our plan to expand beyond Nigeria and become a multinational brand where fashion designers, apprentices, would aspire to work. I am proud

Gallery: 60, Ijaiye Road, Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos.

www.bloomkids.ng www.facebook.com/bloomkids.ng www.instagram.com/bloomkids.ng

of what the Bloomkids team has created and this is just the beginning. At what point did you decide to take it to a professional level? From day one, this has always been the plan. Once we believed we had enough acceptance from the mothers in our environment, it was the next logical thing to do. How big is your brand and what’s the name of your brand? Our brand is Bloomkids, and we launched on the 1st of May, 2016 and have been growing little by little every day. Our brand is as big as the size of the internet, as we have a website that can be reached 24/7. Bloomkids has a plan, short, medium and long term. We also keep an open mind to new information and economic realities. Flexibility is a key ingredient for survival. What would you say is the most difficult aspect of your job? I would say two things –internal and external. The internal one is maintaining our standard of excellence and neatness and ensuring that we continue to perform due diligence on every fabric before it is handed over to our clients. The external factor is getting people to accept Made in Nigeria products without a bias. How can government be of help to your business? Made in Nigeria brands like us help promote entrepreneurship and our stories help create the Nigerian dream. The help Bloomkids would need from the government (apart of the normal power and infrastructure) is to create a global campaign around “Made in Nigeria” products. This will help Nigerians accept their own better. A country of over 170 million people, smart and happy people, should be a producer of international brands.

Your Life Counts

Sunday Tribune

by Tunde Jaiyebo 0803 406 2013

The matter of time (1) THERE is a way that time evens things out for everybody. We are all given twenty fours a day. Even though we might say people are not born equal as some are born with silver spoons in their mouths while some are born into abject poverty, some are born disabled and others able bodied but one thing makes all men equal is time. Time is the equalizer of all men. Every man is given the same time daily. The rich and the poor have the same package of twenty four hours handed over to them daily. Time does not discriminate based on gender neither does it have bias to nationalities. Time is the equalizer of men. “Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.” Denis Waitely How we invest or spend our time will determine our output in life. If the man born with a silver spoon in his mouth does not effectively invest his time he can wind up filtering away all the wealth he was privileged to be born into. If the man born into abject poverty masters and uses his time well he can end up with tremendous wealth and fortune. Time is the most perishable commodity on the earth, it cannot be recycled- once it is spent or lost it is over. “There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.” Napoleon the first Time is neutral. It waits for no one. “The illimitable, silent, never-resting thing called Time, rolling, rushing on, swift, silent, like an all-embracing ocean-tide, on which we and all the universe swim like exhalations, like apparitions which are, and then are not....” Thomas Carlyle “Time is the most indefinable yet paradoxical of things; the past is gone, the future is not come, and the present becomes the past even while we attempt to define it, and, like the flash of lightning, at once exists and expires.” Charles Caleb Colton We must place a great value on our time. “Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” Carl Sandburg The value placed on time can be relative depending on the individual or the circumstances. To make our lives count we must put the right value on whatever activity we spend our time on. “Successful people attempt to minimize the time and money they spend on things that do not provide genuine value to them or to others. They also look for ways to spend their time and money on things that provide more value to them or to others than whatever it is they’re currently doing. This requires focus. You have to evaluate everything you do in a given day. “Why am I doing this?” “Is it something that I really personally value?” “Is it adding value to my life?” “Is it adding value to the lives of others?” “How much value am I really getting from this in terms of personal growth, financial gain, or relationships built?” Trent Hamm Time must be treasured as in it lies all we can do on this side of eternity. “Time, the cradle of hope.... Wisdom walks before it, opportunity with it, and repentance behind it: he that has made it his friend will have little to fear from his enemies, but he that has made it his enemy will have little to hope from his friends.” Charles Caleb Colton. Time is money. Wikipedia explains the idiom time is money as “the notion that time is valuable and money is wasted when a person’s time is not used productively.” Richard Charles Lee comments on “time is money” thus –“It means time is a valuable resource (because our time in this world is finite), so it’s better to do things as quickly as possible. Alternatively, spend time and effort on things that get the results we are looking for.” To be continued For enquiries/comments please send email to charismokola@yahoo.com

feature

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Glo delights Hamma Millions Promo winners in Abuja, Port Harcourt, other cities By Chukwuemeka Sunny

T was a memorable day of laughter and joy for scores of Glo subscribers across the country last Tuesday as the frontline telecom provider presented life-transforming cash prizes to winners of its on-going Hamma Millions promo. From the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, to the ancient city of Benin, Edo State, down to the Coal City of Enugu, Enugu State and the Garden City of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, delighted and enthusiastic Globacom subscribers who won in the promo came with relations and friends to collect their cheques at the designated Gloworld shops in the aforementioned cities. In Abuja for instance, 63 winners of N100,000 each were at the Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse 2 office of the leading telecom company to collect their cheques, just as Mission Road Gloworld, Benin, received 24 other winners who came to collect their prizes. Port Harcourt and Enugu offices of Globacom on Aba Road and Okpara Avenue respectively wore carnival looks as 19 winners apiece trooped to the offices with their well wishers to take possession of their prizes. But it was in Lagos that the real deal took place. The story of Hameed Olatunji, a transporter from Oyo, Oyo State, changed for good as he became an instant millionaire courtesy of Globacom. Olatunji became the first Glo subscriber to win the N5 million jackpot prize in the Hamma Millions Promo. Also picking their prizes on Tuesday were over 40 other winners who won N100,000 each. One of those who won N100,000 was Mrs. Juliana Ukachi , a housewife who came with her eight-monthold baby. The winners were effusive in joy as they danced to the front of the Mike Adenuga Towers auditorium to receive their cheques. Olatunji was particularly dramatic as he danced with Glo ambassadors, Flavour and Korede Bello, who heartily rose up to join him in celebration. Expressing his heartfelt appreciation in an emotion laden voice, Olatunji said he would forever be grateful to Globacom for making him a ‘multi-millionaire’ over-

night. Speaking after collecting his cheque in Abuja, Jeremiah Chia who has not yet decided what he would do with his prize money, said: “this is the best gift I have ever had. I saw it on TV and I decided to try it, and here I am, N100,000 richer. I am so happy and grateful to Glo.” Also speaking, Shagari Fwangchen, declared: “I am so happy to receive my cheque of N100,000. I will use the money to improve my provision business. I pray to God to increase Glo.” Christopher Ekhato, one of the winners who spoke after collecting his N100,000 cheque in Benin said, “I am so grateful, I didn’t think I would win but I just kept on playing and it has paid off.” On his part, Omatseye Tuasor, another winner in Benin enthused, “this is nothing but the grace of God. Thank you very much Globacom for making my day.” Bernard Ekwevugbe on his own declared Globacom as “the best company ever, I can’t believe this money is mine,” just as Patience Chukwu, who collected her cheque in Enugu said, “it is still like a dream. I can’t believe this is happening to me.” Tobenna Echewodo in his

Expressing his heartfelt appreciation in an emotion laden voice, Olatunji said he would forever be grateful to Globacom for making him a ‘multimillionaire’ overnight.

reaction said, “this is so amazing, everyone around me must hear about it.” Speaking in Port Harcourt after receiving his N100,000 cheque, Chisom Levi said, “When I got the call telling me that I won N100,000, I thought it was a scam, but right now, I believe it and I am going to tell all my friends about the promo and encourage them to play. I will also continue to play because my target is the N5 million prize.” Another winner from Port Harcourt, Ignatius David, noted that though he had been on the Glo network since 2009, he had never won in any promo before. “When I was called that I won N100,000, I told all my friends and asked them to play. One of my friends called me this afternoon that he will like to play the promo and I told him it is real.” Abiola Olaide also has this to say: “beyond the prize of N100,000 that I won, the Glo Hamma Millions Promo gave me the opportunity to refresh my brain on football and I want to let everyone know that this promo is genuine and I appreciate Globacom for being truthful about it.” The star subscriber of the day, Hameed Olatunji, who won N5 million was presented with the cheque at a ceremony attended by the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Honourable Suraju Adekunbi; Deputy Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Wasiu Eshinlokun Sanni; Acting Managing Director of Bank of Industry, Mr Waheed Olugunju, Lagos State Coordinator of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Mr. Fidelis Ajibogun and the Zonal Coordinator, Lagos Office, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr Ikechukwu Aninweke. “I thank God for making me a multimillionaire overnight,” an overwhelmed Olatunji declared as he fought back tears of joy. On what he will do with the prize money, he said: “I’ll invest part of this money in my poultry business and also use part of it to purchase a truck.” Sunny writes this piece from Lagos

Sunday Tribune

19 June, 2016

glamour Foray into music have been singing since I was a teenager but I started officially four years ago. So far, I have released five singles namely; Star, featuring Provabs, Ozo, For Who You are featuring Toeyoursea, Brekete, and Adore Yahweh. My album will be out early next year. I am one of the artistes under OrangeVille music. They got me the telecoms deal. All my five songs are used as ringing tone by Etisalat, Airtel and MTN.

Nollywood actress, Oluwagbeminiyi Temitope Adegbola, studied Computer Science at The Polytechnic Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, and Biochemistry from the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lagos State. In this interview with TAYO GESINDE, she speaks on her most challenging role as an actress, how she has been coping with competition and fashion preferences. Excerpts:

Challenges faced as an up-and-coming gospel artiste. For now, there is really no challenge and I bless God for that. My role models Kierra Sheards and Yolanda Adams because of their spirituality, voice texture and voice dexterity.

Growing up MY growing up was not so interesting because I am a complete introvert who loves my privacy so I didn’t welcome friends or new people into my life. I stayed in my comfort zone. So for me, growing up was neither interesting nor intriguing. I hail from Aiyetoro in Ogun State. I am from a family of four, I am the third child and the first girl. I attended elementary school in Lagos, Molusi College, Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State, for my secondary education. For my tertiary education, I attended The Polytechnic, Ibadan, where I studied computer science and University of Lagos, where I studied Biochemistry.

Philosophy of life If you don’t live for something, you will die for nothing, so I always want to live a purposeful life. Description of self I am not a quiet person but can be quiet if I choose to. I love to make new friends and I love to dance too. I am down- to- earth and sometimes I could be very blunt. What I do aside singing I run an ankara craft company called House of Berries. I tried working in some firms but it didn’t really work out so I thought of doing something for myself. I must confess that I never imagine I could get this far with House of Berries.

Definition of style Fashion is what you are comfortable wearing

With Tayo Gesinde temiligali03@yahoo.com 08054727801

My fans have never done anything bad to me —Temitope Adegbola

Inspiration for my music I will say God and life generally.

Coping with competition in the fashion industry I try to make unique products and stay creative.

My work does not give me time for make-up —Etidia Gift

Etidia Theodora Gift, known as Gift Berries, is a gospel musician and fashion designer. In this interview with TAYO GESINDE, the graduate of Computer Engineering from Delta State Polytechnic, Oghara, Delta State, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of House of Berries, speaks on her musical career and how she got Etisalat, Airtel and MTN to use her songs as ringing tones. Excerpts: and what suits you. I make shoes and all kinds of footwear generally using African fabrics.

programme or on Sunday. Favourite designers In line with what I do, I prefer Elizabeth Kors.

Assessment of the Nigerian fashion industry I am very impressed with what I see in the fashion industry because a lot of us are upping our game, so creativity is at its peak.

Fashion item I can’t do without when going out My shoes.

Beauty regimen. I really don’t have one. I am always very busy at the workshop. I don’t really have time for make-up and all except when I am going for a

My take on provocative dressing Hmm! It is not good at all. I have had to learn a lot about dressing moderately. You will be addressed by the way you are dressed.

A lot of respect is accorded to anyone who is moderately and properly dressed. My view on toning Toning? Never! I don’t believe it. We are all beautiful the way we are. I am not going yellow any day soon because my brown skin is special. How I pamper myself. Nothing special, I just rest when I can. Once in a while, I go to the cinema. And sometimes, I try to get enough sleep because I hardly have time for that.

Foray into the movie industry I got into the movie industry through Iyabo Ojo in 2004. At the time, she didn’t have her own school so she took me to Muka Ray, who asked me to join Ray Eyiwunmi School of Performing Art in Oyingbo. That was where I trained as an actress.

Challenges faced When I joined the industry, I was very skinny and small, many people thought I was a little girl. Then I wasn’t used to being in the midst of people, so it took me time to fit in. It was really difficult for me to relate with people initially but over time I was able to overcome that challenge. My role models I love Iyabo Ojo, I am her number one fan. l. I also admire Femi Adebayo. The journey so far I have featured in over 25 movies and the most challenging role I played was in Tenbelu. I was a thief in the movie and I had so many scenes where I was beaten. I also had to run, jump and scream. Iyabo Ojo made me popular. We are very close, we move together, go to places together, and attend functions together so people got to know me through that. Once you say Gbemi Iyabo Ojo, the name clicks. Coping with competition The sky is big enough for all flying creatures, so I am not competing with anyone but myself and whoever wants to compete with me should buck up. Philosophy of life My philosophy about life is: que sera sera what will be will be. Description of self In one word - I am an enigma because sometimes, I don’t understand myself. Definition of style Simplicity that speaks class. I believe in dressing to suit the occasion, so where I am going determines what I wear. I don’t wear what is in vogue. As long as a dress suits me and I am comfortable in it, I go for it. Favourite designers I love Channel and LV. Beauty regimen I don’t wear too much make-up. Most times, I don’t even wear it at all but I don’t joke with my shower. I can shower five times a day because I love water a lot. I am a slim person, so there is really no need for diet or exercise but I try to walk a few metres a day which is a form of

exercise. I use any good beauty product that suits my colour and skin. Accessory I can’t do without Wristwatch. My opinion on toning It is a personal thing. Anyone who wishes to tone his or her skin is free to do so. It their body and they have right to treat it whichever way they please. Special treat I go for body scrub or polish and a good massage. Greatest physical asset As you can see, I am a very slim lady, moderately built. I love my long straight legs. My take on cosmetic surgery It is not a good thing because we are all made in God’s image, so there is no need to change His handiwork. My view on provocative dressing Well, like I said earlier, everyone with their

ways. I can’t speak for another person. I can only speak for myself. Coping with advances from my male admirers They are as important as every other thing, so I deal with them accordingly. Qualities I want in a man He should be God-fearing, humble and beautiful inside out. Gains and pains of being a celebrity. The gain is that it opens doors of opportunities while the pain is that you have no privacy again. You have to be careful what you do outside. Most embarrassing thing a fan has ever done to me Nobody has ever done anything I can’t really take on a normal day. None that I can remember. Advice to young people Be real and humble. Fake things don’t last forever but originality goes a long way. Humility is the key to success because noise is only for a while.

19 June, 2016

With Akintayo Abodunrin akinjaa03@yahoo.co.uk 08111813058

While some winners succumbed to emotion at the awards ceremony, Burkina Faso and Niger acquitted themselves well by winning five major categories

HOUGH the 12th Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) held on Saturday, June 11 at the Dr. Obi Nwali Hall, Port Harcourt, Rivers State was short on spectacle and lacked the oomph of previous editions, it was rich on emotions. It was a night where a number of recipients of the pan-African awards which scope and integrity (as seen in the number of countries that send entries and win) remain intact but which bane remains tardy organisation, showed their soft sides. Chief among these were actress Joke Silva and actor Richard Mofe-Damijo who were both given Lifetime Achievement Awards alongside Olu Jacob and Tony Akposere of the New Masquerade fame. Responding after ex-president of the senate, David Mark and a Ghanaian actress had presented the unexpected awards to them, Silva, who swallowed several times and whose voice quavered as she spoke, said: “That my husband should receive the Lifetime Achievement Award is deserving; that I should too, I’m grateful. This was so totally unexpected. I just came to support Peace [Anyiam-Osigwe] because she sounded like she needed support. It’s been a difficult ride. I know there are so many people in this hall who know what a struggle it is to be in our industry and to keep going year-in, year-out, and to just keep climbing the mountains. Thank you very much. I really appreciate,” she said. RMD also succumbed to emotion after receiving his award from Mrs. Wike and veteran actor Pete Edochie. He said: “It has been an incredible journey getting to this point. It’s been God and so many people. But I can’t forget the one person who sacrificed her own fame, career for me, who opted to be my wife and the mother of my children. Adejumobi, you are a hero for all the sacrifices you have made. I am much better than when she met me. And truly, I cannot be herewithout you. This one goes to every child that is born in an unknown street in Warri, in Port Harcourt, in the Niger Delta, in Zamfara, anywhere in the world. If you believe, just stay in your lane and don’t give up just like me. From one street in Warri, I am standing here today in distinguished company. Thank you Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan for the opportunity to serve; Dr Mike Adenuga, you made me larger than life.” Joe Brown Ubaka, producer of ‘Missing God’ which won the Best African Language Film, also gushed about ex-president Goodluck Jonathan’s interventions in Nollywood. “Thank you, the government of President Goodluck Jonathan for empowering us through Project ACT Nollywood,” he said after receiving the prize at the ceremony anchored by the trio of Mike Ezuronye, South African radio presenter, Kgopedi Lioane, and Ghana’s Jon Germain. Burkina Faso, Niger shine ‘Eye of the Storm’ from Burkina Faso which won the Best Film and Best Costume Design prizes, and got Abidine Dioari the Best Supporting Male Actor gong, reaffirmed the desire of AMAA organisers to encourage originality and showcase unique filmmakers

Emotions, history at AMAA 2016

From left; Pete Edochie, Richard Mofe-Damijo and a guest at AMAA

Singer Yinka Davies performed at the ceremony

Olu Jacob and Joke Silva at the ceremony from across Africa. Nigerian born South Africa-based Akin Omotoso also had cause to smile on the night as his movie, ‘Tell Me Sweet Something’ got two AMAA gongs. The movie won the Best Screenplay prize and also earned Thishiwe Ziqubu Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Other South Africans that won at the ceremony were Fulu Mugovhani (Best Actress) for her role in ‘Ayanda’ and ‘Hear Me Move’, Best Edited movie. Ghana, expectedly, did not return home empty-handed. ‘The Cursed Ones’ from the country took the Best Cinematography and Best Production prizes and won Nana ObiriYeboah the coveted Best Director award. Nigeria took nine prizes including Best Film in an African Language (The Missing God), Best Make-Up (Soldiers Story), Best Soundtrack (O-Town), Best Visual Effect

(Oshimiri), Best Sound (Fifty), Best Nigerian Film (Dry) and Best Young Actor won by Zubaidat Ibrahim Fagge for his role in ‘Dry’. Other Nigerian winners were Daniel K. Daniel (Best Actor) and Greg Odutayo, Best First Feature Film by a Director (Beyond Blood). Other movies that shone on the night were Meet the Parents’ a Nigeria/Canada entry that took the Best Short Film prize; ‘The Pencil’, Best Animation from Burkina Faso; ‘The Fruitless Tree’, Best Documentary from Niger ; ‘Lambadina’, Best Film by an African Living Abroad from Ethiopia/USA; Best Diaspora Short, ‘Across the Track’ from USA and Best Diaspora Documentary jointly won by ‘Spirit of Rebellion’ and ‘Agents of Change’ both from the US, ‘Ben and Ara’ Best Diaspora Feature. ‘Rivers is safe’ AMAA presentation ceremonies will not be complete without speeches and this year was no different. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohamed assured that the Federal Government would revive the National Endowment Funds for the Arts to sustain the creative industry. He added that the government will not fail to empower regulatory bodies that would address challenges in the sector. Mohammed disclosed that he had already taken action on this by constituting a panel to review the Motion Picture Practitioners Council of Nigeria (MOPPICON) Bill.

The Minister who reiterated the resolve of the present administration to tackle piracy and help institute equitable distribution mechanism, pleaded with African filmmakers to tell stories that would project their countries and the continent positively. He urged the filmmakers not to relent in using movies to change negative narratives about Africa by using their works to showcase the continent’s rich and diverse cultures. The Minister, who also acknowledged AMAA’s strides in the last 12 years, assured that government would partner with it. He said he would host the Nigerian winners at the event at a later date. Also speaking, the host governor, Nyesom Wike said he was delighted that the event was happening in Port Harcourt, “the leading commercial enclave in Nigeria”. He said that contrary to reports, the state is safe for tourists and investors. He asked the filmmakers to tell stories of the investment and business opportunities in the state. Founder of AMAA, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, highlighted the importance of promoting peace through cinema. “We live in a continent that needs peace,” she said while reiterating the safety of Rivers State. ‘Female filmmakers are coming’ President, 2016 AMAA Jury, Shaibu Husseini, disclosed that about 485 movies from 60 countries were received but that only 65 were considered for nomination in 26 categories. He disclosed that the jury noticed a marked improvement in the works submitted and increased involvement of women in filmmaking. He said: “We noticed with great pleasure a growing diversity of genres amongst the films we saw. We also observed a visible development in exploring cinematographic styles especially in the field of storytelling/narration and art direction. We note also a strong presence of women in front of and behind the camera. A couple of the films we have in nomination were either made by women or produced by women. This sure-footed emergence of women filmmakers on the African continent is very promising, encouraging and refreshing for audiences and female professionals in the industry.” The jury president however added that, “we observed a decline in movies for children and about children. We have over the years handed out awards to child actors but we decided as a jury not to consider that category this year because of inadequate entries.” Husseini also appealed for corporate support for AMAA, adding that, “We all look forward to the day when governments all over Africa and the AU can partner AMAA, which annually showcases and recognizes the diverse talents of African filmmakers.” Aside the tears, speeches and power failure that lasted almost 20 minutes, there was also entertainment at the awards ceremony. Up and coming Port Harcourt-based comedian, Arinze Baba gave a good account of himself as did Yinka Davies and Harrysong who sent the audience roaring with his anthem, ‘Reggae Blues’. The artiste who was joined by ‘Limpopo’ crooner, Kaycee, did well to lift the audience after the power failure fiasco. Nollywood stars, ex-senate president, David Mark, Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, exRivers governor, Celestine Omehia, Justice Eberechi Wike and former culture minister, Edem Duke, were among guests at the ceremony.

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

thepolity Of age, governance and youth participation in politics KOLAWOLE DANIEL writes on the current effort of the House of Representatives to enhance effective youth participation in politics through reduction in age for eligibility to vie for political offices from presidency to House of Assembly seats.

HE effort by the House of Representatives to amend some sections of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), namely; Sections 65, 106, 131 and 177 to reduce the age qualification for the offices of the president and governor and the membership of the Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly, has begun to generate different reactions, as sections of the society have differed on the propriety and aptness of the bill seeking to lower age qualification for these political offices. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Right Honourable Yakubu Dogara, had, on May 9, hinted that the House would consider lowering the age of eligibility for Nigerians seeking election into political offices in order to allow youths to actively participate in the political process, charging youths to participate more actively in politics by breaking the barrier of apathy and electing leaders who will secure their future and interests. The Speaker’s message was passed to students drawn from universities across the country, during a dialogue with them at the National Assembly. Noting how many young people have stayed back from participating in the political process and even refusing to vote during elections, a development, which he said “threatens the representative nature of our democratic institution,” Dogara lamented how the country, which he said belonged to the youth, had been under the “stranglehold of men and women of a generation that have overreached itself. The truth is that nothing will be ceded or conceded to your generation without a fight.” In an attempt to walk the talk, the House, through a bill sponsored by Honourable Tony Nwulu, entitled, “A Bill for an Act to Alter Sections 65, 106, 131 and 177 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to reduce the Age Qualification for the Office of the President and Governor and Membership of the Senate and House of Representatives and for Other Related Matters,” had immediately kick-started the process of ensuring youths to effectively participate in elections. The bill, in effect, seeks to reduce the age qualification to contest an election to the office of the president, governor, Senate, House and state assembly. The originator of the bill, while leading debate, explained that the age reduction bill is a constitution amendment bill, which specifically seeks to amend some sections of the 1999 Constitution. According to him, under the extant Section 65 of the 1999 constitution as amend-

Dogara ed, the age requirement to contest an election to the Senate is 35 years, while that of the House of Representatives is 30 years. Section 106 pegs the age requirement to contest a state House of Assembly seat at 30 years. For the office of the president, the provision in Section 131 is 40 years. For the office of the governor of a state, the qualification in the Section 177 is 35 years. However, the proposed bill in the House, which scaled through second reading and is ready for public hearing anytime soon, is seeking to reduce the age qualification for the offices of the president, governor and election into the Senate at 30 years. While for the House of Representatives and state House of Assembly, the lawmakers are contemplating 25 years as the age qualification. Leading the debate, Honourable Nwulu said election was a very important method of democratic practices and inclusion of citizens in decision and policy making processes, He noted that in countries like United Kingdom, parliament in 2006 lowered their age of candidacy from 21 to 18, which he said had existed since the parliamentary elections Act 1695. Citing examples of countries that have embraced youth participation in politics, the lawmaker said that, in Venezuela, the age requirement to be president was 30 years, while to be a governor, the provision was 25 years. He cited the Nether-

Nwulu lands, Norway, Mexico, France, among others, where youths actively participate in politics. For the advocates of youth participation in politics, the bill was viewed as timely and imperative, as they cited that countries around the world had keyed into the paradigm shift of allowing youths to actively partake in nation-building, unlike Nigeria, where successive governments and office holders pay lip service to commitment to the youths and kept calling them ‘leaders of tomorrow without ever allowing them to have the chance to lead.’ Another member of the House, Honourable Rapheal Igbokwe, had lent his voice to the call for youth participation in politics, saying youth inclusion in political sphere would encourage political consciousness among Nigerian youths. But the discussion of the proposal went beyond the precincts of the Green Chamber, as Mr Femi Aduwo, who is the national coordinator of rights’ monitoring group and executive director, Centre for Convention on Democratic Integrity, commended House for sparing a thought for the youths whom he said had been used as canon fodders by the political class in the electoral process. He, however, described the proposal as cosmetic and meretricious. “It is the spirit behind it that matters and not the law itself. I give an example. All the parties created offices for national youth leaders in the composition of the

executive cadre of the party structure. But are occupants of these office youths? Some of the occupiers of the offices are as old as 60 and 65 years. The argument of such parties has been that the occupiers need not be youths. “The second issue is how the youths for whom the age requirement is being lowered will raise money to finance their election. We all know that since the days of General Ibrahim Babangida, the political kingdom has suffered violence and only the moneybags take it by force. Elections in Nigeria have been heavily monetised. “The proposed law is welcome development, though I have reservations about how it will be ultimately applied in real life situation when the chips are down,” Aduwo said. A John Hopkins University graduate and expert in Information Systems Assurance, Mr Tayo Koleoso, welcomed the idea and called for its immediate implementation beginning with the 2019 general election. “Although competence and maturity are not dependent on age, generally speaking, innovation is age-dependent. The world is talking about smart cities, sustainable development goals (SDGs), among other things that are propelled by innovation. It is very apt that the youths are given the responsibility early enough. These things Continues pg 30

Sunday Tribune

19 June, 2016

inter

Batt Lagos

The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at West, with the Lagos State chapter of the party. Mr Mos who claim to be the state chairmen of the party, speak w

I’m Lagos PDP chairman

DP is currently embroiled in crisis at the national level, with two individuals laying claim to the national chairmanship seat. What do you have to say to this? To the best of my knowledge, PDP is one. Where you have the National Executive Council of PDP, where you have the BoT of PDP, where you have the senators or the National Assembly caucus of PDP, where you have all the governors of PDP, all put together and say this is where we are, then what type of leadership are you looking for? Funny enough, it even baffles me, because I see things from afar, that our leaders could not see the problem before this time. They are supposed to have seen it earlier. But I thank God they were able to see it before it was too late. All that is happening is because there was no discipline in this party at all. The party lacks discipline. It is even in the constitution of the party that you cannot take the party to court without going through internal reconciliation or resolution process. But these days, everybody does whatever he likes. It was alleged that the congresses that produced you and other executive members from the ward to the state levels were not sanctioned by the party headquarters and that INEC was also not there to witness them and as a result, the exercises were null and void. What is your reaction? It was never nullified I can show you evidence. INEC was here; SSS was here; police were here. Even two days ago, INEC sent a letter to me as chairman of the PDP in Lagos State and even requested for information about all other executive members, which is already with them. So, if there is any contention, it is just Modu Sheriff’s way of distracting the party from the sure success that we are looking for in 2019. But Mr Segun Adewale, who is also laying claim to being the PDP state chairman, claimed that his group had delegates that were fully recognised by the National Headquarters of the PDP and that INEC witnessed their congresses. He said the party’s national chairman then, Sheriff, au-

thenticated their own congresses, saying they were set to chase you out of the party secretariat. What is your reaction? We are waiting for them to come and take over; I don’t want to join issues with such people, because you want to sell your paper. I am not here to join issues with anybody. My own is that, this is the secretariat of the PDP and this is where you came to meet me and that tells you what you need to see and what you need to know. The state congress of the PDP was held at this secretariat. The people that boycotted election cannot be considered as part of that congress. It is your right to come or not to come. This is the venue of the state congress. It was conducted here and the winner was declared. It was between me and Dr. Adegbola Dominic. So we are talking of people of high calibre; we are not talking of just anybody here. The party knows what it wants; those people you mentioned are the section of Ali Modu Sheriff as far as we are concerned. Adewale also accused the Lagos PDP secretariat of owing rent running into millions of Naira. You have to ask him. I don’t know anything about that. I’m not aware of any liability. In 2019, do you see PDP defeating the incumbent governments at the state and national levels given the crisis rocking your party? The problem of indiscipline must be sorted out; it is better those personalities who sabotage and subvert the PDP are removed the party. It is a matter of discipline; there is no more discipline in this party. The party has the right to dismiss you or send you away. The party is powerful than any member, so when things like these are happening and we not confident enough to take decisive action, the problem will continue. You talked about lack of discipline in the party, as chairman of the party, are you considering wooing these people back into the fold and if they refuse, are you likely to send them away? At my level, I am not here to say I am chairman, I am the boss or whatever. I am only here to come and put the party

—Salvador right. I am only assisting them to come and put my experience into use to put the party right. I have my job, but as we are all investing in this party, that is why some leaders, I didn’t come out say I wanted to be chairman of the party, put their heads together, came to me and appealed that, ‘please, Salvador, you are the one that can assist us to do this thing; you are the one everybody can rally round; you are the one that can be a bridge-builder,’ because I don’t fight anybody. That is why I am saying all of them put together, I don’t see anyone that can stand in front of me and say I am a bad person or that he is against me. They might have their interest, therefore, you don’t throw their interest away. You don’t say they are not important. Whatever it takes to bring everybody together should be my priority. I will reach out to them and make sure everybody comes together. The reconciliation process is on. Once they have started doing it at the national level, it would come down to the state level. It is a gradual process. With the state of things in your party, are you not doubtful that you will be able to defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019? I can assure you that we will reclaim the centre. I can assure you of that because what I usually look at to assess the PDP is the calibre and experience of the people that are putting things together. The moment all these are sorted out, the party will now get itself prepared to move in the right direction at the right speed to get to the winning position. Let me assure you that there is no way the PDP will not take over government from Buhari, because the whole nation has now seen that they made a mistake electing him. Let us start with this; somebody that met $30 billion in foreign reserve when he got there and everything disappeared with the same complaints and promises, he met $2.5 billion as Sovereign Wealth Fund and nothing is there again. We want to know what they have done with these funds. Somebody that met $1.4 billion in the Excess Crude Account and got $4.6 billion taxes from LNG alone not to talk of the $1.7 billion from the Federal Inland Revenue and revenues generated from the Nigerian Ports Authority, NIMASA, Customs and so on and in one year, could not point to any achievement. Yet, Nigerians are suffering. It is glaring that the APC is clueless; the administration doesn’t even know the right direction.

rview

tle of s PDP

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

t the national level is affecting some states of the Southshood Salvador and Mr Segun Adewale, two individuals with BOLA BADMUS on the genuineness of their claims.

We’re taking over that secretariat soon —Adewale YOU said you are the PDP chairman in Lagos State but Mr Moshood Salvador is sitting as the chairman of the party in the secretariat. What is your reaction? He is using the secretariat tentatively. Does this fact not authenticate his claim to the chairmanship post? No. Actually, taking over the party secretariat is not a big deal at all; it doesn’t take me much effort to do that. In fact, this issue of takeover of the secretariat is not a big issue. We were in charge of the secretariat before the party congress. Hon. Kamaldeen Olorunoje was then the chairman; we sacked the former chairman, Capt. Tunji Selleh (retd) and occupied the secretariat. But the leaders said let us go to the congress and we did that. So, that Salvador and his men are there is just because we don’t want to create commotion or confusion within our party, which could make people think we are fighting. Number two, the secretariat you are talking about, they owe rent of N16million. So why do you want to go and occupy a place where at the end of the day, I would have to cough up N16 million? They have been owing rent on the property. Nevertheless, our next press conference will be held at the secretariat. There is no big deal at all. The third reason why we have not occupied the party secretariat has to do with the fact that we are in court and the reason we are in court is for the court to legitimise what we are doing. Apart from the fact that we have a letter from Abuja confirming our position, the police are not saying we should not occupy the secretariat. Again, we have in PDP people who don’t want to win elections and they are claiming they are the leaders. We have people who cannot win their polling booths and they are claiming they are the leaders. Occupying a secretariat does not confer legitimacy, what confers legitimacy is whether you win an election? And this we have done. We did our ward congresses; we did our local government congresses and then we did the state congress, which we all won. But they cannot place something on nothing. They could not even afford to buy forms. It is on record, they did their ward congresses with

fake forms. I have the document too. They couldn’t afford to buy any form. So how can you now go to state congress when you have not done ward and local government congresses successfully? Politics is a number game and as opposition, you need every member of your party. What efforts are you making to present a formidable opposition in future polls? When we did the congress and we won, Chief Bode George complained that his people were marginalised, saying they didn’t give them the opportunity to buy the forms. So, they gave them the opportunity again to buy the form. I think they bought forms for about 133 wards. So the party chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, now sent former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau from Abuja to come and reconcile the warring factions. So they proposed ratio 60/40. We said we were okay despite the fact that we won election. It would have been something that would have brought together the people of the South-West. But Chief George refused, jettisoning the agreement, and said he must produce the chairman. So, that brought about the problem. Now, if I have the opportunity, I would rather not allow our group to reconcile with him, because in my local government in Alimosho and Ikeja all the people that he nominated during former President Goodluck Jonathan era as chairmen and members of boards, up till now, are still serving under the APC government, what does that connote? So, why will I reconcile with such people? I mean there is conflict of interest already. So why will I reconcile with such people if I am given the opportunity? To win election in Lagos State is very simple; it is no big deal. Let me shock you now. Elections in Lagos State are being won by PDP for APC; I am telling you the truth. I contested election in Lagos West Senatorial District in the last dispensation, I won about seven local governments, but they came to say three local governments’ results were more than seven local governments’ results. APC didn’t rig me out, but the people I put at the collation centre rigged me out for the APC. That is the way it was done. What we want to do now is that we want to tidy up

everything. There is a letter here signed by Senator Sheriff authenticating your position as chairman of Lagos PDP, but Salvador said your congresses were not even held at the right place. Where and when were your congresses? We held our congresses and the PDP National Headquarters sent former Governor Shekarau from Abuja to come and reconcile the factions. We are in court and we are not making noise about what we are doing, because the case is in court. So, we don’t want to talk too much. But I just want you to know that you are talking to the authentic chairman of PDP in Lagos State and I have done everything that was needed. We did elections; we have the report from Abuja that they came and witnessed the exercise. The INEC even came. We are thinking that the moment we can get a validation from court, then we can now start our inauguration by calling executive together and we would do it. We held our congresses, we have pictures to show from wards to local government, to state and all those evidences are in court. What are your plans and objectives for the party? What we want to do is to deliver Lagos for PDP in the forthcoming council elections. Two, we want to deliver Lagos for PDP in 2019; that is what I want to do. And how I want to go about it has to do with more of digital approach and engaging the press. Do you know that I asked the last chairman of PDP, Shelle, to tell me the number of members of PDP in Lagos State and he could not? We don’t know the membership strength of PDP in the state; we can’t say how many we are. So when we don’t know our membership strength, how do we win elections? We don’t know how many we are in Ikeja or how many PDP members we have in a local government. So, we are going to start from there; we will have a database that will confirm how many of us are in the PDP. So, what I want to do is to make sure we have a database in each ward, each local government and the state.

thepolity

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Saraki’s travails not crippling governance in Kwara —Speaker Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Honourable Ali Ahmad, who holds a Ph.D. in Jurisprudence, was a Commissioner for Justice during the administration of former Governor Bukola Saraki before becoming a member of the House of Representatives. He speaks with LAOLU HAROLDS on issues affecting the polity.

OW would you assess the Kwara State House of Assembly under your leadership? We have been operating as an independent arm of government even though we are all in the same political party, the party of change (APC). Serving in the party is a big burden, and if care is not taken, the House could continue like a rubber stamp; but we make sure that our oath to the constitution is upheld. So, the fact that we are all of one party does not at all affect our legislation in any way. We perform our constitutional functions to the extent that some people raise eyebrows, but it is good for the system. The government can give good governance, even though both arms belong to the same party. You left the House of Representatives to contest as a member of the state House Assembly and you are now the Speaker. What informed this decision? Well, what we want to do is render service to the people, irrespective of the position or the status. This is service to the people. We can go back and forth and this is not the first time it is happening in Kwara State, even at the national level. So, I don’t know why people make a lot of fuss over this. It’s about service and the responsibilities are similar but not the same; it’s all about representing your people; it’s all about legislating and it is all about oversight functions of the executive. It’s something that I am really enjoying. The Assembly under your leadership clocked one year in office recently, what exactly is your mission for the Assembly and the state in terms of legislation? My mission, first, is to ensure that I leave the Assembly better than I met it. We want an independent arm of government. We will strive to build a stronger institution. So, I would like to leave the Assembly stronger, more independent and able to perform its constitutional functions better. Kwara State often complains of receiving so little from monthly federal allocations. How true is this and how do you think this could be remedied? Yes, this is very true. The allocation coming to Kwara is very minimal. This has affected the state negatively; but the governor is thinking out of the box. He is not increasing taxes but he is widening the scope of those who are paying taxes. Those who hitherto did not pay taxes are now being captured and brought inside the tax payment net. It

this? I’m not aware of that. Let’s start from the local governments. As I said earlier, they don’t even have enough money to operate. The state government’s activities haven’t come to a gridlock. I am not sure, because contractors are paid; everybody has moved to the site. The State Executive Council is meeting regularly, the governor is always on the ground, and the Assembly; we are not grounded. The Leader’s issue is not affecting anything in the state. Dr Saraki is displeased with the trial, saying that he was only being persecuted. As a lawyer and expert in Jurisprudence, what is your take? Of course his trial at the CCT is politically motivated; 100 per cent. Anybody that thinks otherwise is running away from reality. If it is a crime, why wait for one, two, three, four years? Why now? The timing is suspicious. Immediately after he emerged as Senate president, his detractors swooped on him. Why handle him through the CCT? Why not the regular court? Because you know they won’t comply with the truth. Why use a judge that has wrong-doings; someone that has been reportedly compromised?

Honourable Ali Ahmad is something that is yielding good results. What about internally generated revenue in the state? And in what ways has the state House of Assembly contributed to increasing the IGR? We must be very cautious. We are very reluctant to raise the rate of taxes. We don’t want to increase the burden of taxes on people. As much as we want to raise the idea, we assure Kwarans we would not increase the tax rates. We could do some other things but not to increase the rates that people pay as taxes. On the scope of generation, it is increasing. Definitely, the idea is increasing and we are looking at it strictly. Yes, generation is doubling and even tripling. Efforts are daily being made to expand the scope of people who are paying taxes. It is a good thing. There are feelers that since the trial of a former governor of the state and now Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, began at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, activities of government have been drastically affected in Kwara State. How true is

The fuel importing cartel has continued to hold the nation to ransom, leading to the decision by the Federal Government to deregulate. What do you think is the permanent solution to the issues in the petroleum sector? There has to be a fundamental restructuring of the oil industry. We need to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). We need to restructure the NNPC; otherwise, all the current efforts of government to checkmate the long queues and hardship over petroleum products might not take us long. The fuel subsidy regime, I think, they are trying to bring it back now. To me, it’s unsustainable. We continue to waste trillions and trillions of naira in the world market. Oil is the cheapest thing you would get today, cheaper in some other places of the world than water. But in Nigeria, the reverse is the case. We don’t know what exactly is happening. Even if we are not producing oil but importing our oil, it shouldn’t be this expensive. And don’t we have capacity to import oil that we consume daily? These are the issues. Is there a long-term solution? The long-term solution will be to fundamentally restructure the industry, which includes enacting a new petroleum industry law. And once you enact that, it includes restructuring, breaking down NNPC and commercialising everything. We need to do that.

Between age and governance Continued from pg 27 are driven by innovation and it is trite to say that the younger generation is more innovative. While the oldies look at why things should not be done, the younger people contemplate why it should be done and how. “The few governors that have demonstrated adequate capacity for good governance, since the birth of the Fourth Republic in 1999, have been youths. The oldies have only shown incapacities in the areas of bringing critical innovative thinking to governance. For instance, why should a drastic drop in the price of crude oil result in the kind of crisis we now have in the country if we have had a forward-looking government in place? But a senator in the sixth session of the National As-

sembly, Dr Andrew Gbenga Babalola, has called for caution in lowering the age qualifications for political offices, noting that while age limitations should be removed, emphasis should be on experience, as “experience cannot be bought in the market.” Babalola, who was an assistant director in the Federal Civil Service before clocking 50 and being elected into the Senate, said: “Though I do not know the direction of the bill yet, I think Nigerians need to cultivate the idea of using people with experience in politics. The National Assembly is an important arm of government where the robustness of debates and legislative discourse are paramount for nation-building, thus, allowing 25-year-olds in the Assembly without paying attention to their experience and knowledge on the nation’s history and ethnic

and political complications might be harmful in the long run. Look at our local government system, where we have allowed young people without experience take over governance without paying attention to their experience, you see what we got. So, instead of putting emphasis on age, we should put emphasis on experience. “The bill being considered should be allowed to succeed but the constitution must be further strengthened such that if at the age of 25 you already have experience in public or private service and so on, you can contest. There are 25-year-olds who have had Master’s degrees and are heads in different sectors but there are also people in that bracket who have never worked and are prone to youthful exuberances that cannot sit well with the attempt to grow our democracy,” Babalola stated.

interview

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Ondo 2016: APC must be careful of Mimiko’s mole —Ekungba A governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Chief Jamiu Afolabi Ekungba, speaks with MOSES ALAO on the one year of President Muhammadu Buhari-led government, the forthcoming governorship election in the state, why he is the right personfor the job in Ondo State, among other issues. Excerpts:

IEWS have been divided about the performance of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in the last one year, with some Nigerians describing the promised change as a mirage. What is your view? Maybe I am an exception, because I look at things more pragmatically; some people look at the big picture, while some look at the small picture. With our eyes on the big picture, we should be able to see some of the changes that President Buhari has made in our system. Let me give you some examples of these practical changes; one, it is evident that if President Buhari had not travelled to the Middle East; Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, the price of oil would still likely remain at 27 dollars per barrel. But he had gone there, even before calling the whole of OPEC. And because of the respect they had for him, that was why the price of crude oil has gone up to 50 dollars per barrel. One of his trips has assisted the international community, not only Nigeria to jack up the price of crude oil; one of his trips also stimulated the last conference in Britain on corruption. His visit to UAE resulted into an agreement between Nigeria and Dubai, which has now made it difficult for Nigerians to steal money from Nigeria and take it to Dubai. So, I wonder why people keep saying what is the man doing travelling round the world? His image has helped the image of this country to improve. The president of America, who refused to visit Nigeria when he came to Africa, is coming to Nigeria soon. We learnt that there is a plan that Obama will be in Nigeria by July. On the issue of corruption, is Nigeria corruption free? I will tell you no, but the rate at which corruption had become a culture of pride, that the few of us who have refused to take part in corrupt practices began to ask ourselves, are we normal, has reduced. It is no longer the old ways. Corruption is not just about stealing, it is anything that corrupts the system. If you want to do it now, you have to circumvent and do it in the hidden. Before now, you would want to show people that you are a big man even on queues and have your way, that was possible, but now, you have to beg people for permission. Let’s even come to the economy; I will give you some figures to further explain my point. When [former President Olusegun] Obasanjo was there, oil subsidy was about N190 billion per year, when Yar’Adua got there, oil subsidy was about N230 billion per year, but then, the maximum people that were getting this oil subsidy were not more than 30. Suddenly, the number increased to about 300. In one year of Jonathan’s administration, oil subsidy went from N230 billion to 1.4 trillion and nobody cared. So much in the 16 years of PDP, we used over N10 trillion; that is about two years of Nigeria’s budget under Buhari, and that would be three years under Jonathan. How many are we in Nigeria? But President Buhari was bold enough to wake

ity, but it is sad that we don’t have a glass company in Ondo State. We have the best product of mining. Apart from what we get from the federation account, the governor that loves his people would have created an enabling environment to allow these industries to start and flourish, so that the population can have employment, and when they have employment, you are able to generate more taxes. When you are talking of a state that has the human resources that can make progress, that can make mark, all we need to do is put these brains together and explore all these resources, and Ondo State will be great again. The hope for Ondo State is that another election is coming, and the indigenes must look for that person that has the demonstrable antecedent that can put all these resources together for the development of the state, and for the progress of every individual in Ondo State, for the good of the land, so that all of us will live at peace with ourselves. Chief Jamiu Ekungba up to prepare a budget and the budget was transmitted to the National Assembly and they removed that subsidy, and Nigerians kept quiet as if they didn’t know that something was removed. Yet, somebody will tell me things have not changed. The change has happened on our psychology, cultural behaviour, in our attitude; it is no longer business as usual. We have seen a trusted president and a president who has brought about a radical, monumental and progressive change in the attitude of Nigerians. You have talked much about corruption, but some people believe that the fight against corruption has been selective. Selecting those people who are corrupt and punishing them is right. A lot of people talk about selective punishment, but is there anybody that has been arrested for corruption; taking money meant to fight Boko Haram, that came forward to say he did not take? Nobody has denied taking the money, and some of them are returning the money. The only person that has been sent to jail, that is the DG NIMASA, who is an APC man; he contested senatorial seat in Delta and lost at the primary. So, what is selective about it? You are in the race for the Ondo State governorship seat, what will you say is wrong with the state currently? The economy is at the lowest because those people handling it do not have the fear of God; they have not come with a pragmatic programme for the people. The present governor deceived us a lot in Ondo State. He never tells us the truth about anything, he has deceived the world and even you press men so much that you believed him until we came out and started showing you evidence. If you compare what is being achieved in Osun State to Ondo State,

people will start asking what the problem is. Even Ekiti that is earning far less than what Ondo State earns, is better off. What does he do? Because he is a medical doctor, he tells us he is doing ‘caring heart’. Imagine the name, when you hear that, your heart will melt at it. Now, one of the programmes, he calls ‘mother and child hospital’. It is a beautiful hospital, wellequipped and of international standard, I doff my hat for him when he did the first one, no Nigerian hospital can beat it, because what is called Mother and Child hospital is a comprehensive maternity home. The problem is, there are only two in the whole of Ondo State, after seven years in office. One in Akure and the other in Ondo, is that enough for the whole state? What is the hope for Ondo State? Yes, there is hope for the state, Ondo State is also an oil producing state and we have a petroleum product that is mild; it contains less of PMS and diesel but has more of what is used for petrolchemicals that can produce rubber. We also have what is used in producing glass; the best qual-

We have seen a trusted president and a president who has brought about a radical, monumental and progressive change in the attitude of Nigerians

But people have rued the high number of governorship aspirants in your party, with some even saying it could be the party’s undoing? A lot of us have come out to show we are in existence and I do tell people that every Ondo State indigene that doesn’t have a question mark on his integrity has the right to contest. As a member of board of trustees of the party and as an aspirant, I tell the people, you are welcome but let us do this thing with decorum, because obtaining form will make some people to drop out, while primaries would pick just one person. Our leader has promised us a clear and fair election, so there won’t be any problem. But people must not sell their votes, because we cannot afford to be in this vicious cycle anymore in Ondo State. We must be sure to vote someone who can bring value to us. This is the first time APC is ruling at the federal level, and there have to be some learning curves, but all those things would be corrected in due time. We must be careful not to sell our votes to a mole, because the present governor is going to put a mole in our midst, and if we are not careful, we will be done for it. We must look for someone with demonstrable antecedents; who is this person, has he run a company successfully before? We must also look for a humble person, who is ready to listen to the people and put them together. I have the capacity, I have been trained for the job, not deliberately, but accidentally, I got my training. I have what it takes to turn the economy around. How do you intend to turn the economy of the state around? I have been doing it already; I talk to the people, let them see who I am. My motto says ‘the big idea’. I am known as the big idea in Ondo State. The big idea means for the good of the land, let us work together in Ondo state, if you believe in the future of Ondo State, then you should be by my side on the street.

interview

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

How Buhari can stop Nigeria from going into recession —Babalola A governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State and consultant engineer, Mr Femi Babalola, speaks with MOSES ALAO on how President Muhammadu Buhari can revamp the economy, the recent calls for the restructuring of the country and the need for public-private partnership in rebuilding the country’s infrastructure.

ECENTLY, there were heightened calls for the restructuring of the country following a lecture delivered by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. But some have argued that such calls are misplaced priorities. What is your view? I agree with those calling for the restructuring of Nigeria. The positions of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Emeka Anyaoku, who also canvassed for the same position at the Ibadan School of Governance and Public Policy Summit, were timely and imperative at this point in our national life. I am for restructuring. I am for true restructuring. At the National Conference of 2014 convened by former President Goodluck Jonathan, it was agreed that each state should be allowed to leverage on their strengths and develop at their own pace. As a matter of fact and as far as I am concerned, I do not know of any state that cannot be selfsustaining, only that we are lazy as leaders and as a people. Each of the states of the federation can run successfully and profitably on their own, because of the natural endowments, which we have all failed to harness. The potentials are there waiting to be tapped or harnessed. If the indices are right, each of the states has what it can leverage on to be viable and earn good revenue. There is the need for restructuring and a true federalism; there must be devolution of power. Let each state run on its own and contribute to the centre. If you go round the country, you will see the need for restructuring. Those opposed to the calls for restructuring are asking how such calls can help the country in the face of current economic hardship, Niger Delta militancy and other issues. The meaning and import of the word restructuring goes beyond what some people are reading to it. Those who do not really understand the term restructuring just look at the English meaning and hold on to it. We are talking about unbundling the warped federalism we practise so as to allow every state to grow at its pace, using what God endowed it with to develop its people, its area and then contribute to the centre a certain percentage of the revenue accruing from such ventures for the development of the nation. That to me is what restructuring is all about. And to answer your question directly, it is an idea that is capable of addressing various misgivings, perceived injustices, social and infrastructural inequalities and so on. I ask you, has Nigeria as a nation been fair to the Niger Delta people?’ The answer is no. You made reference to the 2014 national conference, how will you react to the attitude of President Muhammadu Buhari on the recommendations of that conference? The world is dynamic, policies are dy-

together and dialogue in a way that we can arrive at a particular idea and direction to move our education forward. People have pointed out the harsh economic situation of the country. What do you think is the way out? I know that Nigeria has both human and material resources to be on top of the world. It is just about getting the right people to do the right jobs. I think the president needs to extend his dragnet to get the right people. What we are going through is not something serious, it is not as terrible as people make it look. So you don’t agree that we are in a recession? We are moving towards recession, but it can be aborted. The simple thing you do when recession is staring you in the face is to spend more and let people pay less taxes. Let money be in the hands of people. It is a simple economic law; spend more, reduce taxes and reduce the burden on people. Pump more money into the economy. But the mistake people make is that they talk of increasing tax; no. You don’t increase tax when the economy is in recession; you let people have money to galvanise the economy. He should also assemble good economists to support him in driving our economy.

Mr Femi Babalola namic. Maybe the president was viewing things from the perception he had about the conference then. But look at the people talking about the implementation of the same confab report now; I think there is nobody that will not support restructuring, whichever way you look at it. There is no way it will not address a number of issues confronting us as a nation. So I want to advise our dear president, the father of our great country, to critically look into the report again and see areas that can effectively address the misgivings and crisis here and there in order to salvage Nigeria from sliding further into the precipice. Some people have canvassed for public private partnership in building infrastructure. As a construction engineer and consultant, how will you describe the recent decision to grant the Dangote group a tax holiday for constructing a road in Kogi State and do you think it can address the country’s poor roads? Not even on roads alone; even for all areas of the economy, public-private partnership is important as long as there is sincerity in it. An MoU can never be perfect but it gives confidence to the investors. There is nothing bad in PPP and as a matter of fact, it is the way to go now globally. If I spend money and you have to give me tax holiday or you ask me to put toll on it and if there is sincerity in it, there is nothing bad in it. I recommend it to a number of other sectors in the country for the nation to be a key global player in the area of PPP.

Your remarks above lead one to the ongoing altercations in Oyo State regarding the government’s move to engage PPP in running some of the public secondary schools. There are lots of misunderstanding on this issue of schools in the state. I have listened to the governor, the labour leaders, students, parents and other stakeholders and I must confess I see sincerity in what everybody is saying. But as Femi Babalola, who has lived all his life in the state and had his educational career from my primary, secondary and university education in this state, maybe I wouldn’t have been educated if education was not free then. So, I have a moral burden on that. But if you now talk of Femi Babalola being a businessman, I know that global economy today is a challenge to everybody. Why I say I have a moral burden in the first instance is that maybe if education was not free, I wouldn’t have achieved much of what I have achieved so far today, which education has assisted me to achieve and that is why I said I have a moral burden. On the other hand, if I put money in people’s pocket, will they be able to pay for the education levy and that is why I support what the governor said that let us all come together to talk, maybe through such forum, we will be able to juxtapose some things and say okay, let us go this way. Let us meet minds. Let’s see if as a missionary, you want your school back, let’s see if you have a genuine and convincing reason to get it. It is important that we all come

The leadership crisis in your party seems not to abate. Do you think there is hope for its future? I know the future of the party is very bright. We have a strong presence all over the country. It is a party that is entrenched all over the country. We also have a strong constitution, which had envisaged and addressed all these issues we are facing. I joined the party in 1998. There is nothing wrong with our constitution, I have read it many times over; it is the people running it and not the party that have problems. Our party still commands respect and has cult-like following in many parts of the country till date. You see all these people going to court up and down, they have no right to institute any case against the party, they are just being misled. The case of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, for instance, shouldn’t have been in court if he had gone through the constitution or consulted his lawyers properly and they are sincere with him. So you joined PDP since inception and you have not jumped ship to another party till date? Yes. Honestly, the PDP is a good party and I have no reason whatsoever to leave the party for another one. As a matter of fact, I am a professional who joined the party with the sole aim of contributing my quota to serving the people. It is for the service that I joined PDP and that concept is what is keeping me going till date. I am not in politics to grab power, make money or look for what to eat; no. I have my businesses here and there to the glory of God.

opinion

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Madunagu @70: A testament to a humane life ‘Sina Kawonise

N the 30 years since I, in company with my friend and brother, Professor Wale Are Olaitan, have had the good fortune of knowing and relating closely with Dr Edwin Madunagu, it never ceased to amaze me how an individual could be so focused, consistent and irrevocably committed to an ideal and world outlook which at some point ruled about a third of humanity but now scarcely govern a hundredth of it. Such is the purposefulness and doggedness of Comrade Madunagu that he is unfazed by the vicissitudes of the Marxist-Socialist ideological worldview in the last 25 years in the global context and in Nigeria in particular. In a tribute to him, I co-authored with Wale seven years ago, published in The Guardian, when his 63rd birthday met him on a hospital bed, we noted that “while Comrade Madunagu ought to be concerned with his own health and survival on the hospital bed, the force of commitment impels him to continue to lament the condition of the ordinary person in Nigeria.” The selflessness and self ‘forgetfulness’ of Madunagu are made possible by an impelling purpose. And that purpose is a commitment to work for the wellbeing of the human person and their dignity in a just, equitable and egalitarian socio-economic and political order. The philosophical order and paradigm of development for achieving this onerous goal is through the Marxian ideology and the socialist political economy. To advance this cause, Madunagu has produced a rich repertoire of literature borne out of extensive learning and research, and rich praxical engagements in the popular struggle in Nigeria in the last half a century. In terms of internationalist Marxism and the institutional memory of democratic socialism in Nigeria, Madunagu is a walking encyclopedia, producer and preserver, through the agency of the best stocked leftist library in Africa he established and which he is maintaining in Calabar, SouthSouth Nigeria, of the rich history of the left. By his practical acts and intellectual production on the left, Madunagu has to his credit of having produced and influenced a crop of Nigerians, young and old, primed and trained to think critically and work to challenge and change the existing inequitable and unjust social order that has been the lot of Nigeria pre/post political independence. I, in addition to a good number of others, am a

THREE members of the House of Representatives are under investigation for an alleged sex scandal following a formal complaint made by the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle. The US has also formally cancelled the visas of the three lawmakers, an indication that they had been barred from future trips to the United States. The affected members – Mr. Mohammed Garba-Gololo (Bauchi State); Mr. Terse Gbillah (Benue State), and Mr. Samuel Ikon (Cross River State) – allegedly committed the act during a recent trip to the US to participate in the International Visitor Leadership Programme on Good Governance organised by the US Government and which took place between April 7 and 13 this year. Let me quickly reproduce excerpts of a letter dated June 9, and written by Mr. Entwistle to the Speaker of the House Mr. Yakubu Dogara. It stated: “It is with regret that I must bring to your attention the following situation: “Ten members of the Nigerian National Assembly recently travelled to Cleveland, Ohio, as participants in the US Government’s flagship professional exchange programme, the International Visitor Leadership Programme on good governance. “The US Department of State and the Cleveland Council on World Affairs received reports from employees of the Cleveland hotel, where the representatives stayed, alleging that the representatives engaged in the following behaviour: “Mohammed Garba-Gololo allegedly grabbed a housekeeper in his hotel room and solicited her for sex. While the housekeeper reported this to her management, this incident could have involved local law enforcement and resulted in legal consequences for Garba-Gololo. “Mark Terse Gbillah and Samuel Ikon allegedly requested that hotel parking attendants assist them to solicit prostitutes.” Going through the excerpts, I literally covered my face

proud product of the Madunagu school of Marxian praxis. But this tribute is not strictly about the well-known ideological essence of Comrade Madunagu. I seek to portray in this piece celebrating the landmark 70th birthday of this remarkable Nigerian what in journalism we call ‹the human angle›. In my over thirty years of active involvement in the leftist movement in Nigeria, I›ve had to interact with hundreds of persons with whom I shared the same ideological orientation but whose humanism, in their interpersonal relationships, moral disposition, family life, compassion, and understanding, falls far short of standards demanded by the very world outlook they profess. There are those for whom ideological persuasion had drained of ethical rules of friendship, who take advantage of the less privileged when in position of power and authority, thereby guilty of the very misdemeanors they accuse the oppressor class. Many of those tepid ideologues are as judgmental and isolationist in both their relationships with fellow comrades and the wider social order. In the mid-eighties to the late nineties, I was a frequent visitor to the Rutam House which houses The Guardian publications. Then, Dr Madunagu was the Editorial Page Editor and later Chairman of the powerful Editorial Board of the Newspaper. I saw all through how the boss, Eddie Madanagu, mixed freely with both senior and junior staff members of staff. He maintained, literally, an open door policy which allowed even the most junior staff members of the massive organisation free access to him. He was a father figure, shorn of the ‘majesty’ of the father or the ‘imperialness’ of the fabled godfather, to whom the low and ordinary staff members came in all of their existentialist challenges. Madunagu put on no air, never for once exhibiting any of the ‘excellencies’ of the high office he occupied.

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This is disgraceful in shame. This is not because Americans have more morals than we do; in fact, America is a country where anything goes as far as morals is concerned. I am ashamed because here are people who are supposed to be leaders on a leadership training course and barely two days into their stay, had they shown whom they really were. Can you imagine grabbing a housekeeper and soliciting for sex or requesting that hotel parking attendants assist one to solicit prostitutes? Haba! Were they that hungry for sex? As legislators and people, whom I believe were not travelling out of the country for the first time, they should have been aware that there are some behaviour that are simply unacceptable in another man’s land even if such behaviour were the norm in one’s own country. Were they so carried away that they forgot that they were not in Nigeria where with easy money they could do anything and cover such up without anyone questioning their action? However, they should have kept in view the fact that they were on a sort of diplomatic mission, which implies that the slightest misbehaviour would not be overlooked. How could they think they could do in the US what they would normally do in Nigerian hotels? Here poverty is the norm and it is not strange to find some low-level hotel workers engaging in part-time pros-

Madunagu’s official residence in the high-brow Opebi area of Ikeja was thrown open to us his young comrades who in our lowly socio-economic positions then wouldn’t have had access to such privileged abode of the uppermiddle class. Madunagu is kind, generous, accommodating and self-effacing. He dissolves himself into the lowly social matrix of those he leads. He is such an inspirational leader in whom there is no guile, judgmentalism and moral superciliousness. I’ve had challenges with comrades who wrote off those of us who took up government appointments or stood for elections here in Nigeria. Rather than the preemptory condemnation and hostility of such ideological ‘purists’ who would perhaps more clearly qualify as ideological ‘nihilists’, Madunagu had a listening ear, an understanding heart, and a fatherly counseling disposition. While Madunagu does not compromise on principles and fundamentals, he nevertheless has a big heart that accommodates all. With him, we do not get just a commitment to socialist doctrines, but the more important realisation that such doctrines, because they are informed by the need for the emergence of a humane society where every human being would have the chance of a meaningful life, should be based on a humane level of interaction with others. For him, socialism is not shorn of moralism, but is indeed based on and energized by it. And this is why it is consistent to find Madunagu treating all with respect and humane considerations even while holding aloft his socialist banner. Which explains why his circle of friends encompasses all strata of the socio-economic and political divides. In Madunagu is a bold statement written that ideological purity doesn’t have to induce social insularity and isolationism. Any wonder then that this inspirational leader of the oppressed, the conscientious and the radical is respected across a broad spectrum of the Nigerian social formation, including those who fiercely disagree with him ideologically and politically. While joining the multitude of his followers and comrades in wishing this great leader a hearty birthday, I wish, with due respect to many of our older comrades and my contemporaries in the mass movement, to commend to us all the exemplary life of this icon of the popular struggle, Dr Edwin Ikechukwu Madunagu. Happy birthday Sir. • Kawonise, former Ogun State Commissioner for Information, is the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of NewsScroll newspaper.

titution to make ends meet. Over there, poverty is well managed and there is dignity in labour. A housekeeper is a professional and is well aware that one should separate work from leisure. I must say that these men are indeed lucky that the US did not waive their diplomatic cover and subject them to police action. You can’t touch or grab anybody the way Garba-Gololo allegedly did (inappropriately) without prosecution or probably ending up in jail. Here is a country where you could be jailed for touching your estranged spouse! Of course, the accused lawmakers dismissed the allegation as “baseless and untrue.” One of them, Mark Terseer Gbillah, even wrote Entwistle last Thursday, accusing the US of not giving the three members fair hearing. Gbillah also expressed surprise in his letter that within hours of bringing the matter to the attention of the House, the US Government had gone ahead to cancel the visas of the lawmakers. He threatened to institute legal actions against the US Government, the Ambassador and the Marriot Hotel Brand, among others for damages. On his own part, Samuel Ikon claimed that the allegation levelled against him was not only untrue but also a case of mistaken identity. “This, to me, is a case of mistaken identity and I have already instituted measures both legally and diplomatically to clear my name and the institution I represent. Typically Nigerian you would say. There were ten participants from Nigeria, why these three? The fact that the US ambassador wrote to complain formally, especially after their stay in a five- star hotel speaks volumes of the level of misconduct by these lawmakers. The US is not Nigeria where the accused puts everything down to “I am being framed by the opposition”. I don’t think the US would make such an accusation without overwhelming evidence, so these men should just swallow whatever little pride they still have, be on their best behaviour and be truthful before the investigative panel.

19 June, 2016

ON THE

lord’sday

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And the next CJN is...

“

HERE is a tide in the affairs of men\ Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune\Omitted, all the voyage of their life\Is bound in shallows and in miseries\On such a full sea are we afloat\And we must take the current when it serves\Or lose our ventures” – Brutus, in William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” Are we not “afloat” on “such a full sea” in Nigeria today? Have we “taken at the flood” the “tide in the affairs” of this nation? Have we taken “the currents when it serves”? And if not, do we not now stand the risk of losing “our ventures”? We did not seem to have done the needful when we were cobbling together disparate entities to make what is now called Nigeria. We had brought strange bedfellows together; worse, the rules of engagement have been made to hamstring everyone, as it were, denying them the freedom needed to flourish and blossom at their respective pace. If the founding fathers erred, succeeding generations have compounded matters. The army of occupation, the wanton troopers as they were called in MogwugoOkoye’s “Storms on the Niger,” made matters worse with the imposition of unitarism on the country. If the federalism of the First Republic did not travel far enough, the top-to-bottom command structure that decades of military rule foisted on the people has been tragically flawed, such that, today, 56 years after Independence, not only is Nigeria nowhere near a nation, the calls for true federalism has become a din. But how many of those calling for true federalism or fiscal federalism actually have an understanding of what it means? How many of them are not simply playing politics or playing to the gallery? How many of the states of the federation can make ends meet on their own – paying salaries and meeting other developmental needs? Even with the largesse from crude oil receipts, the states as well as the Federal Government are still neck-deep in debt. As many as 28 states are not able to pay salaries and pensions, not to talk of executing any development projects. How will such states fare without the monthly handouts from Abuja? It is true there are mineral resources all over the country; but time and funds are needed to harnessthem. Since the 1950s we have spoken glibly of diversifying the economy but no concrete action in that direction has been taken. Many of those asking for fiscal federalism also speak from both sides of the mouth: They support resource control even as they clamour for the creation of more states. One of them wants 54 states even as he is in the vanguard of the campaign for fiscal federalism. How will the 18 new states reduce the already burdensome cost of governance? The South-West, too, clamours for fiscal federalism but it is the most flustered of the regions today, dependent on others even for the food it eats – tomatoes, pepper, onions, millet, yams, potatoes, beef, fish, name it! It has no sure means of survival for now as cocoa, which used to be the mainstay of its economy in the days of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, has fallen into neglect. If 50 percent resource control only is applied today, as was done in the First Republic, how many state governors will even be able to run their secretariats and fuel their fleet of cars? Yet, this is not a wish to put down fiscal federalism but to say it will take years, even decades, of meticulous planning for it to become feasible without dislocating the entire country. And the sooner we start, the better. The more time we waste, the more costly the venturebecomes. The more we dither and prevaricate, the more perilous our present circumstances and uncertain our future.

With PDP governors waving him bye-bye, Sheriff’s fate is sealed. He deludes himself if he thinks he is going anywhere. The forces ranged against him are just too much for him to overcome. Not even a helping hand from the ruling APC, as some PDP leaders are alleging, will avail him much; neither will the courts, whose orders he brandishes at every turn. Sheriff’s alibi holds no water; he is like a drowning man clinging to all manner of straws. If the courts had stopped the Port-Harcourt convention, what was he doing there? Was he not the one who sanctioned the setting up/ composition of the convention committee? His appearance before the committee to be accredited confirms his approval of, and deference to it. Once the convention committee has taken office, could Sheriff interfere in its constitutionally-assigned roles? I seldom put anything beyond politicians; therefore, I will not be surprised if APC tries to profit from the misfortunes of PDP; if circumstances were reversed, PDP could do likewise. But my advice: Let APC heed the advice given to Okonkwo concerning the “sacrificial lamb” Ikemefuna in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” – “Bear no hand in his death.” APC should have no hand in PDP’s current travails. As they say, let the child dies from the hands of its parents.

...PDP’s festering sore The Peoples Democratic Party’s self-inflicted problem is festering. Modu Sheriff, removed as chairman at PDP’s Port-Harcourt convention, is not going away quietly. This Frankenstein monster is teaching PDP the lessons of its life; to wit, crass opportunism is a vice. Want a free political lunch? Get ready to have raw pepper sprayed in your eyes! Sheriff is fighting dirty. His is a case of the rabbit: he either eats the beans or he scatters the whole lot.Sheriff is prepared to scatter PDP if he is not allowed to have his way. But having his way is said to be too costly a venture for many of PDP’s leaders. Sheriff is said to harbour presidential ambition. While party leaders who headhunted him as interim chairman thought they could use him to re-build the party, Sheriff himself had other ideas. This, then, is a clear case of “cunning man die, cunning man bury am”. Ultimately, however, Sheriff will kiss the canvass because the momentum is no longer with him, especially after the PDP Board of Trustees threw their weight behind the caretaker committee set up by majority PDP leaders at the Port-Harcourt convention. Soon, he may have his hands full with the EFCC already tucking into his babariga.The moment PDP governors deserted Sheriff; his political career on PDP’s platform came to an abrupt end. Reports had it that Ekiti state’s Gov. Ayodele Fayose was the arrow-head of the sponsors of Sheriff; after which he got his colleagues to buy into the project. For as long as Sheriff playedby the rules there was no hoopla, but the former governor of Borno state showed his hands too early. Not only did he plot to overstay his welcome in office as chairman, he reportedly also began to dig-in, building political structures that, if allowed to mature and take root, would have seriously whittled, if not completely annihilate, the relevance of his sponsors. So the decision was made to expunge the cancerous growth before it festers and does untold damage. I think Fayose and others have learnt their lessons: Cutting political corners is extremely dangerous when it backfires. In his characteristically humorous manner, Fayose has not denied that he supported Sheriff; but has said if a wife you purposed to marry is discovered on the wedding day to be HIV-positive, will you still go ahead with the exchange of vows? Of course, not many men – or women, as the case may be - will be audacious enough to take the risk.

...Who is the next Chief Justice of Nigeria? When Nigerians fly kites and tests the waters, know that mischief is in the air and treachery is afoot. Incumbent Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mahmoud Mohammed from Taraba State, is due for retirement on November 10, 2016. As the 15th CJN, Mohammed took office on November 20, 2014; he was born on November 10, 1946. At 70 years of age, he is due to retire and by convention, the next ranking Supreme Court judge, Justice Walter Onnoghen from Cross River state, is supposed to take over. Onnoghen was born on December 20, 1950; meaning he will soon be 66years and, if allowed to take over from Mohammed, will have a little less than four years to spend in the saddle. “If allowed” because of the suspicious kites that have been flying and the murky waters that are being tested by some disingenuous Nigerians. Suddenly, such people are realising that it is possible; indeed, desirable, to appoint the CJN straight from the Bar! We are being shown the example of Kenya that is said to have done so; and of two very distant instances of the first indigenous CJN, Sir AdetokunboAdemola, 1958 – 1972 and Dr. Teslim Elias’s, 1972 – 1975. The likely purpose of this scurrying of the history books and the sophistry of the arguments advancing the “merits” of appointing a CJN from the ranks of greenhorns, as it were, is to prepare the grounds to scuttle the tradition of the Number Two becoming the Number One, which has served the apex court well for decades. But we must be careful: Under a Muhammadu Buhari/ APC government bristling with unfair treatment of the South in federal appointments, another injustice must not be added to the pile already in place. The last time a Southerner was CJN here was Justice Ayo Irekefe, 1985 – 1987. Ever since, for about 30 years non-stop, following the seniority succession system that some sophists are now trying to scuttle, it has been Northerners all the way. Muhammed Bello, 1987 – 1995; Muhammadu Lawal Uwais, 1995 – 2006; SalisuModibo Alfa-Belgore, 2006 – 2007; IdrisLegboKutigi, 2007 – 2010; Aloysius IyorgyerKatsina-Alu, 2010 -2011; DahiruMusdapher, 2011 – 2012; Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, 2012 – 2014; and Mahmud Mohammed, 2014 till date. It is now the turn of Walter S.NkanuOnnoghen; after him comes, again, two other Northerners, namely; Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed and Suleiman Galadima.

19 June, 2016

tribunechurch

Clerics, Christians set agenda for new CAN president

With his good background in leadership, we expect the best –Bishop Ogunmuyiwa The Bishop of Abuja, African Church and National Coordinating Chaplain for the National Christian Centre, Abuja, Dr Peter Ogunmuyiwa, advised Reverend Ayokunle to, firstly, “put up a reconciliatory machinery for CAN, whereby all the member blocs will have a sense of belonging. He should be firm and very ready to rise up to the challenges confronting Christians in Nigeria. I will advise that he be forthright and see himself as a leader. He has a very good background as the President of the NBC, and with that background, he knows what it takes to lead people. He should be democratic in nature and make sure everyone is carried along regarding activities of CAN.”

Economy:

ment is always called to serving the nation creditably; ensure that Christianity is given its rightful position in the nation and that Christians are never treated as second-class citizens with regard to any other religious adherent; provide relief for the hurting, the underprivileged and the poor; improve the financial capacity of CAN in order to carry out ministries more effectively and ultimately, winning more souls to Christ. TribuneChurch felt the pulse of clerics and Christians across the country on their expectations as Reverend Ayokunle takes takes over CAN officially, in the hand-over ceremony scheduled to hold in a few weeks.

Offering, tithes in tight’ corner

Nigeria will soon As clerics lament bounce back Pg 37 reduction in attendance, Pg 38 church funds —Prophet Oyedeji

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peace and progress for the body of Christ in Nigeria.”

By Rita Okonoboh and Oyeyemi Okunlade

ITH last Tuesday’s election of Reverend (Dr) Samson O. Ayokunle as the new president of Nigeria’s apex Christian body, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), expectations are high for Christians, as the church continues in its efforts to tackle various challenges, including rebuilding churches destroyed by insurgents in the North-East, providing relief for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), addressing the issue of religious crises in various sectors across the country, among others. Ayokunle, who defeated Elder (Professor) Joseph Otubu of the Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Movement by polling 54 votes against Otubu’s 28 votes, is the President, Nigerian Baptist Convention. In his seven-point agenda entitled, “My Vision for CAN,” Reverend Ayokunle proposes to “facilitate an atmosphere where the member churches of CAN can have a more effective fellowship and dialogue on Christian faith, its defence in Nigeria and all over the world; lead CAN to be a more effective Christian body which is an advocate of freedom of religion in terms of the right of each individual to associate and worship without any coercion, fear of molestation and persecution from any quarter; provide credible leadership for Christians and other Nigerians to follow; lead CAN to challenge the ills in our society and ensure that the attention of those in govern-

Sunday Tribune

We pray his tenure will usher in progress –Archbishop Atilade Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, South West Chapter, Archbishop Magnus Atilade, in an interview with TribuneChurch, congratulated the new CAN president on his assumption into office, stating that “to God be all glory, adoration and praise for the success of the election. I am overjoyed that the election was peaceful and there was no bitterness. We thank God that He has made His choice and we thank God for the turn of events. We pray that his tenure as president of CAN will usher in

Insecurity, embarrassment to Nigeria Pg 37 —Bishop Ogundipe

Represent the interest of Christians well —Bishop Oke The President, Sword of the Spirit Ministries, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, tasked the new leadership of CAN to represent the interest of Christians well as faithful ambassadors. Describing Ayokunle’s victory as welcomed and well-deserved, Oke advised that the new leadership of CAN should devote its strength to addressing the problems within the Christian association and help the government with prayers and credible counsel. “I congratulate Dr Supo Ayokunle on his emergence as the national president of Christian Association of Nigeria. May his tenure be very successful in Jesus’ name. I want to suggest that Reverend Ayokunle should focus his attention on the unification of the body of Christ in Nigeria. It is now time for this man of God to use his God-given wisdom to lead and unify the entire body of Christ. He should work in humility as a servant-leader. He is not the boss of the church. He should raise a strong prayer mobilisation for our nation. “Our nation needs prayers. We haven’t finished with Boko Haram in the north, the Niger-Delta crisis has taken a new dimension, and then the cattle-rustlers’ challenges, and the kidnappers, coupled with the economic downturn. many states are unable to pay salaries of their staff; some states are owing up to five or six months,” Oke stated, urging CAN to mobilise the body of Christ to pray in unity for the nation stressing that the step was very urgent. He stated: “I advise him to use his administration to give strong and positive advice to the government. CAN should be a credible body representing the church in Nigeria, giving bold, courageous and positive advice to government on the way forward on various national issues.” Oke added that CAN should harness its potentials to give well-informed advice to government based on facts and figures in a bid “to solve the problems confronting Nigeria. We believe he will break new frontiers —Reverend Adekunle Reverend (Dr) Yemi Adekunle, President,

Continues on pg38

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

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Insecurity, embarrassment to Nigeria —Bishop Ogundipe By Rita Okonoboh

ISHOP of Ifo Anglican Diocese, Ogun State, Right Reverend Nathaniel Ogundipe, has called on the Federal Government to step up its efforts to ensure security for all citizens, describing insecurity as an embarrassment to Nigeria. He stated this in his bishop’s charge at the first session of the third synod of the diocese of Ifo, Ogun State, with the theme, “Jesus Christ: the Light of the World,” held on Friday, at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Okenla, Ifo, Ogun State. While commending the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration on its efforts at ensuring development in the past one year, and calling for more in terms of concerted efforts and, on the part of the citizenry, prayers, he reiterated the role of security to national development and called for steps to be taken to improve security. “Security is an important feature of our existence as a nation, and in recent times, Nigeria has been experiencing problems with security. People now go about with the fear of kidnappers,” he stated, citing the recent abduction of Senator Iyabo Anisulowo. “Insecurity is an embarrassment to our nation. This, together with other forms of insurgency, has, no doubt, discouraged investors from coming to Nigeria. We appeal to our leaders to take measures to tighten our security with a bid to nipping insecurity in the bud.” Also speaking on the recent hike in fuel pump price, the cleric appealed to government to rescind its decision on the increase, describing the move as a gross disappointment to the citizens. According to the cler-

ic, “While in the last few months the price of fuel has not been stable, with many people seeking relief from government, it was unfortunate that the government in May announced an increase in fuel pump price from N86:50 to N145. This is a gross disappointment to a people-nation which had believed in change. We

appeal to the Federal Government to rescind its decision on this.” He commended the Ogun State government on the 40th anniversary of the state and appreciated the developmental projects undertaken by the state government. He, however, called on Governor Ibikunle Amo-

sun of Ogun State to extend such initiatives to other areas, especially, Ifo Local Government Area. Dignitaries at the occasion included the Olu of Olorunda Olajide, Oba Olatunbosun Jolaoso and the Olu of Onigbedu, Oba Matthew Ajibulu, who represented the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu

Gbadebo; Group Managing Director, Regency Alliance Insurance Plc, Mr Biyi Otegbeye, represented by the company’s secretary, Mrs Anu Sobo. While Bishop Ikupolati ministered at the opening service held on Thursday, at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Matogun, Venerable Moses Adebolu Adetunmbi will

From left, Bishop Emmanuel Adekunle of Egba Anglican Diocese; Bishop Ezekiel Ikupolati of Ijumu Anglican Diocese; Chancellor of Ifo Anglican Diocese, Chief Oladisun Delano; Bishop Nathaniel Ogundipe of Ifo Anglican Diocese and his wife, Motunrayo; Obasewa of Ife, Chief (Dr) John Agboola Odeyemi; Deputy Chancellor of Ifo Anglican Diocese, Mrs ‘Biola Otegbeye and Diocesan Engineer of Ifo, Chief H.A. Olabode, at the first session of the third synod of Ifo Anglican diocese, held at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Okenla, Ifo, Ogun State, on Friday.

From left, Parish Priest, Good Shepard Catholic Church, Owode, Lagos State, Reverend Father Basil Okoro; Celebrant, former Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, and Parish Priest, St. Augustine Catholic Church, Ikorodu, Lagos State, Reverend Father Augustine Medaiyedu-Moses, during the Cardinal’s visit to the Lagos State Rehabilitation and Training Centre, Owutu, Lagos State, last week. PHOTO: SYLVESTER OKORUWA.

Bishop tasks FG on cattle rearing, counsels Osun govt on workers’ plight By Victor Ogunyinka BISHOP Isaac Oluyamo of the the Diocese of Ijesa North of the Anglican Communion has urged the Federal Government to restrict herdsmen from rearing cattle on streets and roads. The gathering also advised the government to provide enabling environment to rekindle interest in

mechanised agriculture in the country. This was disclosed in a communiqué issued at the end of the second synod of the diocese, held at the Cathedral of St. Matthew, Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State. The meeting, held under the leadership of Right Reverend Isaac Oluyamo, noted that human needs and aspirations were end-

less and insatiable, “but all that seek first the kingdom of God will have all their just needs met by God.” While presenting the submission and charting the way forward on the state of the nation, the bishop bemoaned the state of the economy and urged the government at all levels to fulfil their electoral promises to create jobs for

the “army of unemployed youths now roaming about in our cities, towns and villages. “The calamitous drop in oil prices and the debilitating effect on the economy reinforces the need to diversify our sources of income. “We condemn the widespread insecurity in the land and express alarm in

the resurgence of kidnapping, robbery and the menace of Fulani herdsmen and urge the government to disarm the cattle herdsmen,” Bishop Oluyamo stated. He also sympathised with Osun State workers and pensioners, advising state governments to be more proactive in payment of full salaries and pensions to workers and retirees.

give the sermon at the closing service, which will hold today at Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Okenla, Ifo.

Economy: Nigeria will soon bounce back —Prophet Oyedeji Sam Nwaoko - Ado Ekiti FOUNDER, Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Canaanland Worldwide and the Head of the Mountain of Mercy, Erio-Ekiti (Oke Erio), Ekiti State, Prophet Hezekiah Oluboye Oladeji, has blamed the nation’s predicament on the failure of the country and its past leaders to prepare for the future. Prophet Oladeji, who noted that Nigeria had misused its opportunities and wasted its wealth, however, expressed optimism that the country would soon bounce back with all hands on deck. The cleric gave the assurance while briefing journalists at Oke Erio in Erio Ekiti, Ekiti West Local Government Area of Ekiti State, ahead of the annual sevenday Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola Power Explosion (Erio 2016) with the theme: “Remember the Mighty and Fearful God,” beginning tomorrow. The prophet, who assured that “with God, the hard times and its associated afflictions will be a thing of the past,” added: “We are in a tempest period. The solution to Nigeria’s problems lies with all Nigerians, not in our leaders alone. “Thus, we all have roles to play. We have to rise in aid of our country. The church, the academics, professionals, artisans, politicians, the elite, the masses, students, workers, youths - everybody. We should all reflect and participate in bailing the country out.” According to the cleric, who said Nigeria had been a prosperous country, “the lesson to be learnt from the Nigerian situation is the need to prepare for hard times. Speaking on the significance of the crusade, he stated that “God has brought up this crusade to showcase His powers to humanity. He wants to set free those who are still being held by the evil bondages, robbers, evil doers and ultimately to deliver this country from captivity.

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19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune Photo: www.umc.org

Offering, tithes in‘tight’corner

As clerics lament decrease in attendance, church funds By Rita Okonoboh

R Adedayo Odunayo, a member of a popular Pentecostal church with massive reach in the South West, had decided to stay home on a Friday night, which, according to a friend was quite unlike him. An official of the church called him on phone and he gave an excuse that he was indisposed. Minutes later, he was discussing with his wife, in his indigenous dialect about how he had told the pastor that he was ill. Narrating his experience to TribuneChurch, Odunayo stated that “I had to give an excuse that would fly. As a worker in church, you cannot afford to miss church programmes but I have missed vigils now because I can’t afford it. It is bad enough that I have to struggle to make up my weekly contribution of N2,500 for the microfinance loan I took to set up a shop for my wife. Salaries have not been paid, so we have resorted to managing the little we get from the shop. So, for me, church attendance is by common sense. All those weekday meetings are no longer compulsory for me. I’ve tried to meet up with the church activities but it hasn’t been easy. Now that we’re working towards completing the church building and our pastor has been hammering on donations, but I can only do the best I can so I don’t offend God. Even God would understand.” From decrease in church funds to drop in attendance at church services, to say

that the economy has had a negative effect on churches would be stating the obvious. TribuneChurch spoke to clerics on how the economy has affected the church, and recommendations for surviving this trying time. PFN, Most Reverend Abidoye call for endurance President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Reverend Felix Omobude, in a statement made available to TribuneChurch, noted its awareness of the difficulty Nigerians were passing through as a result of the state of the economy and called for Nigerians to show greater understanding. “The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria is aware that Nigeria is passing through difficult economic times and calls on Nigerians to show greater understanding. We appreciate government’s efforts at diversifying its revenue portfolio and wish for a more concerted effort in that direction. We urge the government to take steps to reduce the pains and sufferings of Nigerians by dealing with the incessant scarcity of fuel and the irregular supply of electricity among others. We call for a speedy resolution of these issues with a view to creating a more conducive enabling environment for life and economic activities in the country.” Chairman and Spiritual Father of Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church Worldwide Ayo Ni O, The Most Reverend (Dr) S.A. Abidoye, who also acknowledged

that the economic hardship was taking a toll on all sectors, appealed to Nigerians to endure a little further, stating that “I believe the present government is concerned about the condition of the country, and would like to improve on it. However, the condition of the country needs careful planning, moreso with our foreign reserve depleted, price of crude oil so ridiculously low and general downturn of the economy. At the same time, I want to advise the Buhari administration to hasten up on its reforms agenda. The people are waiting.” Now is the time to embrace selflessness, service —Bishop Oluwarohunbi Bishop Michael Oluwarohunbi of Yewa Anglican Diocese, Ilaro, Ogun State, in his assessment of how the economy has

There are families where both parents work for the state government, and this is the first time ever that they would appeal to the church for help... Why should it be this bad?

affected the church, affirmed that in general terms, members’ contributions had dropped but God had been faithful. He called on Christians to remain hopeful, in spite of challenges, stating that God’s wish for Nigeria was for the country to overcome its challenges and succeed. According to him, “Seeing as the church is not left out of the challenges, we must continue to pray for the present administration and government at all levels to remain dedicated and ensure that the right policies are put in place so that development can be experienced in all sectors of our national life. Now is the time to embrace selflessness and service to the people.” We have never had it this bad – Ayokunle Newly elected President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), Reverend Olasupo Ayokunle, in a recent interview, lamented the negative consequences the economy has had on the church. Giving various examples of the sad experiences of members owed salaries, and who have resorted to asking the church for aid, he noted that the church has been doing the much it can to alleviate the people’s suffering. According to him, “we have never had it this bad. There are families where both parents work for the state government, Continues on pg38

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Archbishop Atilade

19 June, 2016

Bishop Ogunmuyiwa

Bishop Oke

Sunday Tribune

Pastor Makinwa

‘He has all the qualities to handle the position’ Continued from pg35

Ibadan Baptist Conference, in his comment, stated that “It’s a thing of joy to us that the Nigerian Baptist Convention leader emerged as CAN president. This is a denomination that is 167 years old because the Baptist church came into Nigeria in 1850 and this is the first time our leader will be CAN president. With his antecedents of success over the years, particularly in the last five years leading the Nigerian Baptist Convention with over 13,000 Baptist churches, as well as his courage and straightforwardness, we believe that he will perform in this office and that there will be unity in Christendom by his emergence. “We also believe that he will break new frontiers as he has been doing in the Nigerian Baptist Convention. With his emergence as CAN president, we expect to have a unified body of Christ that believes in taking the gospel to the whole world by discipleship, fellowship, witnessing, church planting and church growth. For Baptists, it’s a joy to us but it’s more than that; we should pray for and cooperate with him because the enormous work of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, coupled with the activities of outside bodies like the World Council of Churches, Baptist World Alliance, All African Baptist Fellowship, is not easy. But with God, all things are possible. “I want to congratulate him and also congratulate us on this emergence. I pray for more strength for us to pray because it is easier to say that ‘I’m praying for you when you are not doing anything.’ The grace of God will be sufficient for him.” We believe he can restructure CAN –Pastor Makinwa Chairman, Bible Society of Nigeria, Oyo State, Pastor Olu Makinwa, expressed joy at the emergence of Reverend Ayokunle as the new president of CAN. According to him, “Reverend Ayokunle is a no-nonsense man and we are happy with his emergence. We believe he will make CAN have more focus in terms of spirituality and restructuring. We trust God to direct him and are impressed with his capabilities as a seasoned administrator. With what we are experiencing as Christians in Nigeria, I believe he is capable to address the issues. We are praying for him and we pray that his emergence will be a success and turn around Nigeria for good.”

He has all the qualities to handle the position —Reverend Babatunde Reverend Olutunde Babatunde, who succeded Reverend Ayokunle as the Senior Pastor of Jubilee-Life Baptist Church, Basorun, Ibadan, Oyo State, expressed his joy on the emergence of the Baptist president as President of CAN. Speaking with TribuneChurch, he stated that “I was happy to hear that he became the next CAN president. I know that he has all the qualities to handle that position and I know for the present situation of our country, we need somebody that is assertive, not minding the threat around. I know that he’s up to the task. I know that his coming up this time around is by the divine will of God. I know that God is going to use him mightily to move the Christian Association of Nigeria forward. I don’t have any doubt that he has everything it takes to make a headway in that position. My prayer for him is that the Lord will continue to be with him and he will remain focused, fearless and at the end of the day, the name of the Lord will be glorified.” He will not disappoint Christians — Reverend Adeleke Reverend Johnson Adeleke of Herald of His Coming Ministry, Lagos State, expressed his belief in the performance of Reverend Ayokunle. “I believe that Reverend (Dr) Supo Ayokunle will perform as CAN president. He’s a man of principle, vision and is knowl-

edgeable. Theologically, he is very sound and I believe that he is a man of God that will display maturity in that office. He will be faithful and loyal to what God has called him to do. I believe that he will not disappoint the Christian Association of Nigeria and the nation and his tenure will be memorable positively. We will not regret any action being taken by him.” It is God’s will made manifest —Reverend Odunayo Also speaking with TribuneChurch, Reverend Abayomi Odunayo, Minister-inCharge of Glory Baptist Church, Wakajaye, Ibadan, Oyo State stated that “The whole thing came to us as a surprise but we believe that this is the will of God. Our prayer is that

He is a man of God that will display maturity in that office. He will be faithful and loyal to what God has called him to do. I believe that he will not disappoint the Christian Association of Nigeria

the current situation we are passing through in the nation, particularly for Christians, calls for serious dedication. I see his emergence as a challenge before him but I believe that with God on his side, he will not fumble but excel. Although I believe he’s up to the task, as members of the Baptist family, we must support him, especially with prayers. Being the first time that the NBC would take up that leadership mantle, we must be dedicated to praying for his success. I pray that God will see him through.” The right step at the right time — Reverend Olaleru Reverend Moses Olaleru, Pastor of Love of Christ Baptist Church, Jakande Estate, Isolo, Lagos State, who noted that “Reverend Ayokunle’s emergence as the CAN president is first, a big step in a right time,” stated that “it will elevate the Baptist Convention and equally the position of recognition in the Christian body. “I also believe that his emergence will bring total change and unity to the body of Christ. In addition to these, being the president will foster good relationship among Christians. During his tenure, the orthodox churches will also see that CAN is a body to be reckoned with and nobody should disassociate himself from the body so that we can move this nation forward. “God has given Reverend Ayokunle the privilege to serve the nation. I pray that the Lord will give him grace to do all these and he will have positive testimonies,” he said.

Offering, tithes in ‘tight’ corner Continued from pg37

and this is the first time ever that they would appeal to the church for help. In fact, recently, the church had to support some members who appealed for such financially. Why should it be this bad?” In his recommendation for developing the country, Ayokunle stated that “As much as we fight corruption, this administration must work harder on its economic policy. Our leaders need to embrace humility and seek out people who can help to put this economy on the right track. Nigerians do not need to die of hunger, in the midst of plenty. However, there is hope, if this present government does not renege on its integrity. People are begin-

ning to repose confidence in them, else the increase in the price of petrol would not have been possible. Projects should begin in earnest so that money can be pumped into the economy.” We trust God to make things better –Bishop Ogundeji Bishop Samuel Ogundeji of Egba West Diocese, Anglican Communion, stated that the church had been seriously affected by the economy, as according to him, many churches now find it hard to pay their assessment and even members’ participation in fund-raising activities had declined. According to him, “the economy has really affected the church. It is really telling on members’ participation. The people

wanted change and at the moment people are not finding things easy. The change hasn’t started manifesting yet. The worrying thing is the rate at which price of items are increasing. It is worrisome because in Nigeria, when prices rise, it is quite difficult to reduce them again.” In his recommendation, Bishop Ogundeji called for patience and prayers, stating that “we must all participate to make Nigeria better. We must fight corruption, and government must also tell us what has been done with recovered loot. I hope it won’t be business as usual. Whatever happens, we trust God to make things better for us as a nation and in the church.”

tribunechurch

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

theapostolicmessage

livingword By Bishop David Oyedepo Call 7747546-8; or e-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

By Pastor (Dr) G.O. Olutola JP.

Unveiling the miracle power of thanksgiving! (3) SINCE the week began, we have been looking at the miracle working powers invoked at the instance of thanksgiving. Last week, we discover that thanksgiving engenders our access to multiplication of blessings and fresh oil for exploits. In this week’s edition, we shall unravel two other miracle powers embedded in thanksgiving. We recognise from scriptures that Thanksgiving enhances our dominion on earth: Thanksgiving secures God’s presence in our lives, which in turn guarantees our dominion on earth. That is why David said: O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet (Psalms 47:1-3; see also 2 Chronicles 20:21-30; Psalms 100:4). When we are not thankful to God, our ‘tanks’ run dry because we are disconnected from heaven’s supplies. As a result, we become helpless and vulnerable to the attacks of the wicked. That will not be your portion in Jesus’ name! Furthermore, we understand from scriptures that we cannot be grateful and not be joyful. Also, we cannot be joyful and not be praise-ful. Furthermore, we cannot be praise-ful and not be ‘God-ful’; and we cannot be ‘God-ful’ and not be ‘wonderful’, [being full of wonders] (Exodus 15:11; Psalms 16:11, 22:3, 92:1-2; James 5:13). Addiction to thanksgiving is one of the

mysteries that has kept this Commission going from one level of glory to another for the past 35 years. I pray that as you engage this mystery, the next 35 years of your life shall be far more glorious than what we have seen as a Commission in Jesus’ name! It provokes the supernatural: For instance, the Bible records that when Jesus gave thanks, the supernatural occurred and Lazarus who was dead for four days rose from the grave (Psalms 114:1-9; John 11:40-44). This makes us understand that at the instance of thanksgiving, heaven is provoked for the delivery of the supernatural. However, we must recognise that only born again children of God can provoke heaven’s intervention on earth. Being born again means to accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord. Have you given your life to Christ? If you haven’t, you can say this prayer and you will be born again: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Deliver me from sin and satan to serve the Living God. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now I know I am born again!” For further reading, please get my books: Understanding The Power of Praise, Releasing the Supernatural, Walking In The Miraculous and Operation In The Supernatural.

Seven hidden treasures which God has provided for us LET’S look at some seven hidden treasures which he has provided for us in these scriptures. Divine promise It is God’s promise that He will give us the Hidden Treasure of the Secret places (Isaiah 45:3), Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name (I Chr.29:12,13); Matt.28:18). The Bible portion describes it as treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places. God controls nature, He orders all thing. Thus, He can command the treasures that have been hid away from us, that we are not even aware of, that have been ensnared by the forces of darkness, to be returned unto us for our use for His special task. The enemies will not be able to swallow up our blessings because all the “power in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus Christ.” (Matt. 28:18, Eccl.5:19). What God will give His people shall be permanent in their life. God has given you money for your feeding and drinking and you will enjoy it satisfactorily. What God has given us is not a mistake or by accident so it shall be permanent and the enemies will not be able to contend it with us. Authority to ask God has given us the authority, to ask for whatever we need from Him. Thus saith

the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. (Isaiah 45:11). God will surely settle our case and all things shall be settled. You that are reading me if you believe God, now rise to commit your children unto God and command God’s blessings upon them all and that God should settle their case (Isaiah 48:13). Divine goodness God as the Father of all has charged us to ask for our goodness. Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is not he thy father that hath bought thee? Hath he not made thee, and establish thee? (Deut.32:6b). When we act in obedience to His Voice, the Lord shall grant all our requests and satisfy us with good things. God has lifted us up in righteousness and He will direct all our ways. He will build our cities and let our captives go free without price. I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of Hosts (Isaiah 45:13). God is our God for ever and ever. He will guide us and lead us on the right way. Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by way that thou shouldest go. (Isaiah 48:17). To be continued next week

Christian unity is paramount in a divided world, says Archbishop of Canterbury UNITY among Christians is of vital importance in an increasingly divided world, said Archbishop of Canterbury, England, Justin Welby, at an ecumenical Evensong marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Anglican Centre in Rome held at Westminster Abbey last week. The head of the Church

of England said in his sermon, published on the The Tablet, that in the 50 years since the formation of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and the setting up of the Anglican Centre in Rome, much has been done to challenge four centuries of accepted division between the Anglican

Communion and Catholic Church. “The habits of centuries render us comfortable with disunity,” said Archbishop Welby, who is also the charity’s president. The work of the Anglican Centre in Rome, he said, disrupted historical separation. Archbishop Justin described the centre as a sym-

bol of unity, uniquely able to represent Christians of different denominations bearing with one another. This, he said in reference to the reading which was taken from Ephesians 4, is “the life to which the Christian is called.” “We are increasingly confronted with a world which does not ask if we are Catholic or Anglican

but if we are Christians, said Archbishop Welby. “The woman raped in the DRC or the homeless man on the Embankment asks only for a witness to love. To be together in truth is to become part of the bearers of life,” he added. The ecumenical service opened with a procession including co-chairs of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission,

the Revd Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham, and Revd (Dr) David Moxon; Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK, Revd Marcus Walker, associate director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, and former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey. Cardinal Vincent Nichols was represented by Right Revd Nicholas Hudson.

Bishop tells Christians to embrace salvation

From left, Archbishop of Nyanya Diocese, Methodist Church Nigeria, Right Reverend Nortey Samuel; husband of the celebrant, Oluwasina Shoyege; celebrant, Chief Personal Secretary, Records Management Division, Central Bank of Nigeria, Reverend (Mrs) Iyabode Shoyege and Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Methodist Church Nigeria, Right Reverend Joseph Oche, during the 60th birthday celebration and retirement of Reverend Shoyege, held at the National Christian Centre, Abuja, on Friday. PHOTO: SUNDAY OSUNRAYI.

BISHOP of Ilesa Diocese of the Anglican Communion, Right Reverend (Dr) Samuel Olubayo Sowale, has described death as a common enemy that all human beings must face, and as such, Christians must ensure that they work to attain eternal salvation. The cleric stated this while delivering a sermon at the Cathedral Church Iloro, Ilesa, Osun State, during the burial ceremony of the provost of the Cathedral, Very Reverend Emmanuel Rotimi Komolafe, recently. While speaking with the late Komolafe’s wife, Esther Adebimpe Komolafe, who described her late husband as a father to her who made her happy

till his last time on earth, Bishop Sowale also said that during the renovation of the cathedral a year ago, Komolafe played prominent roles that made the cathedral rank among the best in Nigeria. Bishop Sowale also urged members of the church to be Christ-like to ensure eternal life. He said the late Komolafe had done his best for the cathedral and Ilesa Diocese in general, and urged members of the diocese to emulate his enviable character. The highlight of the ceremony was the launch of a book, written by the deceased and published posthumously entitled “Word from the Pulpit.”

19 June, 2016

language&style

by Samson Dare 0805 500 1770 samsonadare@yahoo.co.uk

Harmless, harmful and armless revisited (I)

AMPLE 1: “An eerie peace pervaded as armless youths, who were mainly the souls found in the communities already deserted by some of the aged and women for fear of an offensive by security forces, busied themselves with various activities, albeit with a measure of suspicion and caution.”(The Hunt for Tompolo, The Sunday Sun, April 3, 2016) The sole reason for presenting this excerpt for scrutiny is the blight found in the word armless. The word is found in the phrase armless youths. The use of that word in the context is both risible and ludicrous. Is the reference to the youths who have no arms, whose arms have been chopped off by the ‘security forces’? The problem is at once that of pronunciation, spelling and semantics. The writer obviously has the bound morpheme –less correctly. But he has attached the morpheme to a wrong base. The reason obviously is that he does not know the difference between arm and harm. This word was discussed extensively in this place about three years ago. Quoting some beggars, the reporter had said “we are armless.” I then wondered how beggars could have described themselves as being “armless”. At this point, I am unable to resist the temptation of reproducing the entire discussion as a way of illuminating the appropriate usage of both “armless” and “harmless”. I crave readers’ indulgence as we expend some intellectual labour on the word armless which occurs in the clause, “we are armless.” The reporter’s culpability in the error that our analysis exposes shortly cannot be mitigated by the fact that the blunder is contained not in the reporter’s direct verbal communication but in the quoted words of one of his ‘sources’. We have good grounds for expecting and insisting that the reporter must take full responsibility for the lexical blight. The people who are being reported and quoted here are the underdogs who have little or no formal education and who, in consequence, do not speak English at all; or, if they do, their emissions are no better than truncated Anglo-saxon syllables interspersed with generous tonal and semantic peculiarities of their native tongues. We are here talking about beggars who are physically challenged and not, mind you, about the people who, in the Nigerian parlance, are derisively called ‘fine baras’—well-dressed, polished, respectable beggars. No. In fact, one of them claims he has been blind since he was three months old. In other words, although the part of the report that occurs within quotation marks conveys the thoughts of the hapless beggars, the words, including armless, belong to the reporter. They are his rendering or interpretation of the beggars’ words. Now, what is the problem with the word armless ? An uncouthly uncharitable view would read the word armless as an expression of the reporter’s callousness, a heartless and crude way of calling a spade a spade---of saying that the physically challenged beggars have no limbs! That would be an unforgivable instance of gross violation of the Yoruba injunction: Don’t ever count aloud the toes of a person who has only nine(toes), never in his presence. The Yoruba people have interesting euphemisms for referring to physically disbled people or their disabilities. A blind person is one whose eye is sick or who is sick in the eye! A crippled person is one whose leg/arm is sick or has a sick leg/arm. A mentally ill person is one whose body is not well. For the Yoruba people, it is grossly impolite and even inhuman and ungodly to refer to physical disabilities without the veil of euphemism. If the name of the reporter is anything to go by, then he/she is a Yoruba person whose sensibilities in this regard should be alive. So I have no reason to suppose that the writer’s choice of the word armless is abusive. And in any case, not all the beggars have a problem with their arms! Some of them are blind, some deaf, etc. I have every reason to believe as I do that the word in question is not only a deliberate choice on the part of the writer but also one chosen without any intention to hurt anybody.

However, harmless or innocuous as the lexical selection may be, it is, sad to note, rooted in ignorance. To facilitate our discussion, let me announce immediately that the word that the writer has found elusive is harmless, a word that is clearly supported by context. Unlike the members of the Boko Haram sect, claim the beggars, they have no ability to harm anybody even if they want to. They are, therefore, harmless. Actually, there are four or five words whose resemblance to each other is likely to cause confusion and result in mistaken identity. The words are: harm(less),arm(less), arm(verb), arms(and ammunition), alms. First, harm. This word can be used both as a noun and as a verb. We start by illustrating its usage as a noun: 1)Too much sugar does a lot of harm to the human body. 2)Too many military interventions have done much harm to the Nigerian nation. 3)The nurse claimed that she meant no harm when she accidentally gave the patient an overdose of the drug. 4)By the age of sixty, eating beef can do more harm than good to the body. 5) Long hours of work has done great harm to his health. 6)If you do not stop drinking and philandering, you will definitely come to harm. Now the verb form of harm: 1)The doctor said the patient had harmed himself by too much drinking and smoking. 2)Although he had planned to take his own life, we were much relieved to find out that he didn’t harm himself. 3)Neighbours attested to the fact that the man who allegedly committed the murder had no reputation up to this time of being able to harm anybody. 4)These sharp objects, if not carefully handled, can harm little children. 5)When factory emissions are not carefully controlled they harm the environment. 6)Beyond being raped and traumatized, the lady was not physically harmed. The adjective forms are harmful and harmless: 1)A workshop is in progress on the harmful effects of smoking and drinking. 2) Eating too starch-based food is harmful to human health. 3)The authorities have said that smuggling is harmful to the economy. 4)Children should be told early in life that pornographic materials are harmful to the mind. 5)Indiscriminate bush burning is harmful to the environment. 6)Dictatorial practices are harmful to our democratic experiment. 7)Once the man was convinced that the young boy was harmless, he allowed him to interact freely with his beautifu but naive daughters. 8)I had thought my comments were altogether harmless until the chairman said he took exception to them. 9)No drug is completely harmless if not used according to prescription.10)People you think are harmless and even loving can do scandalous things behind your back. 11) What may be regarded as harmless jokes can sometimes hurt some people very badly. 12)A practice as harmless as two members of the opposite sex hugging each other can have very serious implications in some cultures. As we have seen, the word harm is about hurt, injury, damage or trouble. This idea runs through the various forms whose usage we have illustrated above. The adjective harmful is the opposite of harmless. We now come to the word arm(s) which can be used both as a verb and as a noun. First, we illustrate the usage of the noun form. It is important to note that the noun form, in the sense of fire power, usually occurs in the plural---arms---and often collocates with the word ammunition: 1)The recent civil strife leading to the massacre of hundreds of innocent people has led to the government’s withdrawal of arms and ammunition from the people. 2)It has been alleged that the country is selling arms and ammunition to the warring factions. 3)It is wrong and inhuman to allow children to carry arms and participate in warfare. 4) Terrorists will stop their activities if nobody sells arms to them. 5)As we write, there are factories in Europe and America that manufacture arms and ammunition every day in spite of the global economic recession.

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Niyi Osundare

Random Blues (They say the Poet insulted their crimes III)

Mok’orin k’aye gbo Inu nbi won Ani, mo k’orin k’aye gbo Inu nbi won Awon jegudujera wombia Apomoolomolekunjaye, agba ole* I sing for the world to hear The villains sizzle with anger Yes, I sing for the world to hear And the villains sizzle with anger Greedy scoundrels who eat with all their mouth Authors of universal anguish Who reap their laughter from our tree of tears Ojelu, otelu, orunlu Awodijeunepesanra Hun un, ojelu, otelu, arunlu Awodi jeun epe sanra Won p’omo olomo je laaro Won fi baba sanyan loju ale Nation-wreckers of unsurpassable evil Cannibal-birds which fatten on cursed carrion Hun un, nation-wreckers of unsurpassable evil Predator-birds which fatten on cursed carrion They eat the children for breakfast The fathers go down with the evening meal Won gbe wiri, won gbe sunmomi Won s’enu feere bi enu arenije Ani won gbe wiri, won gbe sunmomi Won s’enu feere bi enu arenije Won ji wa l’owo, wo ko wa n’ibo Won so Naijiria d’edun arinle * Note: each stanza in Yoruba is immediately followed by its approximate translation in English Continued next week. . . .

news Edo gov primary: Aspirants in shouting match 41

Banji Aluko - Benin City

ESPITE early start of accreditation of delegates, the primary election to determine the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress ((APC) in Edo State did not start until about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. To quicken the process, the committee saddled with the primary election led by the Katsina State governor, Aminu Bello Masari, later decentralised the accreditation of delegates. The accreditations were done at Imaguero College for delegates from the Edo North zone, Agbado Primary School for Edo South delegates and George Idah Primary School for delegates from the Edo Central. However, the accreditation took a long time to complete as some of the delegates did not arrive the Sam Ogbemudia Stadium venue of the primary election until about 4:30 p.m. despite the fact that the accreditation exercise started as early as 8:00 a.m. At the Sam Ogbemudia Stadium, many of the delegates who arrived early waited for hours until the exercise commenced at about 5:30 p.m. with an address by the chairman of the governorship primaries exercise, Governor Masari. However,Governor Adams Oshiomhole was the first delegate to vote when voting commenced at about 5:40p.m. followed by his deputy, Pius Odubu and other statutory delegates. Delegates from Akoko Edo Local Government Area were the first to vote when the local government areas were called alphabetically. As of the time of filing this report, only six local government areas had voted, while delegates from the seventh local government area, Et-

19 June, 2016

sako East, were voting. There was, however, a drama midway into voting as two of the aspirants, Kenneth Imansuangbon, and Chris Ogiemwonyi,

raised concerns that Governor Oshiomhole was moving around during voting. A shouting match followed, even as the atmosphere became tense.

Irked by the situation, deputy governor, Odubu, who was sitting in the VIP stand, ordered the state Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike, to vacate the

delegates, urging them to leave the stadium once they cast their votes. Sunday Tribune observed that the primary election did not leave up to billing in terms of security as many people, who were not accredited delegates managed to gain entry into the venue of the exercise. 2,771 delegates were registered for the exercise out of which 2,582 were accredited to vote.

Police boss, delegates laud accreditation at Edo APC gov primary

One of the governorship aspirants, Mr Godwin Obaseki (left) and other executive members arriving at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, for the Edo APC primary on Saturday. Photo: NAN

Nigerian students abroad are returning to our varsity, AUN confirms MR Julius Ayuk-Tabe, Assistant Vice-President, Digital Services, African American University (AUN), Yola, Adamawa State, has said that Nigerian students studying abroad are returning to study in the institution. Ayuk-Tabe spoke with newsmen at the 16th Annual Graduation and Awards Event of Global International College (GIC), Jabi, Abuja on Saturday. He said the students were returning because of the quality tenable in AUN. Ayuk-Tabe, who is also the Chief Information Officer of AUN, said that the forex crisis contributed to the return of the students.

According to him, AUN has been monitoring the work done by GIC in preparing students for higher education and deemed it wise to partner with it. “AUN is a place where we prepare the best graduates in the country and we just thought we could partner with a quality school like GIC. “Some Nigerian parents are not aware of the quality of education we have locally; at AUN, we have lecturers from 37 different countries and students from eight African countries. “Nigerian students in America and UK are coming back home to AUN. Nigerians in Diaspora are

sending their students back home because they are realising that the quality at home can train their wards to be at par with those abroad. “When parents realise that the quality back home is high coupled with financial reasons, they bring their wards back home and to AUN,’’ he said. Speaking, Mrs Bolaji Osime, the Chief Executive officer, GIC, said that the institution was a university preparatory school and not a secondary school. She said that when students finished secondary school, they came to GIC, which prepared them for foreign universities. Osime, however, said

Nigerians urged to remain resilient over poor economy NIGERIANS have been urged to be patient and unswerving in their belief in the power of God to change the current trying times faced by the country for good. An Islamic scholar and preacher, Alhaji Taofeeq Akeugba-gold, made the appeal on Saturday in Ibadan, Oyo State, at the sixth Ramadan lecture of the Oyo State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). Akeugba-gold, who is the chairman of the state

VIP stand, where he was sitting, and go and monitor proceedings in the field. At this point, the chairman came down from the VIP stand to address the

Sunday Tribune

Pilgrims Welfare Board (Muslim Wing), spoke on the topic: “Survival in a Depressed Economy: Islamic Approach.” He attributed the present economic situation to failure of the successive administrations to manage the country’s economic successes, even as he identified lack of capacity to manage various forms of challenges as a limiting factor for the country. At the event, chaired by

the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr Bashir Olanrewaju, the lecturer listed lack of consciousness about emergent situations, inability to take decisive actions as well as forgetfulness and lack of stock-taking after a troubling period as three other factors inhibiting the progress of the nation. He, however, urged Nigerians to have faith in God and retain their trust

in the ability of President Muhammadu Buhari to turn round the fortune of the country before the end of his administration. The preacher advocated fervent prayer, institution of zakat for a redistribution of wealth, charitable attitude on the part of the haves towards the have nots, honest administration of justice, among other measures, as temporary solutions to the lingering widespread economic problem.

that because of the forex crisis, many parents could no longer afford to send their children abroad hence the partnership with AUN. “The capacity to absorb students is not high in Nigerian universities; only about 30 per cent of students who apply secure admission. “Those who cannot afford to go broad have very good universities to attend locally like the AUN. “Most of them are prepared for one or two years; those who cannot go through UTME, do the traditional A level with which they get 200 level in Nigerian universities,’’ she said. According to her, those who do the UK Foundation programme get admission in UK while those who do the Canada Foundation programme, go to Canada. Osime said that over 60 students had graduated from GIC in Lagos and Abuja in 2016, adding that GIC had been in existence for 16 years. Speaking on behalf of the graduands, the valedictorian, Master Suleiman Musa, thanked GIC, teachers and parents and promised that the students would be good ambassadors of the country as they studied abroad.

EDO State Police Commissioner, Chris Ezike, on Saturday, commended the All Progressives Congress (APC) delegates for the peaceful conduct of the accreditation at the primary election. Ezike told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the APC governorship primary election at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin, that he was impressed with the manner delegates conducted themselves. According to the police commissioner, “I am satisfied with the accreditation exercise. “The accreditation was orderly, free and fair, and I believe the delegates will attest to the fact that it was a smooth exercise. “Unauthorised persons were taken care of and the security situation was in order,” Ezike said A former State House of Assembly Speaker, Mr Thomas Okosun, said the primary election accreditation was worthy of emulation, adding that there was no room for discussion among the delegates during the exercise. “Immediately a delegate is through with the accreditation, the security personnel will escort such delegate to the vehicle that will convey the delegates to the venue of the election. “The exercise displayed love and understanding among the APC delegates and as such, the delegates should support whosoever emerges as candidate of the party,” Okunsun said. On his part, former House of Representatives member, Abdul Oroh, said the accreditation simply indicates that it is purely a party affair that brings everybody together. “At the end of the day, we will all support the winner in good faith,” Oroh said.

news

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Bill, Hillary Clinton become grandparents again

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) (middle); Coordinating Director of Highways in the Ministry, Mr Bala Dan Shehu (second left); Chief Engineers of Reynolds Construction Company Limited (RCC), Mr Igor Zavodtchik (left) and Mr Nabeel Esawi, during the inspection of the construction work on LokoOweto Bridge over River Benue, in Nasarawa/Benue states, which resumed after remobilisation by the current administration, on Saturday.

Lawmakers propose life pension for Saraki, Ekweremadu, others Vote against states/LG joint account

OME lawmakers on Saturday proposed life pension for presiding officers of the National Assembly after their tenure in office. They made the proposal at a two-day retreat on Constitution Review organised by the Senate Ad hoc Committee on Constitution Review in Lagos State. According to them, presiding officers who should enjoy life pension are President of the Senate, Deputy President of Senate, Speaker, House of Representatives and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, spoke in favour of the proposal, saying that principal officers of the two chambers should be en-

titled to life pension after their tenure. Ekweremadu, who is the chairman, Senate Ad hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, stressed that it was necessary for the presiding officers to enjoy such benefits. “This has nothing to do with an individual. It is about the institution. Let us not politicise it. Nobody elected the Chief Justice of Nigeria, but he enjoys pension. “But if we cheapen our own institution, so be it. Let us not make this a personal thing,’’ he said. Senator Stella Oduah (PDP-Anambra) said there was no reason legislators should not enjoy such benefit when other arms of government enjoyed it “The executive enjoys it. Let us stand by our lead-

ers. They should enjoy this benefit. They act on behalf of us. “They are equal to the executive and judiciary and should, therefore, enjoy the same benefit,’’ she said. Senator Ahmed Sani (APC-Zamfara), who also spoke in favour of the suggestion, said “after being elected by all the lawmakers and their constituencies, lawmakers should enjoy pension. “Governors who spend just four years enjoy it, so presiding officers should enjoy it too,’’ Sani said. However, the Leader of the Senate, Ali Ndume, spoke against the proposal. “The case of the state governors and their deputies is different. They were elected by the public. “But we elect our principal officers. To me, I believe

Ize-Iyamu not arrested by EFCC, says campaign organisation By Moses Alao FORMER Secretary to the Edo State Government and governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has denied media reports (not Nigerian Tribune) that he was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), noting that the report was cooked and sponsored to discredit him. The report, which alleged that Ize-Iyamu was arrested shortly after he was screened by the committee of the PDP in Benin City, at the weekend, was denied in a press statement by the media unit of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu Campaign Organisation, on

Saturday, which said the report was sponsored by those apprehensive of Ize-Iyamu’s swelling popularity ahead of the governorship primary and election. The statement read: “We know for a fact that journalists often describe the essence of their work as finding and presenting the facts and also the truth about the facts. But in the fabricated report against Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the reporter failed to present his facts. “He allowed himself to be used by political opponents of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu to misinform his audience. Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu was never arrested by EFCC as reported by the reporter.” Ize-Iyamu reiterated that

his mission in the race “is to bring real development and prosperity to its citizens and focus on comprehensive and sustainable development that encompasses several aspects including improvement of infrastructure, health, education, human resource development, job creation, among others.” “We cannot continue in lamentation and suffering. Now is the time to change the unfortunate change. And the future they have always told us to wait for is not in another time; it is not in another election; it is now. This is what I represent and it is what I present to you; take it,” Ize-Iyamu said.

that the benefit of the office of the senate president and other principal officers is too much. They are just one among equals. “I am against any excessive privileges given to the senate president or the speaker. All of us were elected. If we are doing anything, it should be for all members of the National Assembly,’’ he said. Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio also spoke against the suggestion. “The governor of a state and the president cannot stay in office for more than two terms. But for a senator, he can stay in office for 35 years,’’ Akpabio said. Commenting, Senator Oluremi Tinubu said: “I think principal officers have had enough. Principal Officers drive a fleet of cars and they have other entitlements. They should not earn extra money when they leave office. “Some of us do not even have cars, but principal officers have so many. I think we should drop that idea,’’ Tinubu said. In another development, lawmakers voted against the continuous operation of joint account between Local and State Governments. While deliberating on the matter, 24 lawmakers voted in favour of financial autonomy for local governments, while six lawmakers supported the continuation of the status quo. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the lawmakers noted that the outcome of the retreat would be presented to the Senate for deliberation before further steps could be taken.

FORMER United States President, Bill Clinton and the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate-hopeful, Hillary, have become grandparents again, as their only daughter, Chelsea, has given birth to a baby boy. The full name of Clintons’s first grandson is Aidan Clinton Mezvinsky. Chelsea tweeted the news on Saturday morning, writing that she and her husband, Marc Mevinsky, were “overwhelmed with gratitude and love” as they celebrated the birth of their son. Her parents likewise released a statement, saying they were “overjoyed to be grandparents again.” “We are all over the moon as Chelsea and Marc welcome Charlotte’s little brother to the world and grateful for our many blessings,” Hillary and Bill said. “Chelsea and Aidan are both doing well and enjoying this very special time together.” Chelsea, 36, announced in December 2015 that she was expecting her second child with hedge fund manager, Marc.

Why signal interference persists in Nigeria —Experts Chris Agbambu -Abuja

PERSISTING wireless signal interference in the country has been linked to the absence of expertise or weak regulatory mechanism from relevant agencies. Communication and security experts identified this at the Energy of Sound Conference 2016 in Abuja, organised by Acti-Tech Ltd and its German counterpart, Bayerdynamics. They were of the view that the country “does not enforce or comply with a uniform frequency,” leading to the interference and disruption of wireless signals. Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Acti-Tech Ltd, Peter Madu, noted that the groups sought to ensure a long-term technology transfer and introduction of quality products in sound system and other communication products that can stand the taste of time. He said: “We don’t want a country that will continue to grow in consumption of technologies but bring the manufacturers closer to the people, interact with our people, deepen their knowledge and experience in these products and have their own visions and dreams.”

Boko Haram kills 7 policemen in Niger THE terrorist group, Boko Haram, has killed seven policemen in Niger Republic, Interior Minister, Mohamed Bazoum, said on Saturday. The terrorists attacked the village of N’Gagam near the Nigerian border on Friday evening, Bazoum said. Urgence Diffa, which monitors the security and humanitarian situation in the area, reported that the attackers arrived in vehicles and opened fire on the policemen in the village. The village is located in an area where many refugees live. Bazoum had visited the village, located some 40 kilometres from the town of Diffa, with a delegation just a few hours before the attack. Boko Haram is an extremist Sunni organisation that launches regular offensives in Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon with the ultimate goal of setting up a fundamentalist theocracy under a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

NEITI partners EFCC on graft THE Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Waziri Adio, has expressed the readiness of his agency to collaborate with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in tackling corruption in Nigeria by reporting serious infractions that violate the country’s constitution. He made this disclosure on Friday during a courtesy visit to the acting chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, at the commission’s head office in Abuja. According to him, “we have an Act that criminalises certain behaviours; if people do not cooperate with us, if people do not give us information on time, they are liable to be prosecuted, fined and jailed. But, we have existed for 12 to 13 years and nobody has ever been tried under our Act and that is not to say some infractions would not have occurred.” Adio stated that the major issue is the lack of power to prosecute, adding that NEITI as an organisation, only carries out audit.

news

19 June, 2016

12 students land in hospitals after school gave them deworming drugs

he Police in Ebonyi State have confirmed that 12 students of Ginger International School in the state had been hospitalised after they were administered with drugs by the school authorities. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the students became partly unconscious after being administered with the drugs. They were rushed to the Federal Teaching Hospital (FETHA) Abakaliki, and Police clinic in the state for immediate medical attention. DSP George Okafor, the command’s spokesman, who confirmed the incident

on Saturday, said that the proprietor and head of the school had been invited for questioning. “We are going to investigate the matter thoroughly to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident,” he said. NAN reported that anxious relatives of the students were at the “Accident and Emergency Unit of FETHA,” where majority of them were admitted to ascertain their condition. Sources said the anti-hermetic tablets which experts say were used for deworming, were administered on the students, aged between 12 and 15 years.

Mr Sam Igwe and Mrs Bilikisu Ahmed, parents of some of the victims, alleged that the drugs were administered on their children without their consent. Dr Emeka Ogah, Chief Medical Director of FETHA, said that the drug sample had been collected and sent to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for analysis. “The students are responding to treatment as we would do our best to get them fit again,” he said. Professor John Eke, the State Commissioner for Education described the incident as embarrassing.

“The state government would come up with a policy that would make it mandatory for school managements to secure approval from the ministry before administering drugs on pupils and students,’’ he said. Dr Daniel Umezurike, Commissioner for Health, said that the drugs were donated by one of the foreign development partners of the state which had been assisting in disease eradication. “These drugs are administered intermittently to deworm students but we assure the public that the incident would be investigated and situation brought under control,” he said.

Sunday Tribune

Ambode seeks EU collaboration on arts, culture to boost tourism

Lagos State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, on Saturday, solicited for robust collaboration between the state government and European Union (EU) to make the nation’s entertainment and tourism sectors vibrant. Ambode said this while speaking as a special guest of honour at the Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels, Belgium, where he attended the centre’s 2016 Summer Photography Exhibition, with the theme, “Dey Your Lane - Lagos Variations.” The event was attended by Belgium’s senior government officials, including the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs, Mr Didier Reynders and his wife. Others included wife of the Lagos State governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode; Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Mr Folarin Coker and Special Adviser to the Governor on Overseas Affairs and Investment, Professor Ademola Abass. According to the governor, it was important to use art and culture to promote democratic governance and advance people-oriented policies. He also noted that the exhibition was an attempt to understand Lagos through those who felt it the most and could express the cognitive and emotional responses in an engaging and creative manner.

Oke-Ogun development council, Abuja branch, gets new officers By Moses Alao

Lagos State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode (middle), with his wife, Bolanle (second left); Vice Prime Minister of Belgium, Mr Didier Reynders (second right); his wife (right) and curator, Mr Azu Nwagbogu (left), during the 2016 Summer Photography Exhibition at the Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels, Belgium, on Friday.

The Oke-Ogun Development Council (ODC), Abuja branch, has elected new executive officers to run the affairs of the council for the next four years. At the election, which was ratified by members of the council at Dr Francis Ayandele’s house in Abuja, recently, the new officials were urged to adopt proactive measures on the pending matters enumerated in the handover notes and speech by the outgone chairman, Chief Niyi Kehinde. Kehinde, who admonished the officers to follow up to always liaise with the national body of the council, emphasised the need for the Abuja branch to spearhead some developmental issues as they affect the life and well-being of the entire people of Oke-ogun area of Oyo State. The new branch chairman, Dr Seidu Bello, promised that the ODC Abuja branch would improve the lives of OkeOgun people and ensure the greatness of the area. Other elected officials included, Aminu Abdulyekini, first vice chairman; Babalola Olushola, second vice chairman; Tunde Togun, secretary; Toye Ogundeji, assistant secretary; Sola Obatoki, financial secretary; Leke Adelere, public relations officer, Tijani M. Adetola, welfare and organising secretary and P.I. Oyewole, legal adviser.

Traditional ruler arrested over murder, robbery, kidnapping Information Minister condoles Ebenezer Adurokiya-Warri

There is palpable tension in Ekpan community in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State as two factions are likely to square it up over the arrest of the traditional head (Unuevworo) of the community, Chief Newton Agbofodoh, on Friday, by a detachment of policemen and soldiers. He was arrested over alleged connection with murder, armed robbery and kidnapping. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Delta State Command, DSP Celestina Kalu, in a situation report on Saturday, said, “At about 15:20hrs on June 17th, 2016, one Chief Newton Agbofodoh was arrested at Ekpan by a team of anti-kidnapping Opts ACPOL Warri, led by Inspector James Daniel in connection with murder of John Mugidi on May 16th, 2016 and murder of Joseph Utuedor on May 27th 2016.” Kalu added that the Unuevworo of Ekpan was being held for further involvement in yet another

“murder of Edigbe Ikpesa some time in October 2012, and the Delta Mall robbery/wanton destruction in January 2016.” According to her, “The suspect is linked to series of killings within Ekpan and effort is being intensified to arrest his cohorts.” Reacting, a witness to the arrest, Mr Blessing Og-

hori, said the arrest was an organised blackmail by a faction in the community and politicians opposed to Chief Agbofodoh in order to punish him for crimes he knew nothing about. Oghori said: “It is shocking that without an arrest or search warrant, the police and army, with internal collaborators, can

invade the home of such a personality, brutalise and take him out like a common criminal.” Sunday Tribune, however, gathered that the Unuevworo of Ekpan was being interrogated at the State Criminal Investigation Bureau as of the time of filling the report.

Gunmen kill Police Academy staff member Kola Oyelere-Kano Gunmen, in the early hours of Saturday, killed a staff member of the Nigeria Police Academy, Wudil in Kano State, Mohammed Inuwa Abdulkadir, on his way to work. According to a source who disclosed this to pressmen, Mohammed was said to have been carrying an unspecified amount of money given to him by a food contractor to pay suppliers of items at the police college. The Police Academy in Wudil is the only Police University in Nigeria and is a 30-minute drive from the city of Kano. His younger brother, Ja-

far Ahmed Adulkadir, told reporters that the deceased left his house at Dan Ladi Nassidi Estate between 6:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. on Friday morning via public transport, with the money given to him by the contractor the previous night to help pay some suppliers of food items supplied to the academy. Jafar stated that “around 12:30 p.m., we were at a hospital in Kano town for our sister’s surgical operation when the police called through his wife’s phone and asked if there was a male around the premises to receive a message. “The phone was handed

over to me, only to be told that Mohammed was killed by unknown persons and his body was found by the roadside around Rijia Gwan Gwan in Gano Police Division. According to a staff member of the Police Academy, Mohammed, who was recently promoted to the rank of supervisor of the kitchen department, was known to be hardworking with 15 years of service in the college. All attempts to get the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Magaji Musa Majia, and the PPRO Nigerian Police Academy to comment on the issue proved abortive.

with NUJ over ex-chairman’s death Christian Okeke-Abuja MINISTER of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has condoled with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) over the death of the former chairman of Abuja chapter, Mr Chuks Ehirim. In a statement in Abuja on Saturday, signed by his special assistant, Segun Adeyemi, the minister said he received the news of Ehirim’s demise with shock and sadness, and described him as a patriot and quintessential journalist who committed himself to the pursuance of improved welfare and security for journalists in Nigeria. He described Ehirim’s death as a huge loss to the journalism profession, and prayed that God would grant repose to the soul of the deceased and grant his family and the NUJ the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

Akwa Ibom govt set to dissolve LG transition committee THE present local government transition committee in Akwa Ibom State, which tenure expires next month, would soon be dissolved and a new committee set up to administer the councils, pending the conduct of election for the third tier of government. The state governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel, announced this during the June edition of the monthly prayer meeting held at Latter House Chapel, Governors Lodge, Uyo. Governor Emmanuel premised the proposed dissolution on the need to align with the constitutional provisions regulating local government administration in the state and said that the new committee would comprise men of requisite pedigrees and proven integrity who would be selected from various zones in their respective area councils to avoid acrimony. He described as rumour, the purported reshuffle of the state executive council and called on those serving in that capacity to carry out their duties with renewed zeal and diligence.

news

19 June, 2016

Hike in price of bread imminent, says national chairman of master bakers

HE National Chairman, Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria, Chief Simeon Abanulor, has said that there would be a hike in the price of bread “to enable bakers to remain in business.” Abanulor said this at a news conference in Umuahia on Friday, disclosing that the cost of raw materials, such as flour and sugar, had skyrocketed; and that bakers in the country had been operating at a loss. He added that “we are helpless because the prices of raw materials ranging from flour to sugar, wheat and butter, have gone up. “It is therefore imperative that for us to remain in business, we have to increase the price of bread.” The chairman explained that the association at a meeting with flour producers appealed to them to review the price of flour downward. “However, they told us that there was nothing they could do because the federal government was not giving them foreign exchange and that they sourced for it themselves at the parallel market. “They maintained that they could not sell below the cost price.’’ Abanulor also explained why it had been difficult for bakers to produce bread with cassava flour. According to him, the federal government was yet to provide bakers with an improver called Enzyme that would enhance the cassava flour. He said “you cannot bake cassava bread without an improver, it would not work. Our challenge was that we reached an agreement with the federal government that they were going to give us an improver.

“There are lots of potentials in cassava flour but

the problem is that government could not pro-

Nigerian Army, British military in joint contemporary training THE Nigerian Army said on Saturday that the essence of joint military training with British Military Advisory Training Team was to introduce the military to contemporary training method. The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai, made this known while speaking as the reviewing officer at the 74 Regular Recruits Intake Passing Out Parade (POP) held at Depot Nigerian Army, Zaria. Buratai, who was represented by the Chief of Administration, Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. A. B. Abubakar, said: “The joint military training conducted with the British Military Advisory Training Team was aimed at modernising the initial training. “This was to ensure that you were introduced to contemporary training method and improvised explosive devise awareness training and survival skills to make you a strong force to be reckoned with.’’

FG N-power teachers scheme: Senator provides free ICT programme aid in Ogun Olayinka Olukoya-Abeokuta

Reverend and Mrs Ayoola Loto, praying for newly ordained pastors at Covenant Church, Okitipupa, Ondo State.

JTF arrests 3 underaged fishermen as pipelines vandals in Warri •We are not involved —Navy EbenezerAdurokiya-Warri TWO teenagers whose ages were given as 15, and an old man, said to be of Ilaje stock in Ondo State, have been arrested on Friday evening in Warri creeks. Sunday Tribune gathered that they were picked up while fishing at an Ilaje settlement known as Sumoge community in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State. The names of the arrested suspects were given as Tomola Omope, Orimisan Igbaya and Meshack Ifiriyele. They were said to have been arrested at a river not too far from Okan Chevron platform, where most members of the community were said to have been carrying out their local fishing business for ages.

It was gathered that the three fishermen were picked up at about 5:00p.m on Friday and no incriminating items were found on them. Their arrest by the JTF was not known to the community until Saturday morning when it was discovered that the trio had not returned home. A search party was sent to unravel the mystery behind their whereabouts and it was discovered that they did not drown in the sea, but were arrested by members of the JTF. The security agents were said to have made the arrest, claiming the three persons were oil pipelines suspects. Meanwhile, the Ilaje community in Sumoge settlement are demanding for the release of the three persons.

Egypt sentences ex-president Morsi to life imprisonment AN Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced former president Mohamed Morsi to life in prison in an espionage trial in which six of his co-defendants were handed death penalties. The court acquitted Morsi of charges of having supplied Qatar with classified documents but sentenced him to life for leading an unlawful organisation, his lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maksoud told Agence France Presse (AFP). The ousted president was also convicted of having

vide us with improver,’’ he added.

Sunday Tribune

“stolen secret documents concerning state security” and handed another 15year jail term, the lawyer added. Qatar was a main backer of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement while he was in power between 2012 and July 2013, when the military overthrew and detained him. Morsi has been sentenced to death in a separate trial for his alleged role in prison breaks and attacks on police stations during the 2011 uprising that overthrew vet-

eran strongman Hosni Mubarak. He has also received a life sentence and a 20-year jail term in two other trials. On Saturday the court confirmed death sentences against six defendants, including three journalists tried in absentia who allegedly helped relay secret documents to Qatar. The journalists have been identified as Ibrahim Mohamed Hilal and Jordanian citizen Alaa Omar Mohamed Sablan, both of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera channel.

Mr Taiwo Orisabinone, a legal practitioner from the Ilaje stock based in Warri, who also grew up in the community as a fisherman, has called for the immediate release of the threesome. “We thought their boat capsized on the sea, so we sent a search party to recover their bodies, only for us to discover that they were arrested by security agents guiding pipelines. “Two of them are underaged and we found their fishing nets on the waters. We have settled in that community for long and fishing has always been our means of livelihood. “We appreciate the work security agents are doing trying to protect our pipelines, but they should release these innocent boys who were out there trying to eke a decent living through fishing,” the lawyer said. “It would be unkind to begin to arrest natives who know nothing about pipeline vandalism let alone being members of militant groups,” Orisabinone noted. Meanwhile, a senior naval officer, who craved anonymity, when contacted on Saturday morning, said his men were not involved in the arrest of the teenagers. According to him, “our men did not go out on Friday, so it’s not likely the arrest came from our end.” The JTF could not be reached for comments as at the time of filing this report.

THE Senator representing Ogun Central in the National Assembly, Dr. Lanre Tejuoso, has provided free Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facility to applicants of the Federal Government N-Power Teachers Intiative in the state. The Federal Government had on Monday launched the initiative to provide employment for 500,000 unemployed people who might be interested in teaching. The gesture by the Senator was based on the challenge being confronted by applicants in registering their particulars on the website provided by government. While speaking with Sunday Tribune, the ICT coordinator of Senator Lanre Tejuoso Constituency Office, Mr. Segun Shennaike, said over 1,500 applicants had applied through the facility since it opened last Monday for residents of the state.

Stop telling lies against me, Wada tells Bello Yinak Oladoyinbo-Lokoja

THE immediate past governor of Kogi State, Capt Idris Wada, on Saturday asked the state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, to leave him alone and face the business of governance, rather than telling lies about his actvities in office. Wada described the attempts by some aides of the governor to rewrite the history of the state through outright distortion of facts as efforts in futility, as the people of the state were wiser. The former governor in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Jacob Edi, said the governor lacked moral justification to accuse him of owing workers in the state four months salary when he left office on January 26. The Chief of Staff to the governor, Edward Onoja and the Special Adviser, Media, Abdulmalik Abdukareem, were said to have appeared on a television programme where they accused Wada of owing workers in the state four months salaries, vandalising Government House properties and not properly applying for bailout funds, among other allegations.

Alao-Akala cautions senators over sexual harassment bill THE coordinator of Nigerian Youth Leadership Forum and son of former Oyo State governor, Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala, has warned National Assembly lawmakers to do their home work well on the sexual harassment bill which has passed the second reading, noting that there were several loopholes in the bill. Alao-Akala praised Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and 46 others for championing the bill meant to bring to an end the cases of sexual harassment on campuses in Nigeria. He, however, said that in its current state, the bill was riddled with inconsistencies with existing laws and constitutional provisions. Alao-Akala, while analysing the bill in a press statement at the weekend, said “to prohibit consensual relationship between lecturers and students is like throwing away the baby with the bath water or cutting off the head to cure a headache. “If this bill is passed into law, are we going to ask lecturers and students who have fixed their wedding dates or are making wedding plans to call off their weddings? “To this end, I call on our distinguished senators to expunge these clauses and phrases from the said bill before it is passed into law,” he queried.

opinion

19 June, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Governance and the missing Omoluabi category By Festus Adedayo

VEN though it is still a dominant discourse, narratives on the nexus between leadership and age actually gained currency during the General Ibrahim Babangida presidency’s experimentation with the sub-political class called new breed. Babangida had disgusted the political class with his novel experimentation which was perceived as a veiled gambit for self perpetuation. But he stated his quest quite lucidly: the hub of politicians who had fouled the twin of politics and governance was peopled with geriatrics, whose ideas were ancient and capacity for development opaque. Opposition to this hybrid was quite massive. How did the wily General hope to sieve through to arrive at this envisaged spotless collective? What variables would distinguish this Fredrich Nietsche Superman that the Minna Prince wanted from the rest of the political class? Was youth necessarily conterminous with performance, excellence and development? Since then, no serious efforts have been made by the polity to legislate against qualification for governance using age as a variable. This is because, any attempt to do this would be doomed ab-initio because of its byzantine nature and the difficulty of articulating its rudiments to the acceptance of all. Granted that all over the world, the traffic towards youth as a desirable category for governance is high, it is an unsubstantiated quest because in virtually all countries of the world, several theses perforate the yearning for the youth category. For every youth you thumb up as a desirable category, there are a thousandand-one examples that weaken and shame the category. If you hoist an example of a youth who meandered into office demonstrating agility, mental alertness, development orientation and who has in his strides so many commendable efforts, you would have so many converses in geriatrics or advanced age persons in office who pale into insignificance the fascinating strides of the youth category. So, when respected former Students Union President of the University of Ibadan and two-term member of the House of Representatives, Babatunde Oduyoye, granted an interview to the Sunday Tribune on June 12, 2016 advancing that same argument about the desirability of youth as a governance category for Oyo State, his proffer became complicit in earlier fallacy of generaliza. Indeed, consciously or unconsciously, in their thirst for good governance, Oyo State and virtually all states currently have searchlights that look beyond their incumbents for redemption, being peered in nooks for the ideal. But in the process, the searchers are confusing substance with scientifically proven facts. How is a leader’s age connected to his effectiveness? First and foremost, who is a youth? What is the ceiling for categorisation of youth? Is well-being a necessary variable for arriving at the youth category? In other words, should a man blessed with good health at the age of 65 be disadvantaged from this category, as against a 45-year old who, like French philosopher Voltaire, is daily disabled by sicknesses and diseases? Using a global paradigm as example, Senator Hillary Clinton who, all things being equal, is the 35th American President, will be 68 years of age while being handed the keys of the Oval Office; his Democratic Party contender, Bernie Sanders, is 74. Coming back home, the agility and

alertness of ex-Governor Adebayo AlaoAkala, throughout his reign, was never in doubt. I remember that Governor Abiola Ajimobi, at 67, shames the youth category with his alertness and agility. President Olusegun Obasanjo is reputed with a hyper alacrity that is indescribable. At the risk of name mentions, governmental road is littered with shameful exploits of youth who were handed the reins of office but polluted the dais. There are examples of performers in office whose strides have nothing to do with their age. This will clearly activate the thesis that age as a category for office qualification is very weak and unrealistic. Any society that is burdened and detained by it will most likely be railroaded at the end of the day. Shouldn’t society then be persuaded to scan for a more sustainable category in its quest for enduring leadership? The leadership typology I propose is what is called in traditional African philosophy the Omoluabi. There is a rich literature on the constitution of this breed of person whose variant in Igbo is the ezigbo mmadu and Hausa, the amada. Professor of Philosophy, University of Ibadan, Christopher Agulanna, described an ezigbo mmaduas one “who possesses good conduct or moral fibre – qualities that are worthy of emulation by others. But ezigbo mmadu is not merely descriptive of a person’s character or conduct; it is also expressive of a person who is equable, unflappable, even-tempered and level-headed. Ezigbo mmadu has as its converse, the phrase ajo mmadu. Ajo mmadu is a term used to describe a bad man or woman, where the word ajo means “bad”, that is, the opposite of “good. A person is ajo mmadu who is flawed or defective in character.” An ancient, evergreen concept, Omoluabi is a total way of articulating mannerism and connotatively employed as an ethical paradigm. The concept possesses a broad theoretical perspective that is woven round the mores and lore of the Yoruba people of South-West Nigeria, Indeed, the Omoluabi concept exists within a moral oeuvre in Yorubaland within which you can define the totality of a person. If it is absent and one is described as ko si Omoluabi Kankan lara e (he is bereft of Omolu-

abi) the fellow so typecast is better off dead. It is not a primordial choice that the person is born with but a product of upbringing, conscientious rebirth, pedigree and personal conception of humanity. The closest concept to the Omoluabi in western thought and discourse is “the humane” but the concept is deeper and richer than its western synonym. Omoluabi as a moral concept is of the domain of metaethics, that branch of linguistic philosophy that is concerned with critical analysis of ethical expressions, especially normative concepts like “good” and “ought.” Who or what then constitutes an Omoluabi? Broken to its literal components, it comprises Omo+ ti + Oluiwa + bi. Its translation is that of a child begotten by the Olu-iwa (King of Character or Olodumare - God). A person so begotten cannot do evil. Professors Sophie Oluwole, Campbell Shittu Momoh, Segun Gbadegesin and others have written extensively on the moral universe occupied by the Omoluabi. Oluwole, for instance, broke it into semantics. To her, he can be perceived in the phrase Omo ti o ni iwa bi (one whose character is reflective of…). The Omoluabi demonstrates the

How will the Omoluabi be recognised by those scouting for one? Pedigree and antecedents are key. It is not about constructing pseudo welfare centres that make the governorship candidate simulate Omoluabi quality of responsibility

intricate values of iwapelewhich is the hub of moral behavior, a defining component of the Omoluabi category. Indeed, Wande Abimbola (1975) is of the view that “iwapele is the concept of good character in Ifa literary corpus” which must be shown, according to Wikipedia, in oro siso (spoken words) as the Yoruba accord respect for intelligent and expert use of language; iteriba (respect) as opposed to arrogant leaders, inu rere (goodwill), otito (truth), akinkanju (bravery), opolo pipe (intelligence) and a good mind towards others. For the Yoruba, Omoluabi is the totality of a moral universe and the credential that admits holders into the comity of respected persons; indeed, it is the accepted standard of human life and embodies respect for oneself and others. Other manifestations of an Omoluabi is honor, hard work, respect for community and country. The Omoluabi combines personal integrity with dedication to the service of a just society and community and indeed, operates under a wide moral spectrum that cannot be dimensioned by the limitations of life and existence. Omoluabi bears similarity to an Ifa literary corpus and stanza (ancient poetic verse) that communicates values, called Iwa (character). Yoruba traditional philosophy believes that Iwa is very central to every human being and, according to them, it permeates communal, social and indeed civic responsibilities which the Creator (Olodumare) gives to the individual but which he hones on getting to the world. From the foregoing, the criteria of Omoluabi are huge and those who can qualify are rare. As governor or leader of a people or as governance category, it is more desirable than the Omo kekere (youth) or agbalagba (elderly) categories being propounded by the likes of Oduyoye and those who are against his categorisation. For the Omoluabi, giving back to the people who elect him is a given; he will not steal from his people’s patrimony, he will respect gentleman’s agreements and his word is his honour. He will be unalloyed in his commitment to the people who elect him and he will have empathy for those who, when rain drenched him, provided him a shield. Omoluabiness is a lot higher than construction of roads (as any fool can), building hospitals and the like. He will give to his people far much more because he is desirous of immortality in the hearts of his people. How will the Omoluabi be recognised by those scouting for one? Pedigree and antecedents are key. It is not about constructing pseudo welfare centres that make the governorship candidate simulate Omoluabi quality of responsibility. His family antecedents must be look into. How many people have benefitted from him since he started working? Who are his friends? Is he a serial liar? Does he operate functional friendship and dispenses at will with his benefactors? Is he mean? What kind of person is his spouse? Is he disdainful of the other person in the words of his mouth? Is he selfish or greedy from antecedents? Does he have empathy for the other person? Those are the qualities that make an Omoluabi, the man ofamana, the ezigbo mmadu, the missing variables which the Oduyoyes should look for and which any state desirous of having a qualitative leader should consciously scout for and pray that Olodumare brings their way. • Adedayo is on the editorial board of the Tribune.

19 June, 2016

SUNDAY

Editor: Ganiyu Salnan 08053789060 tribunesporteditor@yahoo.com

Eagles star, Onazi weds in Lagos

Moses Simon (left) challenged by an Egyptian player during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier in Kaduna. Simon is one of the Dream Team players vying for shirts to the 2016 Olympics.

Rio Olympics:

Siasia plans total overhaul of Dream Team C oach Samson Siasia plans a massive overhaul of Nigeria U-23s team, less than two months to the Rio Olympics going by the several new faces who attended the U.S visa interview ahead of a training camp in Atlanta.

Nigeria internationals, Kingsley Madu, Moses Simon, Daniel Akpeyi and Wilfred Ndidi are set to force their way into the Dream Team VI after they did not feature for them in the qualifiers. All these players were at the U.S embassy in connec-

tion with visas for the training camp, which begins on June 29 in Atlanta.

‘It’s pathetic’

Continued from BP

When squeezed by Goal, Siasia replied, “It is pathetic and very bad. This is the time we are supposed to

3SC star, Orelope joins IfeanyiUbah Shooting Stars Sports Club’s workaholic player, Tope Orelope has moved to FC Ifeanyi Ubah for the remaining part of the Nigeria Premier League season. The former Golden Eaglets invitee had a superb outing in the colours of the Oluyole Warriors in the first stanza after he emerged the team’s leading scorer last season with eight goals. Orelope is set to make his debut for the Nnewi-based side today in a match day 23 clash against Rivers United. “I have signed for FC IfeanyiUbah for the second

Sunday Tribune

stanza of the ongoing season. “I’m ready for the immediate challenge at the Anambra Warriors and will be too happy if called upon to play against Rivers United on Sunday (today). “I want to make instant impression as well as contribute my own quota to the team’s quest for honour in the on-going season. “I’m happy and satisfied with what I met on the ground at FC IfeanyiUbah and I believe the platform will give me a reason to smile at the end of the football season.

“I understand the challenge as well as expectations and I strongly feel equal to the task. “I know for certain that with or without my input we will emerge victorious against visiting Rivers United,” the former Crown FC midfielder told supersport.com. Orelope, it will be recalled, had an aborted move to Enyimba, while his move to Rangers too before the season’s opener failed to materialise leaving him with no option but to return to 3SC.

Shehu Abdullahi, Stanley Amuzie, Musa Mohammed and Godwin Saviour are also slated for the training camp after they played in the qualifiers for the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). Add these to two designated overage stars, Chelsea star, Mikel Obi and Watford striker, Odion Ighalo, and already you have wholesale changes to the team Siasia lined up to win the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Senegal last December.

concentrate on the team for us to achieve our goal and ambition of winning the gold medal in the Olympics this time around. But can we achieve this with the way things are? “You guys (media) have not been helping us but it is to publish other stories that cannot help the team. “But as a patriotic Nigerian I will do my best to psyche up the players and my other colleagues to achieve our ambition.” Attempts to reach the NFF’s director of communication, Demola Olajire for comments were unsuccessful. Dr Mohammed Sanusi, the general secretary, also did not pick his calls. Siasia’s team also suffered deprivations on its way to winning the CAF U-23 title in Senegal last year.

By Ganiyu Salman NIGERIAN international, Ogenyi Onazi on Saturday in Lagos, wedded former Miss Sandra Ogunsuyi. The journey to the altar actually began on December 29, 2015, when the Lazio of Italy midfielder formalised her union with Sandra at the Ikoyi registry, Lagos. “I thank God for such a special day. Getting married is a milestone in the life of a man; to get married to a woman who you love and who loves you makes it even more special,” Onazi had declared after the event. Onazi had the second leg of the wedding last Thursday as the traditional wedding took place in the ancient city of Benin, the Edo State capital. Super Eagles and Watford of England striker, Odion Ighalo was one of the dignitaries at the event. Ace comedians, Funny Bone and Senator anchored the traditional wedding. However, the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) winner, was involved in auto crash on Friday evening on his way back to Lagos for yesterday’s church wedding. As posted on his Instagram wall, his car’s tyre got torn to pieces following a mishap on a bad road. “Devil na lie for you. Thank God we are fine But our government no try at all…” On-

Onazi and his wife, Sandra during their traditional wedding in Benin.

azi posted with a picture on Instagram. Meanwhile, it was a day of celebration for Onazi yesterday at Lekki, Lagos, as the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup silver medallist held a white wedding in grand style in the Centre of Excellence. The white wedding was graced by the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mr Amaju Pinnick; the chairman, technical and development committee of the NFF, Barrister Chris Green as well Nigerian internationals such as Odion Ighalo, Kenneth Omeruo, Raheem Lawal and Sunday Mba, among others. Shortly after the wedding, a mild drama between Onazi and his Super Eagles teammates. “This is the married man, he is in the club now,” Ighalo said referring to Onazi. The newly-wedded Onazi quickly responds saying “Eh, I don marry, he followed me to the registry. Onazi turned to Omeruo and said: “Go and marry, it is said in the Bible. You are not complete”. The Chelsea defender, Omeruo fired back saying “No, I say I am not getting married. Lawal has not gotten married. Sunday Mba has not gotten married”. While this drama was going on, the Watford star, Ighalo was laughing by the side.

19 June, 2016

THE

Sunday Tribune

Fabio Lanipekun 08050498512 lanipekunfabio@yahoo.com

Tribute:

The late Muhammad Ali (right) lands a punch on the face of Joe Frazier.

Muhammad Ali:

Please, come back

lympic boxing attracted many of us to sports and when Cassius Clay stormed the ring in 1960 and won the light heavyweight gold, the globalisation of the noble art of self defence had begun. I won’t forgive myself if I fail to pay tributes to the one acknowledged as The Greatest by all including generations yet unborn. As kids growing up in Lagos and super soaked in amateur and professional boxing, some of us deified boxers like Joe Luis, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Ezzard Charles, Jercy Joe Walcott, Sony Liston and Rocky Marciano, among others. As primary school students, some of us specialised in buying selling and cross selling newspaper pictures of top boxers whose posture was superb, like Ezzard Charles or Floyd Patterson. A picture you bought for “toro” (three pence) last month could fetch you “sisi” (six pence) the following week. Muhammad Ali, who had now changed his name from Cassius Clay commanded the highest selling point and remained my hero till I went in search of the Golden Fleece in the United Kingdom in 1964. When I arrived in London, I gave myself an assignment – meet Muhammad Ali. At that time, Ali had become the world heavyweight champion and security enveloped him wherever he was. I did some home work by finding

On getting back to school, I out where he lodged, his daily routine, and the route he was proudly displayed the autograph to a couple of school mates who taking for his road work. Muhammad Ali lodged at the did not contain their excitement high brow Picaddily Hotel in and exultantly announced to central London and on this not others what I had achieved. In no too pleasant summer morn- time, a small crowd had gathered ing I woke up from my south and I became a celebrity at the west residence in Clapham and Regent Street Polytechnic where headed for Picaddily Hotel. Back every student was rejoicing that home in Nigeria, I had garnered young Nigerian had got Muhamexperience as a newspaper Re- mad Ali’s autograph. The followporter on how to lie in wait for ing day was the final of the men’s a quick interview. Unobtrusively singles event in the schools table I stood close to the entrance of tennis championship. I won the the Hotel and when trotting, Ali, first two sets, but allowed the in warm boxing gear emerged previous day excitement to overfrom the dewy street, I popped come me and lost 3-2. My opout, shoved my autograph note ponent was a London boy called on him and joyfully said: “Hi Peter King whom I had been World Champion”. He permit- beaten like my house boy. After collecting Ali’s autograph ted a smile to lit his sweaty face, gave me an understanding smile, in 1966, I bought a Wembley grapped my autograph book Stadium ticket to watch his fight from me and scribbled “Muham- against Britain London who Ali mad Ali. WOOD CHAMPION.” beat mercilessly in three I didn’t mind about the wrong spelling, all I cared for was what I got from the world heavyweight boxing champion, Muhammad Ali. Ali’s security staff witnessed all that transpired but didn’t raise a finger. Triumphantly, I made a quick dash home to get ready for the day’s school opponent. work. Ali (left) deals with an

rounds. Five years later, the sun began to set and involuntarily, tears began to roll down my face. Fast wind to the Cairo All Africa Games in 1991 and the finals of the boxing tournament were scheduled to hold at the Cairo Indoor Games stadium. All the 12 weight categories were listed and all of a sudden the lights zoomed to the Royal Box and a Parkinson Disease- stricken Muhammad Ali zoomed into focus. The entire arena shrank into deafening silence as the frail looking figure of Ali dangled in between the protective hands of human support. It was a pathetic sight to behold, and here was I, a life long fan of Ali watching helplessly as my hero was incapacitated to walk and even talk. What was Muhammad Ali’s offence? As if the Cairo charade was not enough five years later the organisers of the Atlanta Olympic Games picked on Muhammad Ali for another round of extreme emotional feelings. 32 years of such a debilitating disease like Parkinson yet Ali did not lose his dignity but his grace continued to rise every year. Since his passing away, I have been inundated with many questions, such as who was his toughest opponent and was he really the Greatest? Who would have

won between Rocky Marciano and Muhammed Ali. A lot of fans picked the third in the Ali Frazier – Thrilla trilogy in Manilla as Ali’s toughest fight. This is quite legitimate considering the super hype woven around the fight by Ali himself. Frazier wasn’t much of a big fighter himself and the manner George Foreman butchered him desecrated his claim to greatness. Those who watched the Argentine heavyweight Oscar Bonavena against Ali gave Oscar a lot of respect for standing up to Ali. But undoubtedly Ali’s greatest opponent ever was a boxer described as follows. “I have moulded a monster. I have taken the best of Joe Louis, Jack Johnson, and Rocky Marciano and rolled it all into one” This is George Foreman trainer, Dick Sadler. Muhammad Ali look on the Monster in the Rumble in the Jungle and mauled him down in round 8 As a final tribute, I quote one of Ali’s greatest fans, Chuka Momah: “In an age of flawed stars and heroes, Ali’s greatest exemplary. The world has witnessed Maradona charged for drugs, Tyson sent to jail for alleged rape. Sugar Ray Leonard admit to the use of cocaine, Marvin Hagler accused of alcoholism and wife beating and Magic Johnson declared that he has tasted positive for the HIV virus. Throughout his life time Ali remained a shining example of a true and unattained hero”. Please Ali, come back.

SIDELINES NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER

no 2,051

19 JUNE, 2016

www.tribuneonlineng.com

n200

Vice Chancellor of Ekiti State University (EKSU), Professor Samuel Oye Bandele, has vowed to deal with lecturers in his school who can’t control their libido. This, no doubt, is a welcome development. At least, randy teachers now know all eyes are on them.

What we Yoruba want for Nigeria

N the Yoruba contribution to the Nigeria debate, the Yoruba elite of various political parties and persuasions have always generally projected for the Yoruba Nation the image that is true of Yoruba history and culture – the image of a thoughtfully constructive builder. We, the Yoruba Nation will continue to struggle with all other Nigerian nations for Nigeria’s orderliness, improvement, and prosperity. We are not a nation that contributes to disorder or destruction. Our own type of national genius works best in producing progress, strength and beauty. But we Yoruba are not inclined to uphold anything by simply surrendering or abandoning reasonable and well-considered principles – in this case, principles that have great potential in making Nigeria orderly, strong and ultimately prosperous. In the horrendous mess that has ruled Nigeria’s life since 1960, no Yoruba man or woman can subscribe to the statement: “Let us just preserve Nigeria as it is; no change or amelioration is necessary”. We Yoruba would rather say, “Let us make a big effort now, with other Nigerian nations, to shift Nigeria onto the path of orderliness, stability and progress”. Simply straining to hold up a ramshackle and disintegrating entity without doing anything to improve its capability to stand, is not the kind of thing we Yoruba people do. All of us Nigerians recognize that Nigeria is set on a horrible path, and we are often heard lamenting that fact. The Yoruba response is, “We can change the trend if we work together and hard at it”. But even little Yoruba girls have enough wisdom to say, “It doesn’t make sense to ignore the lice in a girl’s hair and just go on and plait her hair; her digging at the lice with her nails will soon undo and scatter the plaiting”. This is why it is that, since the debate started in the late 1940s over how to structure the Nigerian federation, the elite of the Yoruba nation have consistently advocated that the best way to make the Nigerian federation orderly, peaceful, strong and prosperous, is to accord due recognition to the fundamental units of Nigeria – that is the various nations of Nigeria – and make these fundamental units the basis for the federating units of the Nigerian Federation. The greatest of our modern fathers, Obafemi Awolowo, put it very simply and clearly in the books he wrote; and

throughout his life, he continued to make it clearer and clearer. Our then leading elite organization, Egbe Omo Oduduwa, wrote a detailed and highly respectable paper on it in 1949 for the consideration of Nigeria’s British rulers. Since then, various agencies of Yoruba leadership, though of different political persuasions and parties, have repeated the same principles – even if in slightly different ways. When the Federal Government convened a Political Reform Conference in 2005, the Yoruba Position Paper, put together by Yoruba elite of various political persuasions, and presented at the conference, stated the same principles unequivocally and clearly. Members of the Yoruba elite living in the Diaspora have restated this principle of rational Nigerian federalism over and over again. A leading Yoruba intellectual in the Diaspora once put it simply as follows: “The simple answer to

to manage much of its unique needs and concerns in the Nigerian federation – so that each people will thus be able to make its own kind of contribution to the overall progress and prosperity of Nigeria. This principle is not directed at hurting, and it cannot possibly hurt, any of the peoples of Nigeria. On the contrary, it is a principle that can be very beneficial to every Nigerian people and to Nigeria as a whole. These are the fundamentals of the Yoruba contribution to the Nigerian debate. At the National Conference held in early 2014, the Yoruba delegate again spelt out the Yoruba position and presented it as a “Yoruba Agenda”.

the question “What do the Yoruba want?” is this: The Yoruba want a Nigerian State which respects its multinational character and gives adequate recognition to the inviolability of its federating nationalities, no matter how small or big, a Nigerian State that promotes equal justice for all its citizens and makes a sacred commitment to the secularity of its character. - - - - The Yoruba have always wanted a Nigeria that practices and is committed to the principles of true federalism”. We, the Yoruba nation, have been stating and restating this principle because we are absolutely convinced that only it has the capability to make the peoples of Nigeria live in reasonable harmony together, by giving each people some leeway

ary adjustments to make sure that none of our nationalities shall be split up between units of the federation. Re-adjust the balance of powers between the federal authority and the Regions – so that the Regions should have more powers, more resource control and more funding than hitherto to promote and implement development. This shifts the burden of development mostly to the Regions. In this, a return to the sharing of powers as enshrined in the independence constitution in 1960, and the pattern of relationship between states and local governments in the 1960 constitution will be sufficient change. The fiscal structure of the Nigerian federation should match its constitutional

Some details of the Yoruba proposals: For federating units of the Nigerian Federation, constitute the existing six zones into Regions – with minor bound-

Dream Team fails to train ahead Rio Olympics IT is tough times for Nigeria’s U-23 side which resumed camp in Abuja on Wednesday as its preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympics is being hampered by lack of planning on the part of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). Samson Siasia’s team failed to train at the National Stadium in Abuja on Friday evening after it was left without a bus to transport the players to their training ground. There have also been threats by the owners of the hotel where the team is lodged,

Starview Palace Hotel, Gwarimpa, Abuja, to throw them out of the hotel due to unpaid fees. Less than two months to the kick off of the Olympics, where Nigeria is pitched in the same group with Sweden, Japan and Colombia, the Dream Team VI is still struggling to reach high gear in its preparations. On Friday, Goal’s reporter witnessed a deserted scene at the National Stadium Package A Training Pitch as the team failed to turn up. On calling the coach, Siasia said he

was left frustrated by the failure to secure fuel for the team bus while he had to beg a friend of his to provide transport for the team. However, this attempt also failed. “We can’t come for the evening training because there is no bus to convey us to the stadium. But we hope to train tomorrow,” Siasia told Goal. Goal also learnt that the team’s morning training session which witnessed a full house had to be halted as a result of lack of water for the players to drink. Equally, none of the players and officials

structure. That means that, in revenue allocation, more should go the states than to the federal (in the Indian Union, it is 85% to states and 15% to the federal). It also means that the principle of derivation should be given scope; that revenue generated by a state (such as state business taxes, sales taxes, etc) should belong to the state; and that most of the VAT derived from a state should return to the state. There should be a federal police; and each Federating Unit should have its own police. The reason for that is obvious. In our federation, the Federating Units are significant centers of authority and development, and they should command their own police apparatuses. This is not a question of whether we Nigerians are mature or immature; it is simply the way human societies worldwide work. No people should think of creating such a significant center of authority as our States or Regions and then deny it control over the public peace apparatus called police. In summary, the Yoruba Nation in Nigeria wants a Nigeria that works – a Nigeria in which our many nationalities will live in harmony; where Regional and local energy and morale will revive again to boost the overall Nigerian economy; a Nigeria which can fulfil its destiny as the leader of Africa and as the Black man’s world power of modern times. We Yoruba believe that these goals can be achieved by this country. That is why we find it difficult to stop urging Nigeria to adopt the changes that can open the door to such achievements. President Buhari’s war against corruption is a step in the right direction. He is eliminating one of the most destructive symptoms of our country’s chaotic structure, and most of us Yoruba strongly support what he is doing. But we want him to begin to address the fundamental issue of our federation’s structure too. Dreams of ethnic dominance by any Nigerian nationality, and dreams that some Nigerian peoples can and will be subdued – and strategizing and manipulating in order to reach these ignoble goals – can only rob Nigeria of its manifest destiny. No Nigerian people can be subdued or suppressed in the building of Nigeria; trying to do so can only destroy Nigeria. What the Yoruba want is that Nigeria should become a prosperous and great country.

•It’s pathetic —Siasia has been paid a dime for their trips to Brazil for a friendly match that they won 1-0 and the Suwon Invitational Tournament in South Korea where they lost two games and won one.

Pools results

Continues on pg 46

02, 29, 34, 35, 36, 37, 49. Today’s Matches: 04, 05, 12-14, 17-21, 23, 27, 32, 33, 43, 44, 46-48. Monday’s Matches: 06, 07, 16. Tuesday’s Matches: 08, 09, 10, 11.

Printed and Published by the African Newspapers of Nigeria PLC, Imalefalafia Street, Oke-Ado, Ibadan. E mail: sundaytribuneeditor@yahoo.com Website: www.tribuneonlineng.com ABC Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation. 19/6/2016 MANAGING DIRECTOR/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: EDWARD DICKSON. EDITOR : SINA OLADEINDE. All Correspondence to P. O. Box 78, Ibadan. ISSN 2712.