23rd October 2016

NO 2,069

SPECIAL TREAT

SUNDAY, 23 OCTOBER, 2016

www.tribuneonlineng.com

Nigerian Tribune

How to run a partnership profitably

@nigeriantribune

N200

Nigerian Tribune

pg8

Era of wasteful spending over, Buhari tells VCs pg8

Judges’ arrest, attack on pg4 judiciary •CJN insists

Fans’

criticisms

help me to grow —Simi

Tragic: PhD candidate dies a •Outlines how erring judges can be suspended day to graduation

pgs6 & 43

•Corps member shot dead in Kaduna

Polity The

pg8

Ondo gov election:

PDP accuses APC, AD of mopping up voter cards

•Treat only issues, APC, AD caution PDP

Battle for 2019

pg19

How a third force endangers APC’s, PDP’s claim to power

Grazing law: Miyetti Allah

issues threat, demands apology from Fayose pg4

•They should obey law —Ekiti govt

Militants disown Edwin Clark, FG’s peace meeting •Warn against opening Forcados pipeline

pg5

Anxiety as more companies lay off staff •Some can no longer pay salaries

pg4

2

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

feature

Operation zero hunger

Can Nigeria be food sufficient by 2030?

When the Federal Government pledged to end hunger at the commemoration of the 2015 World Food Day, the country’s economic realities were not so stark. However, with the recession giving way to high cost of food products, TADE MAKINDE and RITA OKONOBOH examine how well the country is preparing to banish hunger against the backdrop of the United Nation’s plan projection to end global hungerby 2030.

B

IOLA Olaiya, a tailor, was at home on a Sunday when he heard someone persistently knocking at his gate. Irritated, he went to open the gate.

“Right in front of me was a man that I had never seen in the neighbourhood. He was with three children and they were dressed in matching outfits. I thought he was one of the numerous religious preachers who usually go from house to house sharing tracts, because he carried a bag.

“Before I could ask who he wanted to see, the man started praying and ended up asking me to give him mon-

ey to feed his three kids.

“I told him I didn’t have money. He pleaded that I should give him anything I had when he noticed that I was about to send him away. I gave him N500. Immediately, the man started crying and began to pray fervently for me. It was a really embarrassing situation,” Olaiya narrated.

To state that begging to feed, – whether ‘formal’ or ‘informal,’ – is on the rise would be stating the obvious. In fact, with the state of things: unpaid salaries, high cost of food items, and insurgency, Nigerians are finding life

and living very difficult. The situations of many Nigerians aptly fit into Mahatma Gandhi’s quote that “there are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”

If we do not make efforts to grow our own food, we will go hungry —Dangote Just days ago, Africa’s wealthiest man and Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, was reported to Continues

pg 3

3

feature

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

‘If we don’t grow our food, we’ll go hungry’ three square meals per day let alone feed their families.

For decades, the call for a return to the farm had been the sing-song of many governments so that the country could be self-sufficient in food production. Operation Feed the Nation, Green Revolution and other such agricultural projects were idealised but all failed to hit their targets.

Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture the

Hamadu Husseiny, 28, searches for beans that have fallen during food distribution at a camp in Monguno, Nigeria, on Sept. 27.

PHOTO: WASHINGTON POST.

Continued from

pg 2

have called for urgent actions to be taken, as the nation risked dire consequences as a result of hunger due to over-reliance on importation.

According to Dangote, who lamented that 98 per cent of milk and dairy products consumed in Nigeria were imported, “by 2020, it is estimated that the Nigerian population would have risen to between 207 million and 210 million. If we do not make efforts to grow and process our own foods, God forbid, we will go hungry.

We have been in talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria on ways we can add value to our local produce, and we have marked massive dairy production for the next three years. We cannot solve all Nigeria’s problems, but at least we can embrace and add value to areas where we have comparative advantage,” he said.

Like Dangote, politicians, businessmen, clerics, stakeholders and even the international community have continued in their urgent calls for actions to end hunger in Nigeria. The North East, for instance, is daily faced with the struggle to feed

its people because of insurgency. Many farmlands, which have for decades been a major source of survival, have been destroyed by terrorists. However, with much still needed to be done, efforts are ongoing through collaborative efforts in local and international quarters to address the situation as soon as possible.

Once upon a past without hunger In the past, it was quite uncommon for Nigerians to beg for food. A time it was in Nigeria that all the regions were known for particular agricultural products that they produced in large quantities to meet both local and foreign demands. That was before the discovery of oil in the 60s, when agriculture was the mainstay of the nation’s economy. Virtually all regions produced one farm produce or another and what was produced was for the benefit of all. Proceeds from local and foreign sales of these products were invested in education, health, communication and hospitality, among other sectors. That was the era of growth for the nation.

At the pace Nigeria was developing preIndependence, many were optimistic that

country would be the hope of an industrialised continent as it had the mineral and human resources to help develop Africa. The country achieved much from an agrarian economy. But when oil was suddenly discovered in 1959, things changed. The black gold that should have been an added means of revenue that would help speed up the growth of Nigeria.

Today, it is a common sight to see Nigerians begging for food. The moment a strange face approaches, the first thought is that “he or she wants something,” lamented a respondent who spoke with Sunday Tribune. Most often, this is so.

Many Nigerian now find it difficult to eat

By 2020, it is estimated that the Nigerian population would have risen to between 207 million and 210 million.

If we do not make efforts to grow and process our own foods, God forbid, we will go hungry

The way forward Expectedly, Nigeria as a major importing nation, with less reliance on homegrown produce and insufficient infrastructural development, is in recession.

Since 2015, many companies had packed up and moved to other countries, putting thousands of hitherto employ people into the unemployment market. While economic experts began to suggest diversification from oil to agric and non-agric products, sadly, the economic benefits of an agric-focused nation has not yielded much difference because such does not happen in few months or few years.

A farmer, Ade Fasehun, from Esa Odo, Ilesa, Osun State, in a reaction to half-hearted agricultural policies of past governments expressed concern about the various programmes targeted at improving local production of food, especially as many have failed.

According to him, “the muchhyped national programmes, designed to galvanise agricultural revolution in times past failed abysmally and will continue to fail because the governments did not plan them for Nigerians, so to say.

“As is our style, we like to make noise over nothing. Most of the time, government just creates the impression that it has done something, but it doesn’t really do anything. former presidents (Olusegun) Obasanjo and Shehu Shagari are back in their respective homes after introducing their agric revolutions, but Nigerians are still hungry.

“It will be so because those projects were embarked on to create jobs for a select few – their cronies, contractors and supporters – while those who should benefit, in most cases Nigerian youths, are hardly ever able to benefit.

According to Fasheun, policies in Nigeria always fail at the level of implementation. That, he stated, is one of the reasons past agric initiatives collapsed.

During Jonathan’s regime, Adesina put up a scheme that allowed youths to access loans. I registered and tried to access the loan, but I was not given.

The conditions included providing farm land, which I did, but because I did not know anyone in Abuja to compel a bank to approve my loan, I was not given. Among those of us who registered, a journalist, medical doctor, and a politician’s son who did not even live in Nigeria, were given several millions of naira. I don’t know what these lucky ones were able to do with the money, but as a farmer, I felt I was more qualified for the loan than them.

“This was just three years ago. If I had planted maize then, my favourite, there would have been meal for poultry farmers. When you don’t favour those who should directly benefit from favourable conditions, you will never get it right.

Operation Feed the Nation and Green Revolution died with OBJ and Shagari because youth, those who constitute the ecContinues

pg 9

4

news

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Judges: CJN insists DSS arrest, attack on judiciary Outlines how arrested judges can be suspended From Lanre Adewole and Sunday Ejike

T

HE Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed has said the invasion of the official residences of some judges in the country by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) was an affront on the judiciary’s independence as an arm of government.

The DSS had on October 7 and 8, swooped on seven judicial officers comprising two justices of the Supreme Court and judges of the Appeal and High Courts across the country over allegation of corruption.

Justice Mohammed, in a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant, H. S. Sa’eed in Abuja, condemned the call by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for the suspension of the embattled Judges from the Bench, saying that there is a procedure for the discipline of errant members of the bench.

In the statement, Justice Mohammed explained that the constitutional procedure for their suspension, as being sought by some stakeholders, is clearly spelt out.

The outgoing CJN noted that the requisite engagement to arriving at the said point, had not been activated by the DSS which began the push for their suspension.

The statement reads: “Under the powers provided by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria(as amended) and as the Head of the Third Arm of Government, the Honourable, the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman National Judicial Council, Honourable Justice Mahmud Mohammed, GCON, is calling on all Nigerians to continue to have faith and full confidence in the Nigerian Judiciary.

“The Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria (Hon. CJN) is indeed deeply concerned by the rising antagonism over the recent arrest of our Judicial officers and other issues pertaining thereto.

“Furthermore, it must be reiterated that the current misunderstanding is only between the National Judicial Council (NJC), which was established by the constitution and the Directorate of the State Security (DSS), in the Presidency.

Hence, we must emphasise that the judiciary continues to maintain cordial relations with the other arms of government, that is, the

Executive and the National Assembly.

“The Honourable CJN reiterates that the Nigerian judiciary, as an arm of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is not a party in this matter, nor is the Nigerian judiciary on trial.

“On the call by President of the Nigerian Bar Association, A. B. Mahmoud, SAN, to suspend judicial officers whose residences

were invaded and who were subsequently arrested and detained by the DSS, we believe that the call was unnecessary and hasty as the said judicial officers are still being investigated by the DSS. Furthermore, the DSS is yet to forward any complaint or any official communication regarding the seven judicial officers to the National Judicial Council.

“Indeed, some of the af-

fected judicial officers have already been investigated by the NJC, which found some culpable and recommended their removal from office by dismissal or retirement to the president and respective governors as provided under the constitution. While some are still being investigated by the NJC, in respect of others, no complaint against them has been received by the NJC whose powers to suspend must

be exercised in accordance with the provisions of the constitution establishing it.

“The National Judicial Council is currently investigating the various complaints made against a number of judicial officers. As soon as such investigations are completed, appropriate recommendations will be made to the resident or governors, as the case may be, who will have the final

From left, Chief Ayo Adebanjo; Dr Babafemi Oredein; Mr Femi Oredein and Mr A. A. Alawiye, during the 30th Remembrance Anniversary of Chief Samuel Taiwo Oredein, held at Christ Anglican Church, Ogere Remo, on Saturday. PHOTO: D’TOYIN.

say on the fate of the affected judicial officers who could then be charged for the offences disclosed from the facts against them and be prosecuted if necessary.

“The Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria also wishes to state in clear terms that the ‘sting’ operations carried out by the DSS on 07 and 08 October 2016 was certainly an assault on the independence of the Nigerian judiciary. Nonetheless, the judiciary fully supports the anti-corruption drive of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammdu Buhari, GCFR. The Nigerian judiciary has never and will never shield any judicial officer who is found to be guilty of corruption, however, the Hon. CJN believes that due process and the rule of law must be followed.

“As a testament to our commitment to uphold the Constitution, the Nigerian judiciary continues to function and our courts remain open to all who seek remedy.

“With the support and goodwill of all Nigerians, the Nigerian judiciary will continue to serve with all its heart and might.”

Anxiety as more companies lay off staff, reduce production

By Sulaimon Olanrewaju

T

HE gale of retrenchment that has been coursing through Nigeria continued unabated over the weekend as more companies laid off their staff.

Sunday Tribune learnt at the weekend that Dansa Foods, one of the companies in the Dangote Group, has not only scaled down its operation and laid off staff, but is also owing its employees up to six months in salaries.

According to a report by PM News on Saturday, the company has been forced to limit its production activities to only Mowa Bottle Water while suspending the production of other items as a consequence of high cost of production occasioned by high exchange rate of naira to the dollar.

Sunday Tribune also gathered that an Ibadanbased food manufacturing company had scaled down its staff strength as well as its production level considerably, due to its inability to source raw material.

An employee of the company confided in Sunday Tribune that since the ban on wheat, the company had been facing serious challenges as it had found it difficult to access flour, its major raw material, a situation

that had compelled it to cancel its multi-shift operation.

According to the employee who pleaded anonymity, “For over six months now, we have not been able to meet our production target because of our inability to get the critical raw material. As a result of this, our production has gone down.

We no longer work on weekends and this has resulted in many of our staff being

disengaged. Every remaining member of staff is worried about the trend as we are not sure who would be spared should this trend continue.”

Although the employee said that the company was still paying salaries, he regretted that all other perks had been cancelled.

The development underscores the fact that the food and beverage industry ap-

pears especially hit by the inclement economic weather which has rendered many companies in the country comatose.

Earlier in the year, the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB) had lamented that about three million workers in the sector could lose their jobs as major companies in the sector had concluded plans to massive-

ly sack their staff because of their inability to access forex and raw materials.

According to Quadri Olaleye, FOBTOB president, already no fewer than 3,405 workers had lost their jobs in the sub-sector.

But the development is not restricted to the food and beverage sector as even banks have been sacking Continues pg7

Durbar festival held to honour Oba Ewuare

By Banji Aluko

ACTIVITIES marking the coronation of the 40th Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, continued in Benin on Saturday with a Durbar Festival organised in honour of the Oba by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar II. Horse riders from Sokoto, Zamfara and Niger states entertained the large crowd, who gathered at the Oba Palace to watch the display that was described as the first kind in the South South zone of the country.

The Durbar started at about 4:15pm with the horse riders showcasing their mastery even as they waved their hands to accord respect to Oba Ewuare II.

Cultural troupes across the state were on ground to display their rich cultural heritage in honour of and felicitations to the Oba. Guests from all walks of life were held spellbound as the various troupes took their turns to display their rich cultural heritage.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edibiri, said the event was the social aspect of the coronation ceremony that took place on Thursday.

He said the Durbar was an indication of the unity of the country and that Nigeria will survive the current economic hardship facing her as a nation.

The palace chief also said the presence of the tradi-

tional rulers from the North showed the unity of the various traditional rulers in the country.

Chairman of the organising committee, Prof. Gregory Akenzua, while expressing satisfaction on the coronation ceremony, he said they have met the expectations of the millions of Nigerians who have looked forward to the coronation of the new Oba of Benin.

He said the traditional rulers in the country will play a very big role in uniting Nigeria and that their presence in Benin, reflected the love Northerners have for the new Oba of Benin.

Speaking also at the occasion, Head of the Performing Arts Division, Delta State Council for Arts and Culture,

Asaba, Delta State, Mrs. Patani Esiri, said the five major languages in the state where present in Benin to felicitate with the Oba. “We are here to celebrate and also mark the coronation of the new Oba of Benin. We are here to represent Delta State and the different tribes in Delta, we have the Urhobors, Isoko, Ijaws, Itsekiris and the Ibos who are here to celebrate this special occasion.

“It is a state troupe and you know Delta State is made up of five tribes, we have the Urhobor, Isoko, Ijaw, Itsekiri and the Ibos. So, we are representing the five tribes. We are not representing a particular tribe. You know of course we are a replica of Nigeria and so we are here to showcase our culture,” she said.

news Militants reject Clark as peace negotiator, warn against repair of damaged pipeline 5

Ebenezer AdurokiyaWarri

A

s the Federal Government plans to meet with leaders from the Niger Delta region as part of strategy to arrest the revenue haemorrhage through incessant bombing of oil facilities, a fresh disharmony appears to have trailed the scheduled meeting.

Two of the militant groups from the region, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) and the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate (NDGJM), expressed displeasure over the attitude of the Federal Government to the region.

While the NDA berated the carrot-and-stick approach of the Federal Government, NDGJM rejected the choice of Chief Edwin Clark as a peace negotiator for the region, saying that government had been railroaded into settling for a dialogue with them in the name of the region “The Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate has nothing against the people of the region reaching an agreement with the Federal Government, what we find offensive is the entity that is about to, as it has done in the past,

23 October, 2016

steal the identity of our people to hoodwink government,” it said.

Spokesperson of NDGJM, in a statement in Warri, Delta State, warned against the reopening of the Trans-Forcados Pipeline which was bombed early this year.

NDA, in its own statement signed by its spokesperson, ‘Brigadier General’ Mudoch Agbinibo, on Saturday, queried the rationale behind the campaign for the clean up of Ogoni while the activities of the security agencies in the area continued to impact negatively on the environment.

It also condemned the use of security agents as channel for dialogue, asking rhetorically “do democratically elected governments open channels for talks in situations like we have in the Nigeria Delta through security agencies/agents or you are assuming that the Niger Delta as a conquered colony in your 1984 era?

“How can you justify Ogoni clean up and at the same time constitute a task force called “Operation Delta Safe” that is embarking on environmental pollution with the burning and bombing of petroleum products in the

guise of fighting oil theft?

“Does that amount to lack of genuine ideas or sincerity? Or at least, is there no relationship between environmental pollution and the ongoing indiscriminate burning and bombing of petroleum products by operatives of the so-called “Operation Delta Safe?”

NDGJM said not even the heavy presence of troops manning oil and gas facilities would stop consequences of violating their order.

“NDGJM has not been deterred from meting out justice to the abusers and pillagers of our people

and our natural assets.

We shall execute this ongoing campaign until the last vestige of our enemies (the heartless, conniving oil and gas companies and their criminal partners, the military) have been vanquished and evacuated from our land.

“This can only be halted if these leeches listen to the voice of reason and seek to do right by our people and do so by taking the right steps.

“We do not have much to say to the oil companies than to just dare you to reopen the TransForcados Pipeline (TFP),”

A durbar held in honour of the new Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare, held at the palace, on Saturday.

UNEC students in excitement for Glo campus storm Students of the Enugu Campus of the University of Nigeria had fun on Friday, when the youth-focused music concert, Glo Campus Storm, hit the institution.

The White House Auditorium of the university was for several hours enveloped in laughter, dancing and fun as some of Nigeria’s reigning music stars thrilled the enthusiastic students.

On the bill for the night were Hip Hop act, Runtown, rappers’ delight, MI, and dancehall king, Timaya. They all took turn to belt out their hottest tunes to the utmost delight of the students.

The tone for the night was set really high by Runtown, who incidentally grew up in the city of Enugu. He shared some of his early days stories with his fans, before delving into his rich repertoire of danceable songs, including “Lagos to Kampala”, “Galado”, “Baby Answer”, ”Banger” and “Bend Down”.

MI stepped on stage

to take the excitement several notches higher.

He rendered his hits one after the other. Some of these include “One Naira”, “African Rapper Number One” and “If Nobody Talks About You”.

Before the excitement died down, Egberi Papa, Timaya, climbed the stage. Years of thrilling various categories of fans came to play as he sent his young audience into deep revelry, ditching out his major hits such as “Shake Bum Bum”, “When Money No Dey”, “Dem Mama” among others.

Some of the activities that would make the show unforgettable for students include Mr Glo Campus Data Dude and Miss Glo Campus Data Diva contests which were contested by 18 ladies and 18 men.

In the end, the judges gave the crown of Mr. Glo Campus Data Dude (UNEC) to Ogbuefi Pascal, a 500 level undergraduate of Medical Radiography, while Ikpe Igbe Joy a 400 level stu-

dent of Law won the Miss Glo Campus Data Diva.

Both winners carted away N100,000 each.

Many of the students who attended the show commended Globacom for giving the students of the institution such a

nice time.

A student spoken to, Ifeanyi Atuchukwu, who is a year two student of Architecture, said the show provided him the much needed relief from academic pressure.

“This is coming at a

very good time. We study all day in this University and hardly have time to relax. So this concert came at a time when students are mentally fatigued and need to cool off a little, “said Atuchukwu.

For burying their father, family members arrested in Edo Banji Aluko-Benin City

For disregarding a ban placed on burial ceremonies during the coronation of the Oba of Benin, some members of a family in Benin City have been arrested and taken to the palace of the Oba. The family (name withheld) from Isi village in Uhunmwode Local Government Area was said to have incurred the wrath of the Benin people on Saturday when they decided to go ahead with the burial of their father.

Entertainment of guests was about to start at Iguodala Primary School in Benin when chiefs from the

palace stormed the venue and tied ‘Umehe’ leaves, signifying a no trespass order by the Oba, on the food, drinks and canopies.

A musician engaged to provide entertainment at the event was also reportedly dragged to the palace.

Palace sources said the family members were asked to buy some sacrificial items to cleanse the land.

A member of teh family, who spoke with journalists, said they got clearance from some palace chiefs to go ahead with the funeral since the actual coronation had been concluded, adding that the family was not

aware that the ban was still in place.

She said, “Three days ago, I reached the palace and I met some chiefs and told them that I have buried my father and that I just want to entertain friends and well-wishers. They said I should go ahead and demanded chop money.

I gave them N500.”

She, however, said she could not recognise the chiefs she met when she visited the palace.

A member of the Iwebo Palace society, Chief Sunday Okhiokpamwonyi, said the family would pay some fine and postpone the burial.

Sunday Tribune

the statement read.

It accused a set of leaders from the Niger Delta region of always conniving with the Federal Government to hoodwink people of the region.

According to the group, “We thought we should continue to ignore the grand error being orchestrated by those who are responsible for the current parlous state of our region.”

Girl on errand kidnapped in Lagos The Ogun Police Command has arrested one Odele Tosin for allegedly kidnapping a 12-year-old girl (names withheld).

Mr Abimbola Oyeyemi, the command’s Police Public Relations Officer, made the disclosure on Saturday in Abeokuta while addressing newsmen.

He said that the suspect, who was the leader of the kidnapping gang, committed the crime at Ketu area of Lagos, at about 1.00p.m. on Saturday Oyeyemi disclosed that the girl was kidnapped by the gang when she was on an errand for her parents.

“She was taken to a hotel in Mowe area where the kidnappers kept her and started demanding ransom.

“Luck ran against them when the anti-robbery team from Mowe Division, led by the Divisional Police Officer, CSP Ebohuwa, got a tip-off and stormed the hotel,” he said.

He said the victim was rescued unhurt, while one of the suspects was arrested, but the others escaped.

He said that the Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, had ordered for a manhunt for the fleeing members of the gang.

Oyeyemi said that the commissioner had directed that the suspect be transferred to antikidnapping unit at the command headquarters, Abeokuta, for discreet investigation.

He said the CP commended the efforts of the rescue team and assured residents of the state of adequate security.

6

23 October, 2016

crimereports

Sunday Tribune

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

Corps member shot dead while visiting female friend in Kaduna Muhammad Sabiu - Kaduna

A

member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving in Kaduna State, Lawal Auwal Kontagora, has been murdered by unidentified assailants.

It was gathered that the deceased graduated from one of the universities in Malaysia four months ago to participate in the oneyear mandatory service.

Findings revealed that the incident occurred when Kontagora and his friend went to visit a female friend. While they were inside a Peugeot 407 car with the lady, the hoodlums were said to have moved near the car and asked them to open the door which they did.

When they alighted from the car, they were asked to be on their knees. The assailants then demanded for their mobile phones.

It was gathered that in the process of going inside the car to get the phone, the killers thought he was trying to be smart so they shot him at close range.

According to the corps member’s sibling, Yusuf Ma’aji Kontagora, when they received the information around 10:00 p.m., they rushed to the scene and took him to Garkuwa Hospital along Sultan Road where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The young man, who was the first son of Dan-

maliki Kontagora, Alhaji Lawal Kontagora, from his second wife, Hajiya Hafsat Lawal, was said to be a gentleman and very friendly to everyone.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Kaduna State command, ASP Aliyu Usman, confirmed the murder of the corps member who was serving with an ICT firm.

The police imagemaker disclosed that an investigation had been launched into the case and some arrests already made.

Also reacting to the incident, NYSC coordinator in Kaduna State, Muhammed Momoh, described the death of the corps member as a shock and a big loss.

According to him, “NYSC has confirmed the death of

a corps member who was attacked by hoodlums at Malali. It is unfortunate that at a time the country is developing potential young Nigerians like him, some people are bent on frustrating such effort.

“NYSC condoles with the family of the deceased while tasking the police and security agents to trail and fish out the perpetrators.”

Late Lawal Kontagora

I sold my 2-month-old baby for N.45m because there was no one to take care of her, says mum A 51-year-old woman, Rose Edward, is in police net in Akwa Ibom State for allegedly buying a two-monthold baby for N450,000.

Mr Murtala Mani, Akwa Ibom State Commissioner of Police, disclosed this on

Saturday in Uyo, the state capital, while briefing newsmen, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported.

Mani, who spoke through ASP Cordelia Nwanwe, the spokesperson of the state police command, said that

a homeopathtic doctor, Eneyo Nyang, was arrested in connection with the crime.

He said that Edward from Rivers State allegedly confessed to have bought the baby because she needed a baby of her own.

Confessing to the crime, the mother of the baby, Comfort Effiong, said that she sold her baby because there was no one to take care of her.

“I sold the baby because of help. I don’t have any-

body to help me. My father is late and my mother is sick and I don’t have anybody to help me,” Effiong said.

Mani assured Akwa Ibom people that the command would not relent in its effort to curb crime in the state.

I did not rape 12-year-old, I only attempted to do it, says man arrested by police Celestine Ihejirika - Umuahia

ABIA State Police Command has paraded nine suspected criminals for various crimes including kidnapping, rape, vandalism, car snatching, and illegal use of arms and ammunition.

The state police commissioner, Mr Leye Oyebade, disclosed this while parading the suspects at the police headquarters, Umuahia.

He siad on October 18, operatives of Arochukwu division arrested three persons: Chima Ochiabuto, 35yrs; Immaculate Ogbonna, 25yrs and Uche Nwaokoro 20yrs for allegedly defiling a 12-year-old girl at Amuvi Arochukwu.

He added that the suspects who allegedly took turns to defile the girl were arrested following alarm raised by her guardian.

One of the suspects,

Ochiabuto, while answering questions from journalists, said he never raped, saying he only attempted to rape her while Nwokoro admitted committing the act, adding that the devil made him to do it.

The police commissioner disclosed that on October 15, police from Ndiegoro division, Aba, acting on intelligence gathering recovered one double-barreled shot-

gun cut to seize, two locallymade pistols, three live cartridges and one empty shell.

The commissioner further disclosed that the police in Aba, with the help of the vigilance group in the area, rescued a Ghana-based businessman who was kidnapped around Enugu/Port Harcourt expressway at Umuikaa junction.

On arrest of suspected car theft and vandals, Oyebade

said Victor Eborgu, an alleged student of Caritas University in Enugu State, was paraded for stealing a Mercedes Benz 230E with registration number UMA 134 HR while the command apprehended two suspected vandals, Ebuka Dike and George Okafor, in Isuochi who specialized in vandalising street lights installations within the local government.

Highway robbers wearing military uniform nabbed in Enugu, 7 robbery suspects arrested in Kaduna THE Police in Enugu State, on Saturday, said they had smashed a highway robbery suspects disguising as soldiers at the Nsukka axis of Enugu-Makurdi road.

The police said they recovered two double-barreled guns fabricated as AK-47 rifle, money, a pair of boots, torches, among others.

The police spokesman in the state, Mr Ebere Amaraizu, told the News Agency

of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu that the hoodlums were dressed in military camouflage.

“The Police Counter Terrorism Unit Axis received a distress call on Thursday that hoodlums had blocked the road by Inyi in Igboeze North and wreaking havoc on their victims.

“The unit swung into action promptly which resulted in exchange of fire. One of the hoodlums was fatally

injured and later confirmed dead by a doctor.

“Another hoodlum identified as Godwin Okpe from Ogbadigbo in Benue State dressed in camouflage is also fatally injured and being revived to aid operatives in their investigation.

Others escaped with bullet wounds,” Amaraizu added.

He appealed to members of the public particularly hospital operators to watch out for any one with bullet

injury and report promptly to any nearby police station.

Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Mr Emmanuel Ojukwu, applauded the effort of the policemen.

Ojukwu said that the command would continue to maintain functional security for members of the public as well as motorists in the state.

In a related development, police in Kaduna State on Saturday said it

arrested seven suspected armed robbers terrorising residents of Kaduna.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, ASP Aliyu Usman, told the NAN in Kaduna that the suspects were arrested at Unguwar Sarki and Narayi all in Kaduna metropolis.

Usman said victims reported to the police on October 8, while the seven suspects were arrested on the October 13 and 14 by

the command’s State Intelligence Bureau.

According to him, one of the suspects is still at large and efforts are on to arrest him and other accomplices.

“Four plasma television sets and three mobile phones were recovered from the suspects. The suspects confessed to have committed the crime. Investigation is still ongoing and they will be charged to court for prosecution,” Usman said.

news

7

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Grazing law: Miyetti Allah issues threat, demands apology They should obey the law or seek clarification —Ekiti govt Sam Nwaoko -Ado Ekiti

C

ATTLE rearers and breeders in Nigeria, under the aegis of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has alleged that the inauguration of the Ekiti Grazing Enforcement Marshals (EGEM), was “in furtherance of the threat by Governor Ayodele Fayose to banish our members (Fulani herdsmen) from Ekiti State.”

Miyetti Allah said in a statement on Saturday that the Federal Government must intervene in the inauguration of EGEM, which the herdsmen claimed had shot five of their cows “before this macabre incident develops into unquenchable inferno involving our members and Ekiti State government.”

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) was formally reacting to Governor Fayose’s inauguration of a vigilance group, Ekiti Grazing Enforcement Marshals (EGEM), popularly called ‘Anti-malu’.

MACBAN in the statement signed by its spokesman, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, said: “Fayose unleashed the marshals against our members whose herds of cattle had gone to a stream at Agon bridge on Federal Polytechnic Road between the time of 2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. to quench their thirst on Friday 21st October 2016,” claiming that

“the vigilance group shot five cows and carted away the meat, but the herdsman was able to flee with the rest of his cattle.”

The group said its members “are bona fide citizens of the country,” while seeking the intervention of the federal government.

It said: “MACBAN charged the governor to issue an apology and compensate its members who lost five cows, warning that cattle breeders would not sit idly by while they are being denied their only means of livelihood.”

The statement reads: “No cattle strayed into anybody’s farmland around that area in question. As such, the actions of the Anti-malu vigilante are not only provoking, but capable of creating uncontrollable scenarios whose ramification may go well beyond Ekiti State.

“As far as we know , Ekiti State is not an island of its own, but a state within the Federal Republic of Nigeria and while the governor is permitted to carry out actions geared towards protecting the interest of Ekiti State, such actions should follow the rule of law.

“We deplore this act of brigandage and call on Governor Ayodele Fayose to offer an unreserved apology to MACBAN, and equally set machinery in motion with a view to compensating our members who lost five cows in this primitive adventure.

“That the brutality of the Ekiti Grazing Enforcement Marshals (popularly known

as Anti- malu) on herdsmen is even outside the time stipulated by that law (if the law exists at all).

“The Federal Government should, therefore, look into the actions and activities of this committee because we cannot fold our hands while the only means of survival of our members is taken away and destroyed.

“MACBAN has instructed victims of this aggression and its members nationwide to exercise maximum restraint while we work towards resolving this unfortunate incident through mature and civilized manner.

Reacting to the threats, the Ekiti State government urged the cattle rearers and breed-

Continued from pg4

staff in the course of the year. These include First Bank, FCMB and Unity Bank, among others.

The disengagement of bank employees attracted the ire of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, who issued a statement directing the lenders to stop disengaging their staff.

That has put a stop to the trend in the industry at least for now.

The aviation sector has also had a taste of the bitter pill of mass sacking as quite a number of employees in the industry have had their appointments terminated following the relocation out of the country by some of the operators as a result of the difficulty they encounter with sourcing aviation fuel and repatriating their sales to their headquarters. Iberia and United Airlines are some of the airline opera-

will of government and see what happens to a man that breaks the law. The penalties are there. The law exists in Ekiti State; we are in a federation. That law is part of the laws of Ekiti State and anybody who will do business in Ekiti State has to comply with it or face the penalties of the law.

“We urge them not to test the will of government and the people of Ekiti State.

Obviously, they are not from Ekiti State and they cannot come here and say willy-nilly, this is how we are going to carry out our business.

They must carry out the business according to the laws of Ekiti State. When they break the law, they will

face the penalty. So, they had better obeyed the law.

“We are a peace-loving people. I advise them that if there are grey areas, and they want to seek clarification, they have to come and ask questions. It is a good law. It protects them; it protects the farmers. They have to know that the law became necessary because we have to sustain the peace we have in Ekiti State. So, if they are coming to pollute the peace in Ekiti State, the people of Ekiti State will resist them.

The law will take its course and they will be severely dealt with. They cannot do business with us illegally, they must comply with the laws of the land,” he said.

Church has role to play to bail Nigeria out of recession —Bakare PASTOR Tunde Bakare, Senior Pastor, Latter Rain Assembly, Lagos, has said the current economic recession is an opportunity for the Church to bail out the country through God-inspired economic principles.

Pastor Bakare, stated this, in Abuja, on Saturday.

He spoke on the theme: “The Church and Economic Recession, “at the 14th anniversary celebration of Foursquare Gospel Church.

He said that the church had the ability to bail out nations, influence public policy through God-inspired economic principles and strategically position human resources to implement its principles.

Bakare, however, said that

Anxiety as more companies lay off staff, reduce production their employees.

Earlier in the year, Diamond Bank Plc sacked about 200 members of its workforce. Explaining the reason for the development, the bank said it was rightsizing. It said the rightsizing was a core strategic exercise in line with the bank’s growth objective “and the will to continue the drive to optimise cost and enhance value for the shareholders at the end of the business year.”

Ecobank Nigeria also sacked over 1,000 of its employees. While confirming the development, the bank said the initial list of those to be sacked had over 1,400 workers but it was later reduced to “a little above 1,000.” It added that about 200 casual staff had their appointment regularized as they were absorbed fully into the bank.

Other banks have also had to retrench some of their

ers not to test the will of government, saying the law took into consideration the interest of all stakeholders before it was passed by the House of Assembly and signed by the state governor and if there are grey areas, they should seek clarification.

Mr. Lanre Ogunsuyi, the state Commissioner for Information, Youth and Sports Development, said “all the genuine cattle dealers were at the meeting and there was a public hearing, and the law became necessary and it was duly passed by the Ekiti State House of Assembly and signed by the state government.

“Anybody who is criminally minded can test the

tors that have stopped flying into Nigeria.

The media industry has not been spared either as quite a number of newspaper companies have had to lay off their staff.

Two other Lagos-based media outfits are also reportedly about to sack hundreds of their staff in the days and weeks to come as they cold no longer cope with paying salaries.

The major challenge of newspaper companies in the country is with sourcing their major production inputs such as newsprints, films and inks, all of which are imported. The exchange rate of naira to the dollar has made the cost of these items prohibitively expensive.

One of the companies in the industry that recently sacked some of its workforce premised it on the high cost of production “which has made it impossible for us to retain the current wage bill.”

the church was yet to rise to the height mandated to it by destiny to bail out nations and to lead them to God’s will.

“I am convinced that the recession currently being experienced in Nigeria is an opportunity for the church.

“Therefore, I declare to you that the scripture is about to be fulfilled in your hearing, as God is stirring up the church to take responsibility for the destiny of Nigeria.

“That is why we are gathered here today to talk about the church and economic recession.

“If the church is also reeling from the impact of the recession, we must admit to ourselves that this is against the scriptural pattern.

“It is the best of times to take the tenets of the faith beyond the four walls of the church building to the marketplace and the policy roundtable,” Bakare said.

The cleric added that the nation’s economic recession was largely self-inflicted which could have been avoided, saying “unfortunately for Nigeria, our biggest boom experience fell into the hands of an unpre-

pared leadership.“ Bakare, however, commended the Federal Government for its effort to salvage the nation’s economy in the past eighteen months.

Pastor Babajide Olowodola, the Senior Pastor, Fourquare Gospel Church, Asokoro, said the role of the church in addressing current economic recession could not be overemphasised.

“The church must be seen to be part of solution to economic recession not to compound the problem,“ Olowodola said.

Court okays 20-year jail on ex-Egyptian president AN Egyptian court confirmed a 20-year prison sentence against former president Mohamed Mursi on Saturday, judicial sources told Reuters.

The sentence was for a conviction arising from the killings of protesters during demonstrations in 2012.

It is the first of Mursi’s four convictions to reach the end of the judicial process, and he cannot appeal further against it.

Twenty-year jail sentences were also confirmed against other senior figures from the then-ruling Muslim Brotherhood, including Mohamed elBeltagy and Essam el-Erian.

The men were convicted in April 2015 on charges including kidnapping, torture and the killings of protesters during unrest in 2012.

The Muslim Brotherhood denies responsibility and says that most of those killed were from its own ranks.

Mursi has been sentenced in three other cases, including a death penalty for a mass jailbreak of Muslim Brotherhood prisoners during the 2011 uprising against longtime president Hosni Mubarak and a life sentence

for spying on behalf of the Palestinian group Hamas.

The Islamist Mursi became Egypt’s first freely elected president in June 2012.

An army takeover stripped

Mursi of power in 2013 following mass protests against his rule.

Hundreds of Islamists have since been killed and thousands arrested.

FG to provide more support for Armed Forces —Minister THE Minister of Defence, Brigadier-General Mansur Dan-Ali, said on Saturday that the Federal Government would provide more support for the Armed Forces, despite the country’s dwindling revenue.

Dan-Ali gave this assurance at the passing out parade of 90 new Direct Short Service Course 23 and 13 Special Duty Course 2016 cadets at the Nigerian Navy College Onne, Rivers.

He said the assistance would enable the military to succeed in its ongoing operations such as Operations Delta Safe and Tsare Teku in the Niger Delta and Operation Lafiya Dole in the North-East.

Dan-Ali said the operations were aimed at ensuring law and order as well as preserving the territorial integrity of the country.

“The President Muhammadu Buhari administration is ever committed and determined to honour its obligations to support capacity-building for the Armed Forces.

“Government is pleased that the Nigerian Navy has added a large number of platforms (war ships) to its fleet, which includes NNS Prosperity and Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV).

“As we speak, the latest OPV to the fleet of the Nigerian Navy is underway from China to Nigeria to improve the defence of the nation’s maritime interests.

“The government is committed to performing its constitutional roles despite the present economic downturn, occasioned by dwindling oil prices and the spike in militancy and sabotage in the Niger Delta,” he said.

23 October, 2016 8 news PDP, APC, AD trade words over mopping up voter cards HakeemGbadamosi-Akure

T

HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State, on Saturday, alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) are collecting voter cards from the people of the state

ahead of next month’s governorship election.

This was contained in a statement issued on behalf of the PDP candidate, Eyitayo Jegede, SAN and signed by Kayode Fashua, who said the two political parties “have been cajoling the people of the state into exchanging their cards for food items.”

But while reacting to the allegation, the Media Assistance to the AD governorship candidate, Chief Olusola Oke, Rotimi Ogunleye, denied the allegation but said the ruling party should be accused of buying voter card.

The Publicity Secrtary of the APC, Abayomi Adesanya also responded, calling on

PDP “to treat issues” rather than attacking the APC. Fashua had, in the statement, stated that the antics employed by the AD and APC confirmed their desperation to win the election, saying the two parties were bent on rigging the November 26 governorship election.

He said: “This is no hear-

say or rumour. It is common knowledge that the leg-workers of the APC and the AD have been going to markets, shops, offices and homes of residents in the state to collect their voter cards with the promise of bags of rice, tubers of yam and bunches of banana.

“This is a clear indication

Era of wasteful spending is over, Buhari tells varsities Biola Azeez - Ilorin PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has told managers of the nation’s universities that era of wasteful spending is over, saying that every available fund should be ploughed into teaching, research and productive activities.

Speaking during second day of 32nd convocation ceremony of the University of Ilorin in Ilorin on Saturday, President Buhari expressed the hope that universities should be selfreliant or be in a position to provide a substantial portion of their needed funds in the near future.

The president, who was represented at the occasion by the deputy executive secretary of the National University Commission (NUC), Professor Chiedu Felix Mafiana, said that government was aware of the hardship the citizens were going through at the moment.

He said that universities had a role to play in the effort at revitalising the economy and building a solid foundation for the nation.

“As catalyst for change, the universities should not only be producers and disseminators of knowledge, but also creators of wealth.

They should be in the vanguard in reorientating our people to espouse the ideals of good citizenship.

“In tune with the laws establishing them, our universities should relate their activities to the social, cultural and economic needs of the people of Nigeria.

They are expected, through research, to identify the problems and needs of society and find practical solutions within the context of national development.

“As purveyors of knowledge, universities should be committed to the pursuit of excellence.

“A technologically productive economy is dependent in great measure on

research inputs from the universities. I therefore challenge the universities to give of their best as the nation expects much from you. Government on its part will continue to fund our universities to the limit of its available resources,”

he said.

The president, who also said that the country was blessed with great potentialities and resources yet to be harnessed, added that the task to restore the nation to economic prosperity does not depend on govern-

ment alone.

“All of us, men and women of our great country must be involved in the struggle to build a viable and virile country for the general wellbeing of our people and even generations unborn,” he said.

FG, states, LGs share N420bn for September A total of N420 billion has been shared as federal allocation among the Federal Government, states and local government areas, for the month of September 2016.

According to the figures released by Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the gross statutory revenue of N279.746 billion received for the month was lower than the N315.045 billion received in the previous month by N35.299 billion.

Crude oil export volume decreased by 1.15 million barrels in June, 2016. The decrease caused a revenue decline of $45.52 million in federation export sales de-

spite the increase in average price of crude oil from $46.06 per barrel in May, 2016 to $48.43 per barrel in June, 2016.

Force Majeure was declared at Bonny Terminal and there a subsisting Force Majeure at Forcados Terminal.

Shut-in and Shut-down of Pipelines for repairs and maintenance also contributed to the drop in revenue, a statement made available to Sunday Tribune said.

Also, there were decreases in volume of dutiable imports, receipts from Joint Venture cash Call, Foreign Companies Income Tax

(CIT) and Value Added Tax (VAT) which stood at N64.265 billion.

The distributable statutory revenue for the month is N250.947 billion. The sum of N6.330 billion was refunded by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the Federal Government. There is a proposed distribution of N63.386 billion from the Excess PPT Account. Also, exchange gain of N41.402 billion is proposed for distribution.

The total revenue distributable for the current month ( including VAT ) is N420.000 billion.

Sunday Tribune

of a desperate attempt by these perpetrators to buy up a nonexistent popularity and reduce our people to mere articles of trade.”

The party added that the voter cards obtained from the people were actually meant to rig the election through forced inducement of food items, and possibly, money.

The party, as a result, urged the people of the state not to yield to any temptation of giving out their voter cards to anyone, “as the cards are their power to decide on who becomes the next governor of Ondo.”

He said: “Please, turn down their Greek gifts of rice, yam and banana. Turn down their money meant to buy up your conscience. After they have won through the backdoor, God forbid, they will turn their back on you and start lining their pockets and feathering their nests.

“The truth is: The money they are giving you will be doubled and even tripled if they win, leaving the masses impoverished and jobless and the infrastructure to decay.”

But Ogunleye described the PDP’s allegation as baseless and untrue, saying that the PDP government had been the one perpetrating fraud ahead of the election through the use of the “unpopular Kaadi Igbe Ayo” initiative of the present administration.

SPECIAL TREAT

Cautions to take when entering into business partnership

By Moses Alao FOR many a businessman, the fear of partnership is the beginning of wisdom. In fact, it can be safely said that “beware of bad partners” has become a golden rule for many people interested in business, as partnership has been tested and proven as capable of either making or breaking business chances.

But for the business-savvy, emotionally-intelligent and cautious businessmen and women, the partnership road not taken for some is where they ply and record their break through all the time. Why? They know their ways around; are conversant with the turns and bends and they also recognise where there are landmines—and there could be many for starters going into partnership for the first time.

Partnership, according to several online sources, has to do with the coming together of more than one person or party with a view to pursuing a business interest that is expected to be mutually beneficial and profitable for all the parties.

The United Kingdom Partnership Act of 1890 provides that partnership can come into place through conduct, oral agreement or a written contract, with the minimum membership of a partnership set at two while there is no limit as to the maximum membership. The Act further states that each partner is entitled to participate in management; get an equal share of profit, an indemnity of liabilities assumed in the course of the business and the right not to be expelled by other partners.

In England, which Nigeria apes in most of its laws, an online source maintained that “partners are jointly liable for the debts and obligations of the firm while he is a partner; where a partner has died, his estate also becomes severally liable; where there has been a wrongful act or omission or a misapplication of money or property in receipt, every partner is jointly and severally liable.”

But the most pertinent question is why partnership?

Several reasons have been advanced for people going into partnership; ranging from the need to build a formidable force for business or investment to the fact that partnership affords all parties the opportunity to achieve more profits/ results with little individual investments. Other reasons, including the fact that partnership is tax-transparent and could easily afford a partner to withdraw his capital, have also been cited. In a country like Nigeria, where family and communality have been valued for centuries, the idea of partnership is viewed from a positive angle as a better platform to succeed faster or achieve better results. The Yoruba ethnic group of South-western Nigeria have different sayings such as “ajeje owo kan o gb’eru d’ori,” “agbajo owo ni a fii so aya” and “bi a o ri eni ba la, ola kii ya boro,” all pointing to the imperativeness of team effort in achieving success.

But what are the slippery grounds that must be avoided when going into partnership?

One, nothing kills a partnership business faster than being involved with a dishonest partner or building a partnership plagued by distrust. It must be anathema to business to get involved with a partner whose personality, lifestyle and attitude one does not understand properly.

Two, having a flamboyant and financially-undisciplined partner or a Judas, a master betrayer, as partner can only bring misfortune ranging from misappropriation of resources to outright loss of one’s stake in the business. The way out of this is either to not be involved with such personality or have stringent mechanisms to check him or her.

Three, you must look out for negative traits in the individuals you want to partner with before going into the deal.

These traits include but are not limited to greed, irresponsibility, indolence, overbearingness and lack of vision or foresight. Anyone with any of these traits will likely be a

bad partner.

Four, you must ensure that your partner has knowledge, expertise or an idea about the business you are going into or is at least insightful about or disposed to innovations that can help the business. In the absence of these, you must ensure that you and your partners have the capacity to hire the services of appropriate persons in that regard.

Five, while the 1890 Act and many other rule books about partnership state that there is no requirement that partnership must be in writing, such position must remain only in theory! In practice, especially in Nigeria today, where money is not easy to come by due to economic recession, it is in your best interest to ensure that you do not go into partnership not backed by written agreements. In fact, there must be legally-binding agreements before you can be comfortable that you are into partnership. Indeed, you may have to jettison the African ideal of family or communality whenever partnership is to take effect, because as the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt and this must not be allowed in a business partnership.

Six, make the partnership agreements explicit and comprehensive. You must take caution enough to take care of the present and the future. Do not enter into partnership based on faith—leave that for the religion houses. All parties in a partnership must prepare for eventualities in terms of death and other misfortunes so that the business is not doomed by such when they happen unexpectedly.

Finally, all parties must ensure full commitment to the partnership and its success; this is the only way you all can get a Return on Investment. If and when responsibilities are assigned, ensure that you committedly do your part.

When there is any liability, take it in good faith and move on after a comprehensive analysis of the situation.

If you can observe some of these basics faithfully, there is a money-back guarantee that your partnership business is on the path of success.

9

feature

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

‘With improve research we’ll achieve food sufficiency’ Continued from

pg 3

economically-active age, were sidelined. We need to support those who need support and not those who will just run away with money and end up killing the food dreams of the largest black nation on earth,” he explained.

Fasehun also expressed worry over the success of Nigeria’s attempt at food sufficiency,noting that “the retired governors, party chairmen, etc, in their 60s and 70s are the successful farmers. Ordinarily, they should be retired because men and women within the ages of 18-30 are more suitable for that. Now, compare the number of old men farmers to Nigeria’s over 50 million unemployed youths “What do you think will happen when the old ones are out of the picture? Starvation. If you think we are starving now, you have not seen hunger. The age range of people that should be directly involved in agriculture have been ignored, not just now, but since the days of OFN and what have you. Now, the ignored youths have to survive; they have taken to betting of all sorts. How do you want to get such a person to go to farm when you don’t allow level play field?” Fasehun wondered.

He further called for youths to be directly involved in agricultural scheme rather than through third parties.

“I can only imagine what the multiplier effect will be if just 10 farmers are adequately empowered to farm for one year and their produce are mopped up by the government, through distribution agencies. If just three of these youths are successful, multiply by 774 local governments, we will have made progress. You can also be sure that other youths will be encouraged to embrace agriculture. Replicate same at state and federal level and imagine the end result,” he stated.

What government can do But that government, is insistent that efforts are being made to turn things around.

In a statement credited to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), the government said ongoing efforts geared towards ensuring national self-sufficiency in staple foods such as rice, wheat, fish, meat and dairy products, resuscitating the cotton, textiles and garment sector to contribute to employment generation are ongoing and government is encouraging states to look inwards.

As Nigeria works towards reaping over $5 billion annually from cassava production in the next few years, speaking on the determination of the present government to achieve food security, media Adviser to the Minister for Agriculture, Dr Olukayode Oyeleye, in an interaction with Sunday Tribune, highlighted the efforts of the ministry to ensure food security. According to him, the ministry was working on ensuring that states tapped into their agricultural wealth, making bank loans available to farmer in its collaboration with the Bank of Agriculture to drive down the in-

Photo: cctv-africa.com

tere s t ra t e s , major Lopez interventions in rice production and even in the production of soil-specific fertilizer which will ultimate result in better output.

“We cannot deny the fact that climate change is making an impact on food production and the consequences. It goes

The future is agriculture that is the next big thing for Nigeria. We are also making sure the food we produce meet the nutritional needs of the millions of children

without saying that crops will respond to climate changes one way or the other.

However, enormous progress can be made to achieve zero hunger by 2030. If in two years, rice importation was driven down significantly, then 14 years is a long time.

There are now rice varieties that increase production from two metric tonnes per hectare to four metric tonnes per hectare.

How much we are able to make use of the available resources is what is important.

According to him: “The ministry is also working hand-in-hand with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to resuscitate the various river basin authorities.

It’s an ongoing thing and action plans are in place. For instance, this dry season, there will be much difference. More earth dams will be built so that more water can be captured. Various states of the federation that do not have dams will have earth dams built to capture water so that people involved in dry season production will have access to water. Last year, irrigation played a major role in wheat production,” he stated.

We are optimistic about achieving zero hunger —IITA At non-governmental institutions’ level, optimism is high that Nigeria, given the right condition, can achieve food sufficiency even with other environmental and natural issues like climate change.

Head of Communication, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Katherine Lopez, speaking with Sunday Tribune on how climate change affects food production, stated that there was a lot of ongoing research on climate change.

“There is research going on in terms of climate change as it affects food production. We have been working on developing varieties that are resistant to the rigours of climate like drought, high temperatures, among others. We have developed variet-

ies of important crops which are tolerant.

That means these varieties of important crops such as maize, cowpeas, that grow in very hot temperatures or cassava which needs little water can grow in spite of the lack of water,” she said.

In her comments on efforts to achieve zero hunger by 2030, Lopez, who highlighted further efforts of the IITA and other stakeholders in food production, noted that “We have an initiative at the IITA headed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, that is the Zero Hunger Nigeria Initiative. He’s providing support in that regard to the IITA. On October 4th, we had a meeting in Abuja where we discussed the implementation plan. There are nine committees addressing different areas like infrastructure, financing, research and others.

“So, we’re optimistic that zero hunger can be achieved if we all work together – the institute, the ministry, government and other stakeholders. Some governors and the FMARD are working on that initiative with the former president and it will take off soon. We are saying now that the future is agriculture. That is, the next big thing for Nigeria. We are also making sure the food we produce meet the nutritional needs of the millions of children who need vitamins and macro and micro nutrients lacking on food,” said Lopez, who explained that IITA is partnering institutions like the African Development Bank to ensure that agricultural yields improve considerably by providing farmers with produce.

“We need a new generation of modern farmers who would use advanced technology. We’re working on a project with the African Development Bank which would help the youth start up businesses wherever they are and it is an African-wide initiative. There are lots of stories of youths going into agriculture and succeeding,” she said.

10

feature

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Kaduna: How katakata in Godogodo claimed 50 lives A communal clash between indigenes of Godogodo in Kaduna State and their Fulani herdsmen neighbours has claimed about 50 lives. MUHAMMAD SABIU writes that the clash between the two erstwhile amiable neighbours had left the town in tatters.

G

ODOGODO town is the headquarters of Godogodo chiefdom in Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The people of Godogodo are predominantly farmers who had lived together peacefully with Fulani herdsmen and other ethnic groups even from other parts of the country like the Yoruba and Igbo for many years.

Going down memory lane, Mr Joseph Ishaya, one of the residents of the area told the Sunday Tribune that “forty years ago, our house was very close to a Fulani settlement. My brother and I will go to the settlement to play with their children and eventually my brother fell in love with one of the Fulani girls.”

“The relationship was based on trust and love. During Eid festivals, we celebrated with the herdsmen, likewise during Christmas they came to our houses to rejoice with us,” he stressed.

That good-neighbourliness has, however, disappeared. In fact, the events of the past months which led to wanton destruction of houses as well as the killing of several others raised serious concerns about security in the area. A source who pleaded for anonymity explained how the crisis in Godogodo escalated.

He told Sunday Tribune that: “one day, one of the farmers in this town came to the farm and discovered that cows hadeaten all the crops on his farm,” an recurrence that pushed the embattled farmer to procure some poisonous substances the following day, which he spread on the farm. However, unknown to him, while he was spreading the poisonous substance, some Fulani youths were watching him from a distance.

Later, it was learnt, the youth met the farmer and asked him why he poisoned his farm. Though, there was no evidence of what actually transpired between the farmer and the youths, Sunday Tribune investigations gathered that when the news of the Fulani youths’ visit spread across the town, youths of Godogodo went after the Fulani youths. Unfortunately, they could not find them in their houses as they had moved together with their parents to another grazing land somewhere around Nasarawa State.

The youths, it was learnt, met a 75-yearold Fulani man whom they allegedly murdered. Indeed, the killing of the old man infuriated his kinsmen. It was gathered that it was from that moment the Fulani herdsmen began to unleash series of attacks from their hideouts. Findings gathered that among the attacks they carried out was the one on penultimate Tuesday which led to the murder of two policemen, while four other policemen sustained injuries.

Barely four days after, precisely one week ago, the suspected herdsmen stormed Godogodo village again. Eyewitnesses remarked that when they came, they started shot sporadically in the air and set fire on some houses. According to a source, some of the inhabitants were

File photo of a crisis

Burnt property

burnt inside their houses, while those who were trying to escape were gunned down.

“We counted over 20 bodies of our people that were killed on the first attack.

Later, we discovered another 20 bodies on the second day of the attack, the source who did not want to be named told Sunday Tribune.

However, in a reprisal an unconfirmed report said the Godogodo youths attacked a bus conveying several Fulanis during which about 14 of them were allegedly killed.

In a swift reaction, the area’s interim local government Chairman, Mr Humble Katuka, imposed a dusk to dawn curfew. According to him, “We have to take this step in order to control the situation. Also, the police image-maker, ASP Aliyu Usman, confirmed the mayhem at

Godogodo and that the state police commissioner, Suleiman Lemu, has asked for the enforcement of more policemen in the area.

Also, the state government has condemned the crisis. Speaking, during a visit to the town, the state deputy governor, Barnabas Bala, while commiserating with the families of those who lost their lives, reaffirmed the state government’s determination to ensure that the lives and property of its citizens are protected at all the time.

He said that the state government would fish out those responsible, including their sponsors. He also said that the state government will send relief materials to the affected victims immediately.

Even with the assurance of the deputy governor, as of the time of filing this re-

port, the town was still deserted. A native of the area, who gave his name as Simon said: “people have left the town for neighbouring villages. We will not come back until we are sure measures are being put in place to protect us.

However, Sunday Tribune findings gathered that apart from the exodus of the people, schools, shops as well as markets remained closed, despite the curfew has being relaxed.

Disturbed by the situation in the area, a Senator representing Southern Kaduna senatorial district, Senator Danjuma Lah, condemned the act of wanton destruction and loss of lives, describing the carnage as a crime against the people of Godogodo, Southern Kaduna and humanity.

In a statement issued to newsmen in Kaduna, Lah stated: “I heard about the happening, but I was stopped from rushing down here. I want to say that what I have seen here is a huge crime. It is an unforgivable crime against the people of Godogodo, Southern Kaduna and humanity.

“No group of persons must be allowed to escape with this impunity. My heart bleeds for you.”

Also condemning the attack, the state chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Haruna Usman, maintained that the perpetrators should be identified and prosecuted. He, however, called for the need to be cautious in blaming Fulani herdsmen, saying the real herdsmen who had lived in the area could not have carried out such acts.

The Southern Kaduna Peoples Assembly (SOKAPU), reacting through its National Publicity Secretary, Reuben Buhari, noted that both the federal and state governments should intensify security in the area.

“There are quite a number of internally displaced women and children roaming about without shelter and food,” he said.

11

feature

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Thieves now target restaurants, canteens to cart away food as hunger bites harder

Many canteens and bukas are now wary of midnight raiders who burgle their shops taking away foodstuffs and stew meant for the next day’s business. TADE MAKINDE, OLALEKAN OLABULO and SEGUN ADEBAYO report that the trend is a disturbing story of hunger in the land.

I

T was a hot afternoon. At a restaurant in Victoria Island, Lagos State, two members of staff of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), sat to eat their favourite meal for lunch when a man in suit walked to their table.

He took a seat opposite them and dragged the plate in front of one of them towards himself and began to eat voraciously. The two friends were taken aback, but soon composed themselves.

Without saying a word, the man in suit consumed the rice, beans and dodo meal to the last morsel. The two friends kept quiet, waiting for what could happen next.

“I thought the guy was mad. There are many mad people in Lagos wearing suits, my brother. I winked at my friend that he should not do anything but watch.

“After the guy finished eating, he apologised and said he had not eaten a good meal for three days and could have fainted if he didn’t put anything in his tummy. He apologised further, saying that if he had started begging us for support when he Photo: cctv-africa.com came in, he was not likely to be taken seriously. I gave him N1,000. My friend didn’t say anything, he just ordered for another plate of food for himself and a takeaway for the guy,” the man told Sunday Tribune.

This event was just a trending narrative of the situation in the country as hunger, occasioned by the economic recession, continues to bite harder. It is no news that prices of foodstuffs have risen, just as some people are now midnight raiders of restaurants and canteens, stealing foodstuffs, pepper, fish and meat, which the owners had prepared for sale the foldid lowing morning. that Man arrested for stealing Carol, also known as “Iya e v e n food at Borno IDP camp Ropo,” is a very popular canteen before I operator in Araromi area of Sango in came.

The Ogun State. Between January and now, first one since I her shop had been burgled twice by yet- came was the worst. They took our raw to-be identified people who went away rice, stew, fried meat and even our diswith her foodstuffs and other items. posable plates,” Ope stated.

Ope, one of the attendants at the canShe also said that: “after the first time, teen, who spoke with Sunday Tribune, they came back and still stole some foodsaid that her boss had decided to be tak- stuffs, but after that, we decided to be taking her foodstuffs home when it became ing our foodstuffs home. It is very strenuclear that the perpetrators might come ous, but that is the only thing we can do.” back.

Iya Ropo confirmed that her shop had ‘Since I came here last year, our shop been burgled on three occasions this year. had been burgled thrice. I heard that they She also stated that she never reported

Madam Carol’s buka any of those incidents to the police. The canteen operator decided not to report “in order not to waste more money.”

Iya Ropo, who claimed to have been operating in the area for over 13 years, stated that she never experienced such burglary incident until the last one year.

“I started with hawking before I got this shop. I have been here for about eight years and my shop was never burgled until about a year ago.”

In Ibadan, Oyo State capital the same occurrence is also trending. Within one week of this month, two restaurants at Imalefalafia, Oke Ado area of the city, were broken into and foodstuffs carted away. One of the restaurants had been

locked up for days as customers were left in the dark as to what might have caused the closure. It was assumed that the owner had travelled for a social event outside Ibadan until those close to her informed others of her predicament.

“Neighbours called early that morning that her shop had been broken into. Many heard movement from around her shop in the early hours of the morning. They thought she was the one working. She used to get to her shop between 4.00 a.m and 5.00 a.m everyday to prepare for the day’s work.

“When she told them that she had not been to her shop and had neither sent anyone there, we knew something was wrong the moment she began to run to her restaurant. When she got there, we saw the back door opened and when we got inside, everything in her shop - raw meat, yams, semovita, yam flour, pepper, drinks, salt, matches, plates, bottled and sachet water, everything except the deep freezer that was too big for the door – were taken away. They would have taken it too,” one of the neighbour who did not want to be identified told Sunday Tribune.

According to the Chairperson of Oyo State Food Vendors Association, Alhaja Hamudalat Lawal, otherwise known as Iya Dunni, the situation has become so rampant in the last few months with many food vendors forced to close their shops and stay in their houses until the trend is checked. She blamed the problem on hunger, adding that: “I don’t know what burglars could possibly be looking for in the shops of food vendors. We don’t keep money in our shops. What is happening now is an indication that there is hunger in the land. It is frustrating and very disturbing.”

Sunday Tribune investigation revealed that about 100 shops have reportedly been burgled in Ibadan in the last few months, most of them located around Ijokodo, Oke Ado, Sango areas of the city. Iya Dunni said the condition of the country’s economy had forced many people to take to other means of survival.

“I want to appeal to the government to please look into this matter before it drives many food vendors out of business. I really don’t understand why people would break into food vendors’ shops to steal foodstuffs and soup ingredients.

It shows that the people are hungry. If people are no longer interested in stealing money but foods, then the government should know it has big task in its hand.

“At this point, we can only appeal to the government to come to our rescue because things are getting bad by the day and nobody is giving us any explanation.

We hope that this unusual development will not drive us out of business,” she said.

12

23, October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

foreignfeatures Sold to Boko Haram for N1,000, 17-yr-old gives chilling details of life in the terrorists camp

‘Anytime my Boko Haram husband wanted to have sex and I refused, he would rape me and beat me up’

A

MINATA (not her real name), 17, was taken by the Islamic group from her hometown, Borno State in Nigeria two years ago and married off to an insurgent. She had no choice but to live with the group who made her ‘witness terrible things.’

This interview was conducted in a protective location by a female UNICEF Nigeria Child Protection Officer on October 14 and was taken from the Daily Mail of UK. “I came in contact with Boko Haram insurgents in my hometown in Borno State, Nigeria.

“They saw me at my uncle’s house during their first attack on our town. I have lived with my uncle since I was two years old. My biological father and family live in Cameroon.

“Boko Haram invaded the town and convinced my uncle to join them. They also asked if there were any girls in his compound. They offered N1,000 for each girl.

“I was sitting next to my grandmother when they dragged me to a car. They took 14 other girls from my neighbourhood to an unknown location outside my town. I was held there for two months and then I was forced to marry one of the insurgents.

“Before you marry an insurgent, you are a maid. You wash plates and cook for the insurgents. But when you get married, you become a wife and also focus on only him.

“The ‘wedding’ had nothing. There was no clothing, no lotions, no creams, no presents. It was just in my old clothes that I went to the house of my ‘husband’, which was just a hut with a room in it. That was where we lived.

“Every time he wanted to have sex, I refused. He would rape me and beat me up.

I cannot count the number of times he has beaten me.

“I lived there with the armed group for two years. It was a very bad experience. I have witnessed terrible things, including the slaughtering of women in a town by the insurgents.

“They killed women who refused to marry them. Once, they caught someone who had married another wife without telling them. They buried him up to his head in the ground. Then they stoned his head until he died. It was a public punishment that we were forced to watch.

“In some villages, when they attack, they steal cattle and sell it off before feeding their wives and children. We didn’t ever have enough food. And any food we did get didn’t have any condiments. The insurgents have to steal food from villages or attack villages before we eat. They don’t have

Aminata (The face wasnot shown for security purpose)

They killed women who refused to marry them.

Once, they caught someone who had married another wife without telling them. They buried him up to his head in the ground. Then they stoned his head until he died. It was a public punishment that we were forced to watch any food.

“My ‘husband’ had three wives before me who became suicide bombers. But he decided he wanted me to remain as his ‘wife’. Two weeks later, he married another wife.

“My ‘husband’ told me that if he decided or wanted to, he would send me and my cowife to town as suicide bombers. I was so scared.

“Three days after that, I told one of the women that I was going to a nearby village to visit my grandmother. My ‘husband’ gave me three days for the visit.

I was with my grandmother in that vil-

lage when the military arrived to fight the insurgents.

“After the fighting, the military took me with them to Bama. I was in Bama with the military for a month before I was brought here.

“My uncle and his brothers are still with the insurgents, and I have seen them carry out terrible acts, including killing people.

“I really miss my family, and I wish I could see them again. We have been separated for too long. They live in Cameroon. I sincerely hope that everyone who has been taken like me can leave Boko Haram and be reintegrated back into society.

“My co-wife used to tell me to stop thinking about my parents, but she also said, ‘don’t worry, you will find them one day.’ I hope it is true.

“I have been living as an IDP here in this camp for four months. I am pregnant.

When I discovered I was pregnant, I was so unhappy, because it was my ‘husband’ who did it.

“The pregnancy is very difficult for me, but people here in the camp have been kind. People ask me how I escaped, and when I tell them, they glory to God. “It is good, because, although people know I was with the insurgents, so far, no one has treated me badly. I live with people from my local government area here in the camp.

“They have been very supportive. I only have a craving for certain foods which I cannot get here, and to see my family.

“I hope to get married one day in the future and to start a business. But because I have never been in school, I cannot start doing that now, unfortunately.

“I also want villagers who had to flee the conflict to remain here for a while and not rush back to their towns and villages to resettle. We suffered there tremendously.

“But I am extremely happy I am no longer with the insurgents. I want to thank all the people who have helped me. All I want now is to see my family again.”

13

T

23 October, 2016

HE last time I was here in this august Chamber was May 25, 1962, when I sat in the official box as a very important guest. That same day two meetings of the Western Region House of Assembly were held: one in the morning, and the other in the afternoon.

Each meeting ended in fiasco—deliberately engineered by the powers-that-be at the federal level as an initial process in a well-calculated plan to annihilate the Action Group of Nigeria and t0 destroy its leader politically and (as we have now been reliably informed) physically as well. It had been thought by the arch-planners that, on the accomplishment of these diabolical ends, they would thenceforth remain in power for ever, and that all those who believed in the ideals of the Action Group either would totally surrender their ideological identity, or would never, never, taste of power again.

The last time I spoke in this Chamber was on the third of November, 1959, when I delivered my valedictory address to the House of Assembly. I did not imagine then that I would one day, like this, be accorded the honour and privilege of ever again addressing Hon. Members of the House of Assembly in this same chamber.

It is, therefore, most gratifying for me to be here again in this Chamber and to have this unique honour of addressing you on this occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the introduction of Free.

Universal Primary Education in Western Region out of which five virile States—Ogun, Oyo, Ondo and Benin— have been carved. I have pleasant and proud memories of my association with the Western Region, and of the role which I had the honour to play as the leader of its government for eight full years from January, 1952 to December, 1959. During this period the Western Region earned the nickname of pacesetter in all that is good and worthy of report.

1. Some of the pacesetting achievements can be recalled: Voting by symbol was introduced into Nigeria by the Action Group and was first practised at the local Government Elections in Ijebu-Remo in 1953.

2. Steel ballot boxes and security-printed ballot papers were first used in the Western Region in 1956, at the instance and insistence of the Action Croup Government.

3. The first motion ever for the creation of a new Region - in this case for the creation of a Midwestern Region now known as Bendel State—was moved in the Western Region House of Assembly by an Action Group Member of the House.

4. It was only in the Western Region that the Leader of Opposition was elected Deputy Speaker of the House of

Awo’s thoughts PATH TO NIGERIAN GREATNESS

On the campaign trail Innovations and progress in former Western Nigeria Address delivered to Oyo State House of Assembly, Ibadan, on Wednesday 16th January, 1980.

Assembly. It was also in the Western Region that Ministers of Finance and of Works were withdrawn from the Tenders Board, and the membership of the Board was restricted to Officials headed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, together with known members of the Action Group and of the NCNC chosen, from time to time in equal numbers, by the said Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance.

6. Agricultural Settlements and Institutes were first established in the Western Region.

7. It was in the Western Region that a minimum living wage was first introduced in Nigeria, and paid to workers in the Region.

8. The first-ever industrial estate and housing estate in Nigeria were established in the Western Region.

9. The first television service in Nigeria, indeed in the whole of Africa, was established in the Western Region.

10. The very famous Liberty Stadium was the first and the best of its kind in Nigeria when it was built in 1959.

In terms of elegance and comfort, it still remains the best

Sunday Tribune

in the country.

11. Before 1952, the Nigerian .Government had never awarded as many as twenty university scholarships a year to Nigerian students. In that year (1952), the Western Region Government became the first ever to award two hundred university scholarships in one year to students of Western Region origin.

12. It was In the Western Region, twenty-five years ago that Free Universal Primary Education, and Free Health Services for children up to the age of eighteen, were first introduced in any part of Nigeria. It was also in the Western Region that a six-year primary course, instead of the then existing eight-year primary course, was first introduced.

Some people have disrespectfully and insultingly described the Western Region as “the wild, wild West.” No people with predominant wild inclinations such as are implicit in the description can record in a short period of eight years the supremely impressive epochmaking, and pacesetting innovations and achievements which have been itemized above. The truth about the people of the Western Region is that they are sufficiently enlightened and bold to refuse to be led by the nose by any person or group however sophisticated such person or group may appear.

They are slow to anger; robust in contentions; alert to their rights, and will fearlessly resist and combat evil whenever and wherever they discern it, with all their might and resources. To the people of the Western Region a leader is made, not born. He is expected to justify his leadership by his personal attributes, and by his works for the good of the people. Whereas in some other parts of the country a leader is born and it is the Iollowership that are expected to justify their worthiness to follow by the extremity of their obedience and subservience.

When the decision was taken in 1952 to introduce free universal education and free health services for children up to the age of 18 in the Western Region, it became necessary in order to finance the schemes immediately to impose an Education and Health Levy of 10 shillings per male adult taxpayer throughout the Region and also per female adult taxpayer in Ijebu Province only. The collection of the levy commenced two years before the introduction of the schemes. This time-lag led to a lot of misrepresentations, which were heightened by the novelty of the schemes and the incredulity of the people towards them.

To be continued

AFRICAN NEWSPAPERS OF NIGERIA PLC Founders: CHIEF OBAFEMI AWOLOWO GCFR, SAN (1909 - 1987)

Chief (Dr) H.I.D Awolowo CON (1915 - 2015)

Chairman Rev. (Mrs) Omotola Oyediran Co-Chairman Dr. Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief Edward Dickson Controller (Business Development) Fola Oke

Ibadan Office (Advert Hot Lines): 08077227269; 08034135733 Lagos Office (Advert Hot Lines): 08055333067; 08033013177

Abuja Office: Suites G2. 05-07, PEB04 Plaza, Plot 2027, Dalaba Street, Beside NAPTIP Headquarters, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja Advert Hot Lines: 08033199716; 08078891797

South South Regional Office: No. 50 Ikwerre Rd., Mile 1, Diobu, P/Harcourt, Rivers State

Kaduna Office: AN 20, Lagos Street, by Keffi Rd., Kaduna.

Chief Accountant Oluremi Olufisayo, ACA

Ikeja Marketing Office.

Block C, First Floor, Motorways centre, Opp., 7up Alausa, Ikeja.

Snr. Manager (Advertisements) Kayode Titiloye Sales Manager Omotayo Lewis, Ph.D Consultant/Director Segun Olatunji, Ph.D

GOT NEWS?

Contact: sundaytribuneeditor@yahoo.com or call:08050498483

14

voxpop

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Who will you donate your kidney to: your parent or spouse?

Parents and spouses are important to every individual. DEOLU ADEMUYIWA speaks with a cross section of people on who they would give their kidneys to between the two important sets of people.

KAMORUDEEN OLAOJO I will donate my other kidney to my mother because she gave birth to me and she will definitely be there for me in difficult times and she has also suffered a lot over me before getting to this stage in life.

DAUD ROSHYD RAYSHYART If it is my mother, I will donate to her.

The reason is that without my mother I would not exist, not to talk of having two kidneys. so I will donate the other kidney to my mother. But if it is my father who needs a kidney, I will rather donate it to my wife.

TOLULOPE IDOWU I will definitely donate to either of my parents because they will be there for me in times of trouble but my wife can leave me and marry another man.

MATHIAS AIYA God forbid! But if this happens I will donate to my wife because I am one flesh with her, she is closer to me than my parents and she can take care of my children when I die.

BENJAMIN GEORGE My wife is the nearest person to me, I will donate the other kidney to her. Even if you ask my father this same question, he will give his kidney to his wife. She is the mother of my children.

GRACE SAMBO I am not praying for that kind of thing but I will donate to my husband because I am now married to him for better or for worse. If I did not donate it and anything happens to him it will affect me also.

ELIZABETH FAGBEWASA My husband can forsake me. I will donate my kidney to either of my parents. If my husband is okay, after the transplant, he can marry other wives. My parent cannot forsake me. My husband may not remember the favour.

OLAWALE ALABI This is a very sensitive question.

In fact, I don’t know who to go for, because they are both important to me. But the fact is that my parents are always there for me and my wife can leave me any time, even after donation. So I will donate to either of my parents.

GBENGA ADEJAYAN It is a very difficult question for me to answer because I’m in love with my wife and parents.

But if my parent is old, I will donate it to my wife. Both of them are important in my life.

LANRE ABE It is a very hard question. I love my parents and my wife personally. My parents are older, so I will donate to my wife because she is still young. If I donate to either of my parents, they might still die after the donation.

MERCY BAB I am not married, but supposing I was, I cannot donate my kidney to my spouse because men are not reliable. I will rather donate to either of my parents instead.

CHIJINDU ALIAGWU I will donate my other kidney to my wife because my parents will definitely die before me though that is their prayer. So, donation to either of them is a loss. I will save my wife instead because of my children.

15

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

I’m not yet ripe to step into my dad’s shoes —Tolu Obey

Tolu Obey-Fabiyi is the only child that takes after his father, Evangelist Ebenezer ObeyFabiyi as a musician. The musician, who is also the current treasurer of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN), in this interview with SEYI SOKOYA, speaks on the pressure that comes with stepping into his father’s shoes.

Y

OU are the only child that took after your father’s music career and you are also a cleric, how do you handle these two?

It takes a lot of sacrifices to take after my father. It took me a lot of sleepless nights and determination. To me, music doesn’t have an end. One has to be up and doing as well as work hard to remain relevant. Back then, I would use the door handle as a microphone to sing and scratch the surface of ruler as my guitar, but my late mother, family and friends would always laugh at me. I thank God that those memories have become a reality today. On the other hand, the entire children have also enjoyed the grace of the

Again, Peter gets another endorsement deal without twin brother

Why Funke Akindele shunned Femi Adebayo’s wedding

fact that our parents brought us up in the way of God. Virtually all of us are clerics, but I think I was lucky to have added music to it professionally.

Would you say you have all it takes to step into his shoes?

His shoes are too big for me. I don’t think I am ripe to step into them now; I still have a long way to go and I am glad that I have commenced the journey. I am still under his tutelage and I already have a legacy, standard to maintain and integrity I have to uphold. I am trusting God for the grace to sustain all these qualities.

Continued on pg16

Fans’ criticisms help me to grow ––Simi

16

23 October, 2016

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

‘I started having grey hair at 14’

has also given me the leverage to excel as a great musician. In fact, some people mistake me for him whenever I sing.

What does it take to become a successful Juju musician?

Anyone who desires to be successful in Juju music must have a deep understanding of Yoruba language as well as the usage of words, proverbs and poetry. Music is all about poems and rhymes. Juju music is even more complicated than other genres of music. Anyone that desires to be successful in it must have a clear understanding of the terrain, culture and tradition of the land, which will also enhance the flow of communication because a Juju artiste must always be seen as educating, entertaining and making people happy. But if none of these qualities is possessed, no one will want to listen to you. Another thing that is very important is that one must be well cultured and be respectful. This is one thing that amuses me most about my father. At 74, he is still respectful and very humble. He would prostrate to someone who cannot even afford his fees. I tried to make a discovery on why he is used to that and I realised that it is from the scriptures and his upbringing. Honestly, I want to be more humble than my father because he is an epitome of humility.

What do you think about the new romance between Juju artistes and other genre of music?

We are colleagues and I don’t see anything bad in that.

Gone are the days when recording companies would arrange misunderstanding among artistes in order to make money.

Back then, some artistes engaged in real fight. I think this generation should embrace unity in order to raise the bar of the industry. In fact, most of us are educated and instead of fighting, we collaborate. We should also cultivate the habit of respecting one another.

Continued from pg15

At what point did you realise that you are gifted?

I was the worst singer in my family back then. I am always noticed whenever we were singing in the house because almost all my siblings sang well. Though I played a number of musical instruments, I was challenged as a result of this and I fasted for three days and prayed for a good voice and the Holy Spirit ministered to me on the last day saying, “son, is there anything I created that is not good?” I replied nothing; The spirit responded “...then you have a good voice.” Instantly, I keyed into the revelation and summoned the courage that I have a good voice; I later went for voice training. Around that time, my father’s American friend, Margret Ingharm, also gave me a voice training tape and the whole story changed after I went through the exercises in the tape in addition to the experiences I was able to gather at the training. Above all, the story changed for good and people are now willing to hear my voice; some people even said that I sound like my father.

Do you see this as a privilege?

To be candid, I see this as a privilege to be like him. I am still a learner; I listen and learn from him every day so as to be like him. It is not easy, but I know God will help me. At present, I do music for a living and this is what I am using to feed and fend for my family; it is the only source of my livelihood and I will not for once take it with flippancy.

Some have claimed that you are not visible compared to other young musicians in the industry. How would you react to this?

It depends on the kind of music they listen to. A lot of people who are familiar with Juju music will say that I am visible and relevant, especially with my current position in PMAN. I pray that God will help me to achieve more, just as my father, who is now a professor of music. As for me, I look forward to achieving greater things with music even to the extent of wining the Grammy awards.

It is believed that Juju music is not meant for the faint-hearted; how are you preparing to step into the

big scene?

Every generation has its own challenges. Initially, I had such fears, but I have never encountered such since I ventured into Juju music. But as a committed and dedicated Christian, God has been faithful to me and will make me overcome any obstacle that comes my way.

Some people have also classified Juju music as a dead genre of music, what is your take on this?

Before I answer this, I will firstly assess the entire entertainment industry. I think the industry deserves to be commended because it is really doing well. My response is that there are lots of lazy people singing Juju music: those who prefer to sleep rather than work. I have discovered that one must work very hard in order to attain greatness. Some musicians get carried away when they see successful and celebrated musicians, forgetting the fact that they have gone through a lot of sacrifices and challenges before they could become what they are today. It is sad that there are people that are not ready to work but are expecting the goodies and fortune in music.

The rumour doing the rounds is that you are keeping a low profile because you don’t want to clash with you father. Is this true?

I want to state it here that I am enjoying myself as a successful musician in the industry and I have never seen myself to be inferior. People should not get it twisted. I am privileged to follow my father’s path and it is also a delight that my father also encouraged me to inherit his precious gifts; I am sure that it is the joy of every parent to see their children excel in their lifetime. I cannot imagine that I can clash with Ebenezer Obey, who is an evergreen musician of great repute. I am pleased to have had the privilege to share the stage with him. I havce never imagined meeting his standard not to talk of clashing with him. We should also not forget that we are in Yoruba land and there is an adage that says “Erin kii fon, k’omo re fon…” ( A child and a father cannot compete at the same time) So, I think it is even a rare privilege to raise my head when he speaks. It is ideal for me to take things easy; I am not in a haste because everything has its own time and I know my time will come. Meanwhile, he

If not music, what would you have become?

I would have been a pastor. Christianity is a way of life and it is different from music. I am saying this because I am from the family of the Levite and I believe that once you are from such family, the hand of God is upon you and one has to be called even before one answers the call of God. Asides this, I have also tried to diversify into printing business. I did this to find solutions to the copyright problems among musicians. I feel we (musicians) will feel protected if someone within the industry produces their work. I believe this initiative will help us a lot and will also boost confidence and trust. However, the initiative has even gone beyond my scope because other sectors such as churches and organisations have started patronising.

What is it behind your grey hair?

Contrary to rumours doing the rounds that it is a wig; my grey hair has been there since I was a little boy. I noticed this when I was 14; it used to be at the centre of my head before it eventually spread. At a point, I decided to keep it when I discovered that I was being impersonated and since I do not have a debut album in the market yet, I made it as a yardstick to strike a difference. I think it is a gift from God. Initially, I used to keep a low cut, but I felt I needed to have a trademark and also to reflect my father’s look in his early days.

You don’t have any album yet, why?

I have done series of albums, but they didn’t see the light of the day. This is because I believe anything worth doing is worth doing well and I have come to realise that if you do things like the other person, you will be lost in the crowd. At present, we are putting together things we believe the elders of the land will appreciate and will be embraced by the younger generation. We are working on something that will have a touch of relevance in the music sector, especially when it comes to Juju music and Miliki sounds. The baton has been passed to me by my father during his 70th birthday. and I am currently intensifying efforts to uphold the banner.

You perform both in Nigeria and abroad. How would you compare the experience?

Firstly, Nigeria comes first, while other countries follow.

This why you see people like my father, KSA, Femi and Seun Kuti and a host of my colleagues who are projecting Nigeria to the rest of the world will go and come back because this is our root. I believe one has to keep one’s base firm. Secondly, the experience has been awesome and I see it as a privilege spreading the tentacles of my music career to the outside world.

17

razzmatazz

23 October, 2016

Malaika launches new album ‘Original’ in London

Oritsefemi picks November 1 for album launch EKELE Majemite, popularly known as Oritsefemi, who is currently putting finishing touches to new album entitled ‘Corporate Miscreant’, has picked November 1

Adekola commends FIBAN executives THE Vice Presidential aspirant of Freelance and Independent Broadcasters ‘ Association of Nigeria (FIBAN), Dr Akolade Adekola popularly known as Omo Baba Overseer O. B. O, has commended the efforts of the president of the association, Yemi Sonde, with his team for the success, progress and development recorded in his tenure towards developing the FIBAN in the country as a whole.

He also applauded him for making it possible through his rebranding policy, for the FIBAN to be recognized as a major stakeholder in the broadcast industry.

This was contained in a statement issued on the facebook page of the National Publicity Secretary of Akolade O. B. O Campaign Organisation (AOCO), Mr. Adedayo Adedeji, also known as ALADEMEJI as a goodwill message to congratulate the FIBAN National President.

Sonde delivered his speech on Sunday 16th October, 2016 at the National Congress of the Association held at Blue Roof, Ibadan - Oyo express way, Ibadan.

In his speech, The National President of FIBAN was able to itemised the achievement of his regime while also lifted ban on election of the National executives of the association.

Akolade O. B. O hailed the president and his team for the effort in achieving the building of the National Secretariat which is the first of its kind in the history of FIBAN in Nigeria.

Sunday Tribune

By Seyi Sokoya FUJI artiste, Sulaimon Alao, better known as Malaika, stormed the city of London to launch his 23rd album entitled: “Original”, an event organised by his fans abroad.

The event, which took place at 304-306 Bensham Lane Thornton Heath CR7 7EQ, London, was graced by celebrities and fans.

The main performance of the night subsequently began with an acapella of some of the songs in the new album before he began dishing out various songs from his rich repertoire.

Speaking at the event, Malaika said, “This is another happy moment in my life, another achievement in a journey I never thought I would go this far. I give God the glory and want to thank members of the Alayeluwa Fans Club in United Kingdom who put this together. By the grace of God, the album will hit the market in November and my fans and music buffs can look forward to enjoying great songs in the album”.

for his album launch.

The self-aclaimed musical taliban revealed that the album has about 20 tracks, just as he noted that some of his recent works and collaborations with other artistes including “Gomina” featuring Rekado Banks, “Give Thanks”, ‘Awu Ewa’ are included in the album.

“I have been working hard on this since last year. There have been ups and downs on the project but we have done the needful. We didn’t allow challenges to weigh us down. This is the right time to kick off. “Corporate Miscreant” means an abuse of responsibility. It has almost 20 songs. The songs are creative, meaningful and well delivered. I urge my fans to keep their fingers crossed,” he said.

PMAN partners Ministry of Information and Culture to fight piracy

By Seyi Sokoya THE newly elected executive of the Performing Musicians Employers Association (PMAN), led by its president, Pretty Okafor, has announced its partnership with the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture to fight and curb the menace of piracy as well as develop creativity in the industry.

This was revealed at the just held national delegates conference and elections where Pretty Okafor emerged as president unopposed to lead the union for the next four years and consolidate on the numerous initiatives his tenure as interim president witnessed.

In a release signed on behalf of with taglines such as ‘Singer Like No Other’ and ‘Humorist Like No the Miniter of Information and Other’, with a caricature picture Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the partnership between PMAN and of the celebrities and different the ministry is multifaceted to inIndomie flavours in likewise cusstitutionalise and declare a national tomised and designs. piracy day, demonstrate commitMost notable was the delivery ment and the political will to fight style employed by the Indomie piracy, support the growth and brand which engaged musi- development of the Nigeria Entercian, sensation, Sound Sultan, tainment and creative industries, as the celebrity #delivaryman- take immediate steps to minimise likenoother, who personally de- and curtail the piracy menace and livered the packs to each celeb- to come up with stakeholder driven rity accompanied by Indomie’s anti-piracy initiatives.

Social media manager, Kenneth Iruonagbe.

According to Iruonagbe, Indomie believed that the identified celebrities are special and have distinguished themselves among several others in their various industries. “ Indomie is celebrating hardwork and effort these talents put into being extraordinary in their unique way.”

Some of the celebrities who have received their customised packs include: Alibaba, 2Baba, AY, Ice Prince, Yaw, Helen Paul, Falz, D’banj among others.

When Indomie surprised Nigerian entertainers

By Segun Adebayo

I

T was a surprise for some Nigerian celebrities as they received the customised ‘You Like No Other’ special Indomie packs, from one of Nigeria’s leading noodles brand.

The ‘You Like No Other’ campaign, according to Indomie, was

borne out of the need to appreciate and celebrate the uniqueness of every individual in their various fields of endeavor.

“Indomie believes that everyone is special in their unique way; whether he/she is a musician, an artiste, a comedian, blogger, and needs to be celebrated.”

The customised packs came

‘Orisa Mimo’ set to address psychological problems —Oreofe Williams

By Seyi Sokoya POPULAR faith-based film maker, Oreofe Williams, otherwise known as Awo Jesu, who recently completed his new work entitled: ‘Orisa Mimo’, has revealed that the movie was produced to address psychological ailments, especially Bipolar Disorder, among humans.

Williams, who is also the CEO of Oreofe Films and Theatre Production (OFTP), said further that it is important to create awareness

about these mental problems and save people within and outside the religious sector from lifetime pain.

“There are various mental problems that people encounter unknowingly such as Bipolar disorder, schizophrenic psychosis, dementia, among others.

“This is why some people are seen as sadists, while some are described as jovial persons for no reason. For instance, these are also set of the people that are in

religious institutions without their right frame of mind,” he said.

According to Awo Jesu, the movie which will be premiered in Lagos State on October 30, is dedicated to all women, especially mothers.

“Aside the fact that it is my mission to reach out to religious institutions, especially the unbelievers, the movie is targeted to proffer lasting solutions to put an end to the challenges in people’s lives and the society at large,” he added.

18

Segun Adebayo tegbollistic@yahoo.com 08116954644

Fans criticisms help my songs, says Simi

By Segun Adebayo

Actress Adedayo Ayoade set to launch new movie movie industry, said that her movie career would take a new dimension when her new movie, Obikan (single parent), is finally released.

According to Ayoade, the movie, which would dwell on the challenges single parents face, featured actors

and actresses in the Yoruba speaking movie.

“I am very happy about the way things have turned out. At first, I thought it would be difficult to shoot a movie let alone launch it, but the response I have been receiving in the last few weeks have helped me to believe more in myself,” she said.

She added that the movie, which is due to be released two weeks after its launching, would address some of the ills in the homes of many young people who are constantly worried about how to handle their homes when they get married.

“It is a complete movie that preaches patience, love, respect and understanding among couples.

This movie will change the game for me and I am very happy that my colleagues supported me on this project,” she said.

Aramide’s new album ready

By Seyi Sokoya SINGER, Aramide is finally ready to release her album. The album, Aramide revealed, is one she has been working on for a long time.

Following Aramide’s tweet earlier in October which read “I have got the keys, I am finally ready to take you guys on a journey”, there have been suggestions that the album would be titled ‘the Keys’.

However, there are things that can be done with the keys and with this one; she is opening the ‘Suitcase’. So, no more guesses, Aramide’s album title is ‘The Suitcase’.

Aramide has proven to be an artiste to reckon with in the Afro Soul music genre with her voice which has given well delivered tunes and has earned her a couple of awards.

‘The Suitcase’ being her first album, has great expectations.

According to the singer, “I hope that people will respond to it positively. From the beginning, I was particular about what people can relate to and personify basically. I think with this album, I was able to achieve a lot of that.”

There is also a circulating video on the album release where Aramide mixes her voice with the honing of

the guitar to tell her story about the suitcase album. It affords fans an experience of her sharing what is on the album.

The singer also hinted that being her first album; this will be a journey out of many that will involve even more suitcases.

“Like they say, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. So for me, this is the biggest step I have made in my career so far and it’s going to get greater and greater and there will be more suitcases along the line,” she said.

31

Seyi Sokoya seyi_sky@yahoo.com 08075166585

Again, Peter of Psquare lands endorsement deal... without twin brother I

SIMISOLA Ogunleye, popularly known as ‘Simi’, has said that criticisms from fans have made her to improve on her career as a musician.

Simi, who made her mark with hit tracks like “Love don’t care’’ and “JAMB Question’’ told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that she thrived under negative criticisms.“Some people go out of their way to be cruel, they don’t even know you; they just feel the need to be mean because it’s their constitutional right.

“I’ve been feeling quite grumpy and a bit moody all evening. But I just saw this message a fan wrote and it made me to feel so much better.

“This is why I wake up every day, eager to write another song, make another record. And this is why I don’t go to bed until 3.00 a.m. most nights.

“I have learnt to grow and be better. This is why I still drag myself to the studio even when I’m ill.

“It’s because of the beautiful souls out there who can feel what I’m trying to tell them, or show them through my music that has made me to improve,” she said.

She added that she would not be stifled by a handful of negative individuals and thanked those who had encouraged her through their messages on her social media timeline.

YORUBA actress, Adedayo Ayoade, has hinted that she has rolled out plans to launch her new movie in December.

In a brief interactive session with R on Wednesday, Ayoade who is fast becoming a popular name in the

Sunday Tribune

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

T is another happy moment for Peter of Psquare as his profile continues to rise with new endorsement deals trickling in.

For the second time in two years, Peter of Psquare has landed another endorsement deal without his twin brother, Paul.

It will be recalled that Peter was unveiled as Olympic Milk ambassador two years ago in a deal that was said to have earned him millions of naira.

For weeks now, Psquare has been working on getting back to their best after the duo decided to bury their differences following their breakup some months back. They have released a new material, Bank Alert, but the reception from their fans to their new song and video was reportedly a far cry to what it used to be.

On Thursday, Peter was unveiled alongside Falz and Orezi as Merrybet sports ambassadors without his brother, Paul and questions have been raised over why Paul was left out of the deal for the second time.

Though, it could not be ascertained as of the time of writing this report why Paul was not part of the deal, but R gathered that all might not be ‘well’ inside the SquareVille as Paul did not comment on Peter’s endorsement deal.

Peter shared the news with his fans on his Instagram page on Thursday, saying “Please help welcome me to the Brand Champions. This is where Champions play. If you don’t try, you will never know what you could have accomplished.”

‘93 Days’ goes to US for screening

By Segun Adebayo WAVE-making movie, ‘93 Days’, will be screening at the Chicago International Film Festival taking place in the Illinois Street, Chicago, United States, between October 21 and October 25.

Already ‘93 Days’ has been shortlisted by Chicago Magazine as one of the top five movies at the festival.

The Magazine said “the film is coming out of Nollywood tradition, I think it brings an international appeal because of the story it tells.”

The real-life drama is a captivating movie on how Nigeria courageously contained the Ebola pandemic resulting in the prevention of a national disaster. The title, ‘93 Days’ signifies the period Nigeria experienced its first case of Ebola to the day the World Health Organisation declared the nation Ebola free.

93 Days has been enjoying patronage in Nigerian cinemas and has been endorsed by cinema audience, celebrities, movie critics and bloggers.

The festival opened in 1965 at the Carnegie Theater, where King Vidor, Bette Davis, and Stanley Kramer were honoured for their contributions to American cinema. Since then, the festival has grown to become a world-renowned annual event.

The festival’s in-person tributes have honoured such international luminaries as François Truffaut, Orson Welles, Sophia Loren, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Satyajit Ray, Howard Hawks, George Cukor, Spike Lee, Lucino Visconti, Faye Dunaway, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Sidney Poitier, Patrice Chéreau, Ron Howard, J.A. Bayona, Viola Davis, Bruce Dern, and Kevin Kline.

Seeking out the best in international cinema, the festival has discovered new talents and opened windows to a world of film previously or otherwise unavailable in Chicago.

Over the years, the festival has introduced creative new directors like Martin Scorsese, Wim Wenders, Bertrand Tavernier, Margarethe von Trotta, Krzysztof Kieslowski, among many others, to Chicago. The festival is also dedicated to showcasing films made by filmmakers from across the state of Illinois.

Between Femi Adebayo and Funke Akindele

By Segun Adebayo

THE saying that there is no permanent friend or permanent enemy appears to be playing out between Funke Akindele-Bello and her friend, Femi Adebayo.

The news doing the rounds suggested that their once rosy relationship may have gone sour if the decision of Akindele to shun Femi Adebayo’s wedding penultimate Sunday is anything to go by.

Akindele and Adebayo had reportedly had a sizzling relationship that was

rumoured to be headed for the altar, but that was not to be as they both ended the relationship and moved on.

Not few people were taken aback when news came to town days after the wedding that Akindele had reportedly shunned Adebayo’s wedding for a comedy show held same day.

The actress took to her snapchat page on the said day to share a picture of herself posing with the awards she received at the event with the caption “Two awards in a day. Thank you.”

While the last may not have been heard about the new twist Akindele and Adebayo’s relationship some of Akindele’s colleagues were indifferent to her absence at the wedding just as others submitted that she may have stayed away to avoid causing a scene at the event.

Akindele has refused to respond to questions left on her page on why she was not at the wedding that had many of her colleagues in attendance.

Nosey Parker ...with Lalacious

Musician gets serious beating HE is a popular musician because his own type of music is purely for the street people. Many people don’t really know his name but his stage name has something to do with what people who treat the sick in the hospitals are called.

This young guy got more than what he bargained for recently at an event in Ambode state when he was given merciless beating by some people who described themselves as his fans.

According to Olofofo, trouble started for this musician, who is notorious for attracting miscreants anytime he is performing, when he arrived at the said programme and dished out his usual gutter lyrics.

After performing and as he made to head for his car, he was surrounded by ‘his fans’ who insisted he must settle then with money. The young guy refused and what followed were series of slaps, the one journalists used to call ‘dirty slaps’.

In fact, Olofofo said while the slapping and beating were going on, some of the said fans were removing his jewellery and phones while it was gathered that he also lost his shoes in the process.

By the time the dust at the scene settled, the musician had to be helped out of the event by security men.

Mistaken identity lands comedian in trouble

A popular comedian suffered total humiliation recently when policemen from one of the Oyel states arrested him and brought him to Ambode state for what we gathered, was over an offence he did not commit.

The comedian, whose stage name is the popular street word for bragging, landed in trouble over a mistaken identity. He was said to have been arrested in the Oyel state in connection with a stolen phone.

Olofofo told Nosey Parker that the comedian went through the humiliation because he shared a similar number with a phone stolen by some hoodlums. It was gathered that the phone number the police were looking for was almost the same with the comedian’s.

According to our usual reliable sources, the comedian was not only arrested in the presence of his wife and children in the Oyel state, he was brought down to Ambode state in just a pair of boxers because he was arrested in his house early in the morning.

However, when the policemen contacted the network provider of the stolen phone, they found out that they had made a mistake in the arrest, apologised to him and allowed him go.

But the story all over the Oyel city in the Oyel state where he was arrested was that he was arrested for armed robbery and kidnapping.

Careless actress almost caused commotion

IF not for Providence, this popular actress would by now be homeless as her action almost caused an entire building to be totally razed.

The actress, whose first name sounds the same as Obama’s National Security Adviser and whose surname is the same as that of one of Jesus disciples, caused confusion when her generator went up in flames and the fire extended to her car before God intervened.

Olofofo told Nosey Parker that problem started when the actress asked her gateman to refuel a generator that was working. As the gateman was refueling, there was an explosion and the fire that resulted caught the nearby vehicle which also went up in flames.

It was also gathered that the quick intervention of neighbours saved what could have become a major disaster as many of them brought their fire extinguishers to put out the fire as Olofofo said the fire was already getting close to the main building before the neighbours came.

Well, the panicky actress had no choice but to thank God for saving her from embarrassment due to her carelessness because she said she was not sure how she would take it if the fire had engulfed the building which is a rented apartment.

Polity The

23 October, 2016

Lynxeye

COLUMNS

19

What is good for N/East is good for Lagos —p28

Sunday Tribune

On The Lord’s Day

Of Aisha Buhari, Chibok girls and bellyaching judges —p30

Nigeria’s Game of ‘Throne’

Can the Third Force fly?

How the political actors manage the division that naturally comes with politics goes a long way in dousing tension and fostering political development, writes DARE ADEKANMBI in this report, against the background of the ongoing discourse on the speculated emergence of a Third Force political platform.

J

OHN Dryden, one of the greatest English poets, wrote what is regarded as one of the finest political satires in his famous poem, ‘Absalom and Achitophel.’ Through the employment of a huge dose of Biblical and religious allusions, the satiric verse lampoons the needless turmoil into which England was thrown over a succession debacle and the intrigues that attended the political fireworks.

In the creative output, Dryden does not disguise his preference for the retention of status quo ante in diametric opposition

to the clamour for a change in the political order. But critical in his versified observation is the submission that politics generally breeds division, generates hate and tension not just among the self-seeking political class but also among the citizenry as well as in the body politic.

Political events in most countries around the world, even in climes where monarchy, a traditional succession system firmly rooted in the Theory of Divine Rights of king reigns, have since made Dryden’s observation to ring true. Not a few chroniclers of political developments

since late 16th century when the poem was written will agree that as it was in Dryden’s era, it is now and will perhaps forever be. It is against the foregoing that the discourse gradually suffusing the political firmament of Nigeria is being dissected in some quarters.

In the beginning was party spirit/ discipline…

At the dawn of the current Fourth Republic in 1999, the country’s political tendencies congregated in three political parties, namely the Peoples Democratic

Those seeking restructuring of Nigeria must be specific —Former Nasarawa gov

—p23

Party, the All Peoples Party (APP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD). The PDP recorded what could be described as a pan-Nigeria success by winning elections largely in the North, South-South and the South-East zones, the AD, peopled by chieftains of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which routed the late General Sani Abacha military junta, made the South-West an impregnable fortress for those described as conservative elements who massed in the PDP. The APP won the northern states not swept by the PDP. continues on pg 20

DSS raid: Issues as arrested judges fight back —p27

20

thepolity

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

How far can a third force go?

MOSES ALAO, in this report, raises the questions about how far the pro-realignment forces can go ahead of the landmark 2019 general election.

A

S the talks about alignment and realignment of political forces in the country or the likely emergence of a third force continues to dominate the polity, there have been several questions regarding how far the new alignment of forces can go in achieving the huge task of challenging the entrenched powers in the two major political parties. Can the third force garner the needed support across the country early enough to be a major player in the politics of 2019? Can it acquire the needed political structures needed to become a truly national party and where will the support base be located? These and many others are the key questions likely to arise as the country inches closer into 2017.

But watchers of political developments in the country have maintained that there is more to the issue of a third force than just some “disgruntled political elements” leaving their former base to form a new party, noting that the issues of ideology

and the need to dislodge the already entrenched structures of the two major parties remain paramount.

Nigeria’s political discourse since the current democratic experiment began has centred on the fact that political parties in the country have no ideological underpinning, leading to most of them being only different in terms of membership and not in ideals. From politicians to scholars, there has been back and forth arguments regarding the degeneration of Nigeria’s political party system from the glorious ideological-based politics of the 60s when the Action Group, Northern People’s Congress, National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons and others and the 70s when the Unity Party of Nigeria and National Party of Nigeria gave Nigerians viable choices.

Third force, mere noisemaking—Ogunsanwo With the talk of a third force, however, the

major question has been whether the new alignment will be based on ideology or any strong leaning or on the mutual vexation of some powerful individuals in the ruling party and the desperation of others who want to reclaim power in 2019. A former Nigerian Ambassador to Belgium, Professor Cornelius Alaba Ogunsanwo, while speaking with Sunday Tribune maintained that without ideology, any talk of a third force is mere noise-making.

“You cannot plant oranges and expect to harvest apples. These politicians belong to the same stock. The fact that they can move in and out of parties; today they are in party A, tomorrow they are in party B, means essentially that there is nothing holding them together in terms of ideology.

They are being pulled apart by contests for all kind of things. You will recall the national chairman of the ruling APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun once telling PDP stalwarts to abandon a sinking ship; that the PDP was dying. Because he was aware

then that the PDP was in control of the Federal Government for many years and on that basis, had access to the resources of the state the way that other parties were jealous. Now, the APC is in charge of the looting centre, so it was like telling the PDP people that ‘you are wasting your time, your ship is of yesterday; it is sinking. Come and join us, we are all the same. If your interest is in the looting of the centre, come and join us.’ In that kind of political environment, there is not much to be expected, third force or no third force,” Professor Ogunsanwo said.

The retired diplomat, who is also a university lecturer, further noted that the pertinent question that needed to be asked was where the third force would come from. “Is it not going to come from these same politicians? Who is putting up that third force? Third force for what? Where will the resources be coming from? Is it continues on pg21

Permutation of an alternative political power base continued from

pg 19

As the democratic experiment began to take shape and the country moved from one election period to another, competition for control of power levers in the parties grew fierce and lethal. Many leaders in the parties lost their relevance and positions to the state governorswho, out of desire to either perpetuate themselves or ‘bench’ the elders and leaders, used their good offices to draw the majority of the party members to themselves, leaving the leaders shorn of disciples. Unlike in the First and Second Republics when individuals who ran the parties were real party men, the governors and the president installed their puppets in key party positions. Internal democracy gave way to the murderous move for party control. The phenomenon of godfatherism grew and became entrenched and the parties imploded and later exploded. Only PDP, which was kept in power by the fact of its control of central governments and majority of the states managed to survive early death.

From the ashes of the smaller parties have come various other parties. The political space became expanded on the strength of the loud argument for plurality of political views. But the resultant multiplicity of parties has not stopped the parties from bleeding from injuries either internally or externally inflicted on them.

At a stage, the popularity and exploits of the All Progressive Grand Alliance in the North-East, Labour and Accord parties in some states in the South-West sparked a debate about the need for what is labelled a Third Force, in its biological conception as a political platform of like-minds averse to the politics of those in the parties in government; a party of ideological purists not ‘contaminated’ by the bug in the big parties.

Observers agree that the alliance successfully forged in a fiery furnace of sort by leaders of smaller opposition parties in September 2013, leading to the establishment of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), was a big leap

President Muhammadu Buhari

in the country’s democratic growth and a lesson to the ruling parties that the citizenry cannot be taken for granted, as well as a source of encouragement for today’s opposition parties that all hope is not lost.

For PDP which dominated the political landscape for 16 years at the centre, the centre can no longer hold since it lost the central government to the APC. The supremacy battle among its chieftains appears to have reduced the party, which once prided itself as the biggest in Africa, to a house in disarray. The two factions in the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff-led faction and Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led faction are locked in a battle of wits which is said to have an external dimension. With the PDP aching in many joints, many of its leaders and members are standing aloof and others are moving to the ruling APC. But for the governing APC, which had hitherto been thought to be a peaceful assembly of ‘progressives’, the recent developments in the party might have confirmed the concerns raised in some

Senator Bola Tinubu

quarters that the legacy parties that coalesced into APC are incompatible partners that may not blend together as one. The power tussle in the party is such that has made many of its key leaders to fit into Dryden’s description: “That kingly power, thus ebbing out, might be drawn to the dregs of a democracy. Him he attempts, with studied arts to please, and sheds his venom…”

Four different camps seem to have emerged in the ruling APC. There is the camp of the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, the biggest beneficiary from the New PDP camp which teamed up with the APC to install the current government. His trial over the forgery of Senate Rules Book and inaccurate assets declaration are said to have a direct bearing with his speculated presidential ambition in 2019. Saraki himself declared that he dropped his presidential ambition when General Muhammadu Buhari announced his intention to vie for the slot in 2015.

The second is the group loyal to a

Atiku Abubakar

former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, whose contribution to the success of the merger has been described as invaluable. His recent statement in which he called for the resignation of the national chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, over his role in the Ondo State governorship election primary, was an outward expression of bottled up anger.

He had earlier in the year called for the resignation or sack of Dr Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum and former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), because of the seeming intractability of the fuel supply crisis. The Tinubu camp is said to rue the shutting out of the former Lagos State governor from the reportedly agreed power-sharing arrangement, with almost all his nominees for appointive positions having been jettisoned.

There is also the camp of the former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, which has continues on pg 21

thepolity Geopolitical assessment of political alignment

21

23 October, 2016

By Kunle Oderemi

O

N the return from a self-exile abroad occasioned by military brutality against pro-democracy and human rights activists, a foremost nationalist, late Pa Anthony Enahoro in 2000, was unequivocal about the weaknesses of the political parties that ushered in civil rule in Nigeria. A veteran of major bitter and prolonged political struggle, he pooh-poohed based on clearcut standards of global practice, especially in advanced democracies, which Nigeria draws inspiration from on participatory democracy. His words: “As to joining one of the existing political parties, I regret that in spite of the presence of some relations and friends in all the three parties, and without intending any offence or disparagement to them in any way, I have to say that I do not find the parties sufficiently appealing ideologically, structurally or by conduct to justify my joining them in their present circumstances.”

Enahoro stuck to his promise of nonalignment politically until his last

moment on earth on December 16, 2010, even though his co-travellers in the prodemocracy struggle became key power brokers and actors in the political arena.

But just as he predicted, the parties began to manifest vestiges of structural defects he talked about, occasionally resulting in implosion, near combustion and fatalism.

The conflict of interest among the key stakeholders have continued in spite of the alliances, realignment and even merger about 17 years after the country restore civilian government on May 29, 1999.

The concept of third force is not novel, as it presupposes the existence of two major political parties, as obtained in most advanced democracies like the United States, India and the United Kingdom.

The idea is all about the formation of a distinct political grouping which would be devoid of the perceived foibles and weak-points of the two that have gained ground but which are considered to have deviated from the norms and values of a political party. The third force is expected to be a departure or paradigm shift from

How far can third force go? continued from

pg 20

not from the resources from the national treasury and what we have at the state levels? So I don’t expect that anything meaningful will come out from any third force that arises whether from the PDP or APC, can you see any difference in terms of the economic programmes? Can you see any difference in the economic programmes being run before and the one being run now? The only difference among all these political parties is in terms of personalities,” Ogunsanwo stated.

Another key issue that has been viewed as quite imperative in the discourse about the emergence of a third force is that of political structures. Though the victory of the APC in the last presidential election has been described by many as historic and epochal, given the fact that the party came into being only two years earlier, political observers noted that the entrenchment of the PDP structure could have thrown spanner in the efforts of the mega party if it had not been able to

get the support of key aggrieved figures in the PDP, who ditched the party after irreconcilable differences.

With the PDP having been in existence and having controlled government in more than 95 per cent of the 36 states of the federation as well as the centre, the party had been able to build what political observers have described as a strong structure that cut across the 774 local governments in the country, a structure which has remained despite the many crises rocking the party. While the APC might take the glory for defeating the PDP, it cannot boast of having a similar structure, analysts maintained, noting that any new alignment or third force would have an uphill task in overriding these two major structures unless it is able to secure the support of at least 30 per cent from each of the major parties.

The questions, therefore, are whether the likely third force could successfully play the same card of poaching important members of the two major parties and whether such move would work this continues pg22

Bukola Saraki

Ayo Fayose

what has become messy affair. It must have something different to offer as opposed to impunity. For instance, such force must have the capacity and ability to have an equal power in the legislature, so that power equation can be significantly altered.

Having suffered its first major electoral upset in 16 years, governing PDP has remained on the cliffhanger because of internal haemorrhage. Its crash from an Olympian height elicited accusations and counter-accusations with the key power groups desperate to control the soul of the party. The raging battle, which is being fought in different fronts, has created crevices for real and imaginary adversaries to burrow into the walls of the PDP. The lack of compromise by some party buffs has engendered loss of confidence and of uncertainty among some staunch members, who are said to be among the arrowheads of the initiative of a third force, in collaboration with members of other political parties, including the governing APC. Though the idea is yet to fully crystallise on if the movement will transform to a new political party, it has been established that it is more pronounced among leaders of the two parties from the South-West and the Northern part of the country, who either fell out with other party leaders or were disenchanted with the status quo.

In the last few months, the centrifugal and centripetal forces have intensified their battle for supremacy in the two parties at different levels, with shades of incompatibility among the main gladiators

in the ruling APC edge. The dynamics of cohesion and harmony in PDP have also come under serious threat, as group interest, loyalty, godfatherism, regional dichotomy as old and news power blocs engage in serious battle for the control of PDP. Almost decapitated in the North during the 2015 elections, the PDP is still in search of a pathfinder to guide it in the mission for self-discovery. With only two of the 19 states under its control, the party needs extra energy and resources to bounce back. But while some of its main backers, among them former top military brass with an immense war chest are reportedly working underground to reflate the party, some are backing the pursuit of a third force that would comprise politicians from all shades of persuasion, background and zones. The bug of the third force is also said have caught up with some loyalists of a former vice president of the country, Abubakar and many APC members of PDP extraction. They are said to form the nucleus of a movement propagating the idea of the third force in certain political circles across the three zones in the North.

Somehow, the South-South of the country has remained a political hotbed, with the PDP and APC stakeholder locked in intense battles of supremacy.

The governors elected on PDP platform constitute the buffer for the party, without undermining former President Goodluck Jonathan as the veritable staying power of the part in the region. The political sagacity of five of the governors from the

Permutation: Why Afenifere leaders met Tinubu —Olaniwun Ajayi continued from

pg 20

also stood aloof from developments in the party in recent times. When he was said to have deliberately absented himself from the launch of a book on President Buhari, Atiku replied through his spokesperson, Paul Ibe, that invitation for the event was given to the former vice-president after the event had already got underway. A group called The Patriot, which has been meeting in virtually all states, has been linked to the Turaki Adamawa. Atiku has met with a couple of leaders from across the country, including former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, whose Accord Party yesterday concluded a congresses preparatory to the 2019 elections

The last and ostensibly the biggest faction in APC is the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) wing which represents the core of the party. With patronage in the hands of Buhari, it has been easy for loyalists and disciples of leaders of other camps to jump ship and gravitate towards the power nucleus, leaving their former bosses to lick their wounds.

There are elements in the PDP that are championing the revival of the party, while there is another group that wants the party to be a part of the larger alliance currently going on in the country, just as a group believes in the change of the name of the party and reform it.

Although promoters of the third force agenda are said to be in the PDP, APC and other parties, the Tinubu camp is said to be opposed to the plan but interested in reviving

Sunday Tribune

the AD, the platform on which Tinubu rose to limelight in the current Republic. The APC chieftain is said to have held a series of meetings with the Afenifere leaders.

One of the leaders of Afenifere, Sir Olaniwun Ajayi, said he did not know about the “gimmick and contrivances” going on, but told Sunday Tribune what transpired between them and Tinubu. “I don’t know what they are doing, but we would like to build up, as much as possible, a sort of unity among Yoruba people. We are trying get in touch with the governors because hitherto, they are not easily approachable. We are trying to meet them to see if we can get them to sit down with us and chart a way forward that will bring peace, unity and progress to the Yoruba nation.

“But the problem is still there. We are trying to meet them and if they will answer

continues pg22

to our call, then we can discuss. All that we are about is not to play any leading role in the politics of the South-West but to make sure that things are properly set as we had during the First Republic and something that will make our people happy and satisfied. Most of the politicians we have today are self-serving politician and that is the thing we are trying to cure.”

On whether the revival of AD will be part of the agenda to discuss when the Afenifere leaders meet the governors, Sir Ajayi said, “I don’t think we have gone that far. We are yet to meet with the governors. I don’t know if it will be part of the discussion. Afenifere will decide the agenda. In our attempt to get all the governors, we have had a meeting with the governor of Lagos and Tinubu. That is how far we have gone.”

22

thepolity

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Assessment of geopolitical realities continued from

pg21

region appears to have staved off any serious incursion from the proponents of a third force. The power of incumbency, coupled with the massive support of the people has also strengthened the resolve of the governors to checkmate other hitherto power brokers from the area from making any serious political incursion.

Nonetheless, the forces loyal to a former governor of Rivers State and now Minister of Transport, Chief Rotimi Amaechi, have been unrelenting in their doggedness of equal claim to ownership of the political space in the region. On the whole, many observers say the current political configuration of the South-South has a lot of implications, one of which is that it has become the backbone of the PDP, as only Edo State has a governor elected on the ticket of APC. The rest are PDP. Similarly, the current political structure of the area has implication for the unending different forms of agitations among the people of the Niger Delta region. The restiveness among the youth and armed militancy in the midst of crackdown pose a great danger to the politics and economy of the region.

For the South-East, aside Imo (APC) and Anambra (APGA), the remaining three states in the zone are also under PDP. However, it is one of the zones that has witnessed major and continued political realignments by leading politicians after the 2015 elections. A former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani, Chief Jim Nwobodo, Dr Chinmaroke Nnamani, among others, have defected to APC. The exit of those political titans has not substantially denied PDP of equally political juggernauts, among them the current deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu. Many observers have raised teasers on how sellable the third force project to the zone.

From all indications, the driving force of the quest for a third force seems to be some key political actors in the South-West, who are seen as determining the direction of victory during national elections. The preponderance of them are from the APC, PDP, Labour Party and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), who have a score to settle with either the establishment after collaborating to secure victory for the governing party, or who in the case of PDP, are fed with the culture of impunity that led the party to an unmitigated disaster in the 2015 general election. For the latter, some aggrieved PDP members believe they could no longer co-habit with governors elected on its platform because they see themselves as powers brokers and godfathers, whose authority and powers must not be questioned. Ironically, some promoters of the third force claim to have the tacit support of the governors for the movement, especially against the backdrop of the factionalisation in PDP. The crack in APC at the centre over leadership and appointments after the general election has also served as the gun powder for some of its leaders in the South-West. The ranks of members of the state chapters of the legacy parties in the APC are split down the line. Those party members that initially belonged to the defunct Congress for Progressives Change; Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the All Nigeria Peoples Congress (ANPP) sing discordant tunes, hold parallel meetings and use their caucuses to lobby the centre on behalf

Rabiu Kwankwaso

Ike Ekweremadu

of their members like in other zones.

Some of these tendencies encouraged the movement for a third forces, as the members now regular meetings and send high-powered delegations to influential politicians from the zone. In fact, it was leant that one of such teams briefed the members of the movement on Tuesday this week at meeting in Ibadan on the outcome of such a visit to an influential member of the APC. While the proponents of the force are intensifying their efforts on the project, the issue remains a source of division among the elite, especially members of the political class. Those who believe it is a necessity argue that the existing major parties are not capable of providing true leadership and culture of discipline and participatory democracy. One of the eminent persons

that belong to this school of thought is a former Nigerian High Commissioner in Canada and one-time Secretary to the Ekiti State Government (SSG), Ambassador Dare Bejide. His words: “The two major parties are extremely weak to perform their functions. While the ruling party, that is, the APC is bedeviled with internal combustion predicated on lack of internal cohesion, the opposition PDP is yet to recover from self-inflicted agony arising from lack of internal democracy and widespread impunity. As of today, the two parties have put their supporters and followers in a serious agony as they are not sure of the direction of the parties and this makes the possibility of a third force imminent. Nigerians are generally tired of the existing political lethargy and are warming up for an all-inclusive political

realignment that is capable of resolving the current economic debacle.”

A legal practitioner and former member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Femi Kehinde was emphatic that the necessity of a third force is a foregone conclusion because of some tendencies that have plagued the existing political parties. He said: “I envisage a formation of a mixed grill of political tendencies as envisaged by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in December 1983, at the last Convention of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), when he talked of the coalition of the ‘thesis and hypothesis to form a synthesis’ a power bloc.” He adds further: “The emergence of a third force or new configuration of tendencies is a sine qua non (necessity) in our political evolution, if democracy would have meaning or flavor. As a result of serious infractions, in our present political parties, lack of internal democracy, hijack of parties by political barons and power brokers, inclusive of people in high political offices, the present big parties may no longer endure. There may be an exodus to such a new party or tendencies to at least give hope and succour to people, who believe in giving the Nigerian democracy a facelift and new meaning.”

Immediate past publicity secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and spokesman of northern delegates to the 2014 National Conference, Anthony N Z Sani, however, differed with Kehinde, situating the issue in a number of contexts. “Those who advocate a third force as a result of the crises in the major political parties ignore the fact that crises in parties are natural concomitant in party democracy. Consider how we started from 1999 with just about five parties which multiplied to over 50 by the last count.

Very few have found traction. Except for the PDP, most of the first five registered continues pg28

Battle for political structures: Can third force fly? continued from

pg21

time round, with the major actors in the new PDP who joined forces with the APC having been given different treatments when the party eventually captured power.

A look at the results of the last presidential election in which the APC defeated PDP with 2,571,759 votes showed that the two parties had a near equal strength in more many of the states, a development which analysts noted will be key in deciding the success or failure of any future realignment of forces, as it might take the complete annihilation of one of the two major parties for a third force to be able to make inroad into these states.

Commenting on whether a new political order could go far enough to cut across the country, the 2015 senatorial candidate of the PDP in Osun Central, Chief Oluwole Aina, maintained that “it is left to be seen how a third force or fourth force can spring up and reach out to the entire country like the PDP.” He said: “The PDP has its problems and the leadership has been doing all it can to resolve them, so the talk of PDP dying is mere wishful thinking. Everyone can see the brewing crisis in the APC too, though

Professor Alaba Ogunsanwo

this it is not strange to some of us; we saw it coming. But can we say that the ongoing war of attrition in the party will be enough to give any third force the leverage ahead of 2016?

But is the answer to Nigeria’s problem is even in what you call a third force? No. I think what we need in this country is patriotism. It is high time politicians knew that it is not about their interests but the interests of Nigeria and Nigerians. If we all recognise this fact, politicians will stop jumping around like prostitutes whenever

they face roadblocks in achieving their selfish and parochial interests.

So, if you say a third force is coming up, can I ask you why and from where? Have politicians learnt a lesson to make service to the people their goals or some people are jumping ships because they feel sidelined? In any case, we will see how a new political order will penetrate the North. As it is today, in the North; PDP is still very popular in the North.

The problem PDP had in 2015 was due to the conspiracy and propaganda against the person of former President Goodluck Jonathan. How will that third force fare in the South-East and South-South where PDP is still very strong? What will be the lot of the third force in the South-West where people have seen through the deceit of APC and have seen that the PDP is better by far?,” Aina queried.

Though the popular position is that time is of great essence in politics like other aspects of life, political observers have maintained that it might be too early to predict what could happen in 2019 with regard to whether a third force might fail or succeed, noting that with the nature of politics in Nigeria and the fact that the APC could unseat PDP at the centre after 16 years, just anything can happen ahead of 2019.

23

interview

23 October, 2016

Those seeking restructuring of Nigeria need to be specific —Senator Adamu

military toppled the civilians because of alleged corruption but one found out that they were more corrupt than the civilians.

Senator Abdullahi Adamu, a two-term governor of Nasarawa State and senator representing Nasarawa West Senatorial District, speaks with AYODELE ADESANMI on the calls for the restructuring of Nigeria and other issues.

S

OME persons have attributed the current economic recession to the policies of the present administration, do you agree with this?

The mere statement that the new administration made about its intention to fight corruption and go after corrupt people in a bid to stamp out the vice from our sociopolitical life cannot be linked to recession.

It was absolutely clear when the administration came in that there had been mismanagement of our resources, especially government funds. This is not hidden. Everybody witnessed how money was spent and taken from government treasury without budgetary provisions, especially in the name of promoting government activities.

However the issue of recession is essentially due to the prices of oil going down to as low as below $30 when this government came into office and this is critical. It is also largely due to global economic recession, which also affected our country.

Hopefully, by the end of this quarter, the country would be out of its present predicament.

There have been several propositions on the need to diversify the country’s economy. As the chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, how do you think the diversification would help the country out of recession?

One big point we keep missing anytime we are confronted with this type of question is that the parliament or the National Assembly is responsible for initiating programmes that would boost agriculture and improve the economy. This is not correct.

The legislature is to make laws, which can be through private member bills or executive bills, which can direct the executive to do certain things. Another function of the National Assembly is the approval of the budgets and seeing to the performance of such through the oversight functions.

This is to ascertain that funds allocated to projects are actually spent on them and judiciously too. The executive comes to us with a proposal and it is the duty of the legislature to look at it and see to it and approve or reject completely. However, we need to look into such proposal how it would help the country.

Advocates of restructuring have, in recent times, increased their call for the restructuring of the country. Do you agree with the agitators?

I am not against restructuring per se, but l am against empty talks. You are talking about restructuring Nigeria, agreed. But what do you want to restructure? What is not working that you want to restructure? You need to be specific. After that, we can see to it and look into what you are proposing, but you cannot just throw an empty shell and say restructuring just to score a cheap political point.

Maybe there are some things some-

Sunday Tribune

Senator Abdullahi Adamu where that are of concern to some people and you find yourself in certain positions to cheaply get into their minds and gain political identification and support by just talking restructuring. Such ways do not make sense. You just need to be specific. We are a federation, if you think the federal system as we have it today in terms of geopolitical zones, in terms of governance at federal or states or the council areas, tell us you have issues with any of these and make specific suggestions. Be specific about what is wrong with what we have today; put your proposal on the table so that we can talk. If you are talking of restructuring of the 36 states, we will know what you are talking about; be specific. Anybody can just go to the marketplace and talk about restructuring Ni-

This issue of herdsmen came into public glare immediately after the 2015 election in order to discredit the Federal Government

geria, such does not mean anything. The fact of the matter is that we have cheapened the issue of our independence. Some of the states we have at present are not economically viable because at this point in time, the diversification of economic activities that can improve the economy of the country is not exploited fully. As a result of that, they don’t have the kind of money to provide the roads and other infrastructure.

While growing up, I witnessed the growth of the First Republic; I was already working before the First Republic ended. And from what l saw and read and what l discussed with people, there was a healthy competition among the regions. First, it was protectorates, Southern and Northern, and later there was the Northern, Eastern and Western regions and by 1963, the Mid-western region came up. There was competition but they were developing at their own pace and got a share from the central government treasury. The resources were in the central pool. The resources then were shared according to some formula.

Regions then were developing their own budgets to suit their own purposes and it worked. There was healthy rivalry. Today, the competition we have was not like the one we had when we were operating the regions. However, we missed it at a point that the military came into our polity.

Military intervention killed both political and economic growths in the country.

The military has so much discredited the politicians; essentially, they were not patient enough. Besides they had so much dismembered the political groups. The

Some persons have advocated the sale of national assets as a way out of recession but the Senate voted against the Idea. What is your view on this?

I think it would have been a great disservice to this country if we sold our national assets. It would mean that we have not learnt from history and history would not forgive us. This is not the first time that the national assets were sold. A good example is the Ajaokuta Steel Complex, which had problems and some people believed that the solution was to sell it. After selling, what happened? The buyers later removed some parts of the machines and took them to their own countries and made use of them. Also, the Mercedes Company in Enugu, Steyr in Gombe, Fiat Truck Manufacturing in Kano, Volkswagen in Lagos were all sold and you will agree with me that nothing happened afterwards.

Now, because of recession you want to sell some of our best companies. Where does that take us and what guarantee do you have? The reason behind the proposal to sell the assets is to get immediate money; but if you sell, everybody knows the status of our naira presently against the dollar.

During the debate at the Senate plenary, l made my point very clear. Selling would create more disparity between the citizens and those who have got money. There is not going to be an easy way out; hard times require hard decisions. I believe this government is serious. Let the country borrow money, this country is creditworthy. One other way out is to renegotiate the debt; that is so to say bring it down. It does not make sense to sell what you have to get what you don’t have.

The issue of Fulani herdsmen has generated a lot of controversy in recent times. What do you think is the way out?

I think from the word go, when you say Fulani; there is already an element of prejudice, because l don’t believe that every herdsman in the country is a Fulani man. It is a fact that a Fulani man lives a nomadic life; like grazing, among others, but I want to say categorically that l know people who are not Fulani and are into cattle-rearing.

If you go to Igboland, they rear cattle, Yoruba in the South-West rear cattle. I don’t want people to attach violence to herdsmen and grazing. I think people have gone the extra mile to over-politicise the issue of grazing. This issue of herdsmen came into public glare immediately after the 2015 election in order to discredit the Federal Government. It was a campaign of hate to say that President Buhari is not competent. But was he not the one who gave the security agents the directive to pursue anybody anywhere who was involved in violence in the name of grazing? I don’t support anybody who carries illegal arms, be you Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba. Let us say the reality, intercommunal clashes are not peculiar to the Fulani alone. I was a governor; clashes took place in my state and other states.

The inter-ethnic clashes should not be restricted to herdsmen.

24

interview

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Having a third force now’ll not work —Adesina

Professor Olutayo Adesina teaches History at the University of Ibadan. In this interview by Deputy Editor, DAPO FALADE, he speaks on the ongoing realignment in the political turf, declaring that a third force remains a pipe dream.

T

HE year 2019 seems far away but to a discerning mind, it is just around the corner. People are suggesting the possibility of a third force as an alternative to the growing influence of the two political parties dominating the political sphere in the country. What is your view on this?

Well, the third force option has always been a component of the Nigerian political space but as you as are going to see, it is going to be a nonstarter as it used to be and the reasons are very clear. Don’t forget that the tripod that held the Nigerian State by the jugular, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo, had always found accommodation within a specific political structure. As a result of this, do you want to dissipate the energy of these people in a Third Force? It is not going to work because, when you look at it, what they want to see is that in a particular political party, it is overwhelmingly northern or western and in the other political party, it is northern and eastern.

So, what will the third party look like?

That spectre is going to be a little bit difficult.

Yes, it can mushroom but it is not going to achieve the kind of successes achieved by the All Progressives Congress (APC) when it became the option to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). As a result of this, it is too early in the day to begin to call for a third force when we are not yet satisfied with the first force and the second force. The Third Force will then be people coming out of the first and second parties to form the Third Force when they have not satisfied us with the examples we have received from the first two parties.

The same crowd will go into the third party. I am not sure that Nigerians are ready for that.

How do you see this in view of what happened in the 1960s when we had the Action Group (AG), National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC) and the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) and we were able to identify three major parties? It worked then and if that arrangement had been sustained, maybe we will not be talking of a third force now...

The three major parties, don’t forget, were identified with their regions; only two became identified with the national namely, NPC and NCNC that formed the Federal Government. AG never made it to the federal political space, so to speak.

So, what happened in the First Republic is likely to repeat itself with the emergence of the so-called Third Force we are talking about. Two of them will be the larger one at the federal and the third one could be the spoiler or the beautiful bride that will want to be courted.

I don’t see this working now until, first, when we arrive at the level of political maturity and secondly, until we see a new crowd or people emerging. If it is new crowd of people, that will be welcomed and acceptable. But if it is the same peo-

those who are in APC today were actually officials of PDP. We didn’t see any change and now they are in APC and we have not seen so much change. Now, you want to create a third party. That will be their political oblivion.

Do you foresee the possibility of divorcing money from politics?

Well, not at the moment but a time will come when ideas will rule. Right now, people are too hungry; they are jobless and people are looking for largesse. So, it may be difficult now to actually divorce money from politics but I am seeing that a time will come when people will say, ‘yes, I will take your money but I have my conscience’ and we are reaching that point now. So, if you think because you are a moneybags, you have to control everybody within the party, people will say no.

They will say, ‘yes, you brought money to establish the party, but we have a different idea of what we want to do’. We are getting there. Yes, the moneybags will form the third political party but they are going to lose out eventually; they will lose to the cheetah generation. The hippopotamus generation has money; they will come with their overbearing influences but, at the end of the day, with this one they are planning, it will be to their own self-negation. It is going to happen.

Professor Olutayo Adesina ple in APC and PDP now moving into the Third Force, I am not sure it is going to be palatable. We are not ready for that.

if it is still these same characters both in PDP and APC, following the old trajectory of gunning for offices and using the political platform as the tool to acquire power, rather than as a tool for development, then it is not going to work.

Leave these two political parties to do what they know best but the Third Force must bring fresh perspectives and whoever is going to create that Third Force, if he or she doesn’t understand the vibrations, the dynamics of what is going on in the society now, then they are wasting their time.

Yes, there have been talks that Tinubu is being disgraced; he is being humiliated but if you are the leader of the people, you will take it and then move on.

You talked of new people coming into the political sphere but how do you think the domineering influence of the major players since 1999 can be weakened in the attempt at forming a Third Force?

The nation is now becoming more sophisticated; those who will vote by 2019 are younger and more internet-savvy.

They don’t see the world the way see things and so millions of them will become part of the new political force. They see what is going on; they are angry; they are jobless; they don’t even want to identify with ethnic groups. If there is a credible Third Force that is out to create a political platform but is not going to dwell so much on the politics of power or the politics of power play; but is much more interested in development, in progress, you will see a new movement gravitating towards the Third Force. But if it is the same platform or the same narratives, it cannot work.

We want people who will say, ‘we have a vision, we have a grand strategy of ensuring that Nigeria becomes a great nation’, then I will follow and even participate. But

With the unfolding events in the two major political parties, are you not seeing some movements, with some of them coming out to form another mega political party?

This is what we call realignment of forces, as you will remember in the European History. Some people will come out of PDP and APC to join the third party. But what I am seeing is that they are jumping into their death because, at the end of the day, the question the society will ask is, ‘And so what?’ You were here, we didn’t see any change; you were there, we didn’t see any change. A large percentage of

Looking back to history, you see political parties rising and falling.

What do you think will be the outcome of the uprising within APC and its major players?

We has said it consistently; there is an emerging realignment. If Senator Bola Tinubu pulls out, it means that he is pulling out the South-West from APC and so, what do you then hope to see? There is going to be a realignment of APC with the SouthEast. So, whether you like it or not, this political brinkmanship that the Tinubu group is playing will not augur well for the South-West with the way things are going.

What they are trying to do is to pull out the zone out of the central government.

If you pull your interest out of that party, it means you have gone with the essence of that party. What will the party do? It will not sit down and cry. It will look for another essence; it will just go to the arms of the South-East and there will be a new realignment. No two historical situations are the same. The historical circumstances that allowed the realignment for APC to emerge were here and it has gone. This space that we occupied now is different and so, you will not replicate that same strategy and that same move to achieve the same result. So, they have to tread carefully and look at things more dispassionately.

Yes, there have been talks that Tinubu is being disgraced; he is being humiliated but if you are the leader of the people, you will take it and then move on. It is not for you to pull out your people. It will be one strategy too many in pulling out his people from APC. I may be wrong but for me, if that group goes ahead to do it, it is a political harakiri.

25

interview

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Third force, panacea for our hydra-headed problems —Olajide

Dr Kunle Olajide is the Publicity Secretary, Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF) and a chieftain of the pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere as well as the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE). He speaks, in this interview by DEPUTY EDITOR, DAPO FALADE, on sundry issues affecting the polity, declaring that the time is ripe for the emergence of a third force as a panacea for the myriad of socio-political problems bedeviling the country. Excerpts:

N

IGERIA seems to be at the precipice once again, with crises bedeviling the major political parties. How do you think we can achieve peace in the polity?

You are right to believe that all is not well with the major political parties we have in the country. There is no doubt about that. But the mode of the formation of most of the political parties, right from the foundation, is wrong. Political parties are formed by people who share the same views and believe and agree on the same methodology of achieving their objectives for a people in any country. You don’t bring strange bedfellows together and you say you have a political party. But do we have that in Nigeria?

Presently, we do not. People use socalled political parties as platforms to acquire power; which platform appears to be more popular or to have more deep-pocket politicians that can fund my elections. Until we get to that stage, and I think we are gradually evolving; I mean 2015 elections are over. A new government has been in place for over one and half years and the disagreements are obvious that the major stakeholders in the ruling party do not have similar objectives and if, perhaps, have a few similar objectives, they don’t agree on the modalities to achieving those objectives. This is why the disagreement is so obvious; it is in the open and everybody can see it.

Can the problem of lack of ideology and ideas be traced to the foundation of the country itself?

The problem really is that the political elite in Nigeria, on both sides of divide, appear to have conspired to impoverish the people. The masses have been impoverished; they have almost been dehumanised to the extent that they do not even seem to have opinions anymore because they are looking for mere survival. So, the moneybags could come and market a particular party and give them money to vote for them and the moment they are voted for, they disappear. That has been the major problem and that is why there has not been ideology.

What I am suggesting in the next dispensation, whether it is a ‘Third Force’ of ‘Fourth Force’ that is emerging or the present political parties, members of those parties must pay subscriptions; they must be financial stakeholders in their political parties. That is the only way they cannot be 100 per cent bought over. For example, parties don’t meet in Nigeria immediately they take over government until the next elections.

You mention the idea of a third force coming into play in 2019, but some people are saying the coun-

whether they even fill the meaning of association because association says you must agree on certain things or you have certain objectives that you are pursuing.

With the manifesting differences from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), do you see the possibility of a ‘Third Force’ coming out of any alliance by some of the chieftains of both parties?

Why not? They are Nigerians. They have a right to be part of a ‘Third Force.’

You still cannot wish away the influence of the moneybags now because of the pervading poverty we have in the country, particularly in a moment of recession.

But I can assure you that Nigerians are getting more and more informed.

They will ask questions in 2019. I have no doubt in my mind. The awareness is increasing and, as I said, even the moneybags that are coming, there are some of them already regretting what they did and what they laboured to build in 2013.

So, I am very optimistic that if we have the ‘Third Force’ or the ‘Fourth Force,’ as the case may be, lessons learnt from the 2013 experience will enrich the operations of such a force for the betterment of the people.

Dr Kunle Olajide try is not ripe for one, given the role money play in politics. Thus a third force might not effect the desired change...

I will be surprised if it doesn’t. I don’t agree with them.

The world is dynamic; people ran into alliances and formed political parties in haste to remove Goodluck Jonathan from government. Now in government, they are more divided than, perhaps, they were when they were campaigning. They appeared to be one then but as soon as they won, even before the government was formed, you could see visible divisions in the political parties that made up the party. So, they were never a political party; they were merely parties coming together without even agreeing on what they wanted to do in government. That is not a political party. So, for me, we need a ‘Third Force,’ even a ‘Fourth Force.’ Why not? I mean it is the over-centralisation of the polity that has led to the fact everybody is looking up to Abuja. You may belong to a political party and only want to

confine yourself to your town or state or anywhere else.

Also, the political party ought to be stronger or, at least, as strong as the government. But what we have now is that the party had been subsumed under the government.

The anti-Third Force elements are looking at how such an arrangement can effectively alter the present arrangement...

The ‘Third Force’ may not alter it immediately nationally, but they can begin altering it from some states. For example, when we had the government of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in some SouthWest states during the Second Republic, there were exemplary in their Four Cardinal programme and in some other states, people were emulating them and forming alliances with them. You begin from somewhere and you begin to grow. But if you expect something to bring a miracle in Nigeria immediately, then we are deceiving ourselves; the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

As far as I am concerned, we don’t have political parties in the country. The two major parties are sharply divided; they are working at cross-purposes. I don’t know

What gives you the impression that if this same set of people who have been on the scene since 1999 will be able to effect the desired change?

Sometimes, when you talk of personal interest, it may be for the development of your people and that is the essence of politics. I am aware that some of the major leaders in the party in government, their personal interest is for the development of Nigeria; not enriching themselves. It is easy to take personal interests for self- but they are not the same. What is my interest if I decide to join a political party now? My interest lies in the fact that I want my people to be empowered. I want infrastructure in my area. I want the roads to be well built.

I want power; for a minimum of 15 to 18 hours a day so that the hairdressers, the welder and other artisans would be able to work.

So, we must be careful; some people who are disappointed are not merely disappointed because they did not have their cronies in office or something like that.

They were disappointed because what they want for their people appears elusive and what they are getting in return is victimisation or political oppression of their people and an attempt to make them irrelevant and which is not right. So, for me, I do not condemn personal interest wholesale because some personal interests are authentic, genuine and altruistic.

26

man in the

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

news

Obanikoro in the storm

By Dapo Falade

N

IGERIANS are, on a daily basis, treated to a dosage of intriguing expose in the ongoing effort to rid the country of corruption and its tendencies, which have, undoubtedly, eaten deep into the fabrics of the national life. There has been series of startling report that have kept the populace busy in this hard time: from the commando-like raid of the homes of judges by security operatives, to the release of 21 Chibok girls held captive by Boko Haram insurgents, the latest being the ongoing revelations by a former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro.

After initial vehement denials of his alleged involvement in the N4.75 billion, being part of the $2.1billion arms deal, allegedly wired to a company, Sylva McNamara Limited, by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and his subsequent investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Obanikoro allegedly made a dramatic U-turn concerning the purported multi-billion naira sleaze relating to the 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State.

Having announced his willingness to submit himself to the anti-graft body for investigation, Obanikoro returned from his US base on Monday and went to the EFCC office in Abuja in the afternoon. Under grilling, he allegedly made some damning statements, implicating prominent politicians from the South-West, including Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and Senator Iyiola Omisore, a former chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee.

Obanikoro allegedly said he gave both Fayose and Omisore N3.8 billion in cash from the arms deal. On Tuesday, it was reported that he allegedly said he gave Fayose the sum of N2.1 billion for the election. Also, the ex-minister purportedly said the money was meant to ward off an alleged plot by Boko Haram to attack Lagos and the South-West.

Who is this man presently going through the eye of the storm? What are his antecedents?

Born of Lagos parentage, the foray of Obanikoro (popularly known as Koro) into politics started in 1989, shortly after he returned to Nigeria from the United States of America (USA) where he had his first degree and Master’s Degree in Public Affairs and Public Administration respectively.

He was appointed the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Surulere Local Government Area of Lagos State on the platform of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) and was also elected the state deputy chairman of the party. The administration of the late former Governor Michael Otedola appointed him as the Director, Lagos State Bulk Purchasing Corporation (LASBULK) and he was variously a member of the Lagos State Football Association and delegate to the NRC conventions, both at the local government and national levels.

Obanikoro, who was once the chairman of Lagos Island Local Government Area, was a national executive member of the octopoidal Grassroots Democratic Movement (GDM) during the failed political arrangement put together by the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha.

He was later appointed the Lagos State Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture in 1999, a position he held till 2003 when he was elected a senator on the ticket of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thereafter.

At the Senate, he moved several motions, some of which were to stop the surge and overflow of the Atlantic Ocean along the Bar Beach shoreline; stopping of incessant increment of pump price of petroleum products; protecting Lagos State from menace of flood and probe into the condition of the velodrome at the Abuja National Stadium, among others.

His first well-known brush with the law enforcement agency was when he was arrested, along with all other PDP governorship aspirants during an investigation into the brutal murder of another aspirant of the party, Mr Funsho Williams, in his Lagos residence in July, 2006.

However, Obanikoro later regain his freedom because of his non-involvement in the dastardly killing of the popular Lagos politician.

Senator Obanikoro got the PDP’s nod, albeit controversially, to contest the 2007 governorship election in Lagos State. The controversy was because Hilda, the widow of Williams, had been initially declared the winner of the PDP primary. However, the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC), then led by Senator Ahmadu Ali, thought otherwise and gave the ticket to Obanikoro. He contested the election but lost to Babatunde Raji Fashola, now a serving minister in the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

A deft player in the nation’s political circle, Obanikoro was appointed as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Ghana

Obanikoro was in far away US when the Dasukigate blues began to pan out. But, the EFCC was undeterred, as the agency stormed two of his houses last June

in 2008 by the late President Umaru Yar’ Adua, while the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan, appointed him as the Minister of State for Defence in 2014. As a major player in the build-up to the 2015 general election, his capacity as a federal minister in the Jonathan administration signaled his ongoing travail, once again, with the law enforcement agency but this time round, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In line with the promise by the Buhari administratio to tackle corruption headlong, the anti-graft body went after (and is still after) those elements perceived to have some outstanding issues in relation to the 2015 elections. EFCC fingered Obanikoro had some clarifications to make on the $2.1 billion arms deal, allegedly coordinated by the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd). He and firm belonging said to belong to two of his sons, Sylvan McNamara, were specifically under investigation for allegedly receiving the sum of N4.75 billion from the former NSA between April 4 and December 15, 2014.

Obanikoro was in far away US when the Dasukigate blues began to pan out. But, the EFCC was undeterred, as the agency stormed two of his houses last June and allegedly took away some of his property, including cars, trucks and wristwatches, allegedly without any warrant.

Speaking from the US, Koro, on June 15, 2016, threatened to sue the anti-graft agency for the alleged unlawful break into his houses, claiming he was not aware that the agency had any warrant from the court. He also said EFCC officials intimidated and harassed occupants of the buildings, including young children.

Speaking in an interview with an online newspaper, Premium Times, the embattled former federal lawmaker was vehement in his denial of the allegation leveled against him, even as he dared EFCC and President Buhari to initiate the process of his extradition from the US. He also accused EFCC of waging media war against him and challenged the agency to produce the account details of his alleged involvement in the N4.75 billion arms deal sleaze.

“They will never attempt any extradition. I, Musiliu Olatunde Obanikoro, am inviting EFCC to petition America to extradite me to Nigeria. The whole world would now see their charade for what it is. It is even good for everyone to know the truth, including those who are sympathisers to APC...Do, let them bring the tissue of lies that they have put together and submit everything to serious judicial scrutiny and let us see whether it will fly. I am inviting them to do that,” he had said.

Obanikoro challenged EFCC to make public its findings “since they have decided to try this matter in the court of public opinion. Let them publish the account numbers publicly...Tell EFCC to give you [the media] all the documents of the company [Sylva McNamara] and account statements from the bank. Let them publish everything in the papers. And anywhere you see Obanikoro, you should crucify me.”

While Nigerians appear to be getting used to shocking reports about the public offices held by previous holders, the unfolding situation concerning Obanikoro can be seen from many perspectives. Governor Fayose has described his return as dramatic and allegedly compromised.

However, some observers have raised pertinent questions on the current theatrics: At what point did Obanikoro made up his mind to submit himself to EFCC for investigation? Did he really make a voluntary return as Nigerians are being made to believe? What transpired between June and October, 2016 to have made him to change his mind from his initial stance? Put differently, what are the undercurrents of the ongoing drama?

Reacting to the allegations against him, Governor Fayose said: “I wouldn’t want to join issues with EFCC and Obanikoro. But I remembered very well that Obanikoro was firing very serious salvos at the EFCC before now. I remember all his statements in the press. But this dramatic return; he was not stopped at the airport and there was a clear entrance straight to the EFCC’s office, simply shows that there is a hand of Esau in the voice of Jacob.”

27

thepolity

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

DSS raid: Issues as arrested judges fight back

Following the arrest, detention and release of two Justices of the Supreme Court and five other Judges by the Department of State Services (DSS) on the allegation of corruption, the affected Jurists have written to the Chief Justice of Nigeria who doubles as the chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC), explaining why the DSS is after them, reports SUNDAY EJIKE.

Mahmood Mohammed, CJN

Rotimi Amaechi

Justice Okoro

HE principle of fair hearing, which members of the Bar and the Bench speak glowingly about in courtroom, appears to have been applied in the case involving the seven judges arrested and later released by operatives of the Depart of State Service (DSS). The judges are not taking the allegations of graft, bribery and sundry others leveled against them sitting down. One after the other, they have been conveying their reactions to the allegations and arrest in letters to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC).

Two days after an emergency meeting, the position of NJC was made known through a press statement issued by the Acting Director of Information of the Council, Soji Oye, which berated the DSS, describing its action as an attempt to ridicule, harass and intimidate judges.

To prove his innocence, Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja, pointed the finger at the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, as being behind the whole saga. He stated that he was being persecuted for granting bail to former National Security Adviser (NSA), Mohammed Sambo Dasuki, as well as the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, who are currently being held by the DSS on charges of corruption and treason respectively. Ademola disclosed a long standing friction between himself and Malami, which he believes was also reason for the alleged persecution.

In a letter to the CJN, he said, “The search of my residence was based on the petition of Honourable Jenkins Duvie dated 4th of April 2016 to the NJC, granting bail to Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd) and the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu, using my office to secure my wife’s appointment as the Head of Civil Service, Lagos State through Senator Bola Tinubu.”

“What is more intriguing in this whole episode is that I see it as a vendetta/revenge from the AGF. Whilst I was in Kano between 2004 and 2008 as a Federal High Court judge, he was involved in a professional misconduct necessitating his arrest and detention by my order. However, with the intervention of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Kano Branch, the allegation of misconduct was later withdrawn by me.

“Consequently, the NJC referred Malami to the NBA Disciplinary Committee for disciplinary action,” Ademola said and added further that the case cost Malami his initial prospects of becoming a senior advocate of Nigeria. “It was as a result of this he was denied the rank of SAN by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee for a period of four years until when he produced a fake letter of apology, purportedly addressed to me…Since…, Malami has threatened to revenge and has sworn to do anything to bring me down,” the judge told the CJN in his letter as he denied the allegations against him, including charges that he was in possession of unlicensed firearms.”

In the same vein, the two Justices of the apex court

also opened up on the reasons for their arrest by the DSS. Justice Inyang Okoro, fired a salvo and said he was probably being vilified because he did not accede to the request to help the All Progressives Congress (APC) to win the governorship of Akwa Ibom State.

The Supreme Court justice alleged that former Rivers State governor, now Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, visited him after the 2015 general election to request that he should ensure that APC won the Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Abia governorship elections at the appeal stage at all cost and that he would be rewarded with millions of naira monthly if he cooperated.

Justice Okoro also alleged that Amaechi told him that he had already “visited you (CJN) and that you had agreed to make me a member of the panel that would hear the appeals. My response, as I told you on that date, was that it does not lie within my power to grant his request and that I would do all within my power not to be in the panel for Akwa Ibom State. My Lord graciously left me out of the panel for Akwa Ibom State. When they lost at the Supreme Court, the APC believed it was my presence at the court that contributed to their loss. Could I have resigned from the Supreme Court simply because people of Akwa Ibom State had a matter before it?” Okoro asked rhetorically.

Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, in his own letter explained how he was being victimised for refusing entreaties, at various times, to help the APC win governorship election cases involving Ekiti, Rivers and Ebonyi states.

He also alleged that Amaechi reached out to him over election appeal cases for Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Abia States. Ngwuta specifically mentioned Amaechi and Minister of Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, as two top APC leaders who approached him. Ngwuta said in the letter that Ameachi begged him to facilitate the removal of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State. He further stated that shortly after the Supreme Court affirmed the election of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Amaechi also called him on phone and said: “Oga is not happy”.

The Justice of the apex court also alleged that the operatives of the DSS planted huge sum of money in his house during the raid to incriminate him. He said apart from the $25,000, £10 and a brown envelope containing the sum of N710, 000 which was a monthly allowance paid to him for September 2016 and another N300, 000 and some loose change contained in the bag he usually took to the office, he had no explanation for the large sum of money allegedly recovered from his house.

Reacting to the allegations, Amaechi, said the accusations from the two Justices of the Supreme Court was a figment of their imagination, concocted to obfuscate and politicise the real issues for their arrest and DSS investigation of allegations of corruption against them.

“The claims by Justice Okoro against Amaechi are blatant lies, bereft of any iota of truth or even logic.

In the statement sent through a text message to the Sunday Tribune by David Iyofor on behalf of Rotimi Amaechi Media Office, said “Amaechi did not and has never approached Justice Okoro in respect of the cases Okoro mentioned or any other case. This is a cheap attempt, albeit, political move to drag the name of Amaechi into something he knows nothing about. Justice Okoro should face his issues and leave Amaechi out of it.

He will be hearing from our lawyers.”

In the same vein, Amaechi, in his response to the latest allegation on Thursday, described the allegation against him by Justice Ngwuta as pure fiction. He stated this in a statement he personally signed in Abuja on Thursday.

Amaechi said that he did not and had never tried to lobby, induce or make Justice Ngwuta to influence the outcome of any matter before the Supreme Court or any other court.

He said, “The Honourable Justice Ngwuta’s narrative as it concerns me is simply not true, an unadulterated fallacy, designed to deceive and distract from the real issues of DSS investigation of acts of corruption against him.”

What is in dispute, as the brickbats go back and forth, is whether there was a contact between Amaechi and the judges. To observers, this dispute can be resolved with the provision of visual or audio evidence to support the claims in the judges’ letters. This, however, does not redound to or detract from the veracity or otherwise in the claims.

Should this category of evidence not forthcoming, then the testimonies of those mentioned in the letters as witnesses, particularly one Pastor Ebebe Ukpong who was said to have accompanied Umana Umana to the home of Justice Okoro and who was said to have frowned at the request by Umana, could help in unearthing the truth of the matter.

Judges are obviously known to come under pressure as a result of the nature of their task. What this unpleasant episode has shown is the need for judges, who are like priests in the temples of justice, to be more circumspect in their interface with politicians. To analysts, the level of technological development has made it so easy that security cameras can be installed by judges in their homes. And if or when a meeting is not scheduled for their residence, there are pens and wristwatches and even sun glasses that record audio-visual materials the evidence from which will be clear without any shadow of doubt.

Although he has denied ever meeting or seeking the judges’ support as claimed, the question many observers try to find answer to is why is Amaechi a constant name in the letters of two of the three judges whose letters have so far been made public? Perhaps when the determination of the cases Amaechi threatened to file begins, more revelation may come to light. The last, apparently, has not been heard about the accusations and counteraccusations on the matter.

T

28

thepolity

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Assessment of geopolitical realities continued from

pg 22

political parties are not reckoned with in the political space. But today, we have only two major political parties, namely, PDP and APC, which resulted from mergers of other political parties. You may wish to note that even the PDP lasted that long because of attraction of power by a ruling party. Yet, it had its own share of internal crises that helped in emboldening the emergence of APC. Also, consider the crises in the Republican Party in America, whose leaders regard their own nominee, Donald Trump, as an outsider acting iconoclast, hence their reluctance to endorse him for the elections coming up on November 8, 2016. And so, given the fact that political party is not an individual enterprise but a collective mission that comes with group goal, group cohesion and even group conspiracy, and the fact that politics goes beyond ideals to include about who gets what, why, where, how and when, there would always be problems from the very art of governance of balancing competing demands.

And that is why it would be too much to expect political parties managed by human beings of diverse druthers to be free of crises fueled by different interests.”

Sani said that there used to be agitations for single tenure that was spurred by “the fear that it would be impossible to defeat an incumbent. Some of us did not buy the idea of single tenure and suggested retention of the two terms which must not be consecutive as is practised by Chile and Uruguay. But, as soon as the opposition APC defeated an incumbent PDP, the clamour for single tenure became irrelevant. That is why I do not believe in the need for any third force by fiat. I believe the dynamics of democracy will result in two dominant political parties, while there would always be smaller political parties for expression of dissents.

We must note that democracy may differ in forms, but when it comes to its three basic elements of justice, liberty and common decency, democracy is the same and universal.”

The position of the ACF chief was in sync with that of Chief Lanre Banjo, a radical politician and associate of the late legal icon, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN). He

O

N Wednesday October 5, observers of proceedings in the Senate watched as Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the Senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District, laboured to see through a bill seeking a one percent grant for Lagos from the Federation Account.

The bill seeking special status for the Nigeria’s former capital was, however, shut down by the Senate.

When Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the sitting, put the crucial question to determine whether the bill would cross the Second Reading stage, the ‘nays’ had it and the bill, which was equally introduced in the Seventh Senate, was dealt a fatal blow.

In the lead debate presented by Senator Tinubu, the bill is seeking to alleviate the suffering of many Nigerians who have cause to do business in Lagos daily. She submitted: “Many Nigerians travelling to Lagos experience traffic congestion because of pressures on the road. Other problems faced in Lagos include overcrowding, emergence of slums, over stretched healthcare facilities, decrease productivity because of hours lost in traffic, environmental challenges.”

The Senator added: “The bill aims to remedy the remaining problems faced by residents and visitors in Lagos by empowering the Federal Government to make provisions for economic assistance through grants as provided for under section 164 sub-section (1) of the 1999 constitution as amended.”

The bill seeks to guarantee the president the enablement to approve an amount not less than one per cent of the share of the revenue accruing to the Federal Government as special grants to Lagos.

A week after Senator Tinubu’s bill was rejected by the Senators on account of paucity of funds at the federal level, the North East Development Commission (NEDC) Bill made its way to the chamber. The Senate had mandated a committee to work on the bill and report its workability in view of the devastation occasioned in the zone due to ravaging insurgency.

The NEDC bill was, however, effortlessly passed into law with support across the geopolitical zones. Last Thursday, a former governor of Kano state, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso proposed further amendments to the bill and got Kano and Plateau states added to the list of NEDC states.

The fate of the two bills provides some avenues for critical introspection about the nature of Nigerian federation and the roadmap going forward. In simple terms, Lagos asked for one

Orji Uzor Kalu

Peter Odili

was hard on those behind the idea of a third force, because of the retrogressive political behaviour of some leading politicians. He warned: “Any third force in the

While the proponents of the force are intensifying their efforts on the project, the issue remains a source of division among the elite

the lynxeye with Taiwo adisa

08072000046

What is good for North-East is good for Lagos

per cent of federal funds even while it provides 70 per cent of VAT, it was denied. The North-East asked for funds to build insurgency-ravaged communities, they got three per cent.

There is a great irony in there and the aphorism the reward for hard work is more work appears not to hold. The ironic twist would resonate further if broad statistics on the financial inflows from the two areas are placed on the table.

Senator Tinubu was angry, so were Senators Gbenga Ashafa and Olamilekan Adeola, all of them that fly the flag of Lagos from Central, East and West Districts. But the anger should not be restricted to the trio. It should cut across the geopolitical zones if we must maintain fairness and equity in the polity.

Lagos was the federal capital of Nigeria. It is the commer-

political space peopled with the concoction of selfish, covetous, egocentric and quasi-progressive Nigerians would not bring the desired change.

“Many Nigerians in the public today do not engage in labour of love for the citizens, that is why their names are not dropped in the basket of adorables like Awo.” He maintained that the internal “crisis, contradictions and conspiracy in all the major parties result from sick mindset, selfishness, and unwillingness of the so-called political leaders to do what is right in Nigeria, coupled with their intransigence to listen to the voice of reason and wisdom. Nothing will work unless it pleases their selfish end. This alone will tear these parties and any third force apart and cause them to implode.”

Indeed, the debate over the necessity or otherwise may have just begun. Given the rising tempo of horsetrading among political actors across the country, in no time, a clear picture of the movement behind the initiative, real motive and dramatis personae will emerge. cial capital and it carries the burden of human and vehicular stress more than any other state. The road infrastructure left behind by the Federal Government is dilapidated today.

Many of them are in need of urgent repairs. It should not be too much for Lagos to receive a lifting from the Federation and statutorily too.

You will understand the speed with which the Senators from Lagos addressed newsmen in the Senate last Thursday.

Senator Gbenga Ashafa, who spoke on behalf of the lawmakers, said the nation must address the plight of Lagos with open minds. He said: “It is Lagos that generates 70 per cent of the nation’s VAT and the one per cent we are demanding is for infrastructural development, so it is in the interest of the entire nation. “If the Senate will approve Kano and Plateau States as part of North East Development Commission because of attacks… why can’t the Senate do the same thing to Lagos?”

He stated that Lagos, as Nigeria’s former Federal Capital, has been under special infrastructure pressure which he said demands special intervention. The lawmaker urged his colleagues to have a rethink on the bill seeking special status for Lagos adding that the bill would be represented soon.

But the issue here is not about the undue rivalry being ignited between the North-East and Lagos. The question is about fairness and equity in our national life.

No one can deny the fact that the North-East and other insurgency ravaged areas need every support the nation and international community can offer. But if Lagos generates as much as 70 per cent of VAT, it should take 13 per cent derivation from that money. The same should happen if Zamfara in the future generates X amount from gold.

Why should we run a country under heavy dosages of unproductive sentiments and apparent disrespect for the feelings of some components of the federation? And why should we ignore the request from a segment of the federation when there are cogent and verifiable reasons in support of the request? By ignoring the request, are we enhancing unity or encouraging loss of faith in nationalism?

There are easy takes that can agitate some minds, though; Lagos is already self-sustaining; Lagos has benefitted from its vantage position as former capital; Lagos is the nation’s economic hub; Lagos generates IGR that dwarfs that of the 35 other states put together and so on. But the Holy book asks us to give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s. Lagos indeed deserves its due.

29

23 October, 2016

C

ANDIDATE Muhammadu Buhari was widely celebrated as ramrod on values. President Muhammadu Buhari, by Aisha’s “other room” testimony, has become rubbery, being swung and flung at will by unsteady hands, billowing in ill-air. Despite this confirmatory revelation, millions are still with the president. They believed the Candidate and still believe the President. When you serve a god with inadequacies, because your worship is to it, you will always have rationale for the glaring limitations. If Ogun worshippers are involved in road carnages, even when they just finished appeasing it, it would be because the deity isn’t properly placated. Buhari is one president anywhere in the world with true worshippers. To them, he is faultless, can’t be faulty and should not be faulted. The only problem is that such small letter “g” gods are always totally abandoned when the under-belly is completely exposed.

Despite the overt vendetta angle to the anti-corruption crusade, even his worst political enemy won’t deny him plaudit for the vigour brought to the fight. He is pounding the enemy’s camp, though accused of always reaching for the glove compartment when his “own” are involved in alleged corruption mess. Buhari and his “yes” men have denied the obvious.

The glaringly obvious is now on his integrity laps. It will be difficulty wishing it away.

That wish-away is Rotimi Amaechi, Buhari’s Minister of Transport, one of the main financiers of his successful presidential bid, who reportedly has the heart of the president to the point of daring his powerful Chief of Staff Abba Kyari and getting away with it. The former Rivers helmsman is a textbook definition of Nigerian politics; grit, steely determination, reckless courage, spendable wealth and all warts. He was almost Vice-President. In fact, he should have been, considering that he arguably single handedly denied his kindred in Niger-Delta, another four-year presidency in a nation of ethnic cleavages ahead of nationalism. It, however, appears his own haven’t forgiven him, with his failed electoral forays since he helped demolish Goodluck Jonathan presidency.

Amaechi’s love-hate relationship with the judiciary is a Nollywood box-office. Without being on the ballot, judiciary made him governor. Days before stung judges, particularly the duo at the Supreme Court, began singing, a very senior judicial official had confided in me that the DSS invasion of judges’ homes and arrests, might recreate Armageddon in our polity. He mentioned Amaechi as the sole troubler of the judiciary whose activities might crash the on-going political experience. This particular official says he is keeping a Pandora Box that would shake the nation to its root. He claimed Buhari knows Amaechi and another Buhari honcho as the central theme. The revelations therein are reportedly tying

IT was heartwarming to learn last Thursday that the governors of Oyo and Osun states have resolved to end the crisis that has engulfed the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, for many years. Both Governor Abiola Ajimobi and his Osun State counterpart, Rauf Aregbesola, agreed to retain the university as a legacy of their common heritage and work towards its rejuvenation. In the light of that, a visitation panel headed by Mr Wole Olanipekun was set up. I am particularly thrilled by the choice of the panel chairman given his landmark accomplishments when he sat aboard the governing council of the University of Ibadan as the prochancellor.

LAUTECH is a sad reminder of our penchant for destroying all that is good. It seems as a people we lack the capacity to consistently uphold standards, keep values and cherish virtues. Like the locust, we have a knack for visiting untold destruction on everything with which we come in contact through our collective dizzying myopia and incinerating politics. I will explain presently.

In 2010, LAUTECH was rated the best state university in Nigeria. It was also regarded as the eighth best in the country as well as Africa’s 76th best. The university’s medical programme was assessed as one of the best in Nigeria. Many of its faculties, especially the Faculty of Engineering, were rated quite highly. The university was a pride to the owner-states, the joy of its students and the glory of the host communities as students from all the corners of the country flocked to the university.

But its ascent to that enviable height marked the commencement of its descent into ignominy. As the university’s profile was rising, so was the rivalry between its owners. The genesis was the decision of Osun State to start its own university. That in itself is noble because a state cannot hold itself bound because of an alliance it has with another. If a state believes that its interest would be better served by embarking on a project, its partnership with another state in a similar project should not be a hindrance. But apparently this did not go down well with Oyo State government who made moves to appropriate LAUTECH to itself. Subsequently,

0811 695 4647

olanreade@yahoo.com

What’s Buhari gonna do about Amaechi?

the president’s hands from completing the squeezing of the stung judges or further stinging alleged corrupt judges.

His man, Amaechi, is putting him in a cul-de-sac.

What are the options before a president with anti-corruption emblem? He can choose to believe Amaechi’s denial of all bribery, bullying and inducement allegations from Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro and hear no evil afterwards. Only that there will be two problems with that option. First, the president must also believe the denial of the stung judges, irrespective of the claimed circumstantial evidence against them and ask them to go and sin no more. Second, Buhari must be ready to sacrifice a huge chunk of what is left of his anti-corruption integrity, because he has made the

With Sulaimon Olanrewaju 08055001708

lanresulaimon@yahoo.com

Bringing LAUTECH out of the crypt

Oyo State House of Assembly passed a motion of disengaging from the joint ownership with a view to assuming the sole ownership of the university.

Explaining the rationale behind this move in 2010, then commissioner for education in Oyo State, Professor Taoheed Adedoja, said Osun State government had been shirking its responsibilities to the university, espe-

Sunday Tribune

anti-graft crusade so believable to a public baying for blood, that once your name escapes into the public domain as having an alleged corruption baggage, you are already guilty as accused. In today’s Nigeria, a suspect is presumed guilty until otherwise proven. Don’t blame the irrational public, blame irredeemable looters.

I doubt if Buhari would want to take this highway to perception perdition. You don’t go stinging bees and turn back humming the Beatles platinum. The cases built against the judges must run their course. The anus of other judges suspected of farting on the Bench must also be smelled out and thoroughly burnished. These Bench-foulers are public officials though of restricted calling (are they now that tempered?) who should also dance naked in public if found wanting. I’m also for them stepping away from the Bench for the duration of their cleansing. An accumulated leave without a semblance of punitive intention should satisfy all parties. You may want to argue like NJC that there is a procedure which their temporary exit won’t fit into. But would recent happenings in the justice sector fit into any procedure whatsoever?

Unusual decisions are always products of unusual times. The season is here in Nigeria.

A cabinet colleague of Amaechi had confided in Gibbers that the major thrust of Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade is name-and-shame, leaving the baying public to pull the noose lever. It was a carry-over from the opposition days.

The strategy practically won APC the presidency, with almost everybody in the yesterday’s government tarred with the despicable brush. One memorable case was Aviation Minister Stella Oduah’s. The call for her exit from Jonathan’s cabinet was armouredly strident. Her principal held out for a while before his biceps couldn’t contain the dead-weight, Oduah’s case had become.

I suspect Buhari may want to adopt Jonathan’s approach, concerning Amaechi. Oduah was reportedly special to Jonathan as Amaechi is now to Buhari, though in diverse ways.

For Buhari to judge how dead-weight Amaechi’s alleged corruption cases have become, he should simply consider public reactions to the mention of Minister of Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu in another bribe-for-judgment scandal, with both ministers allegedly dropping the president’s name.

While Onu’s alleged involvement sent the public reeling, only shoulders were hunked and eyes cockeyed over Amaechi’s multiple cases. In the early days of his presidency, a foreign tabloid had targeted Buhari’s visit to run a ruinous editorial on the president’s new cabinet, with Amaechi emerging as the poster-boy of what an anti-corruption regime should not look like. Buhari shrugged it off. Doubt if he can afford such a puff and huff now. cially with respect to capital projects.

His words, “The arrangement is such that Oyo State pays staff salaries from January to June while Osun pays from July to December. With this there is no problem; the arrangement is perfect. However, when it comes to the issue of capital projects, it is a different kettle of fish; Osun State does not cooperate at all, thus leaving the responsibility of developing the university to Oyo State.”

Of course, Osun State resisted the move by its co-owner to whimsically take over the jointly-owned university and this resulted in a paralysis of the institution. Since that time peace has been on vacation on its campuses.

Going on strike has become the norm rather than the exception in the university. Owing staff salaries is a common occurrence as the two states engage in a blame game. These have had a telling effect on the university calendar. Medical students have been spending between 10 and 12 years for a six-year programme. This has cascaded down to other faculties. The once celebrated university and a leading institution in not just the country but on the continent has become a butt of jokes in the comity of tertiary institutions. It has moved from being among the best 10 in the country to one of the laggards.

It has become the choice of admission seekers who are left with no choice. LAUTECH is a victim of adversarial politicking.

I went through all these to make a point. The visitation panel should not be perfunctory or casual in the discharge of its functions. The problem in the university is deep-rooted and unless the panel uproots all the issues and dissect them dispassionately, whatever its recommendations are would just be a placebo; something to allow for the passage of time so as to pass the burden of solving the problem to others. Going that route would be a disservice to the university and its students. The best thing is to tackle the problems once and for all so that the university would be able to contribute its quota to the nation’s human capital development.

If the panel is able to do this, all the members would have etched their names in gold in the hearts of citizens of the two owner-states as well as all lovers of education.

30

23 October, 2016

ON THE

Sunday Tribune

With Bolanle Bolawole turnpot@gmail.com 07052631058

lord’sday

Of Aisha Buhari, Chibok girls, and bellyaching judges

H

URRAY! Twenty-one Chibok girls are back; whether liberated on the battlefront, freed through negotiation or swap deals or they simply walked into freedom like the two others before them does not really matter. They are free. That is what is important. We give thanks to God who made this possible and pray that He will do more so that the other girls can return safely. Less than 10 per cent of the “girls” have returned. Congratulations to President Muhammadu Buhari on this feat; be it good luck or hard work that yielded it.

He must, however, not rest on his oars until all the other girls are back.

We must also congratulate the girls who survived the horrors of Boko Haram on their tenacity. Their harrowing experience is better imagined than said. To still call the Chibok girls, “girls” has become a pun. Many of them have become mothers, some one-and-half or two times over. They came back clutching babies and with protruding bellies. Some of the parents would have difficulty identifying their “girls.” Just imagine what the girls must have gone through in the hands of their ruthless captors – unwilling sex slaves, raped, abused, brainwashed, and lots more. They also came back looking haggard and malnourished; this must be evidence of the changing fortunes of Boko Haram; the terrorists must have been truly degraded and are now unable to access food at will as was the case in the past. I hope we will not just throw money at the girls and expect that it solves the problem.

They have to be debriefed not only for security reasons, but also for the sake of their well-being and successful re-integration into the society. We have useful information to glean from them. We must also help them out of their state of mental disorientation and purge them of whatever nonsense Boko Haram might have poured into them. Next comes their needs, such as good medical care to start with; resettlement to follow; they must be helped to pick the bits and pieces of their education, for those of them still willing and able to continue from where Boko Haram wilfully and maliciously halted them. Those unwilling or unable to still pursue education must be helped to learn a trade and settle in. The Chibok girls’ tragic situation is our collective failure; they are, therefore, our collective responsibility.

For those who doubted if ever there were Chibok girls, the controversy is now settled. There were, indeed, Chibok girls.

For those who pontificated that the girls would ever come back, God is greater than the most powerful human being. This relative success should fire everyone’s enthusiasm to forge ahead with the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) project. I dare to say that without the tenacity and truculence of the BBOG, we might not have achieved this feat. They pushed the government hard – even to the point of their becoming an irritant. Now that it is paying off; we should appreciate the BBOG for their efforts and stop calling them bad names.

Press forward, BBOG, press forward; you have been vindicated, and your labour has

not been in vain.

Reports say we may witness the mass resignation of judges as a result of the harassment some judges suffered at the hands of the operatives of the Department of Secret or State Service (DSS). I will advise them not to because it will be self-defeating and counterproductive.

Remain on the Bench and fight the battle from there. That is where you are empowered to be more relevant in the struggle to stop creeping fascism from enveloping the country. If judges resign en masse, it will be good riddance to bad rubbish to those bent on destroying them in the first instance. They would be behaving like the proverbial man that enemies were plotting to kill, who now doused himself in kerosene and went to stand by the fireplace.

He had made the job of his enemies easier.

If judges can be humiliated the way the DSS did while they were still on the Bench, what do you think will happen to them when they are no longer on that high and lofty pedestal? Besides, it will give this government the opportunity to replace resigning judges with cronies. I suspect that there is a sinister motive in all of this which surpasses the war against corruption. It may be some people want to deny Walter Onnoghen the opportunity of succeeding Mahmoud Mohammed as the next Chief Justice of Nigeria and retain the complete northernisation of Nigeria by ensuring that another northerner succeeds Mohammed. No southerner had been CJN in 30 years and if Onnoghen is manoeuvred out of the way, the next in line would be another northerner.

That said, we must admit that there is corruption in the judiciary from top to bottom. I have had cause to report here about how the Senior Advocate of Nigeria title had been for sale. Judges have embarrassed themselves giving ridiculous rulings and judgments that leave a sour taste in the mouth. Perhaps, because it, too, has not been above board, the judicial council

has been unable to act decisively. Corruption in the judiciary is as mind-boggling as in the executive and legislature; it is like the three arms are competing to outdo one another. To assert that others can be corrupt while judges must not is not only sophistry, but also dubious distinction and an attempt to deceive, defraud, and pull the wool over our eyes.

All corruption is bad and none should be spared. Singling out judges is to satisfy an ulterior political motive. Corruption will recede only when it is tackled head-on and across board; but the way Buhari is going about it is counterproductive, vindictive, and politically motivated. Only opponents or those not willing to do the government’s bidding are targeted; as it is with politicians opposed to the government, so it is now with judges not ready to do the government’s bidding. The counter-allegation of judges being cited for corruption is that they refused to do the government’s bidding. Of course, people know judges who stink to high heavens but who continue to sit pretty on the Bench because they are “government judges.” This is not good enough. Corruption cannot fight corruption. He that comes to equity must come with clean hands. Is Buhari government clean in its so-called fight against corruption?

There are corrupt people holding top positions in this government. Evidence has also surfaced about big-time corruption going on under the very nose of Buhari. How fat kickbacks to some fat cats in this government drastically and dramatically scaled down the fine imposed on a GSM company has been trending on social media for a while. Cash-for-appointment and sex-for-appointment allegations have also whacked top shots in this government. If Buhari is investigating how cash meant for arms to fight Boko Haram was diverted to fund elections by the PDP, it is also necessary to investigate how money

meant for roads, hospitals, UBEC funds, among others. in the South was diverted to fund APC’s presidential election. You cannot hide under the excuse that you are only concerned about the arms funds.

Whether arms fund or roads funds, all these were funds taken from the public coffers and they must be accounted for.

Their diversion for election purposes has led to infrastructural deficit; why subventions have lagged behind and salaries and pensions cannot be paid. You cannot focus attention on one because it concerns your political foes and cover up those that concern you.

This government must tell us how its own election campaign was funded. I demand to know. And we deserve to know.

Information cannot be hidden for long; especially where yesterday’s friends have become today’s enemies. The social media is awash with how the APC presidential ticket was procured and at what price; where did the money come from?

Some reports said whereas the PDP spent between N1 trillion and N1.5 trillion on the last presidential election, the APC spent between N800 billion and N1 trillion. Where did this humungous amount come from? If the PDP’s came from the arms and other slush funds, where did the APC’s come from? We need to know. You cannot demonise others and pretend to be a saint when the evidence is that you are not even a shade better. The pot calls the kettle black!

The interview granted recently by First Lady, Aisha Buhari, is instructive here.

She spilled the beans; aired the family’s dirty linen in public; worse, she stripped her husband naked and took him to the cleaners. She must have her reasons. Possibly, she is exasperated with her husband. Perhaps, too, this is the only language he understands. Aisha said she had made up her mind to break ranks and be circumspect about supporting her husband’s political (mis)adventure again. If a man loses his bedroom, what else does he have remaining? When a man loses a robust wife and great fan like Aisha, only clowns will root for him. Aisha confirms what we have always known but which, regrettably, we thought had changed about this president: He does not listen to sound and good advice; he is not a team player; he loses support rapidly; he is easily surrounded and deceived; and he seems like a car with external brain box. In his first coming as military Head of State, the brain box was General Tunde Idiagbon; now, it is a cabal that contributed nextto-nothing to his emergence as president.

His wife says his government is not working and that the man is not even in control of his government. I suspect that Aisha’s intervention is a last-ditch effort to stave off a Bola Tinubu revolt. Macho Buhari has dismissed his wife in a Donald Trump manner; but of the two, it is as clear as crystal that Aisha, like Hillary Clinton, is the more responsive, believable, acceptable, humane, reliable and dependable.

She demonstrates a better understanding and grasp of the issues at stake than strutting and fumbling Buhari.

32

23 October, 2016

makeover

Foundation brush Use a foundation brush with any foundation for a polished look. You can also use this brush (when clean) to apply moisturizer all over the face or pot rouge on the cheeks.

Eyebrow brush Use the eyebrow brush to apply eye shadow to brows. Start at the inner corner of the brow and follow its natural shape using light, feathery strokes.

Eyeliner brush The eyeliner brush makes it easy to draw a precise line with powder shadow and can be used dry or damp. Liner on the top lashline should be thick enough to be visible when your eyes are open.

Concealer blender brush The concealer blender brush’s

Rita Okonoboh 08053789087 tribunemakeover@gmail.com

All you need to know about makeup brushes

Photo: www.allafrica.com

M

ANY people use makeup products, including brushes, sponges, blenders, puffs, among others, but not many know that various makeup products should be used with the appropriate applicator. This will not only help to reduce the spread of germs across various parts of the face, it will also ensure that these applicators last.

Renowned makeup expert, Bobbi Brown, shares some examples of basic makeup brushes and their uses:

Sunday Tribune

firm, tapered bristles make it easy to apply concealer on hardto-reach areas like the inner corners of your eyes and along the lashline.

Sheer powder brush The sheer powder brush is a ‘three in one’ brush that works well with blush, face shimmer or powder. For the most natural

look, lightly tap the brush to remove excess product before applying.

Eye shadow brush Use an eye shadow brush to apply a medium shadow colour on the lower lid, up to the crease.

For the most flattering effect, choose a shadow that enhances your eye colour.

Brush cleaning spray To quickly clean brushes between makeup applications, use brush cleaning spray. Once a

month (or more often, depending on use), shampoo brushes with conditioning brush cleanser.

How to clean makeup brushes —Bobbi Brown WITH a cosmetics presence in more than 60 countries, Bobbi Brown, one of the world’s most celebrated beauty experts, shares her thoughts on taking care of makeup brushes.

How often should you clean makeup brushes?

For concealer and foundation brushes, at least once a week to prevent a buildup of product.

And because these brushes are used on your face, the cleaner, the better. Brushes that are used around the eyes should be cleaned at least twice a month, while all others can be washed once a month.

How do you do it?

The best and most thorough method for cleaning your makeup brushes requires only water and either a gentle soap or brush cleanser. Using plain soap and water can dry out the brush’s bristles, especially if they’re

made of natural hair. Wet the bristles with lukewarm water, place a drop of cleanser into the palm of your hand, and gently massage the tips of the bristles in your palm. Always remember to keep the base of the brush head away from soap and water. The bristles are glued to the base, and water and detergent can cause the glue to disintegrate and the bristles to come loose and shed.

Rinse the bristles, squeeze out the excess moisture with a clean towel, reshape the brush head, and let the brush dry with its bristles hanging off the edge of a counter.

This allows the brush head to dry into a perfect shape. Never let your brushes dry on a towel – the bristles can become mildewed.

How do you know when a brush is no longer efficient?

A brush becomes inefficient when the bristles start to fray, shed, or lose their shape. I can’t emphasise enough that the right tools are as important in getting the look you want as the actual makeup itself. If your brushes become too pinched or squashed, then they simply will not be up to the job.

Source: www.allure.com

The best and most thorough method for cleaning your makeup brushes requires only water and either a gentle soap or brush cleanser

33

23 October, 2016

With Akintayo Abodunrin akinjaa03@yahoo.co.uk 08111813058

Duker promises bigger, better AIFF 2017 Though happy with the way this year’s Abuja International Film Festival went, its founder, Fidelis Duker, says the next edition would be outstanding

F

OUNDER and Chief Executive Officer of the Abuja International Film Festival (AIFF), Fidelis Duker is upbeat. In fact, who wouldn’t be when yours is the oldest independent film festival in Nigeria, and you have just finished a wellattended 13th edition?

From October 4 to 7, some 3,221 visitors and 30 exhibitors converged on the Silverbird Cinemas for this year’s edition of the festival during which 65 films from 37 African and non-African countries were screened.

The roll call of guests at the festival includes three serving ministers; Lai Mohammed (Information and Culture), Muhammed Bello (FCT) and Suleiman Adamu (Water Resources), Senator Ben Murray-Bruce and diplomats from Iran, US, Argentina, Mexico, France, Ghana and China. There were also delegations from Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa, Togo, Benin and Cote d’Ivoire.

Nollywood equally had quality representation as filmmakers and artistes turned out enmasse. Richard Mofe Damijo, Emeka Ike, Paul Obazele, Zack Orji, Evelyn Ikunobe, Thelma Okoduwa, Segun Arinze, Judith Audu, Emeka Osai, Fred Amata, Sonny McDon, Chike Brian, Bond Emeruwa, Mahmood Ali Balogun, Sonny Mcdon and Tony Anih, amongst others, were all there.

But apart from the successful outing, what gives Duker the greatest joy is the successful innovations in this year’s programme and the reception from participants. He says, “We created some programmes that made this Abuja International Film Festival different from previous editions. We had a master class in acting facilitated by Richard Mofe Damijo, Lancelot Imasuen, Segun Arinze and Francis Duru, where over 150 actors

Fidelis Duker (right) with some guests at the festival were trained in the basics of screen acting.

We also collaborated with Canon UK and Middle East to train 60 young aspiring Nige-

rians in cinematography and photography.

“The success was basically a function of careful planning and creating the right pro-

Producers scale up plans for ‘Isale Eko’ HAVING tasted success last May Day at the MUSON Centre with his debut stage production, ‘Loud Whispers’ which had Ali Baba as the lead character, Joseph Edgar is teaming up with Olisa Adibua as co-executive producer and Benson for another play set in 14th century Lagos.

Inspired by Ayo Bhadmus but written and directed by versatile director William Benson, ‘Isale Eko’ is set in 14th century Lagos where the struggle for power between two very prominent and powerful ruling houses sets the stage for an epic battle for control.

Throwing up quite a few surprises, ‘Isale Eko’ will be a major theatre outing for award-winning journalist and editor of THISDAY Glitterati, Nseobong Okon-Ekong who is on the crew as producer.

Focusing in part on the control of the very profitable trade in slave on the back of the abolition of the inhuman trade by the British, the story gets interesting with the admixture of deep feelings between the prince

of one of the warring royal houses with a slave girl from the Benin kingdom who inadvertently happens to be the Oba’s favourite daughter. This brings the legendary might of the Benin kingdom into the equation leading to unexpected consequences and a defining climax.

A statement from the production team disclosed that the play is uniquely styled to accommodate the gravel voiced renditions of Brymo fresh from his latest hit track, ‘Alajo Shomolu’ who would lace the sequences with his unique showmanship leading the audience through a journey of pedantic proportions. It will boldly weave modern day ballads into an ancient story, carefully taking the audience into a deliberate confusing realm of the old and the new.

Already confirmed to star in this extravaganza is the legendary Abiola Atanda (Madam Kofo), Yemi Shodimu and Patrick Doyle.

Discussions have reached advanced stage with others including RMD, Femi Jacobs,

SoSlimm Entertainment signs Goon Boi, Smallz IT is good news for up and coming Afro hiphop singer, Adeleye Wewe, better known as Goon Boi, who has been signed on by Olumide Fadayomi’s United Kingdom-based SoSlimm Entertainment.

The two-year contract between Goon Boi, son of visual artist and a former tourism commissioner in Ondo State, Tola Wewe and SoSlimm Entertainment, was signed at a ceremony last week in Lagos.

Having operated in the UK since 2009 promoting concerts and working with artists, the deal with Goon Boi and his friend, Beejay Smallz (Olaniyi Samuel) is SoSlimm’s first deal with any Nigerian act.

Explaining why he signed both young men, Fadayomi disclosed that he’s interested in hardworking people with a bias for entertainment and that his goal is to turn around the face of Nigeria’s entertainment industry through the acts.

“They are a bunch of talents and I was carried away listening to their songs. I couldn’t believe that such talents exist and are not being encouraged. This is the reason I’m sign-

gramming for the festival. An example is the Women in Film panel that x-rayed the dominant influence of women in Nigerian cinema lately and the FEPACI co-production and distribution workshop where countries in West Africa and others discussed areas of synergy and partnership in production, distribution and the fight against piracy.”

Following from this year’s success, Duker says preparations for the next edition have already commenced. “We are very optimistic of a bigger 2017. For me it can only be better. I have always said festivals are planned for a year so we will return to the drawing board and begin planning. What I can assure you is that we will do better and continue to raise the standard. We will add more interesting categories next year. Some of these additions will be in tune with the best global standards and we will want to get most of the categories endowed,” he stated.

Goon Boi (left) with Olumide Fadayomi at the signing ceremony ing them on my label. They have a lot to offer Nigeria’s entertainment industry and we have a lot of things in the pipeline to work on,” he said.

Fadayomi added that though both are young and the economic recession notwithstanding, he is resolved to go the whole hog with them. He said: “When you believe in

yourself, your talent and you work hard, you are going to make it. Recession or not, I know they are going out there to take over the music industry. They are my first acts in Nigeria and I’m going to devote energy to them.

In the next couple of years, they will be unmatched.”

Like Fadayomi, Goon Boi’s manager, Omonije Samuel was also optimistic about the deal. “I foresee great things and I will try my best to ensure that acts signed on to SoSlimm Entertainment are A-One outside Nigeria.”

Studying Performing and Film Arts at a private university in Ondo State until recently when he decided to study cinematography in Canada, Goon Boi dropped his first single, ‘Winner’ produced by Bmyne in 2011. His second single, ‘Player’ produced by Pheelz was released this year.

On why he opted for music instead of visual arts like his dad, the young rapper disclosed that though he does fine art too, he enjoys music the most. “I do music easily, naturally and I’m dropping a new song in a few weeks,” he said.

Adesua Etomi, Kayla Oniwo, Gideon Okeke, who will be backed by a massive supporting cast of 100 actors, dancers and musicians.

The producers have revealed that this would be the first time that auditions would be made on social media as other cast members would be expected to go on their social media handles to record themselves and send in their shots from where they will be invited for the physical auditions. This according to them is designed to increase the level of engagement and interaction between the public and the production.

Klala opens studio in style CELEBRITIES, stakeholders in the entertainment industry as well as family and friends, gathered to honour the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of Klala Photography and Films, Mr Adebusoye Adekunle Solomon Adekunle, popularly known as Klala, during the grand opening of his new office and studio at in Lekki, Lagos state last Sunday.

The new studio which is furnished and equipped with the latest photographic and videographic equipments, according Kala was to enhance the growth of the industry.

The multiple award winning international photographer also disclosed that, the need to meet up with the standard of his high profile clients who are in the majority informed the initiative.

“The dream to be a celebrated photographer has been my desire since my childhood. Despite the fact I studied Accounting and worked at aviation sector, I still had my way to set up Klala Photography, after I attended photography schools in America and London school of photography, United Kingdom,” he revealed.

34

23 October, 2016

children’sarena

Think before you speak

I

t was a sunny day, but the climate was enjoyable. Everyone in the railway station was waiting for the train to arrive. Among the crowd, there was a group of friends, youngsters who were on board for vacation.

It was a busy station with juice shop, mobile restaurants, coffee and tea stalls, newspaper shop, restaurants, among others. The announcement regarding the arrival of the train was made and everyone prepared to get into the train to their appropriate places.

The group of friends made loud noise to welcome the train as it entered the station. They ran to get their reserved seats before anyone could get into the train.

The empty seats were filled and the train whis-

tled to move. An old man with a young boy aged around 15 years came running to catch the train.

They entered the train and the train started to move.

They had their seats just adjacent to the friends’ group.

The young boy was so surprised to see everything.

He told at his father, ‘Dad, the train is moving and the things are moving backwards.’

His father smiled and nodded his head.

As the train started moving fast, the young boy again screamed, ‘Dad the trees are green in colour and run backward very fast.’ His father said, ‘Yes dear’ and smiled.

Just like a kid, he was watching everything with great enthusiasm and happiness loaded with surprises.

Termite workers and soldiers are almost always blind

made fun of him and shouted, ‘His son is mad I think.’

The father of the young boy, with patience, replied to the friend-group.

‘My son was born blind.

Only a few days ago, he was operated upon and got the vision. He is seeing various things in his life for the first time.’

The young friends became very quiet and to father and son.

RIDDLES

1. I’m tall when I’m young and I’m short when I’m old. What am I? 2. Mary’s father has 5 daughters – Nana, Nene, Nini, Nono. What is the fifth daughters name?

3. How can a trouser’s pocket be empty and still have something in it?

4. In a one-storey pink house, there was a pink person, a pink cat, a pink fish, a pink computer, a pink chair, a pink table, a pink telephone, a pink shower– everything was pink! What colour were the stairs?

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?

6. What goes up when rain comes down?

7. What is the longest word in the dictionary?

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

Answers

lives in the confines of the dark, damp nest, they have no need to develop functional eyes.

• Termites use pheromones, special chemical scents, to talk to one another and control each other’s behaviour. Termites leave scent trails to guide other workers using special glands on their chests.

Olaide Sokoya ollydesanmi@yahoo.com 0807 449 7425

ILD E CHF TH K O EE W

1. A candle 2. If you answered Nunu, you are wrong.

It’s Mary!

3. It can have a hole in it.

4.There weren’t any stairs, it was a one story house!

5. The doctor is his mom!

6. An umbrella!

7. Smiles, because there is a mile between each ‘s’ 8. A fire!

• Termites are actually important decomposers.

Termites break down tough plant fibres, recycling dead and decaying trees into new soil.

• Termites feed on plants directly or on fungus growing on decaying plant material. In either case, they must be able to digest tough plant fibres or cellulose.

• Termites feed on each other's faeces. Before they can start the hard work of eating trees, termites must obtain a supply of microorganisms for their digestive tracts.

• After their nuptial flight, the termite king stays with his queen, fertilizing her eggs as needed. He also shares parental duties with the queen, helping her feed their young predigested food.

• In almost all species, both the workers and soldiers in a given termite colony are blind.

Since these industrious individuals spend their

A fruit seller passed selling apples and oranges.

The young boy asked his dad, ‘I want to eat apples.’

His father bought him apples. He said, ‘Oh apple looks so sweet than it tastes I love this colour.’

The group was watching all the activities of this boy and asked the boy’s father ‘Is your son having any problem? Why is he behaving very differently?’

A friend from the group

Sunday Tribune

Naomi Anjolaoluwa Oladokun

clocked 4

Happy Birthday and Many happy returns

Famous invention

Blender

THE blender was first invented by Stephen Poplawski, owner of Stevens Electric Company, in Racine, Wisconsin’ United States, in 1922. He wanted a way to mix up drinks like malts and milk shakes, which had become popular at soda fountain restaurants.

He had the idea to put a spinning blade at the bottom of a container, connected to a motor. Poplawski went on to receive patents in 1932 for a machine that would reduce fruits and vegetables to a liquid.

A blender usually has a container made of glass, plastic, or steel, with a blade at the bottom able to hold between four and eight cups of liquid. There have been many versions and brands over the years. One of the most popular early versions was the “Waring Blendor” (the creating preferred the “blendor” spelling).

A partnership between inventor Fred Osius and investor Fred Waring resulted in the development of their version of the blender. Osius invented this version of the blender, and received a patent for it in 1933. The partnership began to suffer though, because of technical problems with Osius’ design.

Eventually, Waring left

Osius and redesigned his blender, and introduced the Waring Blendor to the public 1937.

The blender would not have come into being without the invention of the small electric motor in 1910. The new motor, which was known as the fractional horsepower motor, made possible the invention of many appliances, including the blender.

• Starting in the 1950s the blender became widely used in hospitals and labs. It was a vital scientific research tool for Dr. Jonas Salk. Dr. Salk used the blender with a particular attachment during the development of the lifesaving polio vaccine.

35

23 October, 2016

tribunechurch

Sunday Tribune

With Rita Okonoboh tribunechurch@gmail.com tribunechurch@yahoo.com 08053789087

Retirement has robbed me of fellowship with other bishops —Bishop Owadayo Aged 77, today marks his seventh year as retired Bishop of Egba Anglican Diocese, Ogun State. Right Reverend Matthew Oluwaremilekun Owadayo, who has been in the ministry for over 50 years, shares his experience in retirement and thoughts on nation building with RITA OKONOBOH. Excerpts:

H

AVING retired for seven years, what do you miss about being in active ministry?

When a bishop retires, he retires into a sort of solitary life, although, it is not totally so with me. I receive invitations to other dioceses to feature at events. I also present public speeches at clergy schools and religious seminars. Retirement has, however, robbed me of the fellowship I used to have with other bishops. I have also had the opportunity of leading retreat for the bishops. Retirement gives me the opportunity, even though I miss many people, to have quiet time to myself and be more resourceful. I am also engaged in research compared to before.

Why did you decide to write an autobiography when you retired?

Life is a journey and I felt that having gone this far through the grace of God, I can leave part of my experiences to share with other people in form of a book. I documented my challenges and general experiences and I think that people can learn from this sort of thing. I have passed through scarcity and God has used people to support me. People can learn from my experiences and they can find encouragement, especially with how God has intervened in my life.

You have been in the ministry for over 50 years. Would you say Christianity has made the necessary impact in changing Nigeria for the better?

The church has really tried but the people are not yielding enough. That is, people are not putting into practice what they

hear on the pulpit. Jesus said we should not only be hearers but also doers of the word. Even Christians in prominent positions have lost their integrity and have sold themselves off. However, there are some who have refused to soil their hands.

The problem is that we are only hearers and not doers of the word.

You stated seven years ago that Nigeria needs a rebirth. Now it’s been over one year that there has been a change in administration. Would you say you are satisfied with how things are going?

I would say that the present administration’s determination to fight corruption is commendable. Where there is corruption, people cannot develop according to the will of God. Growth will be stunted. The Bible says that any nation that is corrupt is a nation that is not ready to develop. If we believe that God exists, we must fear him, because the consequences of our corrupt actions are destructive. We are destroying our image by being corrupt. We should join hands to support the fight against corruption. Proverbs 34 states that a nation built on corruption can never see peace, happiness and joy.

What is your message for leaders and the Christian community?

We are birds of passage. God is eternal.

We should know that our time on earth is limited and during that time, we must lay good examples for people to learn from and know that we should obey God. We must fear God and love our neighbours. No time is permanent. If we love one another, we will have good accounts to give to God. Righteousness exalts a nation. Corruption brings ridicule.

We must hold our leaders accountable —Okogie Sylvester Okoruwa - Lagos THE Catholic Emeritus Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okojie, has called on Nigerians to hold leaders accountable for their actions.

He stated this while delivering his message at the he ninth annual Cardinal Anthony Okojie lecture, held at McGovern Hall, St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Lagos State, last week.

Okogie, who called on Nigerian to ensure that leaders are held accountable for all their actions, advised Nigerians to ensure that leaders obey rules because this was the only way corruption could be eliminated.

According to him, “We must not give them free hands to steal our resources

but to always check their excesses and always put them on their toes so that they will do the right thing.”

In his keynote address at the event, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Reverend (Dr) Alfred Adewale Martins, said

From left, Catholic Archbishop of Lagos Archdiocese, Most Reverend (Dr) Alfred Adewale Martins; Anthony Cardinal Okogie; Lagos Metropolitan Grand Knight of St. Mulumba,Charles Mbelede; Bishop of Auchi Diocese, Right Reverend (Dr) Gabriel Dunia and Archbishop of Ibadan, Most Reverend (Dr) Gabriel Abegunrin, at the 9th annual Anthony Cardinal Okogie Lecture/Foundation held at St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Lagos State. PHOTO: SYLVESTER OKORUWA.

that Nigerians were hungry and as such, government needed to look into the welfare of the masses.

“The current recession in Nigeria has seriously increased the rate of crime.

The church which is suppose to inspire people spiritually has become corrupt as fake clerics, especially those who are only there to make money and not to build the faith of their members, have infiltrated the church.

“For Nigeria to be a better place, Nigerians must be physically and spiritually empowered to fight corruption,” Martins stated.

He also noted that the lecture/foundation was aimed at raising funds that would be used to educate the underpriviContinues on pg38

36

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

With Olaide Sokoya ollydesanmi@yahoo.com 08074497425

churchnews

CAC president stresses importance of contributing to church growth

By Seyi Sokoya

P

RESIDENT of Christ Apostolic Church (C.A.C), Pastor Abraham Akinosun, has charged Christians not to give room for distraction, but rather be committed in contributing cheerfully to the growth of the church.

Akinosun stated this at the thanksgiving service of the 27th anniversary of CAC, Power of God Saves Worldwide, popularly known as Christ City of Peace Evangelical Ministry (CCOPEM), held last Sunday at the church headquarters at Akowonjo, Egbeda, Lagos State.

He added that the act of giving and building the

church with clean hearts was one of the qualities of true Christians.

“I urge people to always have the will to contribute their quota in the vineyard and await multiple rewards from God,” Akinosun stated.

He also urged Christians not to be discouraged from giving their best in the work of God because

it would hinder their progress, blessings and also delay God’s plan for their lives.

Akinosun commended the visionary of the ministry, Prophet Moses Olagunju, for his steadfastness and commitment to the growth of the church at large, just as he also saluted all the clerics and members for their support

regarding the development of the ministry.

The event, which was graced by clerics including Pastor Emmanuel Odejobi; Pastor Peter Ayanbode; representative of the General Evangelist of C.A.C., Prophet Kayode Abiara, Senior Personal Assistant, Pastor Johnson Oshati, among other clerics, also had the attendance of notable gospel artistes such as Evangelists Bola Are, Dunni Olanrewaju, popularly known as Opelope Anointing, among others.

In his remarks, Olagunju appreciated Akinosun and Abiara for their support

over the years and efforts towards the transformation of the church across the globe and commended and prayed for all branches of the church including Nigeria, Ghana and overseas.

“It is good to celebrate, especially at a time like this, but we must not be distracted by the jamboree. Rather, we should focus more on how to seek the face of God for the liberation of the country and also spread the gospel of Christ and win more souls for Him. As for me, this is what I will do for the rest of my life, even to the point of death,” he said.

‘What Buhari, ministers should do to address Nigeria’s problems’ Bola Badmus - Lagos

President of the Christ Apostolic Church (C.A.C), Worldwide, Pastor Akinosun (second right); head of Christ City of Peace Evangelical Ministry (CCOPEM), Prophet Moses Olagunju (third right) and other officers, during a parade welcoming the president to church headquarters at Akowonjo, Egbeda, Lagos State, as part of the activities marking the thanksgiving service of the 27th anniversary of church, held last Sunday.

THE founder, Christ for All Peoples Church, Ojo, Lagos State, Prophet Samuel Oyadara, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari and his ministers to seek God’s counsel for solution to problems fac-

Pastor advises govt on service to the people Muhammad Sabiu - Kaduna MINISTER-in-Charge of Universal Reformed Christian Church (URCC), Pastor Chris Annger, has advised state governors to embark on people-oriented projects that would alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians.

He made this assertion during a thanksgiving service in honour of Colonel J.T Aun’s son, Sub-Lieutenant Aungwa Aun, who received presidential commissioning into the Nigerian Navy in Kaduna State.

Pastor Annger urged Nigerians to fast and pray to God for intervention and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to bring together people of integrity and competence to address the economic challenges confronting the nation.

Speaking at the thanksgiving service, former Commander, Nigerian Army Supply and Transport Corps, Major General Emmanuel Nienge (retd), called on the Federal Government to declare state of emergency on the economy.

Bishop Nathaniel Ogundipe of Ifo Anglican Diocese (middle); Special Guest, Mr John Wyse (right); Chairperson of the day and Chief Economist of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, Mrs Yejide Wyse (third left); diocesan architect, Mr Olumoroti Delano, and other guests at the third diocesan harvest thanksgiving service of Ifo Anglican Diocese, held last Sunday.

ing the country.

Oyadara made the call while speaking with TribuneChurch in a telephone chat, saying President Buhari and his ministers should know that God is able.

The cleric, who recalled that it was the same God who set free the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt, enjoined the president and his ministers not to look unto any man or woman for solutions to Nigeria’s problem but God. Oyadara assured that amid the perceived scarcity and lack of funds, God was ready to show the way out if they could truly seek his face through fervent prayers.

He, however, called on the leaders, who were guilty of stealing of the nation’s common wealth to desist from such actions, by having a change of heart so that Nigeria could move forward and take its rightful position in the comity of nations.

Bishop tasks Christians on thanksgiving

By Rita Okonoboh BISHOP of Ifo Anglican Diocese, Ogun State, Right Reverend Nathaniel Ogundipe, has tasked Christians on the benefits of giving thanks in all situations.

Bishop Ogundipe, who stated this at the third diocesan harvest thanksgiving service of Ifo Anglican Diocese, held last Sunday at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Okenla, Ifo, Ogun

State, reiterated the need for people to always remain grateful, noting that thanking God in all situations was a means of opening up more doors of blessings.

Also speaking on the importance of appreciating God’s goodness and mercy, the guest preacher and former Bishop of Egba Diocese, Right Reverend (Dr) Matthew Owadayo, based his sermon on the theme, “Harvest of God’s goodness and

Mercy.”

In her message on the diocesan harvest, Chairperson of the day and Chief Economist of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, Chief (Mrs) Yejide Wyse, who was full of gratitude for God’s manifestation in the diocese, stated that “it’s not as if there’s money in this environment, but slowly, we can see God manifesting in the diocese and in the lives of the members.

“In spite of the situation of the country, people are still radiating and smiling. That is God’s goodness. We have to let the Holy Spirit work though us, especially in the propagation of the gospel; the main message being that rapture is coming soon and we must all be prepared.”

Also speaking, the diocesan architect, Olumoroti Delano, who noted that there was much to thank God, especially as regards

the growth of the diocese, stated that “when we look back to when it started and now, we have a lot to thank God for. No matter the economic situation, that we are still alive and in good health, we have to thank God. Even in the midst of the difficulties we find ourselves, parishioners should not relent in their efforts in contributing to the work of God in any way that they can. We should not lose hope.”

37 tribunechurch

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

‘Many who practise Christianity no longer love fellow human beings’

WHEN did you give your life to Christ? had a conservative Christian background as my mother was a born-again as at the time we were growing up.

So, going to church was natural to us. I, however, had to take a decision for myself because there was a time I had a revolution in my mind. I questioned everything. Then I wouldn’t say ‘Jesus is Lord.’ I actually questioned everything and I found out the truth for myself. The truth is that there is God and that same God loves humanity. God loves humanity and He sent someone called Jesus, not as a religious figure, but as a son of His. How did I arrive at these conclusions? Jesus performed miracles to tell the world how much he cares. He gave the world a commandment to love our fellow human beings. That is the most important commandment.

I

What is your view about the way religion is practised in Nigeria?

The whole essence of religion as espoused by Jesus is that God gave Jesus one message, which is, to love our neighbours as ourselves. That is the most important commandment that every human being should follow. The second message is the freedom to become whatever one can be in life. Jesus’s position was freedom for human souls. He confirmed his authenticity through the miracles he performed. The miracles

Pastor Osas Obarisiagbon recently left office as the head of the youth arm of the Church of God Mission with headquarters in Benin, Edo State, after serving for 10 years. In this interview with BANJI ALUKO, he speaks about how he was able to combine banking with his religious responsibilities and the practice of Christianity in Nigeria. Excerpts: were not to make him look like God, but to underline the fact that he came from God. The way people practise religion today is totally against the ultimate religion.

What is the ultimate religion? The love of fellow human beings.

Does that mean that meeting in church is not the most important thing?

They say that iron sharpens iron. The idea of congregating is good because we congregate to learn. In ancient times, they had central learning places. That was how universities evolved. We congregate to learn about God, humanity and survival. It is part of the human experience. Emphasis, however, should be on love for humanity. That is what Jesus said.

What was the experience like as the head of the youth arm of the Church of God Mission International?

I was the head for 10 years.

My coming in was full of drama because I was never interested in the position. I was already a banker then. When the archbishop called me to say that I was the one, I gave all the excuses in this world, but she refused.

Why were you uninterested in the position?

So many reasons. I felt that I naturally didn’t have the energy for arguments and intrigues. I just wanted to do my job and not get involved in issues with people. There could be many issues such as respect, money matters and so on that I didn’t want to be involved in. I was also not in the mainstream of youth activities at that time. She (Archbishop Idahosa) insisted and I took the challenge. I remember the day I was announced, some people got angry and walked out. They called it imposition. As of that time, the youth ministry was fraught with what I will call local revolution.

Then you will hear that a branch locked up the church saying they didn’t like the pastor or a new pastor was brought in and they didn’t like him. God, however, helped us and we applied wisdom. I observed that majority of the youths in the Church of God Mission then wanted to become pastors. This was largely due to the influence of Archbishop Benson Idahosa. He was such a powerful influence. If you were under him, though he encouraged us to explore the world and all that, you would feel that you

had a calling to become a pastor.

The perspective we brought was that one can become a pastor and still be a professor, judge, banker or anything. You must not relinquish your social responsibilities for the church. That was the value we brought. So, there is a level of change in the youth ministry from the core clerics at the helm of affairs to the career people. That doused the tension. You know that there is a way career pastors think that would be quite different from a full time pastor.

But some churches prefer fulltime pastors so that they can fully concentrate on the task at hand. Which do you prefer?

I would prefer a situation whereby a pastor is allowed to be himself and allowed to serve God freely. One can do pastoral work and when the demand becomes

overbearing, one can now choose to go into it full-time, provided pastoral work can pay the bills. For me, I don’t want pastoral work to pay my bills. That is why I did not go into full-time pastoral work. I don’t want to be dependent on the ministry; that is very limiting.

Do you subscribe to the involvement of clerics in politics?

A pastor is a Nigerian and he has the right to participate.

Watch the people who dominate international news, are they not politicians? They are the people deciding our world and regulating our lives. That shows you how important politics is. If you think you can change the world and affect lives through political participation, go in there irrespective of the fact that you are imam or a bishop.

38 tribunechurch

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Our mission is to tackle evil church doctrine —MAC Corps Mission for Africa International, a paramilitary interdenominational Christian organisation, which started in 2005 and has presence in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra-Leone, Cameroon and The Gambia, hosted its founder, Edward Taylor, from the United States, on Thursday and Friday, October 13 and 14. The international officers of the organisation and the host, Regional General Officer Commanding Joseph Afolabi, spoke with TAIWO OLANREWAJU and BOLATITO ABOLADE on the achievements of the organisation. Excerpts:

W

HAT is Mission for Africa Chaplaincy all about?

World Commandant Apostle Edward L. Taylor: It is to bind people, especially men of God, together in love, unity and humility.

Brief history of the chaplaincy Chaplain General Thomas Livingstone Ambeck, African Commandant: In 2005, the World Commandant was in a conference in my church, Evangel Christian Centre International, Ghana and while preaching, he pointed at me, saying, “This is the man.” He said it thrice. He later singled me out and repeated thrice again, “This is the man.” I didn’t understand but I knew something spiritual was going on. He went back to the United States and about two or three months later, he phoned me early in the morning to tell me what God

told him and that was how we started.

Our objective is to correct bad doctrines in churches. The chaplain is a trained and commissioned priest; he is expected to be more disciplined.

How did you get involved in the Chaplaincy and your experience so far?

Chaplain Paul Monday Chom, Commandant General for Nigeria: I got involved with the chaplaincy about three years ago in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State. I was called upon to take up the duty of the CG, when the former CG had a little problem. The experience has been tasking but my experience as a missionary cum church planter and as an Air Force officer helped me. As CG, nobody handed over anything to me. More importantly, there was a crack in the organisation. But with the help of God, we were able to resolve all differences and now, Mission for Africa Chaplaincy Corps (MAC Corps) is present in almost all states of Nigeria.

Still on MAC Corps Chaplain Oyeyemi Isaac Olusegun, National Chairman of Executive Chaplains in Nigeria: There are two arms in MAC Corps, the regulars and the executives. The regulars are the pastors and other members of the corps, while the executives are traditional rulers and very important personalities in the society. They act like fathers or patrons to the regulars.

How did you come in contact with the chaplaincy?

Chaplain Joseph Kayode Afolabi, the host and newly promoted Regional General Officer Commanding:

I was invited by a friend in 2010. I gave up my membership of another organisation to be fully committed to the course of MAC Corps. When I met with the African Commandant in Suleja, Niger State, he asked me to collect sand from the ground and said the sand was a sample of what God was about to do in Oyo State, and since then, it has been one success story after another. When there was crisis some time, I did not give up and now, we are established in Oyo State.

How did you come in contact with MAC Corps?

Chaplain Alex Akwaeze, National Planning Committee Chairman: I joined the Chaplaincy in 2009 in Kogi State. The experience has been fun with the help of God. On my message of love to the Nigerian pastors, I would say let us allow the Bible to be the foundation of all what we do. Let us be heavenly focused. The word of God should be our watchword.

Mel Gibson hints at ‘Passion of the Christ’ sequel PROMINENT Christian movie star and filmmaker, Mel Gibson, has given more hints about what fans can expect from the potential sequel to his hit film, the “Passion of the Christ.”

In August, the 60-year-old Gibson told California evangelist, Greg Laurie at SoCal Harvest that he is talking with screenwriter Randall Wallace about the possibility of making a sequel to the popular 2004 movie, which he is currently referring to as “The Resurrection.”

According to the Christian Post, in a recent interview with Houston megachurch pastor, Joel Osteen and his wife, Victoria, Gibson again discussed the idea of a “Passion of the Christ” sequel.

As Gibson told Laurie in late August that such a project would be a “huge undertaking,” the Hollywood star told Osteen that a movie of this kind of historical and biblical significance is not something that can be rushed.

“It’s going to take some time because you don’t half do something like this,” Gibson

said.

“You do it so that it makes sense. You do it so that it surprises. You do it so that it enlightens.”

Gibson even stressed that the movie has to be more than just a simple re-enactment of what happened and must dig into deep theological questions that many have never considered before.

Mel Gibson

Nigeria needs special prayers —Leader, C/S movement church Biola Azeez - Ilorin THE spiritual father and chairman of Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church worldwide,

Most Reverend (Dr) Samuel Adefila Abidoye, has said that Nigeria needs special prayers to get out of its present economic and political challenges.

A statement signed by the chairman and secretary of the Local Organising Committee of the 76th international conference and convention of the

church, Special Apostle Stephen Oladimeji, and Pastor Sina Odediran, however, said that future of the country was assuring.

Abidoye, in the statement, also said that this year’s international conference and convention of the church, tagged, Offa 2016, would include special prayers for the nation and its people.

He said the conference would be hosted by the Offa district of

the fold from Monday, October 31 at Galilee Land, Kilometre 24, Ilorin-Ibadan expressway, Abuduka-Asileke, Orile Igbon, Oyo State.

It also said that Abidoye would chair the conference, adding that chairman Offa district, Special Apostle H.A. Olakayi Hansa, will be the chief host.

The general conference would be rounded off with Sunday special thanksgiving service.

‘We must hold our leaders accountable’ Continued from pg35

Children teachers of CAC, Oke-Ife, Agbowo, Ibadan, Oyo State, during the 21st children anniversary of the church.

CAC Oke-Ife celebrates with children

By Bolatito Abolade MEMBERS of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) and other faithful from various Christian denominations, last Sunday, joined members of the Christ Apostolic Church (Oke-Ife) Agbowo, Ibadan, Oyo State, in celebrating the faithfulness of God on the church and the children on the church’s 21st chil-

dren anniversary.

The programme with the theme: “Love not the world, neither the things of the world,” was also a call on the Christian faithful to continue to serve the Lord.

In his speech, the chairman on the occasion, Mr Damilare Olowookere, said the purpose for man’s life was to love and serve God,

Also speaking, the children coordinator, Pastor Samuel Ogungbemi, disclosed that 19 SS2 students among the children graduated to become members of the youth church, having satisfied necessary requirements.

Highlights of the occasion were drama ministration, bible recitation, ewi rendition and presentation of gifts.

leged, especially those in need of education.

Professor Isaac Ukpokolo, a lecturer at the Department of Philosophy, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, while delivering his lecture entitled: “A nation in need of renewal: The role of mercy and justice,” said that Nigeria was a vision of the British government and that it was not yet fit to be called a nation because the country was a combination of geographical states living together as a country.

“For Nigeria to be a nation, Nigerians must come together, talk and agree to live together as a nation. This means that

the present government must restructure the nation so that we can discuss and set up a true federalism system of government,” he stated.

Professor Ukpokolo, however, recommended that Nigerians should unite and use their diversity in tribes to develop the nation, saying that the call by Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) and other groups for breaking up of Nigeria into regions would not help but cause more problems.

Also in attendance at the event were the Archbishop of Ibadan, Most Reverend (Dr) Gabriel Abegurin and the Bishop of Auchi, Right Reverend Gabriel Dunia.

39 tribunechurch livingword

with Most Revd J.O. Akinfenwa Bishop of Ibadan Anglican Diocese

Encounter with the power of the Holy Spirit for exploits! (4) through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts (Psalms 119:97-100).

• If we love Him, we will love His house: David the lover was a celebrator of God’s house (Psalms 122:1; Psalms 84:1).

• If we love Him, we will love souls: Our love for God is proven by engaging in soulwinning and praying for souls to be saved and established in the Kingdom (Psalms 119:46; John 10:16, 21:15-17; Romans 1:16). However, it is important to recognise that no one can give what he/she does not have; until one is born again, he cannot call others to Christ. Are you born again? This means, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord? If you haven’t, you can do so as you say this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner.

Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Deliver me from sin and satan to serve the Living God. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now I know I am born again!”

For further reading, please get my books: Anointing for Breakthrough, Understanding the Anointing, Anointing for Exploits and Release of Power. I will conclude this teaching next week.

The seven deadly sins of church announcements Have you ever had a cringe moment listening to church announcements? Most of you are probably nodding your head affirmatively.

So what are the biggest factors in bad church announcements? Here are seven of the deadliest: Not beginning on time Most church announcements precede the worship service. If they begin late, the entire service is thrown out of kilter.

Not being scripted It is best for the person making announcements to have a verbatim script that he or she has rehearsed. For the more accomplished speakers, detailed notes are a minimum.

Going too long Announcements should be crisp, clear, and brief. Don’t take time away from prayer, music, and preaching in the worship service.

Trying to be funny Church announcements are not the place to try your infamous humor. And don’t try to tell jokes. You will go too long and the jokes will probably fall flat.

Speaking in code Here is an example of an announcement made in code: “The MYPL will meet in Santuck 183 instead of their regular place.

If you have any questions, you can ask Dorothy who will be at her usual spot after

Sunday Tribune

dawnofanewera

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

LAST week, we began to examine the Spirit of Love as one of the vital operational dimensions of the Holy Ghost that engender our exploits in life. This week, we shall continue this teaching with the topic: what is in the Love of God? It is written: And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16; see also Romans 8:28).

Love is a facilitator of divine nature, and when we are rooted and grounded in love, we are filled with all the fullness of God. Thus, since we carry divinity within our humanity, whatever clears the way for God clears the way for us (Ephesians 3:17-19).

However, we must note that the love of God is not theoretical but practical. As it is written: My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18).

What are some of the biblical proofs of the love of God at work in us?

• If we love God, we will obey Him: Jesus said: He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him (John 14:21; see also Deuteronomy 28:11; John 5:3).

• If we love Him, we will love His Word: David the lover said: O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Thou

23 October, 2016

the service.” Here is a clear test to make sure you aren’t speaking in code: Could a first-time guest understand exactly what you are saying if they knew nothing about your church?

Asking others for information in the announcements Have you ever been in a church service where the person making announcements says something like these words: “Hey, Jim, how long do you think your meeting will last on Monday night?” Cringe moment. Awkward moment. Bad announcements.

Taking personal privilege I once spoke at a church where the man making announcements decided “to take a moment of personal privilege.” He then proceeded to tell us about his double hernia surgery, and how grateful he was for the prayers. He even got choked up and had to pause for an interminable moment.

Don’t get me wrong. The sentiment was nice. And hernias are nothing to laugh about. Especially double hernias. But the announcements were really not the place and time for his comments.

Some churches are avoiding the “announcements risk” by eliminating them altogether. Instead they are keeping announcements confined to the newsletter, website, emails, or texts. Other churches have video announcements, either recorded in house or by an outside firm.

Source: www.thomrainer.com

Go forward

Continued from last week We also move around because people find our lives green enough to place a demand on it – so they keep calling us. The expert plumber, the expert engineer, the eloquent speaker, the powerful politician – they are always moving around because people are forever inviting them to come and do something of value. Has it happened to you before, that you call for a mechanic, electrician or barber from a service company, and you actually dictate the specific person you want to come and attend to you? Why do you do so? Because you enjoy the service of that particular mechanic, electrician, barber, mechanic or whatever! In other words, people move around because they are experts!

We could go on and on. What these show us is that unless we move, life will be very dull indeed. Human life is about movement. Progress only happens as we move.

In fact, they say that human institutions are either a movement or a monument.

And as individuals, if you do not move, you will become a monument. Life will pass you by.That is why, to overcome discomfort or pain, rational man simply has to move. Someone said, “If you don’t like your current location, change it! You are not a tree!!” That was what the prodigal son did: Luke 15:17-20 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants

of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father…

Up to this point, you may be tempted to think that only physical movement is being addressed. No! Movement is not only physical. Movement can be physical, yes. But it can also be mental. It can be psychological. It can be emotional. It can be spiritual.

Somebody can be with you physically, but his mind is completely in another place – that person has moved mentally. A woman can be sleeping in the same bed with her husband, but her feelings are with her boyfriend who is very far away – she has moved emotionally. A man may not have money to pay his rent today, but he already has the working drawings of how his mansion will look like, and he has already written a budget for the construction – he has moved psychologically. Physically, he is a struggling tenant, but psychologically, he is a landlord.

So, to make progress, man has to keep moving physically, mentally, socially, psychologically, spiritually and so on.

To be continued next week

theapostolicmessage

By Pastor (Dr) G.O. Olutola JP. President, The Apostolic Church Nigeria and LAWNA Territorial Chairman 08023063070, 08034013593; E-mail: chairman@taclawna.org

The Lord shall remove your reproach This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you Joshua 5:9 One of the weapons of the devil against man is to afflict him with reproach: What the scripture describes as coming short of the glory of God. Man has continually lived in a state that falls below the standard of God. Reproach is a state of shame or loss of honour. It is sure not a pleasant experience.

God wants us to live well. He provided all things even before our birth. He wants us to prosper in our ways and live in good health. It wasn’t His plan for us to live in reproach or a scornful life.

But when we find ourselves in a state of reproach, which is often the case, He is ready to give us a way of escape to enter into the bliss and peace He originally wanted for us. Reproach is a sort of stigma that subjects the bearer to scorn and belittles his brilliance and endowment.

We have instances when certain action taken by an individual brings reproach to him or her like in the case of Elimelech and Naomi his wife in the book of Ruth chapter one. The failure of leadership in some situation can also bring reproach like we find when David decided to count the people of Israel against God’s plan. It was the leader that sinned but the consequences are felt more by the followers.

May we be saved from bearing the curse of unknown sins. The Psalmist laments what iniquity had brought upon him, saying; “For my life is spent with grief and my years with sighing: my strength faileth be-

cause of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed”. (Psalm 31:10).

In essence when one does anything that is against the commandment of God, one can bring reproach unto oneself. And this will manifest in “life spent with grief”, years of confusion and sighing, failing strength and consumed bones. You can appreciate that in the light of the disobedience of Adam and Eve. God turned His eye against them and cursed them; so that man became a subject of grief, confusion and failing strength – because all have come short of the glory of God. It is thus not surprising to find that every man has one reproach or the other to contend with today. The Psalmist says; “I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me” (Psalm 31:11).

Your living condition can be a source of reproach. Your disability can be a reproach. Your delinquent child can be a source of reproach; your family or marital instability can be a reproach.

When you are at a level that is lower than that of your contemporary! When your labour is not bringing the right reward.

Your barrenness is a reproach. Reproach can take the form of shameful ailment or disease as in the case of the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:25-34).

To be continued next week

40

23 October, 2016

language&style

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

T

g

rammar jokes

Do you know these English words exist?

There and their (IV)

HE excerpt that has served us for the past three weeks comes under scrutiny for the fourth time. It is presented as sample 1.

Sample 1: “…he has not picked up any local dialect or the national language, English, which are dominantly spoken by indigenes…Been a light sleeper, I only had one opportunity to look through the window before ducking through the back door and escape into the bush…There remains were deposited at the Bishop Shanahan Mortuary at Nsukka…The reality is that the menace of the Fulani Herdsmen is real. In fact it has become a routine exercise in many farming settlements in the northern parts of Nigeria…Fulani herdsmen don’t understand any other language other than their own…Fulani people places premium attention on seniority, rank and class…They also learn to live under harsh weather conditions while tending to their wares…For AlhajiLukmonMafindi, chairman of Miyetti Allah in Taraba, rustlers are the biggest treat to herdsmen…Needless to add, Fulani herdsmen will attempt to dominate it environ if given the opportunity…While farmers are skeptical about the idea on the strength that vacant or free land is hard to come by due to expanding farming…He added that education is also key in order to teach host and renters that mutual understanding and social integration will keep us together than isolation and mistrust.”(Grazing Reserves: Lasting Solution or More Problems?

The Nation, May 1, 2016) Let’s note the pronoun it which occurs in the following context: “Fulani herdsmen will try to dominate it environ.” Many things are wrong with the choice of the pronoun (it).

To identify the problems, we need to identify the antecedent of the pronoun. What is the noun that this pronoun is meant to replace? The noun, actually a noun phrase, is unmistakable: Fulani herdsmen.

Now as for the pronoun under reference (it), is it in its singular or plural form? It is clearly in its singular form.

Now let’s ask another simplistic question. Is the phrase Fulani herdsmen in its singular or plural form? It is, no doubt, in its plural form. Here we locate the first problem with the pronoun: its singular form is inconsistent with the plural form of the nominal phrase that is supposed to be its antecedent.

Even the form, apart from the question of singularity/plurality, is wrong. What is required in that context is the possessive adjective, not just the pronominal form. All pronouns have their possessive adjective forms. I: the possessive form is my; e.g. my book, my neighbor, my house, my friend, my husband; etc; You: the possessive form is your; e.g. your shoes, your story, your interest, your wife, your business; etc; They: the possessive form is their; e.g. their culture, their church, theiruniversity, their affairs, their staff etc; It: the possessive form is its; e.g. its end, its entrance, its tail, its surroundings, etc.

And so, if for the sake argument, we allow the singular form in the slot which the pronoun (it) now occupies, the form has to be possessive and not purely nominal. However, since we have seen that it is the plural form that is required in the context, the plural form has to be possessive. That form is their: “Fulani herdsmen will attempt to dominate their environ.”

Yet, there are problems with the word environ. The first problem has to do with the singular form of that word. That word, let us note, is never used in its singular form. It always occurs in its plural form: environs.

Having secured the appropriate form of the word (environs), we need to note that it has not been properly used in the context.

That word is never used in relation to human beings but in relation to things. Please read the following sentences: 1) From the topmost floor, you could see the school and its environs. 2) It provided an opportunity for us to visit the town and its environs. 3) The imposing tree and its environs were a pleasant sight for tourists. 4) The historic site and its environs soon grew into a tourist cenre. 5) There was no visible civilization in the rocky plateau and its environs. 6) The lake and its environs

Sunday Tribune

are infested with crocodiles and other dangerous reptiles.

By the way, the word surroundings in the sense of environs or environment always has a final –s. Please read the following sentences: 1) It is our duty to keep our surroundings clean and hygienic. 2) The young man is still adjusting to his surroundings. 3) The immediate concern is how to cope with the hostile surroundings.

4) I am unwilling to leave these beautiful surroundings. 5) There is a sense in which your surroundings have an effect on you. 6) The surroundings are conducive to reading and meditation.

This usage is different from the adjectival/participial usage of the word surrounding. In this case, the word does not need a final –s. Read the following sentences: 1) Thesurrounding hills made the city impregnable in the days of incessant warfare.2) The town and the surrounding villages have been poorly treated in spite of the oppressive taxation. 3) The moon and the surrounding stars made the night of celebration a memorable one.

4) The university and the surrounding schools are a source of attraction to foreigners. 5) The surrounding factories provide job opportunities for our sons and daughters. 6) With so many hotels surrounding us, there is no problem of accommodation for our visitors. 7) All the surrounding houses were attacked by armed robbers. 8) We got our independence about the same time many of the surrounding nations got theirs.

We now note the following points.

The word environs always ends in –s; so does the word surroundings, its synonym. However, when the word surrounding is used as an adjective or participle, it does not need a final –s. I would, however, advise that we prefer the nounenvironment in the context under review: “Fulani herdsmen will attempt to dominate their environment.”

Next, we note the word than as used in the following context: “mutual understanding and social integration will keep us together than isolation and mistrust.” How is the word than used? It is used in conjunction with a comparative adjective or adverb morphologically marked as –er: better, higher, bigger, slower, brighter, stronger, healthier, trimmer, etc. In many other cases, the word more is employed where the morphological change is unacceptable. Without one of these options, the word than cannot be used.

The word thancan also be used when it is preceded by the word rather. Now read the following sentences: 1) A humble man is greater in the sight of God than an arrogant man. 2) Wealth is far better than poverty. 3) The lady is more brilliant than her husband. 4) This film is far more interesting than the previous one. 5) I would rather pass the night here than travel late. 6) She is a better writer than any other member of the class.

In the sentence under examination, none of the conditions we have identified is in evidence and yet the word than is present.

The sentence should read: “mutual understanding and social integration will keep us togetherrather than isolation and mistrust.”

The word (environs), let us note, is never used in its singular form. It always occurs in its plural form: environs…

The word is never used in relation to human beings but in relation to things

Umbriferous: Shady Uniped: A person with only one leg Vagarious: Erratic and unpredictable behaviour Wittol: A man who knows about his wife’s infidelity Zoolatry: The worship of animals Agastopia: Admiration of a part of someone’s body Bibble: To drink or drunk noisily Impignorate: To mortgage something Jentacular: Pertaining to breakfast Kakorrhaphiophobia: Fear of failure Lamprophony: Loudness and clarity of enunciation Macrosmatic: Having a good sense of smell Nudiustertian: The day before yesterday Pauciloquent: Uttering few words Tittynope: A small quantity of something left over Valetudinarian: A sickly or weak person Xertz: To gulp down quickly Acersecomic: A person whose hair never been cut Biblioclasm: The practice of destroying books Fanfaronade: Empty boasting or ostentatious display Gorgonise: Stupefy or petrify Infandous: Unspeakable or too odious to be mentioned Leptosome: A person with a tender, frail body Pogonotrophy: Act of grooming moustache and beard Tarantism: A disorder leading to the urge to dance Ultracrepidarian: A person wh gives opinions outside his knowledge Yonderly: Emotionally absent-minded Kerfuffle: To make a fuss Sources: oxforddictionaries.com voxy.com theprojecttwins.com

41

news

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Osinbajo for trade, investment council meeting in Ogun

Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki (in suit); senators, members of UNICEF delegation and school children holding a certificate of commitment for the advancement of girl child education in the country after it was signed by the Senate President as part of activities to mark this year’s International Day of the Girl Child in Abuja on Saturday.

Death toll in Cameroon train derailment hits 73, 600 injured

T

HE death toll from an overloaded train that derailed in Cameroon on Friday has risen, rescue workers and hospital staff said on Saturday, estimating that at least 73 people had been killed.

Also, President Paul Biya of Cameroon said the crash killed more than 70 people and wounded 600.

“My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of the #CAMRAIL train derailment in #Eseka,” Biya wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday.

Biya also ordered the evacuation of the injured to the country’s two main cities because Eseka’s hospital was overwhelmed, with only about 60 beds, said transport minister, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o.

“I am calling on everyone to double efforts to save the lives of the injured,” Ngo’o said.

The derailment occurred around midday on Friday on the line that connects Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, to the country’s largest city, Douala. Travelers had crowded onto the train because a section of the main road between the two cities had collapsed.

Bodies were strewn along the tracks as workers continued looking for others injured and dead in Friday’s crash.

Officials have put the death toll at 53 on Friday but said it would climb as

they raced to transport more than 600 injured people to hospitals in Yaounde, and the port city where the train was going, Douala.

The rescue workers and medical staff spoke on condition of anonymity because they

were not permitted to speak to the press about the issue.

The train carried about 1,300 passengers, instead of its capacity of 600. The passenger load was higher because a road had collapsed due to landslides.

Past govt spent N2.1bn to buy juices, sweets —Kaduna govt Muhammad Sabiu - Kaduna

KADUNA State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mallam Mohammad Sani Abdullahi, has disclosed that the former government spent N2.1 billion on sweets and juices, while N600 milllion was spent on the purchase of newspapers annually.

The commissioner disclosed this on Saturday during a one-day roundtable discussion on the 2017 budget organised by the Nigeria Union of journalists (NUJ) in conjunction with the state government.

He said the present government of Nasir el-Rufai saw this as outrageous and had to stop the purchase of juices and sweets in government offices as well as newspapers.

“We are now buying only two newspapers for commissioners and permanent secretaries. Some of these expenditures were never seen anywhere and some were exaggerated.

“So this government had to look into them critically and correct the mismanagement in order to provide the necessary infrastructure in school and other areas, ” he said In his own address, the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Andrew Nok, said that his ministry received the largest share of the 2017 budget, saying, the sum of N44 billion was earmarked for the ministry.

‘We took over dilapidated structures and untrained teachers. We discovered

a Geography teacher who could not spell Geography,” he said.

According to him, the state government inherited 4,253 dilapidated primary schools but could only renovate 400.

Earlier, in her welcome address, the acting chairman of the NUJ, Zhiroh Jatau, noted that the discussion was an opportunity for members of the press and the public to be better informed on what the administration is providing for the overall development of the state.

She said the union was committed to the success of the government, saying, “we will help the government to ensure its full implementation by proper monitoring and reportage in all stages.”

Ondo young graduate farmers get N25m loan ONDO State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko has disbursed about N25 million to 70 young agro-farmers and agropreneurs as support to start their own agricultural ventures.

The disbursement of the loans was held at the International Event Centre, Akure, the State capital, as part of activities marking the 2016 World Food Day tagged: “Climate is Changing, Food and Agriculture Must too.”

Dr. Mimiko, represented by the Chief of Staff, Dr Kola Ademujimi, said the loan was at interest rate of 2.5 per cent for a period of two years with a moratorium period of six months.

He noted that it was in line with his administration’s resolve to support micro and small scale businesses, create wealth and increase food production in the state.

The governor explained that the administration,

through the Ondo State Micro Credit Agency (OSMA) had disbursed about N3 billion under different schemes, targeting market women, artisan groups and small businesses.

He added that over N1.5 billion was disbursed directly by the state government and another N1.4 billion had been disbursed under the ODSG/ CBN MSME loan scheme.

According to him, the

Cocoa Revolution Project of the State government had improved the quality and quantity of cocoa production leading to the establishment of Sunshine Chocolate Factory aimed at adding value to cocoa beans production in the state.

He, therefore, charged the beneficiaries to use the funds judiciously and for its purpose, saying that all funds given would be repaid.

VICE President Yemi Osinbajo will declare open the four-day eight edition of the National Council on Industry, Trade and Investment (NCITI) meeting to be hosted by the Ogun State government through the state Ministry of Commerce and Industry tomorrow.

The meeting, with the theme. “Diversification of the Nigerian Economy From Over Dependence on Oil Exports”, will provide the opportunity to build consensus and develop policy direction aimed at taking the industry, trade and investment sectors of the economy to greater heights.

Expected are top echelon in government, both at the federal and state levels as well as the private sector.

They include Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enalamah; Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar; chairmen of relevant committees of the National Assembly and commissioners for industry in the 36 states.

Scheduled to hold at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, the meeting will be rounded off on Thursday with a special tour of designated industrial complexes in the state.

Ibadan fast emerging as business hub —Libra09 boss

By Segun Adebayo AS more event centres continue to spring up in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, the Chairman of Libra09 events centre, Adesanmi Adebunmi, has hinted that Ibadan is fast emerging as a business hub, just as he said that the emergence of Libra09 has changed the face of the city since inception.

Adebunmi disclosed this while speaking with newsmen in Ibadan last Saturday during the first year anniversary of the events centre, located at Elebu Road, Ouyole Extension, Ibadan.

He pointed out that in the last one year of its establishment, Libra09 has continued to place premium on quality service delivery to their patronisers.

According to him, “when we came into the business, there were fears that we would not do well because of the location and the standard that we set, but the success this place has recorded in the last one year has proved that wrong.”

Adebunmi maintained that the construction of the events centre was borne out of their desire to add value to the city of Ibadan, especially as it continues to expand in size and people.

42

news

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Students rushed to hospital as chlorine cylinder leaks in Bauchi

From left, Chief Medical Director, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Professor Alfred Jaiyesimi; Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye; wife of the Ogun State governor/President of the UPLIFT Development Foundation, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun; wife of former president, Mrs. Bola Obasanjo; Chief (Mrs) Alaba Lawson and Chief Doja Adewolu during the inauguration of the new UPLIFT Development Foundation Cancer Screening Centre at Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital in Sagamu at the weekend.

We are not convinced Oyo council election will be held in Feb 2017 —Ladoja •As Accord elects state executives at parallel congresses

By Dare Adekanmbi and Tunde Ogunesan

F

ORMER governor of Oyo State and leader of Accord Party, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, on Saturday, said the All Progressives Congress-led government was not committed to conducting council election despite the announcement of February 11, 2017, as the date for the polls.

Ladoja, who spoke during the state congress of Accord held at the Green Springs Hotel in Ibadan, explained that his skepticism about the date stemmed from failure of earlier promises on the election.

Elected at the congress were: Alhaji Wahab Oyelade (state chairman); Dr Nureni Adeniran, (state secretary); Mrs YetundeAjibola (Women Leader); Akeem Olatunji (Publicity Secretary); Mr Adekola Adeoye (Youth Leader); Nasiru Adeniyi (Organising Secretary); Pastor Oladimeji Orolade (Treasurer)

and others.

The Osi Olubadan, however, expressed the readiness of Accord to challenge and defeat the APC at the polls anytime the election holds assuring the people of the state that his party would meet their aspiration for a better government.

But at a parallel congress held at the Olubadan Stadium by a splinter group from

the party, another set of state officers, led by Dauda Lawal, was said to have been elected.

Chairman of the parallel congress, Adejumobi Ademola, said he relied on the authority bestowed on him by the national headquarters of the party in line with the party’s constitution.

He admonished all party members on the need to

1 killed as transport unions clash in Niger Adelowo Oladipo-Minna TRAGEDY struck in Minna, Niger State, on Saturday, as fracas between members of the state chapters of Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), led to the death of one person and another one injured.

Trouble began around 8:30 a.m. at the Abdulsalami Abubakar motor park in Tunga, on the outskirts of Minna, when the two union members engaged one an-

other in a fight over whose turn it was to pick a passenger travelling out of the town.

Sunday Tribune gathered that when an unidentified passenger arrived at the park and made an attempt to board one of the inter-state taxi cabs belonging to a member of the RTEAN, some members of the NURTW challenged the driver of the cab, insisting that it was not the turn of the RTEAN members to pick passengers.

They were said to have

Kaduna govt to spend N11.4bn on township roads in 2017 THE Kaduna State government has earmarked N11.4 billion for township road projects in the 2017 budget estimate sent to the state assembly for approval.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Governor Nasir el-Rufai had, on October 12, sent a budget proposal of N215.9 billion for the 2017 financial year.

The budget breakdown obtained by NAN shows that

chart the way forward for the party in accordance with the party’s constitution.

Making veiled reference to the parallel congress, Ladoja said: “It is difficult to choose 20 people from our registered members who are in excess of 200, 000. Everybody cannot be elected as executive member this is what those who are aggrieved must realise and retrace their step.”

the N11.4 billion was part of the N24 billion earmarked for the ministries of works, housing and transport for capital projects.

The document indicates that N3.4 billion was set aside for trunk roads, N400 million for ring roads and N250 million for box culverts.

It also shows that N500 million will be spent on the supply and installation of streetlights, while N150 mil-

lion was for street naming and house numbering.

It also says N97 million will be spent on beautification of bus rapid traffic lanes and road pavements from Kawo Flyover to Lugard Hall roundabout.

Similarly, N1.3 billion was allocated for the provision of infrastructure at new layouts while public housing would gulp N500 millio, through private-public partnerships.

prevented the passenger from entering a vehicle belonging to member of the NURTW who was also calling for passengers travelling out of Minna at the time, which the passenger obliged, to the dissatisfaction of members of RTEAN present at the park.

No sooner had the earlier driver and member of the RTEAN, from whose vehicle the passenger was being taken than member raised the alarm, resulting in a free-for-all between members of the opposing transport unions at the park.

The two unions resorted to the use of weapons, while people around called the attention of the Niger State Police Command to the situation.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Niger State Police Command, Mr. Bala Ekana, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the incident.

“We were called by some concerned citizens to go to the park to arrest the situation and we dispatched some of our men to the park.

But on their arrival near the scene, some of the hoodlums sighted the police and fled in different directions.”

ACCIDENTAL leak of a chemical substance suspected to be chlorine from a cylinder in Bauchi State, on Friday, endangered the health of some students of a private school, Rainex Hallmark International College, who were attending classes.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the cylinders, said to be owned by some businessmen from Kano State, were kept in premises close to the college, located in Fadaman Mada area of Bauchi.

A woman who described herself as the ‘Director of the School’ told NAN on Saturday that the incident occurred at about 10.00 a.m. on Friday.

“The students affected were both boys and girls. We had to rush them to the Specialists’ Hospital, Bauchi, where they were treated.

I cannot tell you the exact number of those affected because I was not in my senses as we were trying to save their lives.

“We thank God that they have all recovered and there was no loss of lives,” said the woman, who did not want her name printed.

Ambrose Alli varsity graduates 8,692 NO fewer than 8,692 graduates on Saturday bagged diplomas and first degrees at the 20th convocation of the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma.

The Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Ignatius Onimawo, who presided over the ceremony, said the graduates were drawn from the 2013/2014 and the 2014/2015 academic sessions.

He said that the university also conferred degrees on 492 post graduates in the two sessions.

The Vice Chancellor said that since the inauguration of the university’s governing council in 2013, 14 of its programmes had got full accreditation, eight interim, while six were denied.

Rotary Club Int’l immunises 2,000 children against polio in Plateau THE District 9125 of Rotary Club International, on Saturday, immunised no fewer than 2,000 children against polio in Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Ms Gloria Thomas, the state representative of Nigeria National Polio Plus Committee of Rotary in Plateau, said that the gesture was aimed at ensuring complete eradication of polio in Nigeria.

Thomas said that the exercise was in fulfillment of the pledge made by the club in 1985 to ensure that children enjoy a polio-free world.

“Rotary International in 1985 made a promise that it would make world polio-free for all children and billions of dollars have been dedicated to ensure that this is actualised.

“What we have done today is part of our efforts in fulfilling this pledge of ensuring that our children grow up in a society free of polio.

In his remarks, the Emir of Kanam, Alhaji Mohammadu Mu’azu, commended the efforts of the club at ensuring that polio was completely eradicated.

Army chief inaugurates 331 artillery HQ in Buratai THE Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, on Saturday, inaugurated the newly constructed headquarters of the 331 Artillery Tactical Forward Operation Base (FOB) at Buratai, Biu Local Government Area of Borno State.

Before now, the base operated from the residence of Gen. Buratai, an indigene of the area, but the house was partially destroyed when the area was attacked in 2015 The chief of army staff described the base as a “game changer” in the fight against insurgency as it helped in decimating the terrorists.

Buratai said that incessant attacks by the terrorist at Buni Yadi in Yobe State, about one hour drive to Buratai town, necessitated the establishment of the base to contain their aggression in the area and decimate them.

He said that more of such bases would be set up in other areas in the North-East.

Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor, Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole recalled that “fierce battle took place in Buratai, particularly the residence of the chief of army staff, which the insurgents tried to take on three occasions.”

43

news

23 October, 2016

Stop wearing red cap or face legal battle, Kwankwaso group tells Kano gov Kola Oyelere-Kano

H

OPE that the frosty relationship between the immediate past governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso and his successor, Governor Abdulahi Ganduje, would thaw soon dimmed at the weekend, as the Kwankwasiyya Movement, a group loyal to the ex-governor, gave Ganduje a 48-hour ultimatum to stop wearing red cap or be ready to have a date with it in court.

Red cap is the symbol of the Kwankwasiyya Movement and its phenomenon

spread like wildfire in the state during the second coming of Kwankwaso as governor of the state.

But the relationship between the duo broke down soon after the 2015 election, as Governor Ganduje was said to have rebuffed attempts by his predecessor, now a senator, to micro-manage him.

Speaking at a press conference in Kano, on Saturday, as part of activities to mark the 60th birthday of the founder of the movement and the sixth anniversary of the group, its chairman, Alhaji Sharu Gwammaja, said the de-

cision was taken because Governor Ganduje had betrayed the movement and had consequently been disowned.

Gwammaja clarified that only members of the movement were allowed to don the red cap and not Governor Ganduje who had ditched his former boss.

According to him, the true meaning of Kwankwasiyya is selfless service to the public, free education for all, promotion of peace and unity, as well as respect for the rule of law.

Effort by Sunday Tribune to contact Gundiyya, an associate of Governor

Ganduje, proved abortive, though a source in the governor’s camp described the ultimatum as an empty threat.

The source, who preferred anonymity, said Kwankwasiyya Movement could not appropriate the red cap as its symbol, adding that red cap on white attire belonged to the late Aminu Kano.

The source added that anyone who loved and shared in the ideology of Aminu Kano had the right to be so clad, insisting that no one could claim monopoly of the colour and the cap.

Sunday Tribune

Obaseki congratulates Oba Ewuare II THE Edo State governor-elect, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has expressed his commitment to the uplifting of the traditional institutions in the state, saying, “my loyalty to the royal family, the Benin tradition and the entire traditional institutions in the state is unalloyed.”

The governor-elect, in a congratulatory message to the new Benin monarch, Oba Ewuare II, said: “for guidance and advice, I would be counting on the Oba to succeed as governor. It is particularly auspicious and most heartwarming that the events leading to the Oba’s coronation is coming at a time when I am fortunate to be the elected governor of the state.”

Obaseki, who promised to reinvigorate the state in terms of being the country’s tourism hot spot which will be harnessed for the greater benefit of the people, stated that ““I am committed to building a better, prosperous and economically sustainable Edo State based on cultural cohesion and ethical values.”

Osun lawmaker bags CAN award OSUN State House of Assembly member representing Obokun constituency, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has bagged an award of excellence of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Obokun chapter.

The award was presented to him and other awardees during the CAN awards service held at St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Ibokun, Osun State, on Friday.

Presenting the award, Chairman of the association, Venerable Isaiah Ariyo, said the award was in appreciation of his contributions towards peace, stability and progress in the constituency and also in recognition of his commitment to religious harmony and unity.

Shortly after receiving the award, Oyintiloye expressed delight that his contributions to the development and unity in his constituency did not go unnoticed.

Recalling that a similar honour had been conferred on him by Muslims, he said the fact that the award was from a religious body was a plus and a challenge for him to do more.

FCTA commences reconstruction of more roads at central business district Christian Okeke-Abuja

From left, the new Asiwaju of Ijesaland, Chief Yinka Fasuyi; his wife, Olubisi and the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, at the installation of Fasuyi as Asiwaju of Ijesaland in Ilesa, Osun State, on Saturday.

PhD candidate dies one day to convocation Biola Azeez-Ilorin ONE of the graduating doctorate degree candidates of the University of Ilorin (Unilorin), Ilorin, Kwara State, Abdulhafiz Ahmad Adedimeji, was reported dead on Saturday morning, the day of his graduation as Doctor of Arabic Studies.

Speaking during the second day of the 32nd convocation ceremony of the university in Ilorin on Saturday, the dean, postgraduate school, Professor Badmas Yusuf, announced the death of the candidate during the moment of conferring the award on 166 doctoral graduates of the postgraduate school of the institution for 2015/2016 graduation year.

It was gathered that the deceased was a lecturer at Fountain University, Osogbo, Osun State until his death and also lectured at Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Kwara State.

The dean also disclosed the news of the death of a female doctorate graduate.

It was gathered that out

of a total of 8,038 graduates, 6069 were in undergraduate category, 1903 in postgraduate category, while 66 bagged diploma certificates.

The late Dr Adedimeji hailed from Iwo, Osun State and was the Chief Imam of Fountain University.

Sunday Tribune learnt from a source close to his

family that he was briefly ill and that the illness led to a surgery operation in his leg. The source added that the death was as a result of severe pain he suffered.

LASU sacks 13 over fraud, stealing, forgery Naza Okoli-Lagos THE Lagos State University (LASU) has announced the dismissal of 13 members of its staff for various offences.

A statement issued by the institution at the weekend said the decision was reached by the Governing Council “at its 112th Statutory Meeting held on Thursday, 20th October, 2016.”

According to the statement, the Council “received and considered Paper No. 10/GC/16/068 on the Report of the Junior Staff Disciplinary Committee on allegations levelled against some members of staff.

“Council, after deliberations, approved the recommendations of the Junior

Staff Disciplinary Committee on the affected members of staff.”

Among staff members dismissed for falsifying their WAEC/NECO results are: Mr Jatto Matthew Folorunsho, a senior patrolman; Mrs Iheuko Stella, an assistant chief clerical officer; Mr John Michael Afolabi, a clerical officer; Mr Tiamiyu Hassan Abayomi, a patrol supervisor and Mr Hundeyin Julius Abiodun, a senior library assistant.

Others in the same category are Mr Kamoru Hassan Kehinde, a clerical officer; Mr Ofomadu Nnajike E., a patrolman; Mr Adewusi Adedapo Omotola, a keypunch operator; and Miss Emeza Funmilayo Orezime, a graphic attendant.

Two workers were sacked

for allegedly stealing 200 litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO). They are Mr Okunsanya, Olashile T., an artisan in the university’s Works and Physical Planning Unit and Mr Olatunji, Olasunkanmi, an assistant catering supervisor.

Mr. Ogunwale Adewale Samuel, a keypunch operator in the registry, was sacked for “fraudulently collecting the sum of N123,950 from a student,” while Miss Matti Jemilat Adebisi, a senior clerical officer, received the same punishment for “abandoning her duty.”

The only member of staff exonerated by the committee was Mr Onowakpo John Ajiri, a patrolman, who was accused of falsifying his May/June 1993 WAEC result.

THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration has commenced reconstruction of more roads in the Central Business District (CBD) of Abuja, housing huge number of multinationals, private sector players, governmental and nongovernmental entities, including the Leventis close which is one of the important internal road arteries in the area.

The main terminal of the Abuja light rail project is located directly at the western flank end of the Leventis site.

Upon completion, the road, which houses soon-to-be opened 126 gold-standard residential Fraser Suites, is expected to make it convenient and beneficial for business owners and operators as well as tourists to navigate the neighbourhood with minimal stress.

Commending the FCT administration for the reconstruction work, spokesperson of Royal Pacific Group, Haroun Audu, noted that business owners in the area were optimistic that all public utility supply mains of electricity, water supply, drainages and sewage disposal lines on the project site would be adequately, comprehensively and permanently sorted and completed as a once-for-all undertaking in the course of the rehabilitative construction work.

War against cancer: Amosun’s wife donates screening centres to hospitals DETERMINED to wage war against cancer, wife of the Governor of Ogun State and President of the UPLIFT Development Foundation, Mrs Olufunso Amosun, has donated three ultramodern UPLIFT Development Foundation Cancer Screening Centres.

The centres, which are located at the State Hospital, Ijaye in Abeokuta; Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital in Sagamu; and State Hospital in Ota, were strategically situated for the use of the residents of Ogun State in its three senatorial districts in Ogun East (Sagamu); Ogun West (Ota); and Ogun Central (Abeokuta).

All the screening centres are equipped for clinical breast examinations by medical experts, while vaccines for the prevention of the human papilloma virus, which causes cervical cancer and other infections, can be made available in these facilities based on demand.

Speaking at the inauguration of the centres in Sagamu and Ota, Mrs Amosun said the centres were conceived to enable women have daily access to cancer screening and treatment rather than having to wait for once-in-a-year free cancer screening exercise, which she usually organised for residents of the state every October.

44

opinion

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Made in Nigeria: The trajectory of a national campaign

By Yusuph Olaniyonu THE Area 10 Abuja Playing Ground has never witnessed the presence of that number of Very Important Personalities (VIPs) at the same time. The venue has in the last few years regularly hosted a Trade Fair aimed at promoting locally made goods produced in Aba, a commercial city in Abia State. The fair started as the constituency project of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South) who is now chairman, Senate Committee on Mining, Power & Metallurgy. It is usually an event without so much noise or heavy VIP attendance.

However, the 2016 edition had Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki leading several other Senators and some heads of government agencies to perform the opening ceremony. In a move deliberately aimed at calling attention to the event and celebrating the local manufacturers whose wares were on display that February morning, Saraki came with the paraphernalia of his office as the nation’s chief law maker. He took time to address the Aba manufacturers and to inspect some of their goods.

He promised the producers that the eighth Senate would give legislative backing to their desire to become the heart of the economy by creating local patronage for them. The Senate President noted that the Public Procurement Act would be amended to compel government ministries, department and agencies to patronise local manufacturers and service providers in their procurement.

The foundation for Saraki’s enthusiastic comradeship with the Aba manufacturers had been laid by Abaribe who decided to capitalise on the Senate President’s interest in making promotion of Made in Nigeria goods a key item in the agenda of the Senate. The Senator then led the manufacturers to pay a courtesy visit to the office of the Senate President. It was during the visit that the organisers extracted a promise that Saraki would headline the 2016 Made in Aba Trade Fair.

Since then, many Senators have also signed on to the promotion of the campaign for Made in Nigeria products. Today, the campaign is a major feature of the Legislative Agenda of the Eighth Senate. The first legislative action taken in support of the campaign was the passage of the Act to amend the National Public Procurement Act to provide for a local content policy and timely completion of procurement and other related matters Bill. This was done on June 16, 2016.

The relevant aspects of the new law, which was designed to

help local manufacturers, are sections 5, 34 and 35. The objective of the law is contained in Section 5 (w) and it states that the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) established under it “shall assist and support the local business community to become competitive and efficient supplier to the public sector.”

Also, the amended law specifically mandates the BPP to ensure that Nigerian entrepreneurs will compulsorily enjoy patronage from government organisations. And to give effect to the objective, the new law amended Section 34 sub-sections 1 and 2 of the existing law by replacing the word MAY with SHALL. The amended law makes it COMPULSORY for government ministries, departments and agencies to purchase locally made goods, patronise Nigerian manufacturers and entrepreneurs and engage Nigerian service providers.

Another benefit of the Amended Law is that it seeks to reduce the number of days for the Standard Procurement Processing Time for QCBS. From the period of preparation

of terms of reference to signature of contract, the number of days was reduced from between 165 to 179 days to between 57 to 99 days. What this means is that the period of award of contract has been significantly reduced.

Again, the maximum mobilisation fee payable to contractors/suppliers as contained in Section 35 (1) of the old law has been increased from 15 percent to 25 percent. This will help local contractors in funding supply contracts.

The aim of the new law is to ensure that, for example, a substantial part of the N6 trillion budget estimates for 2016 is put in the pockets of Nigerians through procurement of their goods and services. Also, the new procurement law as amended by the Senate takes a cue from South Africa. Section 217 (3) of the South African constitution provides a framework for the policy of preferential procurement for government agencies. Also, the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act 5 of 2000 and the regulations published under it in 2001 prescribed requirements regarding Black economic empowerment considerations.

It is a good thing that the campaign in support of Made in Nigeria goods is catching on. The Federal Executive Council has bought into it. The private sector seems to be ready to support the shift to Made in Nigeria goods. And their desire is given expression with the National Economic Summit Group (NESG) making it the theme of its last conference in Abuja where the President, vice-president and the Senate President addressed different sessions.

The collaboration between these three power centers will help this idea to grow. It is obvious this Made in Nigeria idea is what is needed to help restructure the national economy in this period of recession. However, the success of the campaign depends on the people. The idea must be popular with the populace. Nigerians must be ready to patronise locally made goods and save the nation scarce foreign exchange. The Public Procurement law will not work unless Nigerian manufacturers and service providers rise up to the occasion and up their game. Quality goods, well packaged and circulated at reasonable prices are needed.

It is important for credit for this initiative to be given to Saraki and his colleagues. In fact, if we have the culture of naming laws after people, the new Public Procurement law should have been called the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Law. However, in the absence of this, the man deserves applause.

Olaniyonu is a Special Adviser to Senate President

Lagos shanties of horror

By Gbolahan Akintunde ALL over the world, shanties in cities is a natural concomitant of urbanisation. In world’s most populous cities such as Bombay, Hong Kong, London and Singapore, the problem of shanties is a recurring decimal which governments in these countries have battled to solve for ages. The cause varies from rural urban migration, illegal immigrants syndrome in capitals like London and Washington DC, to poverty and insufficient and unaffordable accommodation. Coupled with this is the fact that the urban population in the world is rising generally.

Lagos, a mega city with an estimated population of 22 million inhabitants is not an exception in the menace of shanties and this has been on for ages. The only exception is that Lagos shanties are becoming that of horror where illegal migrants like kidnappers and militants have made their comfort zones, from where they make use of the waterways to ferry their victims to another location.

Recently, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode ordered that all shanties in Ilubirin and along all creeks, waterways and under high tension cables be demolished while the illegal occupants should be evicted. This may sound harsh in the face of the present economic situation, but the fact remains that the action is necessary in order to protect lives and property of about 22 million Lagosians. Building of illegal structures under high tension cables is without doubt, an accident waiting to happen which no responsible government would condone.

The history of the Ilubinrin shanties especially, reveals that the present illegal occupants moved in and erected illegal structures by cashing in on the time lag created by the redesigning of the Ilubinrin housing project, which was started by former Governor Bola Tinubu about ten years ago with the reclamation of the lagoon while the fishermen who were there at that time were resettled at Badore.

The housing units, which was initially expected to accom-

modate 1,254 housing units started in 2013, while the scheme was reviewed and redesigned by the administration of Governor Ambode to accommodate 1,500 families and make the place a live, work and play environment, with the partnership of a private investor. However, the illegal settlers moved into Illubirin waterfront during the process of redesigning the scheme and erected shanties. It is also noteworthy that all quit notices to the illegal occupants have been ignored up till the time that the illegal structures were demolished.

It is not in doubt that shanties all over the world have always provided a safe haven for all sorts of criminals. In Lagos, shanties, especially those along the coastal areas have become the base of kidnappers as witnessed in Arepo, though in Ogun State, the kidnappers who are suspected militants operated in Lagos and even kidnapped a traditional rule, Oba Goriola Oseni, the Oniba of Iba. It took the aerial bombardment of the Arepo shanties by the Nigerian Airforce to reduce the once operational base of the kidnappers to rubbles and this has restored relative peace in the area.

The recent case of kidnap of students and teachers of Lagos Senior and Junior Model College, Igbonla-Epe in their school, once again brought to the fore the dangers inherent in allowing these shanties to fester in the state. Before the Epe kidnapping incident, in March 2016, three female students of Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary, Ikorodu Lagos, were also abducted and were only rescued six days after, through the prompt intervention of the Lagos State Government.

With the above incidents, the Governor could hardly be faulted for ordering the demolition of all shanties along creeks and waterways. Apart from the security of lives and property of millions of Lagosians which is the primary responsibility of any government, the move would enhance the government’s pursuit of its policy on cleaner environment and restoration of master plans through the removal of all environmental infractions and nuisances across the state. No investor would bring his money to a city where his life, that of his family and property are not safe.

While the plight of the urban poor most of who migrated to the city to have a better live must be considered as many of us including Governor Ambode are from humble backgrounds, this does not mean that government should fail in its duty to educate the people on the need to refrain from constructing any structure on river banks, because the safety of about 22 million residents of the State cannot be allowed to be jeopardised by few.

Just like any other city in the world, the concentration of economic development in a city like Lagos has largely accounted for population boom in very short periods of time which has severely stretched the coping capacity of city governments.

One of the most visible outcomes of rapid urbanisation is therefore Urban Slum Formation. The most pragmatic solution to this is that the Lagos state government taking a cue from other developing nations with city slums, is focussing on the effective link established between planned economic development, urban growth and housing. This is why Governor Ambode’ s assurance to Lagosians that a lot of houses would be rolled out in the next few months is a cheering news. It is equally heart-warming that the private investor will move into the Ilubinrin housing project site with an investment of a whopping $500m anytime from now.

Boxer and politician, Manny Pacquiao, built over 1,000 houses for poor Philippinos in his home town. I know we may not have another Pacquiao in Nigeria even though we have many religious organisations richer than many state governments, but let such individuals and organisations compliment the effort of government by assisting the poor to have access to decent but affordable accommodation.

It is high time the Lagos state government demolished all shanties of horror, which has become the abode of kidnappers of our school children while reviewing the law against kidnapping to make it a capital punishment as obtained in other states in Nigeria.

Akintunde, a development economist, wrote from Lagos.

45 sport

23 October, 2016

sport

SUNDAY

Editor: Wale Emosu tribunesporteditor@yahoo.com 08111813054

Ogunjobi Cup final holds today All roads, today, lead to the Methodist High School, Ilesa, for the final of the maiden edition of Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi Cup. The final match will be between two giant grassroots clubsides in Ijesaland —Femo Dino FC and Ijesa Golden Warriors.

To get to the final, Ijesa Golden Warriors defeated Lekan Salami Eagle 5-3 on penalties after the full time had ended in a barren draw, while Femo Dino whitewashed Mighty Jets.

Ogunjobi, who hails from Itakogun area of Ilesa, according to the tournament coordinator, Oyebayo Rawlins, decided to give back to the youths of his hometown what he was privileged to few years ago and also promised to make the competition more elaborate next year.

Kano Pillars FC gets new management board Kola Oyelere -Kano GOVERNOR Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State has approved the constitution of a new management board for Kano Pillars Football Club with immediate effect.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Director General, Media and Communications to the Governor, Salihu Tanko Yakasai. The new management board has Muhammad Tukur Babangida as chairman.

By this statement, the former management has been directed to immediately hand over all public properties, including finances under it to the new management.

Other members of the new management are Professor Musa Garba Yakasai, Faruk Sani Haladu, Tijjani Sale Minjibir, Sani Lawan, Murtala Alasan Zainawa and Yahaya Idris.

The statement added that Governor Ganduje appealed to the new management to work diligently and ensure that the objective of the administration of restoring the glory of the club is achieved.

A cross section of trainees at this year’s NNPC/Chevron Junior Tennis Summer Coaching Clinic with officials of Chevron Nigeria Limited. The final of the 2016 Junior Masters Tennis Tournament comes up today.

CAF Champions League: Rangers

scout for corporate sponsors

R

angers International FC of Enugu has started scouting for corporate sponsors and partners ahead of the commencement of the 2016/2017 Confederation of African Football (CAF) league.

Paul Chibuzor, the General Manager of Rangers, spoke in an interview with the

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Enugu.

He said that the marketing department was already working towards getting corporate sponsors.

Chibuzor noted that sponsors were needed for the club as well as some units of the club’s mementos, like branded jersey, mufflers and fez caps.

“We have created a vibrant marketing department that is scouting for sponsors and partners for the club.

“Very soon, you will be hearing of those that will be sponsoring and partnering with the team within the country and outside the abroad.

“We cannot leave it only for the Enugu State govern-

ment. We need sponsors and partners as well.

“In the near future, before the continental league starts, we are hopeful Rangers will be having some sponsors,” he said.

NAN reports that Enugu State government is the major sponsor of Rangers, who recently broke the 32 years jinx of NPFL title drought.

Chevron Junior Masters Tennis final holds today THE final of the 2016 Junior Masters Tennis Tournament, will be held today at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos.

The championship, which commenced 17 years ago, is sponsored by NNPC/Chevron JV, in collaboration with the Nigerian Tennis Federation and Prime Sports International Limited. It is part of the JV’s commitment to promoting youth and sports development in Nigeria.

According to Deji Haastrup, General Manager, Policy Government and Public Affairs, “the NNPC/Chevron JV Tennis programme is designed to foster the spirit of healthy competition and sportsmanship amongst target youths, build capacity and develop skillful tennis players that would be able to earn sustainable living from tennis and bring glory to Nigeria.”

The objective of the Junior Masters Tennis Tournament is to engage the

youths, particularly during the holiday period to develop their tennis skills and get the opportunity to participate in tennis tournament. The programme targets mostly young tennis champions from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

In addition to the Junior Masters Tennis tournament, NNPC/Chevron JV also pioneered an annual Junior Tennis summer coaching clinic in 1998. The clinic is for boys and girls between the ages of eight to 14 all residents of Lagos State. Over 320 children participated in this year’s tennis clinic held earlier in the year. The kids who show great potential from there were selected to represent Lagos State in this year’s Junior Masters Tennis Championship.

Some of the products of the NNPC/Chevron Tennis Clinic who recently brought

honour to the country at the International Tennis Federation Under-18 West/Central Africa Junior Tennis Championship are Oyinlomo Barakat Quadri - the best player at the tournament; Michael

Sunday Tribune

Osewa, Angel McLeod and Sikiru Alalade. The performance of the quartet - with two others gave Nigeria the top position on the tournament’s medal table ahead of France, Egypt, USA and Cote d’Ivoire.

Lagos agog for Bet9ja NLO Super 8 The stage is set for the Bet9ja Nationwide League One (NLO) Super 8 Tournament which starts today and runs till October 29 at the Agege Township Stadium.

This fiesta promises an exciting football atmosphere as the eight clubs that won their respective groups in the division one cadre of the Nigeria Nationwide League trade tackles against one another to determine the overall winners of the division.

The Executive Secretary of Nationwide League One, Shola Ogunnowo, told thenff.com on Friday that all arrangements have been put in place to ensure a hitch-free football tournament, as he noted that the best of Nigerian football at the grass roots will be on a display at the Agege Township stadium all through the week.

“All is set for the Bet9ja NLO Super 8 and we are expecting sublime football artistry and funfair from all the participating teams. It is also reassuring to know that Lagosians are football-loving Nigerians, who are ready to be thrilled by these teams when the tournament kicks off,” he said.

Ogunnowo added: “It will also be an opportunity for the clubs to test the strength of their players and their general capacity as they prepare for the tough task of football in the professional cadre in the Nigeria National League (NNL).”

Reps member wants anti-doping agency set up Ayodele Adesanmi -Abuja Urgent need for the establishment of a national anti-doping agency which will set standards in the fight against doping in sports in the country has been stressed.

It will be recalled that in 2013 the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) ratified in South Africa a draft which mandated each government to put in place legislation regulations, administrative practices and sharing of information among anti-doping organisations.

Honourable Akinfolarin

Mayowa, who called for this noted that when established in Nigeria, it will bring consistency to antidoping policies and regulations within sports organisations and government across the country.

Mayowa, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member representing Ile-Oluji/ Okeigbo, Odigbo federal constituency of Ondo State in the National Assembly, says that Nigeria which is a signatory to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) agreement against doping in sports, is bound to have her own an-

ti-doping agency equipped with laboratory for antidoping activities.

The lawmaker, who recently sponsored a motion in the House of Representatives to support this recalled that the defunct National Sports Commission had obtained approval under the regime of President Olusegun Obasanjo for the construction of the National Anti Doping Organization(NADO) laboratory at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Development at ldu Karimu in Abuja but nothing has happened till date.

46 sport

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Southampton must fall —Guardiola

Musa scores first goal for Leicester

Leicester stretched their unbeaten home run to 20 league games as the Foxes followed up their midweek Champions League win with victory over Crystal Palace.

Record signing Ahmed Musa scored his first goal for the club, while Shinji Okazaki and Christian Fuchs struck after the break - the latter’s effort a superb volley - to secure a convincing win.

Yohan Cabaye scored a consolation for the Londoners and Palace pressurised the hosts in the final five minutes as they attempted an unlikely comeback.

But it was too late against a Leicester side who showed something of the form that won them the title last season, even without England striker Jamie Vardy in the starting line-up.

Vardy, who played in the 1-0 win over Copenhagen and has not scored in eight games, was rested with manager Claudio Ranieri saying he needed to rotate his players as they juggle European and league commitments.

The Italian’s decision was justified as Okazaki added guile to the Leicester attack, while Islam Slimani was a menacing presence up front.

Leicester are one victory away from the Champions League knockout stages after making it three wins from three in their group with victory over Copenhagen on Tuesday, but their Premier League form has been less satisfying - they have already lost one league fixture more than in the entirety of last season.

But this victory will give Foxes fans confidence their team can

cope with the rigours of Champions League and Premier League football.

Ranieri was criticised for resting players during last week’s 3-0 thumping by Chelsea, leaving Riyad Mahrez and Slimani out of the starting line-up at Stamford Bridge. This week it was Vardy who stepped down, but he was not missed as others starred in what was the Foxes’ best league performance of the season.

Pep Guardiola is determined to get Manchester City back to winning ways at the expense of Southampton.

City’s midweek humbling by Barcelona in the Champions League extended their winless run to four games.

It is an unfamiliar scenario for manager Guardiola and another disappointing result as Southampton visit in the Premier League today would equal the worst run of his career.

Only once has former Barca and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola

Arsenal numb on Wenger’s birthday

Disappointed Arsenal players on Saturday.

Musa celebrating his goal on Saturday.

The hosts attacked with pace, with Musa, Okazaki and Mahrez in particular giving Palace problems. The opener by the lively Musa was deserved, with the Nigerian’s manager saying the winger is now “ready” for the Premier League.

Okazaki also caught the eye, doubling Leicester’s advantage by drilling Damien Delaney’s clearance in at the near post for his first goal in 14 appearances.

They had won their previous six league games in succession. They had scored nine goals in their last two matches. Manchester City are slowing up and Tottenham had only been able to draw at Bournemouth earlier in the day. Just when Arsenal had started to believe the stars were aligning for them again at last, this happened.

Sure, it wasn’t a defeat but a goalless draw with bottom four Middlesbrough wasn’t quite how they wanted to go to the top of the Premier League. They were lucky to get a point, too. Middlesbrough had the best player on the pitch in Adama Traore and they made the best chances. The visitors are the

Messi grabs last-gasp winner for Barca •Neymar, Suarez hit by bottle Lionel Messi won an extraordinary five-goal thriller against Valencia with a last-gasp penalty but the game descended into chaos after the winning goal with a bottle thrown by home fans striking celebrating Barcelona players and sending both Neymar and Luis Suarez to the ground.

Messi turned angrily to the Valencia supporters as players on both sides confronted each other and the referee called time no sooner had the restart been taken.

The game had threatened to boil over at various times during the 90 minutes more so when a challenge from Enzo Perez left Andres Iniesta in agony and in need of a stretcher.

He did not come back on and could now miss two months with suspected exterior ligament damage.

Before the flying bottle incident, it was the greatest player in La Liga history against La Liga’s greatest ever penalty stopper and Messi,

gone five games without a win, at the Nou Camp more than seven years ago.

Guardiola said: ‘Managers in other parts of the club have to think short and long term but the (team) managers day by day. We are judged on what happens today, so I’m thinking about Southampton.

‘Of course we have to win because it is four times without a win and we need that. But, at the same time, we were able to win 10 times in a row, so we are now able win four, five or six times.’

almost without a run-up rolled the ball under Diego Alves to win the game for Barcelona 3-2 from the spot.

For long periods it had seemed that Cesare Prandelli would succeed where Pep Guardiola had failed in midweek but it was not to

Neymar and Suarez on the ground following the bottle that hit them on Saturday.

be for Valencia who have not beaten Barcelona in La Liga now for nine years.

Iniesta’s injury came early in the first half from Perez’s challenge.

His standing right leg didn’t bend as Perez flew in and the Barcelona captain went down clutching his right knee and calling immediately for treatment from the sidelines.

ones who will feel hard done by.

After their 6-0 demolition of Ludogorets Razgrad in the Champions League last week, this was a return to the ponderous, over-elaborate Arsenal that so often frustrates their fans. They had a late goal by Mesut Ozil correctly ruled out for offside but a late victory would have flattered them.

Arsenal have developed a nasty habit of spoiling milestones for their manager, Arsene Wenger, and this was hardly the ideal way for the boss to celebrate his 67th birthday. That takeaway in front of Match of the Day won’t have tasted quite so good after this.

Arsenal had dominated the early stages but those expecting a goal rush after the excesses of midweek were disappointed. Arsenal probed and probed but Middlesbrough packed men behind the ball, leaving Negredo alone near the half way line, and their defence stood firm.

Liverpool shatters West Brom Liverpool moved level on points with Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table courtesy of a 2-1 victory over West Brom at Anfield.

The Merseysiders had looked on course to knock the Gunners off the summit as strikes from Sadio Mane and Philippe Coutinho gave them the two-goal advantage they needed going in at the interval.

Ben Foster then stopped the Reds adding to their tally with Roberto Firmino and Dejan Lovren both thwarted by the Baggies stopper as the hosts completely dominated.

But the Reds’ defensive deficiencies came back to haunt them nine minutes from time when they failed to deal with a series of set pieces, resulting in Gareth McAuley crashing in a lifeline for the visitors.

47

23 October, 2016

Sunday Tribune

sportmatazz Beckham’s son takes to music

Cruz VICTORIA Beckham’s son Cruz seems to be destined for a career onstage.

The former Spice Girl shared her pride in her son as she posted a photo of Cruz strumming along on his guitar.

“My babies turn X Kisses from Hollywood XVB,” Victoria wrote on Instagram.

Cruz looks set to follow in his famous mum’s footsteps.

The eleven-year-old has already shown promise with his musical talents and is rumoured to be taking up guitar lessons in a bid to reach stardom.

An insider previously told The Sun: “Cruz has a natu-

ral affinity with music and he’s been desperate to learn the guitar. He’s had lessons for months and is constantly strumming away, singing along.

“Obviously he still has far to go, but there’s certainly potential there. He’s got a natural stage presence.”

Cruz is even said to have caught the attention of Justin Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun. It is unclear what guitar the schoolboy was playing on in the Instagram photo, but it may well have been the signed acoustic guitar that Justin gifted him a few years ago.

Cruz and his older brothers Romeo, 14, and Brooklyn, 17, were each given guitars from the Sorry singer after he heard the Beckham children were fans.

Cruz’s talents first came into the spotlight earlier this year when Victoria and David started sharing photos and videos of their superstar son.

The young boy has blown fans away with his renditions of Anna Kendrick’s Cups and Twista and Faith Evans’ Hopeful. Even his dad David was impressed.

Ronaldo incurs Buddhists’ wrath

C

ristiano Ronaldo incurred the wrath of Buddhists on social media after the Real Madrid star posed in an Instagram photo with his foot resting at the base of a Buddha

statue.

In the photo, also posted on his Facebook feed, the player’s famous right foot is placed on top of the surrounding small wall of the statue, which is in the form of the head of the father of Buddhism.

The photograph that drew the ire of Buddists.

One Facebook post by Waz Tniym Gnian Hkt said: “Cristiano Ronaldo I am your fan. But you should respect our Buddha. However, you’re Christian or Islam or Hindu. You have a lot of fan from these religion.

You’re famous football player.I apologize you. Please don’t do like that. This photo hit our (Buddhisms) heart. Only religions can understand me.”

“This is disrespectful .... How can he put his leg on Gautam Buddha .... I was not expecting this stupidity from Ronaldo .... Sir today u lost one of ur fan this is very bad,” wrote another follower, Shubham Pandey, via Facebook.

Why I ‘abandoned’ Jamie Redknapp and our sons —Wife

Bolt’s exploits profiled in documentary If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to be the ‘fastest man alive’, you’ll soon have the answer.

Universal has released the first official trailer for ‘I am Bolt’, a documentary film profiling the life and career of sprintking Usain Bolt.

It follows the famous Jamaican before and after his history-making exploits at the 2016 Rio Olympics, in which he won gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.

Bolt

It features archive footage from Bolt’s career, even some shot by the man himself The Games saw Bolt achieve the ‘treble treble’ of golds, cementing his legacy as the greatest short distance runner of all time.

Shot on location at the Beijing World Championships, Rio Olympics, London Olympics and in Germany and Jamaica, the movie gives fans a unique insight into the life of sporting great.

Louise Redknapp has revealed the reason she decided to join Strictly Come Dancing – she was starting to feel “left behind”.

The singer has devoted her time to raising her two sons with husband Jamie Redknapp, but Louise felt it was time to be “a little bit selfish” and do something for herself.

“For me and I think so many mums will appreciate it, I was at home for quite a long time just being a mum and as much as I loved that, I did feel a little bit left behind,” Louise, 41, told Lorraine.

“I really needed to do something for myself and to love doing something,” said Louise.

“They were getting bigger and I felt like I really needed to do something for myself and to love doing something.

“I’m in a house of boys and they play football every day and honestly they were always out and it got to the stage where I thought, ‘I’m literally just at home waiting for everyone to get home.’

Jamie Redknapp, wife and one of their sons.

SIDELINES NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER

23 OCTOBER, 2016

NO 2,069

www.tribune.com.ng

N200

Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor Rauf Aregbesola and Pastor Tunde Bakare have reportedly called for urgent steps to be taken to prioritise local production, discourage foreign imports and promote agriculture and industrialisation. Good observation. However, with the made-in-Nigeria cars, shoes, and even contractors that abound, what examples have these illustrious citizens set by patronising these goods?

CHELSEA VS MAN UTD

No crazy celebration today —Mourinho

Costa Conte

BY Wale Emosu with Agency Report

J

OSE Mourinho visits the Stamford Bridge today - his first trip to the ground - since he was sacked as Chelsea manager in December

2015.

But the Manchester United manager says for him, there won’t be any hysterical show even if the Reds score against his former club.

“I have the maturity to control the emotion,” Mourinho told BBC Sport.

“If my team score a goal am I going to celebrate like a crazy kid? No. Am I going to have a negative reaction if the crowd has something negative with me? No.” The Portuguese has had two spells at Chelsea, with the results being three Premier League titles; the first of these in 2005 ended the Blues’ title drought in 50 years; an FA Cup and three League Cups before his sack 10 months ago.

Today’s trip to Stamford Bridge will be Mourinho’s second as an opposition manager.

He won there with Inter Milan in 2010, before his second spell with the Blues in which he added a third league title to his

trophy haul in west London.

Mourinho’s return apart, today’s game is important for the two clubs seeking to re-establish their Champions League credentials.

Both clubs have won the title within the past four years, but neither made the top four last season and they are both outside it going into this weekend’s game - Chelsea

Pogba fifth and United two places further back.

They have each lost two of their eight games but know if results go their way, they could be in the top four by tonight.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte says his counterpart should be given a warm welcome when he arrives at Stamford Bridge.

The Italian was appointed Mourinho’s permanent successor in April and began

his job in July.

“I have great respect for him,” said Conte.

“He won three championships and I think he was an important man for the club.

“I think he deserves a good reception, because he wrote with the club, with his players, with the staff part of the story of this club.”

CAF Champions League: Can Zamalek dim Mamelodi’s Sun? MAMELODI Sundowns are hoping that history repeats itself and that a three-goal advantage going into today’s second leg of the African Champions League final will be enough to secure the continental crown at the expense of their Egyptian hosts Zamalek.

The 3-0 win in penultimate Saturday’s first leg in Atteridgeville has put the South Africans in a comfortable position with only one club - Mouloudia Alger 40 years ago - ever previously able to overturn a threegoal deficit after the first leg of the final.

Sundowns are expected to be able to score again as Zamalek will need to attack almost from the opening minute in their attempt

to try and claw back the deficit, leaving the South Africans able to catch them on the counter-attack.

But coach Pitso Mosimane has to reshuffle his defence after Wayne Arendse was cautioned in the first leg and misses the return through suspension.

It means Thabo Nthethe will pair up with Ivory Coast import Bangaly Soumaharo in a combination of two central defenders who have rarely played together.

For the rest, Sundowns will field the same side with the midfield prowess of Hlompho Kekana and Tiyani Mabuda complemented by the forward pace of Khama Billiat, Keegan Dolly and Percy Tau.

Nigerian football needs proper planning —Mikel

J

Mikel

Mourinho

OHN Mikel Obi has urged Nigeria’s football authorities to embrace ‘proper planning’ and learn from recent mistakes, as they bid for a third successive World Cup appearance in Russia.

The Super Eagles landed in Zambia barely 22 hours before their 2018 World Cup qualifier on 9 October after financial problems delayed the squad.

Nigeria, captained by Mikel, won Olympic bronze despite arriving just hours before their first match in Manaus because of transport issues.

“I don’t think anything can beat the problems that we faced at the Olympics. I don’t think any team or country can go through what we went through in Brazil and perform the way we did,” Mikel told BBC Sport.

“I think it’s a miracle [their unorthodox

journey to Olympic football bronze] and I don’t think it will ever happen again.

“To arrive at a tournament a couple of hours before your first game and still end up with a medal was an outstanding team performance.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the same problem [arriving on match day] we are facing now, but it is still the same issues that need to be sorted out,” said Mikel.

Three-time African champions Nigeria are top of Group B in their qualifying race for Russia after a hard-fought 2-1 win in Zambia.

But Mikel, who made a scoring debut for his country at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations against Zimbabwe, believes hitch-free preparations will boost their chances of clinching the group’s sole ticket.

Zamalek are hoping Ahmed Fathi might be able to make it back to fill their troublesome left-back position.

A long-term injury has kept him out since June and with no other natural left-back at the club, Zamalek have used a succession of different players in the position.

Zamalek coach Momed Soliman made much of being able to fight back when he spoke to reporters after the first leg but he appeared to lack genuine conviction.

Sundowns are seeking to become only the second South African outfit to win Africa’s top club prize, some 21 years since Orlando Pirates achieved the feat.

They have now won three in a row against the Egyptians, who are five-time African champions but have suffered a drought of more than a decade since they last had success.

RESULTS

ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP Bournemouth 0 Tottenham 0 Arsenal 0 Middlesbrough 0 Burnley 2 Everton 1 Hull 0 Stoke 2 Leicester 3 C. Palace 1 Swansea 0 Watford 0 West Ham 1 Sunderland 0 Liverpool 2 West Brom 1 TODAY’S MATCHES Chelsea vs Man Utd Man City vs Southampton POOLS: 1, 8, 21, 24, 29, 33, 34, 39, 45, 48 TODAY’S MATCHES: 03 and 07

Printed and Published by the African Newspapers of Nigeria PLC, Imalefalafia Street, Oke-Ado, Ibadan. E mail: sundaytribuneeditor@yahoo.com Website: www.tribuneonlineng.com MANAGING DIRECTOR/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: EDWARD DICKSON. EDITOR : SINA OLADEINDE. All Correspondence to P. O. Box 78, Ibadan. ISSN 2712. ABC Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation. 23/10/2016