25th October 2015

nigeria’s most informative newspaper no 2,017

SUNday, 25 october, 2015

www.tribuneonlineng.com

Nigerian Tribune

Female suicide bomber confesses

@nigeriantribune

pg5

Over 8,000 terrorists to invade Borno •Fresh bomb attacks kill 9

I’m still Rivers gov

n200

Nigerian Tribune

More encomiums for HID Awolowo pg4

pgs 4&12

Wike boasts aftermath tribunal sack

To file appeal Judgment a deadly blow to impunity —APC PDP, Fayose accuse FG, APC of influencing tribunal

Why I keep my

private liftee privelmaa Ojiji —Th

Boko Haram: No cause

for panic, Ambode assures Lagosians •As death toll in Yola attack rises to 33

pgs 5&51

Obasanjo escapes death

pg49

Amaechi: PDP senators Sir Kesington Adebukunola Adebutu flanked by his family members during the thanksgiving service to mark his 80th birthday at Methodist Church, Marina, Lagos State, on Saturday.

PHOTO: ALABA IGBAROOLA

accuse APC allies of betrayal

pg49

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25 October, 2015

CHIEF (MRS) HID AWOLOWO (1915 - 2015)

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1. From left, Otunba Wemmy Osude; Chief F.F. Sonaike; Chief D.K. Solesi; Reverend (Mrs) Omotola Oyediran; Chief T.O. Soneyin; Professor H. Oduye; Arole Femi Awoledu and another guest.

2. Ambassador (Dr) Tokunbo Awolowo Dosumu, welcoming a Nollywood actor, Mr Yomi Fash-Lanso, to Ikenne. With them are Barrister Rotimi Vaughan (middle) and Princess (Mrs) Mojisola Oloyede (second right).

3. Cross-section of clerics from Ipara Archdeaconry at Ikenne with Reverend (Mrs) Oyediran.

4. Ambassador (Dr) Awolowo Dosumu (left), chatting with the Volunteeer Group at Ikenne.

5. Cross section of members of the Volunteer for Change Group Nigeria with Reverend

Sunday Tribune

PHOTOS: TOMMY ADEGBITE

(Mrs) Oyediran and Ambassador (Dr) Awolowo Dosumu.

6. From left, Mr Adigun Fatai Olawunmi; Reverend (Mrs) Oyediran and Mrs Mulikat Yetunde Kareem.

7. Reverend (Mrs) Oyediran (left) with veteran journalist, Mr Tunji Otti.

8. Prince Femi Olukoya signing the condolence register at Ikenne.

9. Venerable Most Senior Evangelist J.O. Ogunyemi, Secretary General, CCC National Headquarters signing the condolence register at Ikenne.

10. Mr Olatunji Ola-Davies, signing the condolence register at the Ikenne residence of the Awolowos.

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25 October, 2015

ASoJU oba OF LAGOS, SIR (DR)KESINGTON ADEBUKUNOLA ADEBUTU, celebrates 80TH bIRTHDAY in style

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1. From left, the celebrant, Sir Kesington Adebukunola Adebutu; former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Prof Bola Ajibola, during the 80th birthday thanksgiving service of Asoju Oba of Lagos, held at Methodist Church, Marina, Lagos, on Saturday.

2. The celebrant, Sir Kesington Adebukunola Adebutu (middle) flanked by Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs Oluranti Adebule (left) with children and grandchildren of the celebrant.

3. Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwumi Ambode and Senator Remi Tinubu.

4. Sir Olaniwun Ajayi; former Ogun State governor, Chief Gbenga Daniel and his wife, Olufunke.

Sunday Tribune PHOTOS: ALABA IGBAROOLA

5. From left, Ogun State Deputy Governor, Chief(Mrs) Onanuga; Ogun State Chief Judge, Justice Olatokunbo Olapade; her husband and Ondo State governor, Dr Segun Mimiko.

6. From left, Yeye Funke Daniel; Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona; former Ogun State governor, Chief Gbenga Daniel and Akarigbo of Remoland,Oba Michael Sonarinwo.

7. From left, wives of the celebrant, Chief (Mrs) Kofo Adebutu; Chief (Mrs) Caroline Adebutu and Senator Remi Tinubu.

8. Senator Iyiola Omisore and Sir Kola Jinadu.

9. Former US Ambassador Walter Carrington and his wife, Arese.

10. Abba Folawiyo and Sir Remi Omotoso.

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news

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

I’m still Rivers gov, Wike boasts

•As tribunal nullifies election, orders re-run •PDP, Fayose, APC differ on judgment From Dapo Falade, Sunday Ejike, Jacob Segun Olatunji, Bola Badmus and Leon Usigbe

RIVERS State governor, Mr Nyesom Wike, has declared that he remains the state governor, noting that he would pursue the decision of the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, which nullified the April 11, 2015 governorship election and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh election within 90 days, up to the Supreme Court.

This came on the heels of the judgment of the tribunal headed by Justice Suleiman Ambrosa, which upturned the election citing irregularities and noncompliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act. The Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja had, on Saturday, nullified the April 11, 2015 that produced Wike as governor of Rivers State, citing irregularities and non-compliance with the Electoral Act. The three-member panel of Justices, headed by Justice Ambrosa, which heard the petition filed by the APC and its governorship candidate in Rivers State, Peterside, ordered INEC to conduct a fresh election within 90 days.

The tribunal held that Wike was wrongly declared winner by INEC and that the elections failed to comply substantially with the electoral guidelines, noting that the petitioners (APC and Dakuku) were able to establish that there was no compliance with the Electoral Act, adding that the plaintiffs were also able to establish that there was intimidation, harassment, snatching of ballot boxes, ballot papers and lack of

result sheets and late arrival of election materials.

It also agreed with the petitioners that there were cases of diversion of election materials, ballot box stuffing, allocation of figures, non-collation of result and failure to use card readers, noting that all these made mockery of democracy.

Justice Ambrosa also added that the APC and its governorship candidate adduced credible evidence and documents to prove all the allegations against Wike’s election, noting that the witnesses called by the respondents in the petition became unreliable during cross-examination, saying “they betrayed their character.

“Even officials of INEC who came as witnesses, at a point, claimed ignorance of their own document,” the tribunal held.

In the unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Ambrosa, the tribunal held the Wike was not validly elected as governor of Rivers State and ordered INEC to conduct fresh election within 90 days.

Reacting to the judgment, however, PDP’s lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche (SAN) said, “we will test

the popularity of the judgment in the Court of Appeal and possibly the Supreme Court”.

Uche said it was wrong for the tribunal to have heavy weather on the use of card reader when INEC itself admitted that both card readers and manual process could be used where there are challenges.

He also faulted the judgment on the ground that it was delivered less than 48 hours after parties in the petition adopted their written addresses.

It will be recalled that INEC declared Wike winner of the April 11 election with 1,029,102 votes as against Peterside’s 124,896 and the petitioners, not satisfied with the conduct of the election, filed a petition on May 3, seeking the nullification of the election in the entire 23 local government areas of the state and an order for a fresh election on the account of alleged substantial non-compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act and Manual for Election Officers 2015.

But Wike, while addressing a mammoth crowd of his supporters and party faithful who had gathered at the Port Har-

court International Airport to welcome him on return from Abuja, on Saturday evening, thanked the party leadership and its supporters for their steadfastness, saying that by his training as a legal practitioner, he would not criticise the opinion of the tribunal’s judge.

“So, what I can say is that the tribunal has given their own verdict, but we know that by the special grace of God, that is not the verdict of God. Nobody can take your mandate.

“All the gang-ups in Abuja is against Rivers State. But we must protect the interest of this state. If they like, let them use all the powers they have, but their power cannot be superior than God’s power.

“I want to urge you to be calm and be peaceful. I am still the governor of Rivers State. Our lawyers are going on appeal; there is also the Supreme Court. We believe that we have a good case.

“I have never seen where a lower court will overrule a superior court like the Court of Appeal. In Lagos State, PDP went to court with our governorship candidate and one of the grounds they went to

court was the issue of card reader.

“When the matter went to the Court of Appeal, the court said the issue of card reader had no place in our Electoral Act. But today, I have heard that the card reader is part of our Electoral Act, as far as own election tribunal is concerned. Like I said, there is no cause for alarm.

“Again, you are aware that Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party were in the same tribunal.

The same tribunal ruled that they did not give 21 days notice to INEC and therefore, they are not qualified to come to the tribunal.

“We also said that in the case of APC that they are not qualified to be at the tribunal. The same tribunal said a different thing.

“When SDP and Labour Party went to the Court of Appeal, the court upheld that the 21-day notice was mandatory. But as far as this tribunal is concerned, they are not bothered about it. But like I said, that is their own view.

“I don’t want to say anything beyond that. They can say anything, but Rivers people’s interest must be protected. Nobody will

More encomiums for HID Awolowo Olayinka Olukoya - Abeokuta MORE tributes have continued to pour in for Chief (Mrs) HID Awolowo, who died on 19 September, 2015 at the age of 99.

Among the visitors to the Ikenne home of the Awolowos on Saturday were members of the Ilishan Club and Volunteers for Change Group of Nigeria.

The members of the Il-

ishan Club, led by Asiwaju Solesi and Chief Wemmy Osude, appreciated the role of Mama Awolowo in the political history of the nation, describing her as a great model and a pillar of support to her husband.

The founder of VCGN, Mr. Rotimi Vaughan, said Mama had positively contributed to the development of her immediate environment, saying: “We are here today to celebrate Ma-

ma’s life. We are delighted with all the legacies she left behind. We are impressed by these legacies, some of which we shall imbibe. She impacted positively on her environment.”

The group promised to offer free service in whatever form during the programme of activities lined up for Mama’s final journey home.

Earlier, during the daily routine service organised

by the Diocese of Remo (Anglican Communion) and conducted by the Ipara Archdeaconry, Christians were advised to live for others.

In his short sermon, Reverend D.O Aribilola of Emmanuel Anglican Church, Ipara-Remo, said the Diocese would be eternally grateful to the Diocesan Mother, Mama Awolowo, for impacting on it.

Fayose condemns Rivers, Akwa Ibom tribunal judgments, cautions Buhari, APC ALSO reacting to the judgment, the Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, condemned the tribunal judgments nullifying the elections of Rivers and Akwa Ibom states governors, Mr Nyesom Wike and Emmanuel Udom respectively, saying; “the seeming collaboration between the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government and a section of the judiciary is worrisome and portends grave danger to the corporate existence of

Nigeria. This is worse than corruption that the president claimed to be fighting.”

Governor Fayose said the desperation to take over the Sout-South States of Rivers and Akwa Ibom through the backdoor by President Muhammadu Buhari and his APC, in preparation for 2019, using the judiciary may cause anarchy in the country.

Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New

Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor accused the APC and Presidentn Buhari of another grand plot to rig the forthcoming Kogi and Bayelsa states governorship elections, using the newlyappointed INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu and the Director-General of the DSS, Alhaji Daura.

Fayose said: “There were widespread electoral malpractices during the presidential election in the North, with rampant under-aged voting. Yet,

Dr Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP did not take steps capable of threatening Nigeria’s corporate existence.

“Curiously too, in a state like Yobe where it was established that the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Abu Zarma received N15 million bribe from the Aide-deCamp (ADC) to the state governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Zakari Deba, to influence the governorship

election, the tribunal did not nullify the election.”

The governor called on President Buhari to, in the overall interest of Nigeria, tread cautiously in his bid to consolidate power and prepare ground for his possible re-election bid.

He appealed to the people of the South-South not to be intimidated and discouraged, expressing hope that the appellate court will protect the wish of the people of Rivers and Akwa Ibom States.

intimidate me to abandon this state. If they like, let them summon the justices as they have been doing, but, one day, God’s own judgment will prevail”, he said.

Also reacting, the state chapter of PDP alleged that members of the tribunal were compromised in coming up with their verdict on the disputed election, but however reassured Wike remained the state governor.

Describing the judgment as travesty of justice and a rape on democracy, the party chairman, Mr Felix Obuah, said the alleged conspiracy and falsehood by the APC-led Federal Government against Rivers people would amount to nullity at the end.

He alleged that the decision had been taken long before the written addresses by both parties were adopted on Thursday and “said this is one tribunal judgment that will never stand.

“There is no other reason why the tribunal hurriedly delivered the contraption it called judgment in less than 24 hours after adopting the written addresses on a matter that lasted over four months than to pre-empt the judgment of the Supreme Court against the tribunal by PDP, which comes up next week Tuesday.

“There is no problem; everybody should remain calm. As a matter of fact, we are going to appeal.

Things will be okay and you can see our people are jubilating; nothing happened. That is man’s judgment; God’s judgment is the final..

“In case of the matter getting up to the Supreme Court, we are ever ready any day, any time. I have said it times without number that Rivers State is a PDP state. Come rain, come shine, we are not disturbed. But I am telling you that God’s judgment will surpass whatever they have done today (Saturday)”, he said.

In his own reaction, special adviser to Governor Wike on media and publicity, Sir Opunabo InkoTariah, said the verdict was a miscarriage of justice, alleging that the tribunal panelists only acted according to instruction.

“The tribunal has done its bit; the tribunal panelists have done what they were asked to do. Deficontinues on pg5

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news

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

Over 8,000 terrorists plan to invade Borno, female suicide bomber confesses • 9 killed in fresh attacks

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James Bwala-Maiduguri

ne of the three female suicide bombers who struck on Saturday morning around the office of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), on Damboa road in Maiduguri, killing four persons, is said to have made a

shocking revelation that over 8,000 Boko Haram fighters are preparing to take over Maiduguri and free some of their militants in custody.

Sunday Tribune was also informed that five other persons were also killed in another bomb attack.

A member of the civilian JTF, who gave his name as

Isa Musa Sani and is helping the military in the fight against insurgency, told our correspondent that the female suicide bomber, who escaped after her collaborators detonated the bombs, was arrested about three hours after the explosion at the military checkpoint.

Sani, who said they beat

up the lady to a state of coma, added that she fled to Dala Alemderi ward immediately after the Damboa attack, to seek refuge with some of her accomplices who were said to have detonated explosives that killed five people.

Recalling how the female terrorist was arrested, Sani said, “Her own bombs re-

fused to detonate and she had to remove them from her body. She realised she did not want to die again and was begging us not to kill her.

“She said she was the lady who was with the other female bombers who attacked the military checkpoint this morning.

“She also revealed that

Boko Haram attacks: Buhari sends delegation to Adamawa, Borno APC condoles with Borno, Adamawa govts Troops dislodge terrorists from Borno communities Leon Usigbe And Chris Agbambu-Abuja

A delegation sent by President Muhammadu Buhari has visited Adamawa and Borno States to condole with their governments and people over the increased bombing activity

by Boko Haram terrorists.

Buhari said even though the military was making progress in the war against terror, it would take a while for Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) to be eradicated.

The delegation led by Babachir David Lawal, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), had the mandate to appeal to local populations to share in the responsibility for security in their surroundings.

The president directed all communities in the country to revert to old practices by which new arrivals in their neighborhoods were taken note of by local chiefs and security agencies.

He recalled that these were practices that worked well in past in securing neighborhoods and local communities.”

In commiserating with families who lost dear ones and the inpatients in the hospitals visited by the delegation on his behalf, President Buhari assured of the full support of the government and the determination of his administration to end the menace of the Boko Haram terrorists by the year’s end.

In his message at hospitals, emirs’ palaces and Government Houses in the two states as read by the SGF, the President said that “the security situation in the North East remains a great source of concern for me. Although there are clear indications that the military is recording great successes in the theatre of

operations, the enemy has been able to carry out his murderous campaign by attacking soft targets using Improvised Explosive Devices.

“His intention is to create widespread fear amongst the civilian population since he cannot subdue our armed forces. The sporadic tactics used by these criminals is a sign that they are under intense pressure in the forests and in the countryside where they previously enjoyed a lot of freedom of action.

“The sheer tenacity displayed by our troops in the last three months has resulted in degrading the capacity of the enemy significantly. I am confident that the ability of the enemy to attack and seize towns and villages has been virtually neutralized.

“Having said that, our people cannot continue to be the victims of a senseless war, living in perpetual fear and denied the right to pursue their legitimate undertakings in peace.

“As a leader, I want to assure our citizens in every part of Nigeria that the government is doing everything humanly possible to bring to a swift end, the suffering and losses occasioned by this insurgency.

I deeply sympathize with the families who have lost loved ones.

Meanwhile, the All Pro-

gressives Congress (APC) has condoled with the government and people of Borno and Adamawa over the deadly attacks that left many dead and injured in the two states on Friday.

This was contained in a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

APC said that while even the loss of one life was too much to bear, the government and people of the states should take solace in the fact that the attacks would come to an end.

The party based its optimism on the fact that the nation’s gallant soldiers have stepped up campaign against Boko Haram insurgents. ‘’The spike in the attacks in recent times is a direct reflection of the huge successes by the military in flushing the Boko Haram terrorists out of their strongholds and putting them on the run.

“With no fortress to call their own any more, having been smoked out of Sambisa forest and removed from their caliphates, they have resorted to these cowardly attacks aimed at soft targets.

“Grim as the situation may seem at the moment, these cowardly attacks will taper off sooner than later,” it said.

APC called on all citi-

zens, especially those in the worst-hit areas of the country, to be extravigilant, saying that the terrorists had dispersed into the population after realising that they were doomed.

In another development, troops of the 5 Brigade, Nigerian Army, were able to comprehensively destroy all Boko Haram camps and enclaves at the border towns of Kerenowa and Chikun Gudu as well as their contiguous villages in Borno State.

During the operation which is ongoing, troops discovered and destroyed over 20 well fortified terrorist camps in the general area of Kerenowa.

The camps included some at the gateways to Kerenowa, Gumada and Dogon Gida. In addition, the troops also discovered that to evade aerial reconnaissance and bombardment, the terrorists had dug twin tunnels to conceal their facilities and routes in and out of the camp. Among the facilities discovered were training areas equipped with instructional and training materials that included wooden guns.

The troops also cleared Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) along the road linking Marte, New Marte and Kerenowa.

The Boko Haram terrorists abandoned their camps, fleeing and leaving behind vehicles, solar panels used to power devices, food and other logistics, beddings, various IED making devices, cables and cords.

According to a statement by Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, acting director, Army Public Relations, “It is apparent that the Boko Haram terrorists lacked the will to fight as they are in obvious disarray, abandoning their camps fleeing and leaving behind vehicles, solar panels used to power devices, food and other logistics, beddings, various IED making devices, cables and cords.

“The advancing troops’ morale remains very high and they exude confidence and zeal to destroy all known Boko Haram camps along their axis of advance.

“We still reiterate our call for citizens to remain confident in the ability of our troops to eliminate all remaining vestiges of the terrorists before the year runs out in line with presidential directives.

“Citizens are also requested to kindly provide useful and credible information to the military about any known terrorist or sympathisers,” he said.

25 polytechnic students, staff affected by Yola blast NO fewer than 25 students and staff members of Adamawa State Polytechnic, Yola, were affected in the blast at Jambutu Jumaat Mosque on Friday.

The State Commissioner for Higher Education, Alhaji Hamid Rufai, made this known when he spoke with newsmen in Yola on Saturday.

Rufai said four of the 25

students lost their lives while the rest, including two staff members, sustained various degrees of injury.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the affected mosque belonged to the polytechnic community.

It is located on the Jambutu campus, about five kilometres away from the

main campus.

Meanwhile, the casualty figure in the blast has risen to 33 deaths from the initial 27.

The NEMA Coordinator in the state, Mr Saad Bello and his counterpart of Nigerian Red Cross, Malam Aliyu Maikano, confirmed the new figure.

NAN reports that a Federal Government delega-

tion led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Dr Lawal Babachir, has visited Yola to commiserate with Government and people of Adamawa.

The team visited Government House, Lamido’s palace as well as the state Special Hospital and Federal Medical Centre to see the patients.

they came all the way from Damasak, where they are working along with some members of the Boko Haram fighters numbering 8,000 who are planning on how to make inroads into Maiduguri to free their men in military custody”.

According to him, when they beat her, she confessed and told them that Boko Haram’s target was military checkpoints.

“She said they wanted to scare the soldiers, so that some of their fighters could have access to the town. She disclosed that their plan was to free some of their members who are being held at the military barracks,” Sani narrated.

Asked whether she mentioned the names of their sponsors, Sani said she only stated that one of the ward chairmen in Damasak, who was arrested by soldiers, knew the people who are funding their operations.

Earlier, the three suicide bombers attacked a military checkpoint close to the FRSC safety office along Damboa road in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, leaving four people dead while six others sustained injuries and were rushed to the State Specialists Hospital.

The blasts which occurred at about 8:00 am, according to security operatives at the checkpoint, was targeted at them.

They, however, refused to mention whether any of the security operatives at the checkpoint was affected by the blasts. But their mood showed that one of them was affected by the blast.

Some residents around the Road Safety office as well as internally displaced persons (IDPs) living at Bakassi IDP Camp near the Road Safety office, told Sunday Tribune that they saw the soldiers evacuation some victims to the hospital.

According to them, two of the female suicide bombers were also killed while the other one was said to have still alive and at large.

One of the residents said the soldiers saw the three bombers while they were coming towards them and suspected them.

However, while they were calling on them to stop and not to come further, the two ran towards the soldiers and detonated the explosive while the other one escaped in the process.

The source, who identified himself as Sani, said the soldiers were very lucky, adding that they identified with the people and were seen as part of the community.

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25 October, 2015

crimereports

Sunday Tribune

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

Police nab 6 for robbery in Delta Recover 6 children, 2 pregnant girls

Stories by Ebenezer Adurokiya - Warri

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HE last 21 days in oil-rich Delta State have not been easy for the operatives of the Delta State Police Command.

Neither was it a window period for those whose appetite for vices and social brigandage will not abate.

Briefing journalists in Asaba, the state capital, recently, Commissioner of Police, Alkali Baba Usman, said no fewer than six armed robbery and kidnapping suspects were apprehended during the period under review. Three, he said, were fatally wounded.

Arms, ammunition and belongings of victims were also recovered from the hoodlums. They included four English rifles, 43 ammunition, one vehicle and N419, 000 cash. But most mind-boggling of the fruits of the operations by men of the command is the smashing of an interstate human trafficking syndicate of six, as well as the rescue of eight victims.

On September 27, the command gathered that an interstate human and child trafficking syndicate cell was in full operation in Asaba. Subsequently, the intelligence gathering team of the Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS) swung into action and arrested one Nkiru Asouza and her husband, Chidiebele Udeagbala, residing at Number 6, Nwaziki Street, Asaba. On interrogation, Nkiru Asouza was said to have confessed to the crime of child trafficking and thereafter led SARS’s operatives to Onitsha where one Mary Bassey Okon was also arrested and four trafficked children whose ages were ranged from 1-5 years, it was gathered, were recovered from her.

Apparently not done yet, the operatives, on October 4, were led by the suspects to Akwa Ibom State where Ekaete Sunday, Etieno Mary Bassey, Stella John

The suspected kidnappers.

Photos: Ebenezer Adurokiya

and Esther Ezekiel were arrested. Recovered from the four suspects also were two additional trafficked children of the same age

bracket and two 18-yearold pregnant girls – Nancy Atume and Chidima Johnson. The suspects stated that the two pregnant girls

were directed to them after having been variously put in the family line to enable them to nurture the pregnancies with a view to

selling the babies after delivery.

Meanwhile, one of the pregnant girls, Chidinma Johnson and six children

have been handed over to the Ministry of Women Affairs, Delta State, while her pregnant colleague, Nancy Atume, has been returned to her parents.

CP Usman, who was apparently worried by the development, advised parents from Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers states, whose children or wards are missing, to report to the Delta State Police Command to find out if their children or wards are among the recovered ones. He also warned parents and guardians to keep an eye on their children in and out of school, informing that the arrested suspects would soon be arraigned in court for prosecution.

…Foil robbery operation, kill 3 in shootout OPERATIVES of the Delta Police Command, Warri Area Command, have foiled a robbery operation and gunned down three suspects during a shootout in Warri, Delta State.

This is in line with the command’s avowed resolve to rid the state of armed hoodlums ahead of December.

Residents of Warri and environs have been sleeping with one eye open over incessant threats, terror and armed robbery operations in recent times.

The three unlucky hoodlums were said to have been particularly terrorizing Warri/Effurun and

The ammunition and cash recovered from the armed robbers. environs.

Recently, the dare-devil robbers met their Waterloo

during a fierce gun battle with the Warri Area police patrol team at Apala Road Warri.

It was gathered that the patrol team got wind of an impending attack on inno-

cent lives from a member of the public.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Celestina Kalu, who confirmed the incident in a statement, said the patrol team, besides hacking down the suspects, recovered a cache of from the hoodlums.

The recovered items, according to Kalu, included 2 AK 47 rifles with registration numbers 562538090 and 562623141; one AK.49 rifle with number 1968Kh 9372; one K2 rifle with number 061487; 43 rounds of AK ammunition and a Vento car with registration number number AE 681 BKW.

Niger police arrest 170 suspected criminals, 72 convicted Adelowo Oladipo - Minna

THE police in Niger State said that in the past one month, about 170 suspected criminals have been arrested, out of which 132 were charged to court, 72 suspects were convicted, while 60 suspects were awaiting trial and 31 cases were still being investigated.

The state’s police Commissioner, Mr Abubakar Marafa, made the disclo-

sure recently, while playing host to the Assistant Inspector General of Police {AIG} in charge of Zone 7, Abuja, Mr Bala Nassarawa, who was on tour of the state police command.

In addition to that, Marafa said that within one month of his assumption of office in the State as the 29th Commissioner of Police, Niger State Command, from September 8 to October 8 this year,

that the command had also recovered properties estimated at N2,838,000 from sundry criminals .

He stated further that part of the achievements of the command in the period under review was among others, planned mop-up operation to dislodge bandits that included cattle rustlers and associated criminals in some selected locations in the state like Sarkin Pawa, Kaffin- Koro and Gurara.

“During the operation, 25 suspects were arrested, one Kodak camera and some charms were recovered. The command also recovered two locally made pistols, three locally made single barrel guns , one toy pistol, four rounds of 9.18mm caliber of ammunition and 20 cartridges.

In the same vein, the command arrested nine armed robbery suspects, while seven of them have

since been charged to court and two others are still undergoing interrogation, ” said the Police Boss.

He, however, pointed out that the journey has not been completely smooth , following some challenges confronting the command such as inadequate manpower, insufficient barracks accommodation and deplorable condition of Police Training School, Minna, among others.

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crimereports

25 October, 2015

NSCDC destroys 10 illegal refineries, impounds 42 tankers in Niger Adelowo Oladipo - Minna

T

HE Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Abdullahi Gana Mohammed, has stated that he has, so far, closed down 10 illegal refineries and seized 42 trucks.

He also stated that President Muhammadu Buhari is ready to provide the corps with modern equipment to fight the sophisticated network of vandals of oil installations.

The Commandant Gen-

eral stated this in an interaction with newsmen in Minna, adding that his assessment since he assumed office showed that two thirds of the nation’s revenue from oil were being lost to vandals across the nation.

Gana Mohammed who vowed not to compromise on the integrity of the corps, noted that the organisation was founded on integrity which made it possible to build an image of decency and uncompromising posture towards protecting national assets as enshrined

in the act that set it up.

He said in view of that, the corps was able to so far deliver in its core mandate in protecting national assets like pipe lines; leading to seizure of 42 tankers and closure of 10 illegal refineries since he assumed office.

According to him, “we destroyed three refineries in Rivers State, five illegal refineries in Bayelsa State, and two illegal refineries in Abia State bringing the number to 10”, adding that the resource of the government is being wasted through these illegal refin-

eries”.

“My assessment is that the nation lost two of the three times revenue being generated in oil to vandalism, that is why we have

Adelowo Oladipo - Minna

A Fulani Man, who challenged his fellow tribesman (a Fulani Man) into a physical duel over allegation of having amorous

He is a wanted man—Lawyer A man, who claimed to be the head of Sulu family at Kogbo village in Ibadan, Olayiwola Sulu, in a two page letter, has written a petition against a lawyer, Mr Abayomi Animashaun, Sunday Adeyemo, Bintu Aderinto, Wasiu Kolapo over damage of property, threat to life and attempted kidnapping.

According to the petition written to the Commissioner of Police, Mr Mohammed Katsina, his family owns a large parcel of land at Kogbo village, off Odo-Ona Elewe, Orita Challenge, Ibadan, but the Aromona family had encroached on the land, depriving his family and occupants of the land of its use, adding that some properties were destroyed on the land sometime in May, 2015.

He also alleged that he was threatened with death or kidnapping, saying he was attacked by thugs suspected to have been sent by some people after his life but wounded himself while trying to escape.

However, when the counsel for Aromona family, Mr Abayomi Animashaun, hewas contacted, he said “ran away when police came to arrest him, not thugs.”

“I am very sure he cannot visit the Oyo State Criminal Investigation Department, because he is seriously wanted, after we submitted a petition entitled: Re- Acts causing breach of peace and illegal execution, in December, 2014.

“What he is trying to do

is to cover up for the illegal claims of the land belonging to the Aromona family, which he sold to people illegally. The people are on

his neck because Aromona family has claimed back its land. We have a judgment to that effect and no other judgment has capsized it.

However, efforts to reach other members of Aromona family and others proved abortive as at press time.

relationship with his wife, has met his untimely death in Niger State.

The incident was said to have occurred recently, when the deceased, Alhaji Mallam Alhaji Usman of Pangu Village in Lapai Local Government of the state allegedly accused one Saidu Abdullahi of same village of having extra marital affairs with his wife, Mrs Maryam Mallam Usman.

Crime Reports further gathered that no sooner that Usman had confronted Abdullahi with the alle-

Some cows recovered from cattle rustlers in Kano. Inset: Arms and hard drugs retrieved from them by police.

Photos: Kola Oyelere

Police recover over 1,000 cows, hard drugs, arms in Kano Kola Oyelere - Kano

KANO State police have recovered over 1000 cows and 87 sheep, and paraded 74 cattle rustlers, adding that three of the cattle rustlers lost their lives in a gun duel with security operatives.

The Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Katsina, who was just recently posted to the state from Oyo State, stated this when he led the state governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, the emir of Kano, Muhammed Sanusi II and other traditional rulers to Corner Dawakin –Kudu, to where the cattle and

other recovered items from rustlers were kept, after they were cornered at Tundun – Wada, Sunmaila, Doguwa and Dawakin –Kudu areas of the state.

According to him, within the last 30 days of intense bush combing at the Falgore game reserve by a special squad constituted by the command.

“The police recovered 21 arms, 42 AK 47 ammunition, 15. 9.mm ammunition, 28 live cartridges and 12 locally made AK 47 ammunition.

Speaking further, the CP disclosed that 82 drug dealers and cultists were

and syndicates so the corp must fight them with modern equipment adding that “I am happy that with my meeting with the President, he is ready to assist us.”

Jealous husband killed over physical brawl with his wife’s man friend

Landgrabber,lawyeraftermylife—Familyhead

By Olakunle Taiwo

to put our hands on deck to fight these vandals” he added.

He stated that vandals are now sophisticated with good network of operation,

Sunday Tribune

apprehended, while 21 parcels of 464 raps of Indian Hemp were recovered, adding that 416 cartons of Tramadol, 119 sachets of Diazepam, 101 cartons of parklin and codeine syrup, five gallons of suck-anddie, including two tricycles used in conveying drugs by drug couriers were also displayed by the police.

Governor Ganduje while speaking on the occasion described the activities of cattle rustlers as worrisome, noting that, “this is happening as we are yet to get out of the menace of insurgency, but now another frightening dimension

of crime has resurfaced, which is alarming.”

He added that already, a committee has been set up to ensure that the recovered livestock are returned to their rightful owners, adding that those involved in cattle rustling should realise that their days are numbered.

Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi 11, recommended that Islamic law should be applied in the prosecution of the suspects, which included amputation of hands and legs, killing, piecing their body with sticks, life imprisonment or to be exiled.

gation that a fight ensued between them and in the ensuing face off between them, Usman was said to have used his cutlass to cut off the left hand of his wife’s alleged man friend.

It was further learnt that in an apparent self defence, Saidu Abdullahi who was already soaked in a pool of his own blood, momentarily used his stick and hit Alhaji Usman on the head after which the latter slumped and became unconscious.

Thereafter, Abdullahi, now undergoing interrogation at the homicide section of the State Criminals Investigation Department, Minna, was said to have also used his cutlass to inflict severe injuries on the deceased alongside his wife, Mrs Ajara Saidu, a nursing mother also in police custody in connection with the case.

A source informed Crime Reports that Mrs Saidu also participated in the attack on the deceased as she was accused of using her husband’s cutlass to cut off the left hand of Alhaji Usman, a situation which led to his death.

The source who would not want his names in the prints said no sooner that the second suspect, Hajara cut off Alhaji Usman on his left hand that he gave up the ghost on the fateful Sunday morning at the village.

Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer, Niger State Police Command, Mr Bala Elkana, an Assistant Superintendent of Police{ASP} has confirmed the incident.

In a brief interview with the Crime Reports, in Minna, he said two people have been arrested in connection with the case, adding that at the conclusion of the police investigation on the matter that the suspects would be arraigned in court and charged with conspiracy and culpable homicide.

“In fact, investigation is still ongoing in the case at the SCID Minna”, said Elkana.

8 news Eminent Nigerians celebrate Baba Ijebu at 80 He is a true philanthropist —Bola Ajibola Akin Adewakun-Lagos

P

rOminent Nigerians, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday, thronged the Methodist Church, Marina, Lagos, to celebrate with the billionaire pool magnate, Kesington Adebutu, who recently clocked 80.

Adebutu, popularly known as Baba Ijebu, marked his 80th birthday with a special prayer at the Church.

Others in attendance included former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Gbenga Daniel, Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, Senator Oluremi Tinubu; Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, the Awujale of Ijebuland, ex-Governor of Ogun State, Olusegun Osoba, former US ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington and his wife and other notable kings, queens and chiefs.

Speaking with Sunday Tribune after the church service, Osoba, described the celebrant as a great son of Nigeria. “He is a great son of Nigeria. He supports education. He has used his wealth to build a strong foundation for our youths.

The best you can give any individual in the world is education” he said.

“He has also done much in the country by putting his

money to build insfrastructure to the development of this country and I believe, it is the best you can give a fellow human being. I wish him good health and many years”.

The wife of former governor of Lagos State, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, also extolled the virtue of the philanthropist.

According to her, “I am proud and excited to be among those who have come to felicitate with our father, a great man of our time, a philanthropist, a business guru and a role model of servant leadership of our time.

We can only wish him well and all his family and generation to come” she said.

In his sermon, the church”s priest, Prelate Samuel Uche, extolled the celebrant for his generosity and his willingness to provide succour for the underprivileged.

‘Today we are celebrating a man of integrity and a rare character. A man who has dedicated his life to the upliftment of the people. A man of worthy character, a role model,’ the prelate stated.

Also, the founder and proprietor of Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Prince Bola Ajibola, described Sir Kesington as a true philanthropist, According to the World Court Judge, Sir Kesington Adebutu does not discriminate in his charity. He is kind-hearted and socially responsible. His world

view suggests that abundantly uses his endowed wealth to develop the human capital.

His words:”Some years ago when Crescent University was in the grip of financial constraint and I had to scout for people to assist and support us financially, I decided to write letters of appeal to many of our affluent friends all over Nigeria. Most unfortunately, the response was terribly poor and indeed very few donated very little...

“Fortuitously, however, it so happened that on the occasion when Kesington was launching his endowed science laboratory at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, he specifically invited me to the event. As I sat by him, something kept urging me to request for an endowment to our university too since we were eagerly looking for someone to endow us with a library.

“Finally, I screwed up my courage by placing the proposal before him for the endowment of our library. He agreed to do something unhesitatingly and with alacrity. He then asked me about the rough estimate which I said could cost between Twenty-five to Twenty-seven million naira. On that day, he was called upon to launch the endowment, he came with a cheque of twenty-seven million naira with which we have accomplished our mission of building the new library,” he said.

Nigeria to challenge UK on migration policy The Nigeria High Commission in London says it is worried by the migration and removal policy of the UK Government, which has placed deportation tag on 29,000 Nigerians.

The acting Nigerian High Commissioner in London, Mr Olukunle Bamgbose, gave the indication in his office when he spoke with State House Correspondents covering Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s visit to London.

He said that the policy came about following the migration crisis created by the troubled regions in the world.

“I think about 29,000 Nigerians have been designated to be deported.

“We are insisting that due process must be followed before Nigerians are removed from the UK to Nigeria,’’ he said.

Bamgbose gave four conditions that should be met by the UK immigration office before the commission could accept the migration and deporta-

tion agenda.

“First, we must ensure that they are really Nigerians; they are medically fit to travel; all the legal processes must have been completed and that they have role to play in Nigeria.

“You do not expect someone who has not been to Nigeria for 30, 40 years, and does not have any family and you want to deport him, fit in the society.

“He will constitute social problems to us in Nigeria,’’ the Envoy said.

Bamgbose noted that in spite of the challenge, the relationship between Nigeria and UK had deepened, adding that the UK is ready to engage with Nigerians in various aspects, in defence, immigration, trade and investment.

“In 2012, trade volume between the two countries was about £4 billion pounds, which has doubled now.

“But with what we now have, British investors are ready to move into Nigeria.

“I expect that in the next

two to three years, the trade volume will triple to about 12 billion pound or even more.’’

Bamgbose attributed the rise to the new confidence the foreign investors had in Nigeria and the new administration.

“The willingness of the British businessmen to want to come to Nigeria is important because, hitherto, they did not have that confidence in government.

“They are not really sure whether they can go into Nigeria and invest. Now with the new administration, what they believe the new administration can do and the fidelity with which the new administration has brought to governance that is the first thing.

“You have to have the confidence of those who are going to Nigeria to invest and I think with what is going on now they are very confident that they can go into Nigeria and invest,’’ he said.

The Envoy said the confidence also elevated the level of diplomatic service of the country.

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

news Bayelsa guber: Security operatives pledge collaboration with INEC 9

A

HEAD of the December 5 Governorship poll in Bayelsa State, security operatives are to collaborate with officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure a free, fair, credible and peaceful election.

The new Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State Command, Mr. Nasiru Oki gave the indication, while briefing Government House correspondents shortly after the 33rd Security Council meeting presided over by Governor Seriake Dickson in Government House, Yenagoa.

Mr. Oki, who said officers and men of the Police Force were adequately prepared and ready for the elections noted that, the Inspector General of Police has assured them of the provision of adequate personnel and logistics to ensure a hitchfree election.

The Commissioner of

Onitsha traders welcome bank scheme Suzy Oruya -Onitsha TRADERS around the commercial city of Onitsha have expressed satisfaction over a new scheme introduced by the Access Bank Plc to aid easy importation of goods to the market.

Speaking to Sunday Tribune in Onitsha, a trader who deals in female shoes, identified as Mr Arinze narrated that the introduction of FLOW scheme organised by the Access Bank in partnership with GMT had made payment of forex to his manufacturer for goods outside Nigeria easier.

Arinze said getting to know about the scheme by the bank through a one day seminar, had helped him to ease the stress of all the logistics and finance he normally faced while importing goods to his warehouse in Nigeria.

He said although anything that will guarantee cheaper, safer and faster delivery of goods to traders is always acceptable by the traders but the scheme went as far as easing the bottleneck problems which traders went through in the efforts to get their goods to their various warehouses in the country.

25 October, 2015

Police explained that in line with the policy thrust of the Inspector General of Police, the command would mobilise members of the public to participate in community policing towards securing their areas.

His words: “One of the

policy thrust of the Inspector General of police is the participation of the community people in the securing their areas so we are going to mobilise members of the public to participate in community policing. The strategy is already on the

ground. We have already done our operational orders as regards who should do what, when to do what and we will work in conjunction with INEC officials.”

On combating crime, Mr. Oki said, the command has mapped out strategies to be

adopted in ridding the state of criminals and advised those who are bent on fomenting trouble to have a change of heart, as any culprit would be dealt with decisively.

Also contributing, the Commander, Joint Task Force, Operation Pulo

Sunday Tribune

Shield, Maj. Gen. Alani Okunlola said the Security Council meeting deliberated on the emerging threat to lives and property and identified areas, where they need to beef up security, to make the state safe.

Speaking earlier at the meeting, Governor Seriake Dickson said his administration would work closely with the security agencies towards maintaining law and order, stressing that, acts capable of undermining the security and sovereignty of the state and country would not be condoned.

UNNunveils 55thanniversary commemorative stamps Jude Ossai And Abiodun Jimoh- Enugu Supporters of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) welcoming Governor Nyesom Wike to Port Harcourt on Saturday. Photo: Dapo Falade

Aftermath Rivers’ election tribunal judgment: Police say state is calm THE Rivers Police Command said on Saturday that the state was calm and people going about their normal businesses after the annulment of the election of Gov Nyesom Wike.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in Port Harcourt and neighbouring Local Government Areas, security had been beefed up with deployment of security personnel in strategic locations.

Mrs Grace Iringe-Koko,

an ASP and spokesperson of the command, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt that all was calm in the state.

“We have not recorded any incidents and the state is calm. Police is on top of the situation,” she said.

Meanwhile, All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwarts in the state have been reacting to election petitions tribunal`s decision to annul the election of Gov. Nyesom Wike of

Rivers.

Mrs Ibim Semenitari, former Commissioner for information and communication in the Amaechi administration, said the party commended the judges for standing on the side of truth.

“We thank God and praise him for this victory and we are grateful to Rivers people for their support,” she said.

Mr Chris Finebone, the state publicity secretary of the APC, said the tribunal`s

ruling was a proof to be on what is right.

“The judgement is a consummation that whenever you stand on the side of what is right, you will ultimately prevail.

“He said that the law was the saviour of the common man and today the tribunal proved that in its judgement,” he said.

The state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has not reacted to the judgement of the Election Petition Tribunal.

Solar key to constant energy in Nigeria —el-Rufai THE gpvernor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, on Saturday in London said that the application of solar technology in the provision of electricity in Nigeria would democratise power access to the rural poor.

Reacting to the solar power agreement signed between Nigeria and the United Kingdom in London on Thursday el-Rufaí the agreement was an opportunity for the country to acquire the latest technology in the sector.

The governor had accompanied the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo,

to the agreement signing ceremony at the Facebook headquarters.

“This is a great opportunity for Nigeria to leapfrog from where we are to the latest state-of-the-art technology to provide electricity to the poor.

“Many people think that the only way to get electricity to everyone is through building huge power stations with transmission lines and distribution infrastructure.

“But in the last three to four years there has been advancement in solar technology that has made it possible to democratise

electricity in a way that you would have your own power plant in your own home to serve your needs instead of connecting to a centralised network.’’

The governor noted that the initiative, to be supported by the British government, would take electricity to the poorest parts of Nigeria without necessarily building transmission and distribution lines.

“I think it is a great step just as we leapfrogged from having half a million land lines to 150 million mobile phones.

“There is an opportunity here to leapfrog from

having centralised power stations and transmission lines to 60 million Nigerians having electricity that they generate from solar in their own homes and paying for it on a pay-as-yougo basis.

“It is a great initiative and if we are able to follow it through we will be able to take electricity to the poorest parts of Nigeria without having to do huge investments that we have sank in NEPA and PHCN without results,’’ the governor added According to him, the gains will be seen almost immediately.

THE vice chancellor, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Professor Benjamin Chukwuma Ozumba has remarked that the unveiling of 55th anniversary commemorative stamps would carry the visions and missions of the institution not only to other parts of the country but to the world at large.

He stated this at the launching of the 55th Anniversary commemorative stamps project jointly implemented by the University of Nigeria Alumni Association (UNAA), and Nigeria Postage Service (NIPOST) had in attendance acting Post-Master General of the NIPOST, Architect Enoch Adeogun and his top management staff, representatives of the vice chairman, Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), UNAA President, Barrister Andrew Oru who also doubles as the chairman of the joint committee was held at the Princesses Alexandra auditorium, UNN Campus, Nsukka.

Professor Ozumba, who was appointed a year ago, in his address stated “Throughout the world, commemorative stamps are postage stamps often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honour or commemorate a place or an event such as West African University Games (WAUG) being hosted by this University. The advent of special commemorative stamps greatly increased the popularity of not only postage stamps but the hobby of stamp collection.”

10

feature

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

Nigeria Airways: Will this elephant fly again?

Nigeria’s former national carrier, Nigeria Airways Limited (NAL),was liquidated by the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003, despite all hues and cries against it, SHOLA ADEKOLA delves into the life of the former national carrier, the Nigeria Airways, effects of its controversial liquidation and the present move to float a new carrier.

B

EFORE the controversial liquidation, the then national carrier was a pride of Nigerians, as it flew the flag of the country around the world with the best of pilots, engineers and cabin crews.

It is on record that the safety standard of former national carrier became unrivaled in view of the zero tolerance displayed by the workers towards safety compromise.

With the presence of Nigeria Airways on major routes across the world, the Nigerian flying public was flying to their chosen destinations with the best treatment which posed serious threats to the foreign carriers then.

The good image the former carrier built for years unfortunately started nosediving due to so many debatable reasons.

Such reasons ranged from foundational issue of the airline not adequately positioned to make profit, mismanagement and government overbearing influence on the former national carrier.

All these anomalies and many others started taking its toll on the carrier from the late 1980s and by the end of 1990s, the myriad of challenges had eaten deeply into the performance of the airline.

The good thing is that despite the challenges, the airline was still keeping the flag of the country flying with

utmost safety.

Obasanjo’s policy The defunct national carrier, though was down, was not out, but its case then was not totally bad that it could not be redeemed but unfortunately for one reason or the other, there came the administration of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Perhaps due to the misinformation he got from the then Minister of Aviation, (Dr) Mrs Kema Chikwe and some other people in government, he chose to liquidate the airline based on reasons many of which have been subsequently found to be untenable.

His decision to liquidate the former carrier was greeted with oppositions from Nigerians within and out of the sector who disagreed with Obasanjo on the purported debts of the airline which they argued was over exaggerated.

Stakeholders had argued that the debt profile attributed to the then carrier was farther from the truth and they equally drew his attention to the numerous spiraling effect the liquidation of the airline would have on the domestic airline operations and the entire aviation sector.

Unfortunately, the Obasanjo’s administration had

made up its mind by ignoring all the clarion calls and went ahead to liquidate the carrier.

Labour issues The controversy, which trailed the liquidation, was complicated with the untidy arrangements put on ground by the then government with regards to the payment of the entitlements of the workers of the defunct carrier.

While the then government, soonest after the act, paid the airline workers in Europe and America their full entitlement, their counterparts in Nigeria were neglected without any provisions made for the payment of their entitlements.

Obasanjo left and not until the late President Umaru Musa Yar›Adua came on board that the workers of the defunct carrier in Nigeria were paid five years while up till this moment they are still being owed the balance amounting to N70 billion.

Effect of the liquidation As rightly predicted by stakeholders, not quite long after the liquidation of the former national carrier that Continues pg 11

11

feature

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

‘Government should partner credible foreign airlines’

President Muhammadu Buhari

Continued from pg 10

things started going wrong with the foreign airlines taking over business on the international routes where the former national carrier was doing well.

Since the demise of the carrier, the Nigerians travellers have been at the expense of the foreign carriers, which continue to exploit them and slam high fares on them coupled with the maltreatment they suffer in the hands of the mega carriers.

Besides, the absence of Nigeria Airways has been greatly responsible for the poor performance of the existing domestic airlines. Many of the domestic airlines in the days of Nigeria Airways looked up to it as their role model, but with the demise of the national carrier, the domestic airlines have been left to do things in their own ways as against the fatherly role Nigeria Airways used to play.

The liquidation of the former national carrier led to the mismanagement of the Bilateral Air Services Agreement›s (BASA) account running to billions of dollars.

Nigeria Airways used to be the custodian of the account made up of royalties paid by the foreign carriers on extra frequencies they operate in and out of the country.

Agitation for another national carrier Ten years after the liquidation of the carrier, it dawned on many Nigerians that all the nasty experience the travelling public was going through in the hands of foreign airlines and abysmal performance of the domestic airlines can only be corrected with the floating of another national carrier in place of the former Nigeria Airways.

As a result of the unpalatable experience of the traveling Nigerians in the hands of the foreign carriers coupled with the fact that other smaller African countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, among others, still have their national airlines, Nigerians across the country started making case for the revival or floating of a new national carrier.

This idea was finally mooted by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan through the former Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah.

The fresh plan to float a new national carrier was faulted by a group which argued that government had no business being in business hence; to them governments in other climes are running away from business. They even argued that running an airline was capital intensive and therefore, since there were many things calling for the attention of government, floating an airline should be in the least priority.

But the majority have disagreed with the opinion of the antagonists, saying a country as big as Nigeria deserves a national carrier that will fly the flag of the country and clip the wings of the foreign carriers.

This group has also attributed their position on the fact that the presence of a national carrier would reawaken

Former president Dr Goodluck Jonathan

Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo…

Liquidated the Nigerian Airways

the ineffective domestic carriers.

Even though the government of Jonathan made some efforts to achieve this, it failed to meet the yearnings of the public, despite the huge fortune spent through the then Minister of Aviation.

The Jonathan-led government had planned to establish a national carrier, in partnership with Aero Contractors of Nigeria, but collapsed as discussions between the two parties became stalled at a point.

This was the position until the government of President Muhamadu Buhari came on board on May 29, 2015.

To show his determination to fulfill the dream of many Nigerians, Buhari wasted no time in setting up a 13-member committee, led by the managing director of Discovery Airline, Captain Mohammed Abdulsalam, with the mandate of reviewing previous consultants’ submissions and recommendations on a national carrier, review the report on the failure of the defunct Nigeria Airways and other failed private airlines.

The committee was given four weeks to complete its assignment and submit its report to the government, which has been done.

While Nigerians are eagerly waiting to see the next line of action that will produce the national carrier, many key players are asking endless questions which, if not well answered, may abort the plan.

geria had led to the carting away of $1.4 billion annually from the country by foreign carriers while the county’s carriers are just observers in the system.

He said: “Do they still want to be giving the new carrier subsidies.

Group Captain John Obakpolor (retired), in his opinion, said for the new proposed national carrier to operate profitably and breakeven, the government should not have a controlling share in the airline.

On the modalities for the proposed carrier, Obakpolor suggested that Nigerians should participate in its formation through shares while other institutional investors should be known.

He insisted that there was no major aviation country that didn’t have a national airline and said Nigeria should not be an exception.

According to Obakpolor, the government should have 49 per cent of the equities while the remaining 51 per cent should go to the public.

For the Chief Executive Officer of Finum Aviation Services, Engineer Sheri Kyari, ‘’Nigeria requires a national carrier that all stakeholders and professionals must put in their efforts to ensure its success.’’

Like others, he noted that the carrier must not be wholly owned by the Federal Government; rather the government should provide a platform for it to excel.

He explained that the formation of a national carrier for Nigeria would reduce the number of capital flights, ensure the expansion of Nigeria to several cities around the world and create more employment for qualified professionals in the sector.

The elephant can still fly…

Stakeholders and professionals in the sector, while agreeing that the country requires a national carrier for its potentials to be fully utilised, they have advised the government against domineering equity shares in the proposed national airline.

Speaking on the issue, the Managing Consultant, PTD Consulting, Mr Taiwo Adenekan, wanted the government to address some salient issues of the defunct carrier before another carrier would be established for the country.

He urged the government to pay off the outstanding benefits of the defunct carrier, stressing that any attempt not to pay off the former workers before the re-establishment of a new one would lead to labour crisis, which might not augur well for the country.

Adenekan, however, proposed that for the airline to succeed, the government should not hold more than 20 per cent equity shares in the carrier and warned that any attempt to hold a dominating share in the airline would lead to the failure of the past.

He advised that reputable foreign carriers should be encouraged by the government to partner the proposed carrier and emphasised that the government should utilise the over 78 BASAs Nigeria has with countries for the sector to grow and contribute meaningfully to the Gross Domestic Products, GDP. He decried that the absence of a national carrier for Ni-

All debts must be paid It has generally been agreed that before the airline could fully and successfully take off, government urgently needed to tackle some outstanding issues incurred by the defunct national carrier.

Top on the list is the call for the final settlement of the workers of the former carrier in Nigeria and even in the West Coast. Failure to pay them off may be like the sword of Damocles hanging on the would-be airline which may be prevented to take off through litigations to be slammed on the new airline.

Besides the aggrieved workers, the defunct national carrier, due to its sudden liquidation, could not offset some debts owed outside the country. The affected people or companies will surely feast on any new carrier to be floated as a replacement for Nigeria Airways as they will waste no time in grounding it through court injunction.

Again, key players have called on government to consider partnering credible foreign technical partners and Nigerians who are well grounded in airline business.

These people should be allowed to run the would-be airline professionally without any distraction.

12

news

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

troversial relocation of the elections tribunals from their states to Abuja without any justification, the constant juggling of judicial officers and members of the governorship elections tribunal in PDP states, especially, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states, constant harassment of judicial and electoral officers involved in the governorship election cases in these state, using agencies of government, particularly the Directorate of State Services (DSS) under the direct command of a known APC member, Alhaji Lawal Daura and constant threats, intimidation and coercing of witnesses against the PDP in the tribunals,” were some of the basis on which the PDP alleged the foul play by the ruling APC. It further alluded to “the recent mass transfer of security operatives, especially the DSS and police personnel that actually

participated in the conduct of the elections in Rivers and Akwa-Ibom, ostensibly to frustrate the course of genuine evidences in the process,” noting that “the bias in the judgment against the PDP in Rivers as well as Akwa-Ibom is evidenced in the contradictions inherent in the trial process of the two cases and the verdicts therein, whereby the tribunals clearly disregarded standing legal norm that a petitioner must establish prove of claims”.

Rivers gov election: PDP, APC differ on judgment continued from pg4

nitely, Governor Wike will go on appeal and I know that, at the end of the day, sagacity will prevail.

“I cannot comprehend the situation where you just rely on three witnesses from APC and discard the testimonies of hundreds of people from PDP. How do you reconcile that logic?

That is why I said the tribunal had done what it was asked to do”, he said.

Reacting, however, chairman of the state chapter of APC, Dr Davies Ikanya, said the party had been vindicated by the judgment, insisting that the election the election that produced Wike as a governor was a sham.

The party, in a statement, said, “we have been vindicated in our persistent claim that the election in Rivers State was a sham and that INEC erred in declaring Wike governor.

We repeat that there is no

way under the heavens that Chief Wike can beat our candidate, Dr Dakuku Peterside, in a free and fair election.

“Though, we were expecting total ban of Chief Wike from further participating in the politics of Nigeria, seeing the orchestration of the deaths of Rivers State people in order for him to be installed as a caretaker governor.

“All the same, we thank the Justice Ambrusa-led tribunal for restoring hope to the downtrodden people of Rivers State who have borne the brunt of Wike’s illegal and visionless administration in the past five months.

Also reacting, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the last April election, Prince Tonye Princewill, said there was no need for Wike to appeal the verdict.

“I have just received the news of the cancellation of the Rivers State Governor-

ship election. Even as it may have come as a surprise to many neutral observers, it was no surprise to me, my supporters and many Rivers people who came out on that fateful day to try and cast their vote.

Even PDP supporters, I’m sure in their heart of hearts, knew that this day would come. Like I said to my supporters on that Election Day, justice will prevail and the truth of this day will come out. If the APC legal team could not prove that there was no election in Rivers state, nobody could. It was that obvious”, he said.

Rivers, Akwa Ibom judgments cannot stand –PDP

Responding to the judgment, however, the PDP rejected the tribunal’s judgment, describing it as “completely bizarre, unacceptable and part of the script by the APC to

manipulate the will of the people in the country.

In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, PDP said that “indications to this spurious judgment had months ago been hinted to the PDP, which in turn, alerted the nation and the international community of the heinous plot by the APC government to use the judiciary and various security agencies to reverse the victory of the PDP in Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Taraba and Abia states”.

The statement reads: “We invite Nigerians and the international community to recall various reprehensible steps taken by the APC government that culminated in this ruling as well as the ridiculous Wednesday’s verdict of the Akwa Ibom State governorship election tribunal, also sitting in Abuja”.

“The curious and con-

Asset declaration: Saraki’s counsel denies plot to halt CCT trial Bola Badmus - Lagos

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ounsel for Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, Mr Ajibola Oluyede, yesterday, said, in Lagos, that there was truth in the report that Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court Lagos, nearly granted an injunction to stop the trial of the Senate President, Dr Saraki before the Code of Conduct Tribunal without notice to defendants in the suit.

Oluyede said this while briefing newsmen in reaction to story carried by an online portal, Sahara Reporters, describing the report as nothing but a falsehood and malicious publication.

He explained that the Suit No: FHCL/L/ CV/1507/2015 filed before the court was meant to preserve Senator Saraki’s fundamental rights to a fair hearing, to be presumed innocent until proved guilty and to liberty.

According to Oluyede, his decision to file the application was to seek remedies connected with the politically-motivated arraignment of Saraki before the CCT and an expose further plan to utilise the respondents in the suit to draw up charges against Senator Saraki and arraign him before a Lagos State High Court.

“The respondents in the suit comprised of the Attorney General of the Federa-

tion, the EFCC, the ICPC, the Inspector General of Police, the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal, their chairmen and a member of the CCT. “Contrary to the falsehood in that report, the action was filed on the 30th of September 2015 with Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1507/2015 and was not assigned until

the 19th of October 2015 to Justice Buba.

“At no point did the judge indicate any interest in granting/inclination to grant an order to ‘stop Saraki’s trial before the CCT’ as alleged by the false story in Sahara Reporters online portal.

“However, in its report on the proceeding of the hear-

ing, Sahara Reporters claimed that there was a legal plot to grant an injunction ordering the Code of Conduct Tribunal to stop Senator’s Saraki’s trial, but for the ‘intervention’ of an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) lawyer,” Oluyede said.

Speaking further, Oluyede

disclosed that assignment of the case to Justice Buba, two weeks after the processes were filed, was as a result of a protest letter he wrote to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, dated the 14th of October 2015, where he complained about the delay in assigning the case to a judge.

Nigeria’ll work for implementation of ECOWAS protocol on axle load control —Oyeyemi The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, who is also the Chairman of the National Committee on the implementation of the ECOWAS policy on axle load control has assured that Nigeria will work for the implementation of the policy, not only in the country, but other members of the West African sub-region.

According to Bisi Kazeem, Head, Media Relations and Strategy, FRSC, Oyeyemi stated this during the stakeholders’ meeting on the implementation of the axle load control at the FRSC Headquarters Abuja.

According to the Corps Marshal, Nigeria as a signatory to the protocol on axle load control as enacted by ECOWAS must ensure that conducive environment for its implementation was created in the country to properly address issues of overloading both within and across the sub-regional roads.

“Nigeria is one of the signatories to the ECOWAS protocol on the implementation of the policy on axle load control. We must therefore make concerted efforts to ensure that the policy is effectively enforced in the country,” he stated.

The Corps Marshal expressed dismay that the West African roads are being negatively affected by the menace of overloading, which hamper effective road safety campaigns, saying that all hands must be on

the deck to ensure the reversal of the trend. “It is our collective responsibility to rise up to these challenges in order to protect not only the life span of the vehicles plying the roads, but the durability of the roads which are threatened by such negative practices,” he stated.

While commending the ECOWAS for making the issues of axle load control a priority, Oyeyemi appealed to the stakeholders to do all they can to ensure that the policy is effectively imple-

mented in all the member countries of ECOWAS. Oyeyemi applauded the former Minister of Works for the vision of creating the Committee, noting that being the country currently heading the presidency of the West African Road Safety Organisation (WARSO) and a leading country in the West African sub-region, Nigeria must work hard to ensure full implementation of the policy not only in the country but in all other member states.

Ebola: Fashola calls for more vigilance at border posts AS Nigeria recently commemorated one year of her declaration by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) free, the immediate past Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has again emphasised the need for vigilance by those entrust-

ed with the responsibility of guarding the nation’s border posts across the country and enhanced personal hygiene among the citizenry.

With Lagos State being the epicentre of the battle against the deadly disease, the state government then under the leadership of Mr Fashola in collaboration

with the Federal Government and international health agencies took a number of proactive steps which led to a containment of the outbreak with comparatively minimal casualties. This was globally certified on October 20, 2014 when WHO declared the country EVD free.

...Tribunal ruling on Rivers guber poll petition, deadly blow to impunity —APC

However, the APC has described the judgment of the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that overturned the election of Wike as a deadly body blow to impunity and hooliganism.

The party said this in a statement issued in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, pointing out that the judgment had shown clearly that the era of impunity and hooliganism was over, and that the only way for elections to have legitimacy was for them to be free, fair and credible.

“What has come across from this judgment is that there is no shortcut to free, fair and credible elections.

This is part of the wind of change that is blowing across the land and touching all arms of government under the administration of President Buhari.

“Elections are about the expression of the will of the people, and they must always be free to express themselves, irrespective of what some desperate politicians may feel,” the APC said.

The party further said politicians, especially those seeking or occupying elective office, must realise that they could only derive their legitimacy from the people, and that unless they respected the wishes of the people, they would not go far.

The party hailed its governorship candidate in the state, Peterside, for his doggedness and strong conviction in the pursuit of his petition against the election of Wike that was not only marred by widespread violence and electoral malfeasance, but also acknowledged to be so by local and international observers - and now by the judiciary.

13 Continued from

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25 October, 2015 last week

APITALISM is at its best when it is planless. But in these modern times, the laissez faire type of capitalism is now restricted mainly to most of the underdeveloped countries in Africa and Latin America. But in many parts of the so-called Western Democracies, the State has been intervening to smooth some of the rough and inhuman edges of capitalism. Anti-monopoly laws which in practice, it must be admitted, have proved ineffective, trade union law, minimum wage law, factory legislation, tax laws, death duties, finance measures, social and insurance laws—all these and more are some of the means by which many modern states have stepped in to regulate and humanise capitalist activities. By these means, the state, in a capitalist society, has to some extent helped in directing the operations of the market mechanism in all its ramifications, and in particular in regulating the distribution of national income among the factors of production in order to ensure a state of affairs which is nearer to equity and equilibrium than is the case under a laissez faire capitalist system.

Negatively, socialism is opposed to capitalism. But positively, it is firmly rooted in the principles of public ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange and of economic planning. One of its cardinal aims is that every labourer—be he a professor, lecturer, teacher, minister of religion, minister of state, civil servant, lawyer, doctor, engineer, farmer, road worker, or carrier—shall get his or her due hire, and that no one, however powerful or specially circumstanced, shall get any more than that. Socialism seeks to bring the ennobling principles of ethics to bear upon the operation of economic forces. Consequently, it may be said that the overriding aim of socialism is to bring about an economic commonwealth in which the needs of all, regardless of birth and station in life, as opposed to and distinct from the profit-making desires of some, will be satisfied.

In other words, under socialism, the aim is that capacity shall have its adequate reward, but also that those who, for any cause, are incapacitated from, or have not yet grown up enough to participate in, productive activities shall not, on that account, suffer misery. I am not a Marxist myself. But what Marx says in this connection and which is true, is well worth bearing in mind by those who plan for the welfare of the people. ‘Under the capitalist system,’ says Marx, ‘the economic nexus between man and man is wholly dominated by naked self-interest.’

To even up, I would like to refer to what Adam Smith says on the same point from an opposite standpoint. Says

Awo’s thoughts VOICE OF REASON

Politics and religion A lecture given to students at the Adventist College of West African, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State on 27th January, 1961. he: ‘every individual is led by an invisible hand (that is self-interest) of promote an end (that is the common good) which was no part of his intention.

To sum up in well-known socialist slogans, the aims of socialism include social justice, equal opportunity for all, respect for human dignity, and the welfare and happiness of all, regardless of creed, parentage, and station in life. In other words, under socialism the nexus between man and man is wholly dominated by equality and fraternity and by the needs of the under-privilege. There are two kinds of socialism: revolutionary socialism and democratic socialism. Revolutionary socialism is what is generally known as communism. Its aims are the same as those of democratic socialism. But the orientation of the communist is different from that of the democratic socialist. This difference in orientation consists in the divergent methods of approach to the realisation of socialist ideals. The communist believes that the political power of the State as well as the economic power of the capitalists should be seized by revolutionary actions; and that in their places ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ should be established. It is common knowledge that the capitalists, who are invariably in control of a capitalist state, will

Sunday Tribune

not yield ground to the communists without the stiffest possible resistance. The communists, on the other hand, are inflexibly determined to break any such resistance at all costs. Result: the prelude to the advent of communism in the countries where this system is practiced has always been a bloody revolution. On the other hand, the democratic socialist believes, and sincerely so, that the ends of socialism can be attained by democratic means.

The essence of democracy, however, is the consent of the majority, which shall be expressed freely, and without any form of coercion. Since the corner-stone of socialism is the convention of private ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, to public ownership, it follows that under democratic socialism such conversion cannot be done wholesale in one fell swoop.

It also follows that every conversion, when made, shall be accompanied by the payment of fair compensation.

There are those who believe that revolutionary socialism is preferable to democratic socialism. In the one case, the action is said to be quick, and the new era is ushered in, in all the sectors of the economy, without much delay.

In the other, processes of debate, persuasion, and negotiation are considered cumbersome and slow, and easily liable to sabotage by the capitalists who are very agile and ruthless in bargaining, and who will have no qualm of conscience whatsoever in perverting the electorate, if need be, against the latter’s own best judgement and interests.

All those who have read their history aright will agree that the bringing about of revolutionary socialism can also be a protracted as well as a bloody business. What is more, the inevitable consequences of the venomous hate, violence and carnage which preceded the advent of revolutionary socialism are, in my humble opinion, so horrible and sickening that they should never be generated by mere doctrinaire imitations or propensities. The point must never be overlooked by the protagonists of revolutionary socialism, that it was the appalling condition of the masses, in the face of a fabulously rich and tyrannical few, which existed in the countries of Russia and China where communism now flourishes, that provoked a violent rebellion. This should not at all be surprising. For as Bacon says, ‘rebellions are caused by two things: muchpoverty much-discontent; rebellion of the belly is the worst’. It must be frankly admitted, therefore, that the communist revolution in Russia and in China is historically justified. It was plainly ‘the rebellion of the belly.’

To be continued

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14

voxpop

25 October, 2015

What would you do if a guy takes you out on a first date and, after a very expensive dinner, asks you to foot the bill?

When a guy takes a lady out on a dinner date, particulary on a first date, it is expected that the guy will foot the bill. However, imagine a situation whereby, after an expensive dinner, the guy asks the lady to pay OLUWABUNMI AJAYI went to town to ask young ladies what their reactions could be.

OLAIDE OLUSESI Honestly speaking, I won’t pay it. What rubbish is that? When you are inviting a lady for a date for the first time and you expect her to pay, what impression do you want her to have about you? Or did she force you to take her out on a date? The truth is that if you invite someone out, even if the person is your friend, it is your responsibility to pay.

FISOLA HANNAH

Sunday Tribune

I won’t pay even if I have the cash; I don’t need such silly test to prove how responsible I am. I wasn’t the one who decided to make the dinner expensive.

OYINKANSOLA KAZEEM I won’t pay, even if I have the money on me. If a guy is taking me out for a dinner, he should be the one to pay not me, and if he’s now asking me to pay, then that means he is not man enough.

SONIA SONIA

IF I happen to be the lady, I would pay to avoid public embarrassment, but that would be the first and the last time I would ever have anything to do with him.

There is no option; if I have the money on me at that particular point in time, I will definitely pay but after that, he has to refund me the money because I didnt force him to take me out for dinner. Because such a person is shameless and is ready for anything.

OLOWU TOPE If I have the cash, I would pay; that shouldn’t even be a problem because before I agree to go on a date, I would have enough money on me because of unexpected developments. The guy may also be trying to test how independent the lady is. Therefore, we must not read meanings into it.

OLAITAN ADEBISI IF I have the money, I would pay, but if I don’t, I would tell him to pay because I don’t have cash on me. If he, therefore, refuses to pay, then he will be the one to be embarrased, not me.

CHINWE CHIGOZIE

AMAKA LUCY I won’t pay even if I have the cash; I don’t need such silly test to prove how responsible I am. I wasn’t the one who decided to make the dinner expensive.

It might be a test, and therefore, I would advise the lady to pay and manage the situation with maturity. However, a responsible and reliable man won’t try such with a lady, not even on a first date. Ladies are meant to be cherished and cared for.

LORETTA DANIEL

JULIANAH MOTUNRAYO I would offset the bill, then walk out of the restaurant and that would be the end of the relationship. Because such a guy is either a gold digger or a fraudster. I rest my case.

Why should a lady settle the bill? Was the guy out of his senses when he was fixing the date? I do not think this is the normal way to test a lady. It is better for a guy not to fix a date with a lady if he is not financially buoyant.

OLAMIDE AWOSANYA It might be a test, but at the same time, to avoid embarrassment, I would pay if it is something I can afford. However, if the dinner is so expensive, then we would both share the cost so as to avoid creating a scene.

TOMI SALAU I won’t pay,even if I have the money. He asked me out, not the other way round and that will be the first and the last time I would go out with him.

15

25 October, 2015

th

Sunday Tribune

Happy 60 Birthday to our “Sugar Plum”

A loved, “yuppy” husband and dad.

This is not merely a celebration,

but a moment to look through the years to remember and thank God for His faithfulness, and providence in your life.

We love you immensely and will ever remain grateful to God for giving you to us.

We pray that life will continually remain kind to you as we commit you to God's all protective hands.

Sweetie you have laboured hard, so

”when you eat the labour of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you” (Psalm 128:2)

What a husband! What a lover! What a father!

What a friend!

Kudos to a man worthy of applause!

Have a great year!

Yinka Fasuyi

B.Sc (Econs); M.I.L.R.; M.Inf.Sc.; MBA; F.N.I.M; F.I.M.C; F.C.I.R.M;M.N.I.M.N.; M.N.E.S.; M.N.I.T.D.

Your Damsel, Dr (Mrs) Olubisi Fasuyi, and children; Faramola, Jojolola, Omoloro and Olatipe

16

25 October, 2015

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HERE are issues that one would ordinarily like to watch from a distance. One of such, for Gibbers, is kingship succession tussle. Why should mortals have a say when afterall, celestial beings are expected to make a pick, using their renowned guttural voices. But times change, tradition transposes. Such transposition explains why a mere human governor must ratify the gods’ choice. But the gods are not to blame in this regard, it is the manipulative humans that supplanted the manipulable spirits. But aren’t spirits supposedly stronger than flesh by creation calculation? If the opposite has been the case in this regard, for how long then has the flesh been using the spirit to communicate its desires and lust, garbing them as the taste of the spirit while gobbling the benefits of deity consultations?

If in reality, men have been speaking for the spirit in traditional institution succession when it was fashionable to stroll the streets in one’s birth-day suit without inhibitions and shame, why then the pretence of still waiting for a manipulable spirit in this age when Instagram platform now serves as the opon-ifa (ifa’s divination tablet) and Sango releasing his thunder through iPhone 5.

Who consults deities in bedraggled sheds again when practitioners go about with their newest Steve Job’s commemorative iPad. Unless for those who want to wallow in self-illusion, men have been picking and will continue to pick those who would lead them, whether traditional, religious and modern administrative leadership. What is even traditional in kingship again? Even a community with “this-way-to” insignia in locating its existence now wants the most successful of its own to lead. It is all about who can facilitate rapid development, youth empowerment, employment and compete competently in the comity of Obas. Community leaders now head-hunt for deities. Woe betide a deity and its mouth-piece if stakeholders’ pick isn’t theirs’. From renowned academics including professors to hugely-successful board-room gurus (with all the blue-chip baggage) as well as outstanding accomplishers, obscure names hardly stand any chance, regardless of the blueness of blood, especially if the outgone occupant was a giant.

In the on-going Ooni succession battle, two main things are of interest to me. One, apart from the legend of Ijesaland owing the land all the way to Enuwa (Enu Owa; Ijesa paramount ruler’s domain), I find intriguing, the historyrepeat of another Ijesa governor Rauf Aregbesola, enthroning a successor to Oba Okunade Sijuwade who was enthroned by Ijesa-born late Bola Ige. Two, the nearly equally-matched field of hopefuls is as interesting as open

The rating of Nigeria as one of the most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International and other agencies forced the Obasanjo-led administration to come up with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as well as the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) in addition to the police to fight corruption.

However, events have repeatedly revealed that the establishment of these commissions was a diversionary move, as they were not intended to be used in the fight against corruption.

Under President Olusegun Obasanjo, the ICPC was a sleeping dog and the administration allowed it to lie down peacefully.

On the other hand, the EFCC was unleashed on the former president’s perceived enemies. It was deployed by the government to keep people in line. Anyone who attempted to step out of line as dictated by the president had a visit by the president’s bulldog. Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Mr Ayo Fayose, Ekiti State governor, have tales to tell of their experiences in the hands of EFCC after they fell out with the former president. Hence, not much was accomplished by the anti-corruption moves of the administration.

The pattern has remained largely the same. When Nasir el-Rufai spoke against the immediate past administration, his alleged misdemeanour as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory was brought to the fore and he was charged to court.

When Dr Wale Babalakin queued behind Obasanjo in the face off between the General and former President Jonathan, it was suddenly remembered that Babalakin aided James Ibori, the jailed former Delta State governor to launder money and he had to face trial for that. When Oby Ezekwesili alleged that the Jonathan’s administration had squandered $67billion of the country’s resources, the Federal Government accused her of mismanaging N458.1 billion allocated to the Ministry of Education when she was overseeing the ministry under Obasanjo.

When Femi Fani-Kayode supported Ezekwesili on the allegation that the Jonathan-led Federal Government was squandering the nation’s foreign reserves, the EFCC re-arraigned the former Aviation Minister over money laundering. Since the ascendancy of Muhammadu Buhari to the presidency, only members of the Peoples Democratic Party have been hounded by the EFCC.

0811 695 4647

olanreade@yahoo.com

Ooni: One for the deity

campaigns for self and against competitors. ...To be continued next week

Banire speaks

You want to ask what is the big deal in being Abere’s landlord and Osun State CEO. I almost wished I had not joined in the projections over the likely next occupant. I simply couldn’t deal with the reactions. There, indeed, must be underlays not known to the uninitiated for so many ‘rescue agents’ to be so enamoured of a financially-struggling state. If the state is truly at the level it is said to be, it should be a case of begging a prince to be crowned. But the National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Muiz Banire isn’t either of the two groups, at least by his account. He is not being begged to lead the state in 2018 and he is not putting self forward. He didn’t even wait for me to ask him. Last Monday, the first denial was from the head of his chambers, Barrister Kunle Adegoke. Obviously, the gist wasn’t exclusive to Gibbers. Banire’s camp also heard it. Adegoke said Team Banire dismissed it

With Sulaimon Olanrewaju 08055001708

lanresulaimon@yahoo.com

Let’s free EFCC, ICPC from govt’s hold

So, the corruption fighting agencies are kept on a tight leash; they don’t work for the country, they work for the president. They don’t go after the enemies of the state; they go after the enemies of the government. They don’t do the bidding of the people but that of the government. So, it does not matter how inimical the activities of a person are to the economy or the nation’s wellbeing, for as long as he remains in the good books of the government, he is free to perpetrate his criminality.

Even in the uncommon cases of these people being convicted, they get away with very light and infuriating sentences. In 2005, Tafa Balogun, former Inspector General of the Police, fell out with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and was charged with stealing police funds. He

Sunday Tribune

because it sounded like lunacy. His corner was worried that Gibbers found such narrative interesting enough. Adegoke concluded by saying that I should quote him as speaking for Banire even if Banire eventually said something contradictory.

He doubted if the SAN ever stepped on Iwo soil, while affirming his native Lagos root. I thought it ended there, after the hassle of handling reactions on same issue the day before.

Then Banire came in breathing fire, about 30 minutes after.

“Lanre, I don’t like it at all. Emi, Osun ke. (Osun’s job isn’t for me).” For a man with a tinge of combustion to his personality whenever he’s agitated, nearly all other things he said are better reserved than commented. Some of them, I had to reject for the state. Even in his rage, I picked the message clearly; Muiz Banire has no ancestry links, whatsoever, neither paternal or maternal, with any parts of Osun State, including Iwo. That would make him constitutionally-unqualified to run for the CEO’s job. The word ‘lunacy’ was a recurring decimal in dismissing the idea, projection, rumour or however the issue would be classified. He was so mad in dismissing it, like volleying a bitter phlegm out a mouth still in the throes of malaria ravage. The tenor of his denial makes Osun to appear a bit worthless. I tried to make a positive joke of it. Maybe those behind the yarn were testing waters due to his looming political personality. He would have none of it. “Lanre, let them come out openly with this nonsense for me to sue them”.

He also hinted that apart from giving Osun a kind of wide berth in recent time, his genealogical roots are only maternally locatable in Ogun State, which by his estimation, should be more desirable than Osun, should he consider running for governor and outside of his ancestors’ original domain; Lagos.

Well, we found a convenient point to end the one-sided conversation on a promissory note. It is my part I am playing today, telling tale-spinners that Dr. Muiz Banire has never, isn’t considering and will never. But there is certainly a monitoring spirit in the mongering-beings called politicians. As I was digesting Banire’s denial, calls flooded again.

There were stories of a certain Ile Alaaye (Alaaye’s compound) in Iwo, shaded on one side by the family house of another gubernatorial suspect. There were talks of recent family meeting and gubernatorial talks in the compound.

I guess I now had enough. Tale-bearers can continue with their trade. Such makes politics interesting. But I have a position already on this matter. It is my choice to believe any of the sides to this saga. My choice is very clear and I stand by it.

was accused by the EFCC of incorporating some companies to loot the police treasury through bribes and kickbacks on contracts. The money he was said to have looted ran into billions of naira. But the judge gave him a sentence of six months, saying that the 67 days he had already spent in detention before his conviction would be deducted because Balogun was a ‘first time offender’ who had ‘shown remorse’.

The same scenario played out when Mr John Yusuf, a former director at the Police Pension Office, who had pleaded guilty to stealing N2 billion of the pensions funds, was sentenced to a two-year jail term with an option of fine. The furore generated by the light sentence forced the EFCC to re-arrest him and prefer fresh charges against him.

However, about the same time the Yusuf shenanigan was ongoing in Nigeria, the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court sentenced a former Deputy Mayor in Guangdong Province, South China, Liu Rongzhao, to life imprisonment for taking bribes. The court found him guilty of taking more than 10 million Yuan (about 1.6 million US dollars) in bribes from January 2003 to March 2011, when he served as head of Xintang Township, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Working Committee of Licheng Street, deputy director of the Standing Committee of People’s Congress of Zengcheng and deputy mayor of Zengcheng.

Apart from spending the rest of his life behind the bars, Rongzhao will also lose all his assets to the state.

It is because of stern sentences like this that corruption is on the decline in China. For corrupt activities to reduce in the country two things must be done. First, all anti-corruption agencies must be free from the hold of the government; they must be independent of government interference so that they would not be used to fight private battles. They must be empowered to go after anybody who has run afoul of the law of the land, no matter how highly placed.

Then, the criminal and penal codes must be reviewed so that judgment will serve as deterrent to criminality and not an incentive to commit crime. If criminals get away with light sentences, even those on the right path would be tempted to take up criminal acts.

17

Why I keep my

private life private —Thelma Ojiji

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

2face sells out Felabration ,UK

Rainmaker Majek Fashek makes an audacious return to music

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25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

Tade Makinde tademt2@yahoo.com 08055001753

Felabration UK: Tuface sells out ‘Late at the Library’ show

By Tade Makinde

L

ate at The Library: Felabration!, UK, was completely sold out with hundreds of people clamouring for extra tickets into the venue. The supercharged tribute to Fela was led by Dele Sosimi and his 16-piece Afrobeat Orchestra. Dele Sosimi played keyboards as part of Fela’s Egypt 80 band from 1979 to 1986 and created the Positive Force band with Fela’s son, Femi, 2face Idibia, who was introduced on stage as one the most celebrated African artiste of his generation and the key figure in the rise to global prominence of what has been described as the sound of 21st century Africa, was the cynosure of all eyes as he dazzled with his distinctive blend of reggae, R&B and African musical influences. “He created a vibe that

Celebrities turnout for ‘A Soldier’s Story’ premiere

By Seyi Sokoya

Uti Nwachukwu, Gabriel Afolayan, Tope Tedela, Linda Ejiofor, Adesua Etomi and Zainab Balogun led a stream of Nollywood buffs, entertainment writers and hundreds of other guests to the premiere of the flick entitled: “A Soldier’s story” last Saturday at the Genesis Deluxe cinemas.

The film started showing at the cinemas in Nigeria from October 23, 2015. Directed and written

by Frank Ogar, ‘A Soldier’s Story’ featured Adesua Etomi, Zainab Balogun, Daniel K Daniel, Sambasa Nzeribe, Olumide Owuru, Baaj Adebule and Chico Aligwekwe.

The event also had the movie director, Frankie Ogar and producer, Martins Gbados amongst other members of cast and crew in attendance just as Nollywood actress, Judith Audu and Reggae musician, Blakky, led other celebrities from all walks of life.

is contemporary and universal, while maintaining a clear African identity. I had a good time in London with Egbon Lemi. It was a blast, he told R. Another Fela’s associate, Tony Allen, was described by Brian Eno as “perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived.”

The line-up also included British-based females, Laura Mvula; Shingai Shoniwa; Terri Walker; The Floacist; Floetry; Bumi Thomas; and Audrey Gbaguidi.

Special guests included Trinity College Afrobeat Ensemble, all recent graduates from Trinity College in London, the college Fela had enrolled in 1958 and, during his four years there had

formed his first band, The Koola Lobitos.

In Lagos, Fuji musician, Sulaimon Alao Malaika, at the Africa Shrine during this year’s edition of Felabration, urged Nigeria musicians to take a que from Fela if they wanted to be remembered like him.

The Imekun of Fuji revealed this on Thursday 15th October 2015 during his performances at the Felabration.

“After many years that Fela died, people still celebrate him big. It shows that his intentions while alive were positive.”

Malaika performed for more than one hour, dishing out songs from his latest album, Super Star.

By Peter Oke

Oritsefemi hosted his fans on Friday at Club Eclipse, Akoka, Lagos, in an autograph session.

The musical taliban who was coming from Afrika Shrine where he had a befitting performances at this year’s Felabration played his heart out at the event that had most of his MSN Gangs artistes on ground.

On arrival at the event venue around 1 am, Oritsefemi immediately got on stage and started dishing out songs from his latest album, MSN. He dazzled with Igbeyawo, Sukus, Redi Dance, Double Wahala, and Mercies of the Lord, just as he signed autographs after the gig.

Meanwhile, few days ago, Oritsefemi, with Harrysong, shot a new video titled Sukus.

The video which was shot in Maryland.

The self-acclaimed Musical Taliban said he featured Har-

the established artists’ hits. Now again, each of the six finalists have been paired with A-list artistes and producers to work their debut singles, which was released during a live concert by the collaborators on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Sir Victor Uwaifo shone on his latest video for his song. Tupepe. The song features 2face Idibia.

Tupepe is the second video off the double album, ‘Legend Reborn’, which was unveiled by Hypertek Digital in March at Rumors, Ikeja,

rysong on the song because “Harrysong is a prolific entertainer.

“I don’t have any regret working with him on the song. His creativity has helped Sukus to trend a lot. I’m very optimistic that we will do great things together in the future”, Oritsefemi said.

Media award for Wale Adenuga

By Victoria Ilari

Wale Adenuga MFR, Chairman of Wale Adenuga Productions, was among the award recipients at the inaugural edition of the Red Media Africa Living Legends Industry Awards which took place penultimate Friday at Harbour Point, V.I. Lagos.

Adenuga received the award

MTN PF8 finalists to release singles

Finalists from the MTN Project Fame Season 8 are set to release their official debut singles, just few weeks after the end of Project Fame.

These new singles are set to make a mark as they are collaborating with major artists and top producers in the music industry. This new initiative by Ultima Limited, with the support of 960 Music, is expected to launch the contestants’ careers to a large audience of music lovers .

During the PF competition, the contestants were paired with established artists to recreate one of

Oritsefemi hosts fans at Club Eclipse

Lagos.

Produced by Jay Sleek, Tupepe is a vibe that compels listeners to move and the video aptly captures Uwaifo and 2face getting their groove on in the company of gorgeous models.

Legend Reborn featured producers such as Del B, Spellz, J-Martins and Andre Vybes, Uwaifo’s son and tracks such as No Leave Me Alone, Osuomwan Suehi, Ukhorobozo, Tototolo new versions of timeless classics like Joromi, Guitar Boy and Vulcanizer.

in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the media industry in West Africa.

The event was attended by Chris Ogbechie, Chairman of Diamond Bank; Biodun Shobanjo, Chairman of Troyka Holdings; Deji Awokoya, GM of Beat FM; MI Abaga, CEO of Chocolate City; Betty Irabor, CEO of Genevieve Magazine; Louis Otieno, Corporate Affairs Director of Microsoft; Uche Pedro and others.

Biola Adenuga, MD of PEFTI, and Wale Adenuga Jnr, MD of WAP, received the award on behalf of their father. He expressed gratitude to the event organisers for the special recognition given to Adenuga as well as to others who have contributed much to the continuous development of Nigeria’s media industry.

Over the years, Wale Adenuga MFR has established several award-winning platforms which have improved the quality of the industry including the TV dramasSUPERSTORY and THIS LIFE; comedy- PAPA AJASCO & COMPANY; Children’s TV show and events- NNENNA & FRIENDS.

19

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

COSON inaugurates music monitoring group COPYRIGHT Society of Nigeria (COSON) has inaugurated the Nigerian Digital Music Monitoring Group at its Opebi Headquarters in Lagos. The setting up of the Nigerian Digital Music Monitoring Group was one of the major resolutions adopted at the just -concluded Nigerian Digital Music

Summit. Members of the Group include top music industry executives, copyright experts, government agencies and representatives of telecommunications operators in Nigeria.

By the resolutions, the Group is mandated to work closely with the Nigerian Copyright Commission, the Nigerian Communications Commission, the National Information Technology Development Agency, the National Assembly and other relevant bodies to develop specific methods for the implementation of the resolutions of the Summit. The Group is also charged to monitor progress in the exploitation of music in the digital environment and report at regular intervals on the state of progress made.

Speaking on the development, Mr. Efe Omorogbe, CEO of NowMuzik and member of the Nigerian

Digital Music Monitoring Group said “this is coming at a time our music industry needs it the most.

I am particularly excited at what the future holds for our industry. I want to urge all with interests in Nigerian music to forge closer and work for the growth of our industry while we still have the chance to”.

Also speaking, Mr. Chinedu Chukwuji, General Manager of COSON said “every member of the monitoring group was carefully selected by the summit because of the enormous task ahead.

The monitoring group has been given a time frame of 12 months with which to implement the resolutions adopted at the summit. At the end of the 12 months, work done will be evaluated and the next phase will kick off.”

Also commenting, Mr. Simon Aderinlola, Lead Advisor, Wireless

Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN) and member of the Nigerian Digital Music Monitoring Group said, “The quality of the 2015 Summit and the composition of this Group give reason for optimism. The concerns around IP

Guinness ends party train at Port Harcourt, Benin

By Seyi Sokoya IN its bid to discover and celebrate some of Nigeria’s unsung heroes, the Guinness team has travelled across different cities in Nigeria for an exceptional celebration of outstanding Made of Black Heroes. The Guinness made of black train berthed in

Naija, Jand ‘fix’ physically challemnged

A

S part of UK/Nigeria 2015–16, the British Council, over the weekend brought together disabled and non-disabled artists for a dance showcase, part of the

Jimi Solanke, Chris Ajilo, Beautiful Nubia for EMU Fest

By Seyi Sokoya JIMI Solanke and Chris Ajilo will lead other artistes to perform live at the 6th annual EniObanke Music Festival (EMUfest 2015).

The festival will begin on November 5 with a Songwriting and Percussion workshop for all ages, followed by the Talent Night where more than 25 emerging musicians will perform live. Both events will take place at EniObanke Arts Centre, GRA Ikeja at 11am and 5pm respectively.

On Friday, November 6, the festival will move to Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State, where the fans will enjoy performances by Chris Ajilo, Beautiful Nubia and others as part of the town’s annual heritage celebration called “Egboro Day”. This concert will hold at Ijebu-Jesa Town Hall from 5pm until late in the evening.

The festival train rolls into Ibadan on Saturday, November 7, with a concert scheduled to hold at Alliance Francaise, 7th Day Road, Iyaganku from 5pm to 9pm.

‘Dis Fix’project, at Muri Okunola Park, Victoria Island.

The performances which held on Thursday and Friday was the culmination of several months of collaboration between three dance companies from Nigeria and the UK. It featured pieces by the UK’s leading physically integrated dance company, Candoco; leading Nigerian dance company, QDance Center which is led by Nigerian choreographer, Qudus Onikeku; as well as Ijodee Dance, another leading Nigerian dance company led by Dayo Liadi.

The performance by QDance Center titled ‘Iwalewa’, explored the different concepts of beauty and told the stories of society through the eyes of the disabled dancers. The piece was performed by four disabled dancers and six non-disabled dancers.

The performance by Candoco Dance Company titled “Studies to C”, was a duet performed by one disabled and one nondisabled dancer and depicted a couple trapped in a stagnating relationship, unable to escape the domestic world they inhabit

because their reliance on each other has become so strong. The last performance of the night was

by Ijodee dance company, featuring two disabled and one nondisabled dancer, who displayed an infectious energy through their performance of the piece “Ni’Sonilojo’ which explored the theme of co-existence.

Ojoma Ochai, Director Arts, British Council Nigeria said: “Dis Fix is a brilliant showcase of Nigerian and British creativity. The dance pieces also featured Keziah Jones and Debie.

Rotimo’s new single is ‘For The Ladies’

By Okeola Olalekan NIGERIAN-BRITISH musician, Rotimo, has released a single that is dominating the music scene in the Uk. Rotimo’s dexterity and stage presentation has attracted fans to him in droves. “I derive a lot of inspirations from legends like Mavin Gaye, Prince and Stevie Wonder,” he says, adding that he admired what they have contributed to the growth of the music industry the

world over. “Even as a new generation artiste, I’ve learnt a lot from their careers.”

Rotimo started singing at an early age and after composing his first song, “Skin” at the age of 17, which addresses the issue of racial discrimination, he has not looked back.

“I knew I have a flair for music when I was very young. For me, music is in-born. My mum was also a singer in her younger years and this positively impacted on me,” he said.

ownership and appropriate music revenue allocation are global concerns, so win-win positions need to be sought, difficult conversations need to be had and the journey towards that noble objective has begun”.

Another of Rotimo’s unique attributes is his ability to compose songs which cut across different genres.

Having started out with an underground funk band, Rotimo now organises and headlines his own live music events.

He recently wowed the audience in London at the OBO Album Launch/Concert held at the Troxy where he performed alongside Davido and Runtown. His performance went down in history as one of the best at the event.

Benin after delivering amazing experiences to consumers in Enugu, Lagos and PortHarcourt, last weekend.

The Port-Harcourt party which held at Cubana lounge hosted the heroes to a special evening which saw a large turnout of fans to celebrate their city winners following several weeks of nomination.

It was a unique style of celebration in Port-Harcourt as the made of black Ambassadors; Olamide and Phyno took to the streets to pay surprise visits to the Made of Black Heroes in their neighbourhoods.

The event was hosted by Akas Baba. There were also performances from up and coming acts, Mr Profit, Ak P and several other celebrities and media personalities.

The Port Harcourt heroes are Goodluck Uchendu, a philanthropist, who has given a lot to his society, Kenny Oziri a.k.a Mr. Wet paint, Imotar, ID Robert, Kingsley Nnah, Ufuoma Egbamuno, DJ Deeflex, Eng Billy Eugene, Adekunle Tijani and Stanley Sylvester. Their unique stories are a clear demonstration of the black attitude i.e.

Ufuoma, stands out for his numerous contributions to sport journalism in Port Harcourt.

Though physically challenged, he has defied all odds by doing his job excellently as an O.A.P, sports caster and news editor.

We believe he is truly made of black.

In Benin, the Made of Black party gathered massive crowd as fun-seeking residents of the ancient city came out in their large numbers to party with Guinness. The crowd thronged Naomi Garden Benin City, to identify with their heroes, together with the made of black ambassadors to enjoy the full swing of the party.

20

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

With Segun Adebayo and Seyi Sokoya tegbollistic@yahoo.com, seyi_sky@yahoo.com 08116954644 08132577840

Why I am passionate about women

—Emmanuel, Mr Nigeria

After living in Kenya for some years where he held sway as a musician, actor and event compere, Emmanuel Ikubese returned to Nigeria and was crowned ‘Mr Nigeria’. In this interview with TADE MAKINDE, he speaks about his campaign on domestic violence among others. Excerpts: Since you were crowned ‘Mr. Nigeria,’ what are the challenges and what has changed about you?

Nothing really has changed about me, and there’s no really a major challenge.

God has been so faithful to me, I’m still Emmanuel, nothing has changed.

F

OR a while, you’ve been on the MNET series titled SHUGA, how has life been around you?

Life has been fantastic. Coming from Kenya to Nigeria trying to find my ground in the showbiz industry; it’s really been a journey, though huge thanks to ‘Mr. Nigeria’ who gave me a platform and going further to meet the world where I became the first African to become Mr. World Africa and coming back being involved with amazing project like Shuga. In fact, being part of Shuga is actually one thing that helped me with my campaign on domestic violence, because I felt that if we can achieve success in Shuga while campaigning for HIV and AIDS, success can also be achieved in domestic violence. I have seen how much Shuga has helped in creating awareness and how much it has educated people towards stigmatisation people have on victims of HIV. So, I am trying to use the same approach for RAW. I want something that will immortalise me when I am no more.

Starting a career in Kenya and later coming back to Nigeria, how was it like?

It’s really tough. I finished school in 2010. I was acting, hosting events, organising shows and many more. I had a career, a very big one in Kenya. So, I was like if I had to give up all of these to come back to Nigeria, then I have to be sure that I already have a place. So, I come home every December and try my luck and just see what is going on. But if it’s not worth it, I run back to Kenya. By 2015, Shuga was launched and by the third season, it was getting a lot of momentum as people actually got to know me. So, I decided to take advantage of that and it gave me a

couple of roles in movies until Mr Nigeria came. My fear was what people would say if I didn’t win it. But I prayed about it and it came to pass as He crowned my efforts.

You studied International Relations, how come you are more grounded in the showbiz industry, tell us about your journey into entertainment business?

I started my career as a model in Kenya, though it was hustling. I did that to reduce the financial stress off my parent. I started modelling, worked as a DJ, and so on. I think I emulated my mum because she’s an MC, she hosts events. I learnt how to DJ while I was doing stuff with her during my holidays. I use to Disk Jockey all Nigerian music in Kenya because there is no Nigerian song in Kenya. I did that for a while before I started organising events, performing and I eventually started making my own music. I released an album, I did songs with top Kenyan artiste, and I even did a song with Timaya and anytime Nigerian artistes are in Kenya to perform, I usually perform last. So, that’s how I met a lot of them – Wizkid, Banky, D’Banj, P’Square and many more.

Now that you are back in Nigeria, did you dump music for acting because you are seen in the industry more as a model and an actor than a musician.

I tried my music at a particular time; I spent a lot of money with the wrong people which didn’t work out. Whenever I come to Nigeria to put in my best and it’s not yielding any result, I run back to Kenya, but now I’m trying to restrategise on my music career.

After you were crowned winner in Nigeria and emerged as the first runner up at the world competition; what else do you have in plans to do?

What I need to do is what I am trying to do – the Project RAW, like I said; a lot of people don’t understand what it is being a Mr. Nigeria and Mr. World. It is about you contributing, it’s the platform that gives you the opportunity to contribute. All the Mr. Germany, Mr. Mexico and many more, have their own contributions. It’s all about charity and how you can shed light on something that is really affecting people.

Tell us about the project you are currently working on?

The project is called ‘Project Raw’. It’s a campaign on domestic violence against women which can be divided into three categories – Awareness, help and advocacy. The Awareness is to make people especially women aware of the project RAW, because most women are still not aware that there are things to be put in place for victims of domestic violence, places where they can go and get help and many more.

We are trying to create awareness in that area to make people understand that it’s not really their fault whenever they find themselves as victims.

We are also going to partner with the media who will also assist to bring it to the light of the public and we will also be organizing ‘RAW Day’ across all major schools and university campuses in the country.

Why RAW? Yes! ‘Run A Way’ for me, is more of the younger people, because if he persists in violating you; ‘run a way’. Though we are trying to see how we can put things in place like it’s been done abroad. Abroad, you can’t hit your wife because there are laws that guide them.

We need to adopt this in our society to protect our younger ones.

What is the rate of domestic violence in Kenya?

For all the years I spent in Kenya, I found out that domestic violence occurred among the younger people. But to me as a young person, while you are in a relationship and any man hit you, you need to quit that relationship because he‘s not going to change and it’s going to get worse when you eventually get married to that man.

Are you taking the project RAW to Kenya?

Definitely, once we get it right and get balanced here in Nigeria, we intend to take it across Africa countries because domestic violence is not just in Nigeria only, it’s something that affects everyone globally; in Africa and outside Africa. We will do it the same way Shuga was done across the African countries.

Why are you so passionate about women?

I just love women, they are amazing, beautiful being that actually need to be protected.

I have an amazing relationship with my mum and I will not tolerate it when another man tries to hit my mum. I also have a beautiful sister and I can’t imagine seeing her in such a situation. Women are very vulnerable so it’s easy for them to lose their lives in the process.

How have you been coping with female fans?

Basically, it is very easy for people to get distracted by female fans. I try to just maintain a balance between being friendly to people and crossing the line. I know when to be friendly, and I know when not to cross the line. I try not to lose focus.

Many young people are looking up to you as a role model, what is your advice to them?

Let me use myself as an example. Never give up, always be ready to start from small stage. There is no crime in aiming big but starting small means you gathering experiences from different places. I have done a lot of free shows; I have been to so many auditions that I wasn’t invited.

Before I won Mr. Nigeria, I have tried it in my school and I didn’t win. Always keep trying and put God first.

21

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

With Segun Adebayo and Seyi Sokoya tegbollistic@yahoo.com, seyi_sky@yahoo.com 08116954644 08132577840

P

ENULTIMATE Thursday, iconic reggae star, Majekodunmi Fasheke, popularly known as Majek Fashek, thrilled the Afrika Shrine audience at the 2015 Felabration, an annual festival of music commemorating the life and times of Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulakpo Kuti. He had just come out of a rehabilitation programme following drug addiction.

The rehabilitation of the reggae star seemed to have yielded one noticeable difference: the once free-smoking reggae legend was not so energetic on stage as before, and critics and fans attached different meanings to it, ranging from old age to not taking drugs before going on stage.

Getting back on his feet Fashek had been in the news in recent times over his gaunt frame and his financial difficulties occasioned by drug abuse.

However, with about three to four months in rehab, he seemed to have turned a new man.

Fashek was recently registered with Synapse Services, a centre for psychological medicine in Abuja. A save-Majek fund raising project was initiated by one of his backup singers, Monica Omorodion. But the musician’s fans did not have to wait too long, as a young Warri, Delta Statebased billionaire, Ayiri Emami, took it upon himself to redeem and save the face of reggae in Nigeria by footing all the bills.

While speaking to journalists at the rehabilitation center, he had revealed that he was on his way to recovery as a result of listening to advice. He also lent a word to youths on drugs and its dangers. He said:“I want to appreciate all those who have contributed to helping me access care, especially Chief Ayiri Emami, Monica Swaida who started the campaign and my brothers, Black Rice and Charly Boy who have stood by me during this period.”

He added: “Addiction is a problem that can affect anyone irrespective of race, socio- economic status or religion. It is good that Majek has come out to willingly let people know his problem, but he is not the only artiste with such a problem, we need

Media should give me a chance, Majek Fashek pleads Following the return of award-winning reggae star, Majek Fashek, to live performance after rehabilitation from drug abuse, VICTOR OGUNYINKA chronicles the rise, fall and return of the reggae legend to Nigeria’s musical scene. to offer them help, without being judgmental.”

The institution’s medical consultant, Vincent Udenze, also gave a word on drugs, saying that Nigerians should rather encourage and support Majek Fashek, while also seeing him as a model to make those with addiction problems to seek help.

Dr Udenze added that most people unfortunately abuse drugs without necessarily knowing the implication to their mental health, but refuse to seek treatment

because of criticism and stigmatisation.

But Fashek accused the media of hyping his addiction and making him worse than ever.

“When I first started my music career, the media played a massive role in making me the rainmaker. Sadly, they have also been instrumental to my predicament. I have played with a lot of reputable international stars and done a lot of positive stuffs, but this was never reported by the media in Nigeria.

“As I struggled with my addiction, the

Tributes galore for Disu at fidau prayers NIGERIANS from all walks of life on Wednesday attested to the sterling and selfless lifestyle of the late Managing Director of Lekki Worldwide Investment Limited, Mr Tajudeen Ajibola Babatunde Disu at the 8th Day Fidau prayers held for him at Landmark Event Centre, Lagos.

The President of F Club, Mr. Gbolagade Adebisi flagged off the tributes when he said words were inadequate to capture the contributions of the deceased to humanity and submitted that his memories shall never fail as he made people the centre of his activities.

Also speaking, the representative of the Old Boys Association of his alma mater, Ahmadiyya College, Lagos, Mr. Kole Funsho recounted his days in the secondary school, especially his cheerful and kind disposition, adding “we should celebrate his life because he lived a complete life. He left footprints, legacies and achievements.

He was a very bold person, forthright and outspoken. His can-do attitude was exemplary. He will be sorely missed.”

In his own tribute, a staff of Lekki Worldwide Investment, Mr. Olumide Asaju described the late Mr. Disu as a thorough bred professional who was very passion-

ate about the development of Lagos State, concluding that “he would not hesitate to jump on a bike to meet deadline. He was very lively and fun loving. His legacies will live on!”

Another member of staff of the Lekki Worldwide Investment, Mrs Karima Okunola submitted, “he was so many things to so many people and he knew how to make people comfortable. He was generous with his time, knowledge and everything. He always implored us to be good for we are nothing but birds of passage.”

The tribute of his bosom friend, Mr. Biodun Osinowo was tear jerking as he said, “Ah Bola! How can I read your tribute?

Your sudden death has left me with indescribable pain. Twenty four hours were surely not enough for him as he lived life to the hilt. Things had to happen everywhere you were. We will miss you.”

The daughter of the deceased, Tolu, amidst tears, recalled the wonderful times she had with her Dad and lamented “who will wear your hats? Who will call me and after I greet you say, “Disu here!”...If only the world knows the person they have lost.” Pledging to make her late father proud, she assured, “Oh my sweet Daddy,

I won’t bring any cowboys to the house. I’m sure I will not bring the wrong person home”.

The representative of the Disu family, Mrs Ayi Bamgbola said, “a good shepherd has gone. We are missing you but Allah loves you most. With him, everything is, ‘do not worry, it will be done’. You were a wonderful man and uncle.”

Delivering a sermon earlier, the Founder

media hyped my struggle and made me feel more worthless than I already felt, because of my botched contract with Island Records. I am hopeful that as I make this recovery journey, that you all will be kinder to me and report stories that would reflect my victory from my addiction,” he said.

Furthermore, controversial entertainer and bosom friend of the reggae star, Charles Oputa, popularly called Charly boy, was quick to appreciate the efforts of well wishers in getting Fashek back on his feet. He enthused: “ I want to use this space to say a big thank you to all the people who contributed in cash, time and the show of love and support to our beloved Majek.

“Special thanks to Monica Omorodion, I was recruited by her into this campaign; to Dr Vincent for going beyond the call of duty; to my man Black Rice for being a friend indeed, and to our main man, Chief Ayiri for picking up all the bills. May the good Lord bless each and everyone for your support and kindness. It is well,” he said.

Fashek’s past Across the globe, there have not been many reggae artistes imprinting their legacy in the minds of followers and distant admirers alike. Still, in Africa, Lucky Dube has remained a household name for his philosophical and sometimes prophetic messages. In Nigeria, one other person that has remained larger than life in the trade is Fashek.

Fashek was born in Benin City to an Edo mother and a Yoruba father, but identifies mainly with his Benin roots.

Various translations of his name Fasheke (Ifa-kii-se-eke) include “high priest who does not lie”, “powers of miracles” and “Ifa divinity does not lie.” His real birth date is not known, as both parents mentioned contradicting months, and he would later adopt his musical hero Bob Marley’s birthday - 6 February - as his own.

After his parents separated, Fashek lived in Lagos with his father, a school principal, who died when Fashek was 10.

and Chief Missioner, Jawadu-Ilah Islamic Society of Nigeria, Imam Ahmad Olore advised Nigerians to always be mindful of death, the end of all men, by doing good at all times. He urged those who are over sixty years old to write their wills in preparation for the necessary end of all men, adding that children were the legacies Mr. Disu left behind.

From left, brother of the deceased, Mr Kunle Disu, Ms. Zummy Disu, Mrs Bella Disu and Mr Jameel Disu, at the 8th Day Fidau prayers, held for the late managing director of Lekki Worldwide Investment Limited, Mr Tajudeen Ajibola Babatunde Disu, on Wednesday, at Landmark Events Centre, Lagos.

22

25 October, 2015

entartainment

with Segun Adebayo tegbollistic@yahoo.com 08116954644

Ajebo shines in animated comedy show

By Segun Adebayo

Glo’s Dance With Peter:

Contestants battle to avoid eviction

By Rotimi Ige

T

he contestants in the GlobacomsponsoredDance with Peter Reality TV show can easily attest to the fact that the party is over. At this stage of the show, the heat is already in the house as nobody knows who is up for eviction, and who goes up to the next stage.

After the initial low spirits following the eviction of Manasseh, Ricky, Fearless and Captain Z from the show last night, the remaining 26 contestants shook off the shock and settled to the business of the day. Of course, this is not without questions in their minds: can I make it?

The contestants were divided into six groups and their task was to display those daring dance steps in PSquare’s videos over the years. Each group was to pick a ballot to determine which song it would perform.

The first group (Nekky, Miracle, Bobby Blankson and Kelvin) performed one of PSquare’s earliest hits, “Senorita”, and they had the audience and the judges applauding their boundless energy. Even the legendary Peter was in awe. “Don’t take

my job from me because you guys did so well,” Peter said in a joking manner with smile on his face. His brother Paul, who was the Guest Judge, wiped off tears of joy.

“I saw the energy you guys displayed and it was great,” he enthused.

The dance wizard, Kaffy added, “Awesome performance. Special kudos to the lady among you because she’s the only one and she carried the guys well.”

Another Team with the

tag, “Get Squared” which comprised MX, Tom Tom, Neon, Amazing Amy and Prince danced to the song, ‘Get Squared.’ But the judges were not blown away by their performance, as Peter summarized: “The energy was missing for me. It was a fair performance though; nice try.”

Next on the roll was Team “Roll It”, made up of Tjark, Yemi, L’Dee, and G-Xtreme, performed the hit-song, Roll It. Obviously not impressed

by their attempts, Paul said, “I noticed that at the beginning, you were showing energy, but later, you lost the energy and you were losing concentration.” For Kaffy, the team would have been scored well due to their creative approach to their performance as she said, “I’ll give it up to you for creativity. But Paul is right; you need to keep your energy from the beginning to the end. And that’s one thing P-Square is known for: precision and energy.”

The comedy industry is set to witness another first as ace Nigerian comedian AJEBO is set to unveil the second edition of his animated comedy show which is an offshoot of his famous ‘HOUSE OF SKITS’. Probably the most anticipated comedy show in recent times, the AJEBO UNLEASED 2.0 SUPER HERO EDITION as it is called will feature AJEBO and his 2016 animated skits series live on stage alongside comedy performances by comedy and music superheroes- Gandoki, Gordons, Helen Paul, Seyilaw, Klint d drunk, Chigurl, OkeyBakassi, Funny Bone, Ushbebe, Omobaba, Bash, Francis Odega, Odogwu and many other comedy impressarios.

The AJEBO UNLEASED 2.0 SUPER HERO EDITION will also feature music by Tekno, Yemi Alade, Reekado Banks, Falz, Skuki, Harrysong, Iyanya, Ashley Stephanie from Cameroon, and the Veentage band while famous female Deejay, DJ Nana will be on the wheels of steel.

The venue of the show is Landmark Event Centre, Oniru, Victoria Island on Sunday, 25th October 2015 with a red carpet starting 4pm and main event kicks off 5pm.A statement released by AJEBO said tickets are already on sale at selected Sweet Sensation outlets, Slot stores(VI and Ikeja) US Polo stores in Surulere, Apapa, and Ikeja City Mall.

Tickets are also available online at ariiyahtickets. com, jumia.com, dealdey.

Timi Dakolo, Omawumi, Waje, others dazzled at Mario Ese album launch

By Seyi Sokoya Music stars, Timi Dakolo, Omawunmi and Waje, Nathaniel Bassey, Modele, Tosin Martins, Freke Umoh, Gloreeyah Braimah and Enitan Adaba among another gospel artistes converged to celebrate one of their own, a young talented gospel artiste, Mario Ese amidst glamour as he released a new album entitled: “Worship of Yahweh”.

Joseph Benjamin, the cocompere of the event also acknowledged the God-given talent in the artistes as well as his humility which has resulted in an awesome relationship with Mairo.

In a bid to give authenticity to his works, Mario sang four songs from the album.

And also thanked everyone who came from far and near to celebrate with him.

The album dedication

was anchored by Pastor Dele Balogun, while other ministers of God including: Pastor Mrs Nkoyo Rapu; Pastor Godman Akinlabi of The Elevation Church, Lekki and Pastor

Kingsley Okonkwo of David’s Christian Centre, Lekki all prayed for Mairo and blessed the new album at the event held at This Present House TPH in Lekki, Lagos State.

recently spoke about his ongoing and future plans.

Speaking with E, Mc Nelly said: “Well, I am currently working on a new skit and I am making plans to feature Seyilaw, because he is my mentor in the industry. But, I will be releasing more of comedy skits under my outfit, Nelly Home of Entertainment. I am not

just doing comedy to make people laugh but to impact them positively and by extension, my immediate society.”

Speaking further, he noted that his current event, an evening with MC Nelly, will not be paused as A-list artistes have been contacted to feature on subsequent programmes.

I am not doing comedy to make people laugh —MC Nelly

By Olakunle Taiwo Up and coming comedian, Adegbuyi Nelson, but fondly called MC Nelly, is the brain behind ‘an evening with Mc Nelly’, which has featured many top artistes in the music industry.

The disc jockey turned comedian, who started comedy many years back,

Sunday Tribune

com and quickteller.com.

The statement also said there will be giveaways of the all new iphone6 and five hundred thousand naira worth of shopping vouchers to lucky guests at the show.

Iyanya, Naeto C, Ali Baba thrill Nigerians with Yudala

By Seyi Sokoya October 17 may not be forgotten too soon in the lives of thousands of Nigerians who trooped to the National Stadium, Surulere, to experience a new concept in Fitness, Wellness and Wealth Creation powered by YUDALA, Nigeria’s first true composite online and offline retail chain. Tagged: “Gyming with the Stars”, the event also witnessed the unveiling of YUBOSS, an entrepreneurship scheme targeted at jobs and wealth creation for Nigerians in partnership with Access Bank Plc.and Airtel.

The programme which kicked off by 7am saw the deployment of multi-digital concert equipment supplied by New Concept Media Group. Ali Baba who doubled as compere and comedian, held the crowd spell-bound with his rib-cracking jokes.

The event also featured a wellness talk by a healthy living expert Mrs.Julie Nwosu, inspirational tips on wealth creation in the 21st Century through YUBOSS and auction sales on a wide range of genuine products from the biggest brands: Smart phones, Computers, Laptops, IT equipment, Consumer Electronics and Lifestyle goods.

23

25 October, 2015

sundayzest

Sunday Tribune

With Victory Oyeleke victoryoyeleke@yahoo.com

Knocks, kudos for Linda Ikeji over N600m Banana Island property

E

NTERTAINMENT blogger, Linda Ikeji is trending for acquiring a N600 million luxurious mansion on Banana Island. According to her blog post with pictures of the stunning property, the house is on 3 floors, has six en-suite bedrooms, a master suite with a separate walk-in closet and a huge bathroom suite, two living rooms, media room, gym room, laundry room, fitted kitchen, boys-quarters, swimming pool, waterfall wall, changing room, cabana and water-view.

Whilst the 35-year-old ex-model ecstatically gave full details of her new home, obviously in acknowledgement of her achievements, green-eyed monsters are out to dampen her happiness.

Negative comments were already afoot just hours following her post. Majority of which, were merely because she is a woman who dared to become a self-made billionaire. If they were not suggesting that she is a mule for the rich to hide their wealth, they implied she is a prostitute who slept her way into wealth.

Unfortunately, in their myopic minds, Ms Ikeji fits perfectly into the sultry mistress stereotype because; she is a single woman in her thirties without a wedding band on her finger and a man next to her. So, they took the easy way out by calling her unprintable names instead of calling her what she truly is; a formidable and passionate blogger whose hard work catapulted from the filthy street of Idi-oro Mushin to the posh curbs of Banana Island.

According to Ms Ikeji, she has “never...never ever in my life slept with a man for money” yet many blog commentators are claiming

she acquired her wealth by sleeping around with rich men and governors.

A comment following a Vanguard article asking, “what do you make of Linda Ikeji’s N600m mansion? Stated as if it was factual that she became rich by being an escort and not through blogging.

“I don’t think she got the money from blogging but as an escort girl to politicians! Notable newspapers like Punch, Vanguard, etc didn’t make such money. I presume she is a high class lady.

Some men could dash N1 billion to a mistress.

Now that Buhari is in power, a lot of politicians will be dropping their properties/ assets to anyone “who could claim them in order not to violate CCT asset declaration.”

Commented an anonymous user named “OmoNaijaUK” Other commentators did not spare her either.

Akintunde Adeyemo claimed to be one of her fans albeit sceptical of her wealth “My dear, nobody is envious of her achievement. Moreover I am one of her fan, but let’s face the fact here and stop deceiving ourselves, she might be making money through another means. Blogging (copy and paste) cannot fetch that money. How many advertisment is she running on her blog compared to other dailies. Or is she making money more than all other media houses, with well experienced reporters, editors, writers, columnists, etc. This is 9ja where anything goes. Thank me later. There is more to this than meets the eye!!”

For Ikenna Ikeanyi, Ms Ikeji is vain; “600 million naira mansion, what will it profit

a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul. Vanity upon vanity” Rotimi Bamidele thinks it is financially wasteful to spend such amount on a house.

“Historically, nobody spends his hardearned income with reckless abandon, especially by wastefully acquiring a gigantic mansion. The cost of maintaining this edifice is enormous. Legitimate incomes are usually invested in instruments or ploughed back into the business or divested to other lines of business to generate more monies.

Look around at rich people in our society today, they secured multiple streams of income before showing off their wealth. If all this lady does is blogging like she claimed and she was able to amass this much money and then thought the next thing to do was to buy a mansion on Banana Island, then she’s financially reckless and lacks sound business acumen. That’s my honest take” Interestingly, some comments both exalted and disparaged her at the same time. Ohazulike Ifeyiwa Lucia’s said.

“That is great to hear. At least as a single young lady you were able to make it on your own. Congrats. But I think that’s extravagant of you. My dear we have so many less privileged you can use N200m of that money to affect their lives and I bet heaven will never forget you. Think about it. All the same bigger you I pray and greater wisdom.”

Everyone is entitled to his or her views however, most people formed their views even without any shred of evidence to support their claims. They castigated though there was no evidence to suggest she got her wealth through doggy, fraudulent or any other means apart from blogging or other legiti-

mate business ventures.

Ms Ikeji seems to know what to do with Nigeria but Nigeria on the other hand seems not to know what to do with her. In an era where Nigerian ladies are more interested in posting half naked selfie with a duck pouted mouth on different social platforms, she brought blogging to Nigeria and has kept busy ever since.

Using her blog as evidence, it is always current and up-to-date. Her blog is the first stop for all and sundry looking for Nigerian gossip.

In her own words “I’ve been blogging since 2006...November this year will make it exactly 9 years. God, consistency and hard work brought me here today” She branded herself as a “grapevine” and became a household name, which has its perks, one of which is advertisement.

The status quo anytime Ms Ikeji posts things on social platforms is for people to disparage her status, as a single lady. People throw all kinds of shades at her, telling her to go get married. As a single woman, her ability to stand on her feet and fight for herself is an indication she knows who she is, her abilities and how to overcome her weaknesses a feat many of us can only dream of accomplishing in our life time.

It is a shame that even women criticised her for buying a house. Regardless of the amount involved, at the end of it all, it is just a house.

Her fellow female bloggers said nothing about her achievement however if she was feuding with someone, they would be the first to blog about it with the exception of Kemi Filani who featured her in her blog post as an inspiration to others.

24

25 October, 2015

makeover Looking better M

undressed

ANY women desire enviable bodies, not just to fit clothes but to look even better undressed. Elizabeth Cullen of SheKnows, shares tips to achieve confidence, gaining maximum comfort and a flattering figure that gives you the best feeling in your own skin.

Exfoliate!

During certain seasons, the skin tends to be dry and flaky, so it’s important to scrub off dead skin cells in order to look radiant in the buff. After exfoliating, try substituting your regular moisturizer for one with a sexy sheen or, better yet, for baby oil.

Find a sensuous shimmer Makeup may make you feel sexier; however, you don’t want it to smear all over your sheets. Instead of using a heavy foundation or cream, opt for an oil-free tinted moisturizer to even out your skin tone.

Squeeze in a quick workout Don’t go all out with a full-body workout which can leave you fatigued, sweaty and in need of another shower, but a few wall push ups and squats will get the blood pumping in your muscles and leave them appearing more toned.

Limit food and drink While it might seem like a good idea to calm your nerves by having a nice large meal or downing a couple of glasses of wine for that extra “liquid” courage, eat and drink only lightly before stripping down to the nude. (Otherwise you will risk looking bloated... like you’re pregnant with a food baby.)

Opt for warm fragrance Looking sweet is irrelevant if you don’t also smell great. Draw attention to your décolletage and wrists by dabbing on a warm, spicy fragrance.

Make temperature adjustments For an extra turn-on, rub some ice on your nipples so that they show just enough before you undress! You will also want to make sure the temperature in the room isn’t too hot or cold before ditching your clothes. Too warm will have you sweating, whereas icy temps will leave you shivering and spiky from your recent shave.

Grooming... down there And don’t forget to groom the hair down there! Accessorise your bikini line with crystals or have it waxed into a playful shape. Or, for those who prefer to go au naturel, just a quick trim with scissors can make all the difference.

Get pampered Don’t underestimate the power of a simple manicure or pedicure. When your hands and feet are in tip-top shape, you benefit from the self confidence boost, and it shows! Splurge on a manicure and pedicure, and don’t be afraid to try out a little colour. Go for something bold and red, or soft and warm like a peach or plum hue.

The callus removal will leave your feet touchably soft.

Find the right lighting Looking good naked isn’t just about your skin – a soft lighting scheme can help flatter your figure. Avoid harsh fluorescents whenever possible, and instead try to incorporate mood lighting, such as candles, uplighting or floor lamps.

Get confident Lastly, don’t forget to enjoy yourself.

Remember, if you feel sexy and fabulous, you will look it – even in the buff... and confidence is, after all, the ultimate sexiness! Smile, practise good posture and have a positive attitude!

Sunday Tribune Rita Okonoboh 08053789087 rosarumese@gmail.com

25

25 October, 2015

relationships

Sunday Tribune

Rita Okonoboh 08053789087 rosarumese@gmail.com

. . . issues, family, sex

Before you fall for fake

M

Mr Perfect

EETING the perfect guy is the dream of many women and as Relationship Coach, Dr. D Ivan Young, puts it, “When you finally meet a wellmannered, handsome, attentive man, a man who makes you feel more than good ... a man who makes you feel alive ... he might just be “the perfect guy.”

He stands out from all other men. Everything he says and does is right. His every move centres on all the things you want and need. “‘Indescribable’ best describes the powerful chemistry between the two of you. Each moment you spend with him makes you feel as if you’re experiencing heaven on earth. Making things even better is the irrefutable fact that you “know,” without a shadow of doubt, that this man is totally and equally interested in you, too.”

However, before one concludes on the seeming flawlessness of a gentleman, it helps to take certain precautions into consideration.

Making excuses For women who have spent a while being alone, or for those who have fixed qualities of their ideal man, when they meet a great guy, there is the tendency to excuse some of his flaws, no matter how damning. Some women find themselves seeing what they want to see, rather than what is really being projected and this usually proves to be a mistake. As Young puts it, “if you find yourself justifying or compensating for things he does or says, that’s your first mistake.”

Too much attention While every man is unique in his actions, there are certain character traits to expect, just by the fact that he is a man.

“Any time you call a man and he always answers the phone, or he responds to all of your text right away, or you ask him to do something that you know most men would not be interested in doing and he quickly says yes, that’s a

long way from normal,” Young insists.

Accommodating a woman’s requests some of the time is what is expected and normal for many men and for a man who panders to your every beck and call, “that’s not normal, nor is it realistic. If anything that’s a sign he may have a hidden agenda, or he be controlling and/or obsessive.

This may enchant at first, but later, it’s going to blow up in your face.”

Too much passion Intense confrontations, followed by intense make-up sex are not normal, especially when they happen often. While it makes one assume that the relationship has potential, especially in terms of emotional connectivity, after a while, the passion eventually drains the life out of the relationship, and the intensity may quickly evolve into hostility.

Over-communication Men are not usually great talkers, especially when it comes to expressing their feelings in a relationship. So, when a man calls, texts or wants to be with a woman, most of the time, something is not right.

“Most men don’t like talking on the phone, nor do they desire a lot of conversation. Don’t confuse interaction with obsession. Many times, controlling men use over communication as a means of keeping tabs on you. The moment you make yourself unavailable, his attentive behaviour can quickly shift prying and stalking.”

No discernible flaws In Young’s view, “Most men have at least two or more bad habits. He either swears too much, is in love with a hobby or a sport, is a bit sloppy, or is in some way irresponsible. Put mildly, normal men have some type of flaw. Any time you date a man who’s so good at masking his flaws, you need to ask yourself what else he is hiding.”

Most men have at least two or more bad habits. He either swears too much, is in love with a hobby or a sport, is a bit sloppy, or is in some way irresponsible.

Any time you date a man who’s so good at masking his flaws, you need to ask yourself what else he is hiding

Don’t lose sight of reality “There’s no such thing as the perfect mate, but there is such thing as the perfect man for you. First, be aware of this one simple fact – he’s not perfect. Before you get paranoid and lock yourself down and/ or run off a good guy who you’re really

attracted to, differentiate someone who validates your ego from someone who’s a great fit for you. The goal is to help you use your common sense and not abandon it just because Mr. Perfect meets everything on your check list.

“Most women end up wasting days, weeks, months and even years of their lives being stranded in burdensome, unfulfilling relationships due to the fact that they overly projected their desires on the wrong damn man. This happens simply because he represented that woman’s version of what characteristics make up the perfect man.

“Anytime you, or any woman, hurriedly forms an infatuation-based, love sick, mental picture of someone, you are making two huge mistakes at once.

One, you’re giving someone a road map to your vulnerabilities. Two, being emotionally driven paralyses your ability to spot obvious warning signs.”

Young recommends two things for women: First, be that which you seek.

Second, be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. True and real love exists, but it takes time and patience to get it right.

26

25 October, 2015

With Akintayo Abodunrin akinjaa03@yahoo.co.uk 08111813058

My Kind of Music: Evening of delightful live performances The popular event in the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON) Festival which ends later this evening featured five live performances.

O

NE of the key programmes in the festival schedule where eminent guests discuss their musical preferences and how they relate to aspects of their lives, personal beliefs and philosophies, featured last Thursday at the Agip Recital Hall were Consul-General, South African ConsulateGeneral, Lagos; Ambassador Mokgethi Sam Monaisa; Head, Energy and Natural Resources, FBN Capital, Ms. Rolake Akinkugbe and Deputy Director, MUSON School of Music, Mrs Edna Soyanwo.

Though Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Mr. Osagie Okunbor, was also on the schedule, he couldn’t make it at the last minute. The vivacious Human Resources Director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production (SNEPCO), Sir Obinna Anaba, appeared in his place and though he had just hours to prepare, showed his excellent musical taste.

The event took off fully after a welcome speech by Vice chair of the MUSON, Louis Mbanefo (SAN) with Chair, Festival Planning Committee, Architect Kitoyi IbareAkinsan, compering.

Mrs. Edna Soyanwo Born in Ghana but married to a Nigerian, retired teacher and pianist, Soyanwo went first. Her opening choice was an instrumental of ‘Sheep may safely Graze’ by J.S. Bach while ‘Song without Words in A flat’, a piano piece by Romantic composer, Felix Mendelssohn followed.

The Deputy Director of the MUSON School of Music did not forget her roots as she next shared with the audience ‘Oye’,

Ms. Rolake Akinkugbe a Ghanaian song meaning ‘He [God] is Good all the time’. The way she closed her eyes and swayed on her seat indicated how much the piece resonated with her.

In introducing her next song, ‘Ogede Dudu’, performed live by students of the MUSON School of Music, Mrs. Soyanwo told an amusing little story. “About 51 years ago when I was newly married and we came into this country, there was a lot of Yoruba speaking people in the family.

They would speak in Yoruba and I didn’t understand. When I asked what did you say, the answer would be Kogbede (one who doesn’t understand the language).

I thought Kogbede was a pet name but

over time, I was able to understand the language. This ‘Ogede Dudu’ is for Pa Sho [her late husband, Sofoluwe Soyanwo whom she married in England] He’s known for his humour; he’s spontaneous. One Saturday morning, I missed my breakfast because I got up very late, so he wondered what I was going to eat. I said I could find some green plantain in the garden, he sang what you are going to hear now. Immediately, I took it down and arranged it for four voices.”

‘O Perfect Love’, a hymn that she arranged into a descant was also performed live by her music students. Soyanwo’s last piece was ‘O Holy Night’ (soprano duet)

Kachikwu to deliver Leadership and Style magazine anniversary lecture THE Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, will on Wednesday, November 18, deliver a lecture titled ‘Raising Future Nigerian Leaders: Challenges of Modernisation’ to mark the first anniversary of Leadership and Style magazine.

A statement signed by Sunny Okim, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine disclosed that the event will take place at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs Victoria Island, Lagos by 10am.

Okim added that apart from Kachikwu, other eminent Nigerians that will grace the event include governor of Akwa-Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel, Speaker of La-

Kachikwu gos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, Chief Peter Okocha and veteran

journalist, Ray Ekpu among others.

The Editor further disclosed that the special anniversary edition of the magazine which will be unveiled during the occasion will be reviewed by Mr. Frank Aigbogun, publisher of Business Day. On why ‘Leadership and Style’ is rolling out the drums for the anniversary, Okim explained that: “We want to celebrate the success of a well-packaged publication anchored by indigenous professionals. I must say that in-spite of the challenging times, Leadership and Style has, in the past one year of its hitting the newsstands, made its way into the hearts of the Nigerian readers, as well as readers across the globe, since it’s also published on-line.”

Amb Sam Monaisa

by Adolph Adam. She explained that since it was just two months to Christmas, “the extremely moving piece of music” would not be out of place.

Ms Rolake Akinkugbe An oil and gas investment banker by day who moonlights as a pianist by night and at weekends, Akinkugbe’s first choice was ‘Birima’ by Youssou N’dour followed by the piano jazz version of ‘Isn’t she lovely’

by Monty Alexander.

The banker whose preferences include world music and jazz next shared a piece titled ‘God Yu Tekkem Laef Blong Mi’ from the hymn ‘Take My life and let it be’. It is a soundtrack from the movie, ‘The Thin Red Line’ and is a choral acapela piece by the Choir of All Saints, Honiara, Solomon Islands.

Up next for Akinkugbe who schooled and lived in England was William Walton’s ‘Crown Imperial’ originally composed for performance at the coronation of King Edward VIII, scheduled for May 12, 1937 but who abdicated in 1936 to marry his American lover. It was subsequently performed at the coronation of King George VI in 1937 and was substantially revised in 1953. It was also the recessional hymn at Prince William and Kate’s wedding in 2011.

Backed by vocalist Obinna Nwari and with herself playing the piano, Akinkugbe did ‘Adura Fun Alafia’ composed by Ayo Bankole Senior during the Civil War. Her last two pieces were the hymn ‘Jerusalem’ Continues p27

27

arts&culture

25 October, 2015

Emoyon’s travel across the Sahara A review of Joseph Onoisetale Emoyon’s Across the Sahara by AKIN ADEWAKUN

A

CROSS The Sahara is a captivating tale of human survival set across the three African countries of Nigeria, Niger and Libya. 24 year-old Nosa exhibits the true Nigerian spirit here. Despite being from a very poor background, as evident in the difficulties he faces on a daily basis, he still envisions a better future for himself, with one of his plans being to experience life outside the shores of Nigeria. Yet, he is stoutly against travelling by land to Europe and he tries to convince his best friend, Leo, against it.

Leo is keen on the journey as he sees it as an easy way out of his own problems.

As fate will have it, events conspire to force Nosa into embarking on the journey along with Leo, Osas and six girls who are being trafficked to Italy with the intention of turning them into sex workers. Thus begins an eventful journey of intrigue, sus-

pense, betrayal, friendship, trust and the unexpected. Essentially, the book centres on the traffic in persons across the Sahara Desert and beyond.

This novel has a diverse cast of characters from different backgrounds which makes for an intriguing plot. From Nosa, the protagonist, to characters like Leo, Osas, Enoma and Ernest, we get a sense of what drives today’s youths into embarking on such perilous journeys. In a bid to get to Europe, these youths take on one of the world’s most hostile terrains, the Sahara Desert.

With short chapters, beautifully constructed sentences and a good command of English, Emoyon blends his humorous narrative with vernacular and witty proverbs for an enjoyable read. The steady pace of the narration makes it difficult for the reader to put down the book. Also, there is a seamless transition from one event to the next as the plot thickens to an unexpected denouement which leaves the reader wanting more.

Interestingly, one of the potent tools adopted by the author to vividly bring the

Book cover

message home to the reader is the use of names of actual places, words, phrases and slangs on this well-worn route to North Africa. With this he is able to engage the readers from the beginning to the end of the book.

There are few books on this subject matter, most of which are nonfiction. And for those who love fiction, there are very few recent works of fiction that capture

the imagination of the reader like ‘Across The Sahara’ The reader’s imagination is aroused to the point where he/she can feel the heat and the gritty desert atmosphere.

No doubt, the book should be a companion for everyone desirous of knowing about the trans-Sahara migration, especially today’s daring youths who still see this as a means to a better life despite the inherent dangers.

CORA inaugurates N100, 000 prize in honour of Ken Saro-Wiwa THE Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), organisers of the Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF), have called for entries for reviews of any one of five works of Ken Saro Wiwa’s fiction and drama.

A statement by CORA’s Secretary General, Toyin Akinosho explained that the best review of either ‘Sozaboy’, ‘A Forest of Flowers’, ‘Adaku and Other Stories’, ‘Prisoners of Jebs’, or a joint review of ‘Basi and Company’ and ‘Transistor Radio’ will receive a cash prize of N100, 000 when the festival opens at Freedom Park, Lagos Island on November 13 Akinosho further explained that the competition is open to Nigerians aged between 18 and 41; that is those who were either not born, or were just teenagers or at most aged 21, at the time of Saro-Wiwa’s death.

The entries are to be submitted to Toni Kan, author of ‘Nights of The Creaking Bed’ and brand ambassador for the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 on or before 5pm on November 6, 2015. Each review should not be more than 1,000 words and typewritten and sent via email to tonikan11@ gmail.com.

Akinosho’s statement quoted Programme Chair of CORA, Jahman Anikulapo, as saying the competition has three objectives/goals: “It serves to improve on the human infrastructure of reading; there cannot be a robust literary/literacy subculture, or a book market, without a vibrant review culture. The grounds on which conversations of culture stands in the Nigerian arts landscape today is shaky.

“It also helps to memorialise Mr Saro Wiwa, to whom the theme of this year’s edition of the festival is dedicated.

“And finally, it is the foundation of CORA/LABAF Annual Literature Review contest. So much effort has been paid, by sundry sponsors, to writers of books and less to the infrastructure of reading.

CORA fancies itself as a landscapist and as we have pioneered the idea of Book Festivals with programme content, as opposed to book fairs in the country, we also want to sow seeds in the area of getting whole communities, as opposed to writers alone, to share in the joy of reading.”

My Kind of Music: Evening of delightful live performances continued from pg26

performed by William Blake but composed by Sir Charles Hubert Parry who she described as “one of my favourite composers” and ‘Crazy Blues’, jazz piano

by Michael Gundlach Sir Obinna Anaba The little time he had to prepare notwithstanding, Anaba, a former choirboy, was a toast of guests at the evening. Humorous and charming, he has a nice turn of phrase and his eclectic music taste was also well appreciated.

His first piece was ‘Ombra mai fu’ the opening aria in Handel’s ‘Serse’. “I think the most profound thing about this song; it’s written in Italian but when you see the English interpretation; it has such powerful reach,; they are the kind of words that will make you wish to propose to your wife again,” he explained to applause from audience as he read out some of the lines .

Fittingly, Anaba’s wife, Ehiaghe, a consul-

tant dermatologist, was sat right there in the hall ‘Aka Jehovah’ (Hand of God) and ‘Mountain Dance’ by Dave Grusin were his next offering before the HR specialist stirred the audience again by explaining that he is not averse to partying on a Saturday night and heading to church the following morning. To show what he meant, he played Wizkid’s ‘Ojuelegba’ followed by ‘Thou O Lord art our Father’ from ‘The Prodigal Son’ by Arthur Sullivan.

Anaba’s last songs were Wyclef Jean’s ‘Wish You were here’ and he offered by way of explanation why he loves the song: “the intro part of it; what Wyclef did with the guitar is just incredible! I use it to test the quality of sound equipment,”; ‘Cantique De Jean Racine’ by Gabriel Faure ; ‘Yellow Sisi’ by the Okukuseko International Band of Ghana and the hymn ‘Pleasant are thy courts above’. The old hymn, he said, reminded him of when he used to follow his mum to choir practice

as a young boy.

Ambassador M. Sam Monaisa The outgoing Consul-General, South African Consulate-General, Lagos opened his account with the first movement of GF Handel’s ‘Water Music’ followed by ‘Song Bird’ by Eva Cassidy, who sold more records after her death than during her lifetime.

“My next song takes me back to the apartheid era in South Africa. It’s by African Jazz Pioneers and is called ‘Ten Ten Special’. During that time, Blacks were not permitted to be outside after 10 o clock so you have to secure yourself a permit. The last train leaves Joburg for Soweto by 10 and you need a special permit from your employer; it was the era of the big bands,” the diplomat said before treating the audience to another song from the big band era, ‘Tuxedo Junction’ by the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

Unsurprisingly, the diplomat didn’t leave

out South African reggae icon, the late Lucky Dube in his preferences. “My next piece is a reggae song. After the death of Bob Marley and Peter Posh, Lucky Dube was recognised as the new king of reggae worldwide. It’s so unfortunate that some crazy guy just came and shot him,” he explained before Dube’s ‘Reggae Strong’ was played.

Like Soyanwo and Akinkugbe, Ambassador Monaisa also treated the audience to a live performance. Backed by students of the MUSON Music School, a South African singer who was with the late Brenda Fassie’s band, performed ‘My Black President’ sang during the inauguration of the Madiba, Nelson Mandela back in 1994. A self confessed lover of big bands, the diplomat’s last piece was ‘Way Back Fifties’ by the African Jazz Pioneers After the traditional presentation of gifts to the guests, the last item of the evening was a performance by the trio of IbareAkisan (trumpet), Ngozi Chinwah on the piano and singer Ranti Ihimoyan.

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Sunday Tribune

Sunday Tribune

25 October, 2015

glamour

Why I keep my private life private —Thelma Okoduwa Ojiji

Thelma Okoduwa Ojiji is a Nollywood actress and an Abuja-based businesswoman. In the interview with TAYO GESINDE, the beautiful mother of two speaks on her acting career, how she has been combining her career with the homefront and her fashion preferences. Excerpts:

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Growing up ROWING up was super fun. My family is a large and closely knitted one so there was never a dull moment. My parents (God bless their souls) were the typical disciplinarians and I’m grateful for everything they taught me because the training they gave me has brought me this far. I have a certificate in Theatre Arts and a B.Sc in Computer Science from the University of Port Harcourt.

Foray into acting I more or less stumbled into acting. It wasn’t really planned. When I did my first movie, it was all like a joke. My friend coerced me into doing it and that was all I needed. I couldn’t stop afterwards. I just found out that I wanted to do more and more films. It was exciting. In fact, exhilarating is actually the right word. That movie was entitled; Sweet Love and it was shot in 2000.

Challenges faced as an upcoming actress Fitting in. That was the toughest thing ever. I had no idea what the intricacies were. And contrary to what people think, acting is hard. You have to memorise your lines, get into character, laugh when you really don’t feel like, cry when you are happy and so on. And let us not forget the long and late hours

on set. It was pretty tough. The only thing that gets one going is the passion. You have to have passion for acting to make it in the movie industry because with passion comes the patience to withstand whatever pressure comes one’s way. I have done about 50 films or just a little more but the television series ‘Treasures’ by Chico Ejiro brought me into limelight.

The journey so far The journey so far has been somewhat bumpy but fun as with every profession but I’m grateful that I can confidently say that I now know the ‘intricacies’ which makes it a lot easier.

Pains and gains of being a celebrity The gains without a doubt out-weighs the pains..

The only pains in my opinion are the nights and having to leave my family to go and work out of town but the gains are enormous. From getting freebies from strangers to making great impacts on people’s lives, being recognised and appreciated for doing what I do and of course, let us not forget the money aspect. Which is my best part.

Coping with competition in the industry Coping with competition has been stress-free. The truth is that I am not in competition with anyone. Being a wife and a mom definitely make it easy for me

because there was really no pressure. I’m on set when I have to be and other times when I’m not, I’m either busy taking care of my home or running my business.

I have my hands full plus I live in Abuja, where the competition is not so much. That being said, I still manage to get jobs quite often so I’m thankful.

Role models I really do not have any role model. That might sound conceited but the truth is, there are a number of people I have so much respect for. However, I am not going to mention any names.

Philosophy of life My philosophy of life is; one step at a time.

Description of self.

I am strong-willed, hardworking and loving.

Definition of style Style to me is being comfortable in what I wear and dressing appropriately for different occasions.

It could be classic, trendy as long as I’m comfortable. I’m not a very fashionable person, so I just buy whatever looks good and fits. Whenever I want to buy my fashion ensembles, I look out for quality, fitting and weather.

Beauty regimen I shower twice daily. I use a deep moisturiser and never go to sleep with make-up on. I try to stay hydrated as well.

Choice of accessories Shoes, bags, sunglasses, jewellery and so on.

Favourite designers Prada, Gucci, Zara and Iconic Invanity

Deola Sagoe,

Fashion obsessions Shoes, big bags and sunglasses.

What I can’t be caught dead wearing Bum shorts.

What I will like to change about myself I wish I was more patient.

My view on cosmetic surgery Personally I have nothing against it especially if it is a corrective surgery. The only issue I have with it is the obsession that some people have for it, that is when it becomes a problem. But aside that, it is really entirely up to them. Whatever makes you happy, do it.

Secret of my successful marriage I would say that I am just blessed. It is really not by my power but by God’s grace. Nevertheless, I try to be the best wife and mother that I can be and I try to keep my private life private. I do not believe in letting the whole world into my private space which explains why I am not on social media. That to me is too much distraction and I don’t need that. I have enough as it is. That is not to say that social media is bad, it is actually amazing but it is all about what is more important and for me, my family is priority.

Special treat I sleep and sleep because as a mom, it is a luxury.

So, when I can, I try to catch up on some beautiful sleep.

My take on provocative dressing I personally believe that less is more. It is okay to show one’s best asset but not to the point of being trashy. One should leave more to the imagination.

There is a thin line between sexy and trashy. Showing too much skin isn’t what makes you to be sexy.

It is all about confidence.

Advice to upcoming actresses Be dedicated, focused, patient and be the best you can be. Nothing good comes easy.

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With Tayo Gesinde temiligali03@yahoo.com 0805 472 7801

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aspire

25 October, 2015

BY OLAIDE SOKOYA 0807 449 7425 (sms only)

ollydesanmi@yahoo.com

Govt should provide business grant, loans to youths —Grandsoles boss Oyekan Oyedele, also known as Oyedele Onibata, a graduate of University of Ibadan is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Grandsoles which is into making of handmade shoes. He speaks with OLAIDE SOKOYA about his company, roles of youths and governments in the society. Excerpts:

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HAT is Grandsoles all about and what services do you offer?

Grandsoles is a brand that develops, produces, promotes and distributes shoe products across Nigeria. We have developed shoe products for over a period of six years and we have a core focus of addressing the ingenuity associated with handmade shoes.

You started as an undergraduate entrepreneur, when there was little or no startup capital, how did you manage to survive till now?

Well, yes, as an undergraduate entrepreneur, I had to survive with coping with the demand of classes and that of the business. However, the desire to create something unique, something of my own kept me going. Yes, there was no capital to start and I had to beg road side cobbler to allow me use their machines for hours. There was no office and I had an untested products. But my family supported me, my friends kept buying from me not minding the quality of the product, and my lecturers also patronised me. So, all of these made school and shoe making less tiring.

Are you saying you will abandon your B.A Degree for Grandsoles?

No, I will never abandon my degree for GrandSoles.

I must admit, the influence of education on business can never be over-emphasised. My degree had open doors for Grandsoles and being a graduate has made people, who would normally not want to listen to me, sit down and pay attention. My degree has paved the way for research in shoes, opened my minds to new ideas and designs. And it’s just a few I can mention.

How do you make purchase easy for your customers outside Ibadan?

At Grandsoles, we see our customers as the most important end of the business. And over a period of half a decade, we have acquired an enviable reputation for the most excellent made- to - order service. Just this past month, we launched an e-commerce website that will enable our clients order for our products wherever they are in Nigeria.

As an entrepreneur, how do you manage family and personal financial issues?

The truth is, it’s never easy. Considering the fact that as an entrepreneur, money is always scarce at times.

And you will always need money to run the business and you also have needs. I must admit I am blessed with the family I have, my parents handled my feeding, clothing, call cards until I was able to stabilise the business. That way, my personal financial issues were

I will never abandon my degree for GrandSoles. I must admit, the influence of education on business can never be over-emphasised.

sorted with money from home and that of the business was sorted with money from the business.

How would you advise Nigerian youths?

The time to build our lives is now. And the things we channel our energy into today defines the kind of future we should expect. So, my advice is that youths should rise now, rise and build.

What do you think the Federal Government is leaving undone for the Nigerian youths to make them better?

I think more can be done for young entrepreneurs.

The Federal Government can make life easier for the youths by providing business grants, loans, a conducive environment that encourages creativity.

Where do you see your brand in the next five years?

I see it being reckoned with on the international scene. Sincerely, I don’t know what the future holds, but we are walking on the right path.

How do you unwind?

Well, I go to cinemas to watch movies, I love shopping, I love being in the midst of friends, jisting, I also love attending parties just to wine and dine with friends because I love listening to good music.

Your Life Counts

Sunday Tribune

by Tunde Jaiyebo 0803 406 2013

Increasing your respect quotient (11) Last time, we began discussing the issue of respect.

We said that to be respected is to be regarded highly by people. It is being honored and esteemed greatly.

Respect is the reward of a right mix of competence, character and reputation. Respect is the consequence of having a right value in the eyes of people we relate with. To earn people’s respect we must be people-oriented. People will always respect those who treat them well. We must see people as partners in progress in executing our vision. We must notice and value people.

“During my second year of nursing school our professor gave us a quiz. I breezed through the questions until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was a joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before the class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our grade. "Absolutely," the professor said. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello." I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.” JoAnn C. Jones When we are genuinely interested in people we will be respected by them. We must learn to value people’s positive traits and strengths so we can build their capacity to become great.

A person who celebrates strength and minimizes weaknesses will be a respected person. We must build people’s capacity and make their lives better.

We must help people, care for people, love people, mentor people… and never take credit for it.”

“People crave for more respect than love, because they expect love only from few people but they want respect from everyone.” Amit Kalantri If we are to earn people’s respect we must be seen as being sincere people. We must walk the walk and talk the talk. We must never live a double life – our actions and speech must be consistent and not contradictory.

“I forgot that every little action of the common day makes or unmakes character, and that therefore what one has done in the secret chamber one has some day to cry aloud on the house-tops.” Oscar Wilde Deceit must never be associated with us. We must be a people of our word. Our word must be our bond.

A person of integrity is always respected. We must live a life of integrity. We must be a people who are honest and morally upright. Decency, honesty, probity, uprightness and faithfulness must be our characteristics if we are going to earn people’s respect. If respect will be enduring we must not just be a people of competence but also a people with impeccable character.

The days of functionality without appropriate character are over. Our competence must be under-girded by character. Like it is commonly said, competence will take a person to the top but it is character that will sustain such a person at the lofty height competence places him.

Discipline and a disciplined life is the hallmark of a person who will be respected. We must do away with bad habits and “seemingly innocent misbehaviours”.

We must abhor lateness, laziness, loose talk and bad company.

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

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25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

thepolity As Reps probe Jonathan’s railway, power projects KOLAWOLE DANIEL, in this report, writes on the move by the House of Representatives to probe former President Goodluck Jonathan administration’s power sector and railway projects.

President Muhammadu Buhari

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HE 8th House of Representatives is currently fine-tuning its plan to subtly probe the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Already, two critical sectors under his government, including the power sector and railway sector projects executed by the immediate past administration, are being targeted. The House has expressed its resolve to investigate what it termed the “alleged non-transparent and fraudulent sale of power assets by the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE)” under the administration of former President Jonathan.

To this end, the House resolved to set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the processes and sale of all aspects of power assets in Nigeria by the BPE to determine if there were malpractices and misconduct in the exercise.

Equally, the House has resolved to investigate the activities of the Ministry of Transport, the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE – P) management of the Nigerian Railway Cooperation (NRC) and all contractors handling the rail project rehabilitation from 2010 to 2014 to the tune of N1.69 trillion.

The resolution to probe the power sector was reached following the adoption of a motion brought by Honourable Chike Okafor, who alleged lack of openness in the processes leading to the sale of power infrastructure to private investors by the immediate past administration.

While moving the motion, the lawmaker had stressed the importance of electricity to every business, family, public or private institution, household and the general growth of the nation’s economy.

He, however, lamented the absence of transparency and openness, as well as unfair treatment of Nigerians disengaged from their jobs in the process and the lack of improvement in power supply despite the privatisation of the sector, saying: “The process of the sale of these as-

Honourable Yakubu Dogara, Speaker, House of Representatives

sets fell short of the prescribed criteria set down by the enabling law guiding the activities of the BPE in the privatisation process and also not in tune with international best practices.

“All the gains expected from the privatisation process were lost through alleged underhand deals, manipulation of rules of engagement, corruption and disregard for extant laws that are the hallmark of business transaction.

“The sale of power distribution utilities was marked by lack of transparency in bid awards in the three sectors of generation, transmission and distribution as it was alleged that the preferred bidders who were selected had low capacity and lacked technical knowledge in the sector and also had little or no financial and managerial knowhow to run power companies.”

The motion to probe the power sector under President Jonathan had been unanimously adopted by a voice vote when the Speaker, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, who presided over the plenary session, put it to a voice vote.

On the railway project probe, the resolution by the House was sequel to a motion entitled: “Need to Investigate the Federal Ministry of Transport and the Nigeria Railway Corporation on the award of contracts for rehabilitation of railway tracks, maintenance of bridges and procurement / rehabilitation of coaches and locomotives from 2010-2014” brought before the House by Hon. Solomon Ahwinahwi.

According to him, “the level of performance with respect to the 463km Port-Harcourt-Makurdi rail track rehabilitation of the eastern line with the total sum of N19,963,752,330 and out of which the NRC has paid N4,017,054,841,000, while SURE-P paid N5,594,021,377 and only about 3km of ballast has been done, with 400km left undone and the total money released so far is N9,611,076,218,” is worrisome.

“The Abuja-Kaduna rail project had $841 million as the

Former President Goodluck Jonathan

project cost, out of which the China EXIM Bank provided a loan of $500 million with about 25 per cent of the project completed when the entire project was envisaged to have been completed in 2014”.

He also said that the Lagos-Jebba track rehabilitation project was awarded at a contract sum of N12,293,390,000 with the payments made so far at N11,699,999,218 without any tangible work done, adding that the same also goes for Jebba-Kano track rehabilitation, which had a contract sum of N12,169,237,337 with payments made to the tune of N10,337,023,111.

Ahwinahwi said that the investigation had become important because with the billions of funds sunk to upgrade the railway transport system, “there has been little or nothing to show for the payments,” as the locomotives and coaches running on the nation’s tracks are still a relic of modern railway transport.

With the adoption of the two motions, it is clear that the House will, any moment from now, begin its probes on the subject matters with a view to ascertaining the true picture of things as far as power sector and railway contracts under former President Jonathan leadership are concerned.

The questions being raised, however, is what such probes will achieve given the outcomes of previous probes embarked upon by the previous sessions of the House. It will be recalled that the 7th House of Representatives had embarked on a probe of the subsidy scam but the report of the probe could not be said to have achieved much, as most of those affected in the scam have not been brought to book. Similarly, the 6th House had embarked on the probe of the power sector projects under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, with no visible results, with many observers noting that creating allowances for sacred cows and the corruption of those meant to lead the Continues

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32

interview

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

Buhari: Nigerians are too much in a hurry —SDP chieftain Abdul Isiaq is a National Publicity Secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the party’s governorship candidate in Kaduna State in the April 11, 2015 governorship election. He speaks with MUHAMMAD SABIU on his party, President Muhammadu Buhari, the trial of the Senate President by the Code of Conduct Bureau and governance in Kaduna State. Excerpts:

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promises to the people and they have so many expectations, because of his pedigree. The people, to me, did not vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC), they voted for his character. His slogan, let’s make Kaduna great, was welcomed by all.

Looking at his government so far, he has taken some steps aimed at cutting cost.

Some of the steps are the biometric verification of staff, trimming of ministries and the reduction in the number of political appointments from over 1,000 to a sizeable number. This has helped in the revenue generation of the state. His government has equally introduced free feeding and also abolished or subsidised school fees in other to bring succour to parents.

But what I feel is that he should not pay attention to structures only, but should endeavor to build the capacity of the teachers so that the quality of education will be improved. Also, he should declare a state of emergency in the health sector, because this sector has a direct bearing on the masses. We have seen his desire to revive the ailing textile industry and this is a welcome development. This sector used to provide over 10,000 direct jobs when the textiles were in production. So, he should take the issue of demolition cautiously so that he will not be seen as undertaking a witch-hunt or vendetta. Let him start the work on making Kaduna great again.

HAT is your take on administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in the last

few months?

I think it was during his visit to the United States that a reporter asked him whether he is now Baba Go slow. Well, to me, that statement should not be taken seriously, because the president has so far performed credibly well. If we take the issue of Boko Haram, his government has done a lot so far in fighting insurgency in spite of the pockets of attacks by the members of the group. Every day, we hear pleasant news about how the military have been winning the war. They have cut the terrorists’ food supply and their aggression has been curtailed; many of the insurgents have been killed. The ultimatum given by Mr President is encouraging and has given the military a sense of direction. People now move about freely without having to go through rigorous security checks.

On the appointments made so far, critics have said it was one-sided or lopsided but the fact is here is a president that still has the mandate to make over 6,000 appointments. I think the problem with Nigerians is we are too much in a hurry. The bottom line should be whoever is appointed should be based on merit and should have the love of our country. If these criteria are met, we don’t care who is in charge.

Also, within the period under review, we have seen the list of ministerial appointees, which is also good. We can see that he tried to pick those he wanted to be in his cabinet without his party’s influence or what have you. I want to call on senators to, as a matter of urgency, confirm the rest of the ministerial nominees without delay.

We also have regular or steady supply of electricity now. Before this time, I used to buy diesel for the generating set in my home every two weeks but now I don’t buy diesel. Above all, the president’s desire to fight corruption is also a welcome development. Not only that, his resolve to bring our stolen money that were stacked in foreign banks back to the country speaks of his desire to fix Nigeria and we should all join our hands to help him on this crusade, since he alone cannot do it alone.

But some have lampooned his attempt to fight corruption as a witchhunt, citing the trial of the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Bureau as an example.

Our justice system is established on a tripod stand. We have the police that are vested with the mandate to investigate; the court to prosecute offenders as well as the prison where offenders are taken to.

So when this trial began, I was happy the president came out clearly to say he was

Abdul Isiaq

not going to intervene with the duties of any legal institution. This is commendable. The Code of Conduct Tribunal has the right to try any public officer that it feels has violated its laws. So what is happening has shown that nobody is above the law. From my brief interaction with the Senate President, I saw a person that is upright in whatever he does. He cannot run away from justice. But, I don’t like his comment when he said some people were trying to embarrass him. We must avoid seeing the whole thing as vendetta or a witch-hunt. I feel these are distractions.

Nigerians are really interested in all these things that are happening in the country.

Back to Kaduna State, what is your take on the government of Malam Nasir el-Rufai?

People overwhelmingly came out to vote for el-Rufai; now they have shifted the burden of leadership to him. During the campaign, the governor made a lot of

I want you to know that SDP is in a strategic position to benefit if APC cannot manage its success

Your party entered the political scene late ahead of the last general election; do you think it can become more acceptable ahead of next election?

Our party has zero tolerance for corruption and we are today seen as the third force, because we are trailing behind APC and PDP respectively. Though some people believe that the party is meant for the people of the South-West, this is not so. If you know the history of SDP, 80 per cent of the members came from the North. That was when the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua was the leader of the party. Today, the party is being run by Chief Olu Falae, an incorruptible leader, an accomplished administrator, an outstanding politician, a man of integrity and impeccable character. He has been giving us a lot of inspiration.

Today, we have a member in the House of Representatives. We also have a member in the Adamawa State House of Assembly and two members in the Delta State House of Assembly. We have many councillors and people are rushing to join the party.

So, we don’t care if APC cannot manage its success or PDP, which is now in comatose, is out of ideas. I want you to know that SDP is in a strategic position to benefit if APC cannot manage its success. In 2019, God willing, you will see a lot of surprises, as we are in position to benefit from the mistakes of either of the major parties.

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opinion

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

Nnamdi Kanu and cry for Biafra

By Femi Fani Kayode I am not a Biafran and neither am I Igbo. I do however believe that it is the inalienable right of any human being or ethnic nationality to aspire to be free and to be able to determine their own destiny. The right of self-determination is enshrined in international law and it is guaranteed by every moral stricture known to man.

It is a right that has been exercised successfully over and over again in world history and it has led to the creation of new nations which were carved out of older ones.

The denial of that right and the suppression and persecution of those who attempt to exercise it leads to nothing but defiance, dissent and resistance and, if not properly managed, it eventually spills over into war and carnage.

This has been the primary cause of most of history’s most brutal civil wars, including the American, Russian, French, English, Indian, Sri Lankan, Sudanese, Nigerian, Angolan, Congolese, Zimbabwean, Yugoslavian, Ukrainian, Nicaraguan, Cuban, Irish, Syrian, Libyan, Indonesian, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, Iraqi, Italian, Lebanese ones and countless others. I do not believe in violent change and neither do I believe in war, revolution, terror or the use of arms in the pursuance of even the most noble causes.

I do, however, believe in the power of ideas and the right of any man, woman or people to yearn to be free from bondage and to peacefully and freely express that yearning. It is in this context that I situate my belief in and support for those that view the Nigerian federation as an oppressive entity which has effectively enslaved its people in an attempt to create what is essentially an artificial and unworkable state.

Those that believe in Nigeria have every right to continue to do so and to voice their resolve to keep Nigeria one. What they do not have the right to do is to refuse to offer the same degree of freedom of expression to those that do not believe in a united Nigeria and who instead believe in the peaceful dissolution of our nation to speak their minds and voice their views. What is good for the goose is surely good for the gander. You cannot grant one side of the divide freedom of expression whilst you deny it to the other.

This is all the more so because freedom of expression is the lifeblood of any democracy. It must be accorded in equal measure to those that believe in Nigeria and to those that do not. It is in this light that we must consider the plight of Mr Nnamdi Kanu, the director of Radio Biafra and the man that has been described by the Igbo World Assembly as ‘’Buhari’s first political prisoner’’.

We may not like his style, we may not like his radio station, we may not share his views or approve of his methods but one thing that we cannot take from Mr. Kanu is his right to hold such views and to express them in a peaceful and lawful manner no matter how distasteful those views may be to some. To deny him this most basic human right is not only an act of intellectual terrorism but it is also the most grave and barbaric manifestation of what is essentially an evolving police state where different or contrary views cannot be accommodated by those in power.

Sadly President Buhari who, like most in his genera-

tion, are still stuck in the mindset of a civil war general, has refused to learn from this. The biggest mistake and miscalculation of his administration so far is not the ruthless implementation of its patently and monstrously unapologetic northern and Islamic agenda but rather its absurd resolve to lock up Mr. Kanu indefinitely and to effectively throw the key away simply because he dared to call for the establishment of Biafra.

As far as I am aware Mr. Kanu has not used or advocated the use of violence whilst expressing himself and neither have any of his supporters. One therefore wonders what has panicked the Federal Government to such a point that they not only have to lock him up but that they also have to violate the law of the land by not allowing him to see his lawyer and by not presenting him before a court of law and charging him within the constitutionally-prescribed three days.

State-sponsored violence and intimidation, the violation of human rights, illegal incarceration, the murder of innocents and the vicious suppression of legitimate ideas leads to nothing but hardened hearts, greater defiance and the spread of anger and dissent. The principle is simple and clear: the more you fan the flame of tyranny and repression the more the passion and fire of liberty spreads.

It follows that the biggest favor that President Buhari’s security agencies could have done for the Biafran cause was to lock up Mr. Kanu and thereby transform him from being a little-known secessionist into the living symbol of the Biafran struggle, a respected freedom fighter, a champion of the Igbo people and an internationally-acclaimed political prisoner.

It is no wonder that leading politicians from all over the world, including the former Home Secretary and former Leader of the Labor Party in the United Kingdom, Mrs. Harriet Harman QC, have called for his release. The Russian and Israeli governments have also expressed concern and done the same.

Their call was the right and proper thing to do and I add my voice to that call. I have never met or spoken to Mr Kanu but I am moved by his passion and courage. I am also persuaded by the logic and force of his public as-

sertions. He has made a compelling case for the establishment of Biafra and millions of young Igbos from all over the world have bought into it.

It is left for those that do not agree with him to make a better case and to stem the Biafran tide. That is the monumental challenge that those that do not agree with Mr. Kanu’s views or his methods have. I have not always been on the same page with our Igbo brothers yet despite that one thing is clear: only the callous would deny the fact that they have suffered immeasurably in the Nigerian federation over the last 50 years.

Only the uninformed would deny the fact that they have been butchered, murdered, persecuted, broken, humiliated, insulted, cheated and treated with contempt and disdain more than any other ethnic group in the country since July 1966.

What the Nigerian state is confronted with in the new generation of Igbos who refuse to be cowed is a timebomb. Unlike their fathers they cannot be appeased or intimidated. They are not fearful of the prospect of a second civil war. They are not prepared to settle for crumbs and neither do they fear death, conflict, defeat, incarceration, butchery or persecution.

They are imbued with a spirit that cannot be suppressed and the more they cry ‘’Biafra’’, the more the spirits of the millions that were slaughtered on the Biafran side during the civil war are invoked. The more they cry ‘’Biafra’’, the more the souls of the hundreds of thousands of their people that were butchered during the barbaric pogroms in the north in the mid-60’s and thereafter are remembered. The more they cry ‘’Biafra’’, the more they remember how their fathers were stripped of everything after the civil war and how they have been denied the opportunity to rise to the highest office in the land. The more they cry ‘’Biafra’’, the more they acknowledge and recognise the bitter fact that the Buhari administration regard their kith and kin as nothing more than third class citizens and pitiable prisoners of war. The worst thing that the Nigerian authorities can do is to treat them with levity or contempt.

They are angry, they are fed up, they refuse to be enslaved, they want a brighter future and they have come to realise that they have nothing to lose. The most inappropriate thing that President Buhari can do is to continue to underestimate the power of their resolve or the clarity of their intent. The worst thing that they can do is to begin to jail them, to shed their blood and to take their lives.

The more you lock up the Biafrans, the more they will rise up. The more you mock them, the more they will shout. The more you kill them, the more their anger will be kindled. The more you deny them, the more they will wax stronger. The more you treat them with disdain, the more they will defy you. The more you treat them like slaves the more they will aspire to break off and take their destiny into their own hands. You cannot resist an idea whose time has come.

This is a fact that we must all accept and it is with this in mind that I urge President Buhari and the Federal Government to not only release Mr. Nnamdi Kanu but also to tread with the utmost restraint and caution when dealing with those that are agitating for Biafra.

• Fani Kayode is former Minister of Aviation.

thepolity Probes: There’ll be no sacred cows Continued from

pg 31

charge of the probe, as witnessed with some members of last House would scuttle the probe.

However, a lawmaker from the North-Central zone of the country who is privy to the probe on railway sector but spoke on a condition of anonymity informed Sunday Tribune that there will be no sacred cows, saying that all those involved will be exposed before Nigerians.

According to him, “in light of the development, former ministers of transport during the period under review; two former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairmen

and many others will have questions to answer when we commence public hearing within the next two weeks”.

He added that “Nigerians deserve to know the truth, as these were monies sourced from abroad and locally to better their lives by giving good rail transport system.

“But what we have today is a massive fraud as contractors in active collaboration with government officials supplied fourth hand coaches and other mechanical gadgets to further rubbish the rail system in Nigeria.

“The $841 million loan secured from China-Exim Bank and SURE-P was not properly documented as there was no board for almost two years and the ministry single-

handedly spearheaded the award of all the major contracts.

“The Ad-hoc committee will ask all the stakeholders how come a contract that was so heavily funded could not be completed in 2013, which was the contract due date”, he said.

As Nigerians await the action of the House of Representatives, there are more questions surrounding the planned probes, questions that only time and the probe process can conveniently answer but one of the questions that resonate is will justice be served or is this another attempt to play to the gallery?

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interview

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

Orunmila, not Obalufe, chooses Ooni —Prince Omidiran

The demise of the Obalufe of Ife, Oba S.F. Omisakin, has complicated the process for the announcement of the new Ooni of Ife. In this interview with ABIODUN AWOLAJA, his eldest son, Prince Omidiran Omisakin, proprietor of Omidee and Company based in Dallas, USA, speaks on his father’s demise, the process for selecting an Ooni and sundry issues. Excerpts:

I

T has been speculated that your father, the late Obalufe of Ife, endorsed a candidate for the position of Ooni and signed a document before his demise. Were you aware of this?

To the best of my knowledge, my late dad did not endorse anybody, neither did he sign any document. Does anybody need an endorsement in choosing an Ooni?

It is Ifa, Orunmila, that endorses the Ooni right from inception. So, would my father have spoken for Orunmila? Even though it was being rumoured that he was supporting a particular candidate, the truth of it all is that my dad had no choice candidate.

Please understand that Ile-Ife has an old, subsisting culture. The checks and balances are rooted in Ile-Ife traditional culture till today. Even during the reign of Oba Okunade Sijuwade, my late dad was his traditional brain box on Ife affairs. My father could not have rubbished the long-standing traditional culture of the cradle of Yoruba race by unilaterally choosing an Ooni. Even the Obalufe cannot choose his own palace chiefs without adequate spiritual consultation, not to talk of a core traditional kingship as powerful and sensitive as the Ooni of Ife. Remember that he granted an interview to a national daily before his demise.

With reference to the interview, you could see the kind of man my father was. He was blunt, fearless and dutiful.

There are 16 kingmakers in Ile-Ife; he is the head and the mouthpiece of them all.

Traditionally, he is the prime minister of Ile-Ife. So, let us see it from this angle: a very responsible and traditional Obalufe needs a responsible Ooni like the late Oba Sijuwade. That was my father’s dream for Ife. What really is the role of Obalufe in the emergence of an Ooni?

His role is simple: to announce the emergence of an Ooni. Look, the Araba Awo Agbaye from Oke Itase in Ile-Ife plays the spiritual role, the other 15 play the insightful role and Obalufe role’s is to make the announcement to the public. Obalufe is the first chief that would prostrate for an Ooni when he eventually emerges. So, his duty is very simple in this process.

It was alleged that some chiefs have made a lot of money from the candidates vying for Ooni. Were you aware of this?

I am not aware. I think any dutiful chief should not make money at the expense of our tradition in Ile-Ife. The 40 days given by the Ife kingmakers to announce the new Ooni has expired. When do you think Nigerians will know the next Ooni?

juwade. Is it true that he had been ill for some time and what was the nature of the illness?

Yes, he had been ill. The nature of his illness is old age (laughs). He was weakened by old age. Every person of his age has one illness or the other. He was 83.

He was hospitilised two weeks before the demise of the late Ooni and later he got well. I think he never took enough rest after he got well. The pressure of the selection process of an Ooni would have been part of what killed him. The pressure was too much on him.

Prince Omidiran Omisakin I think the death of my dad threw a spanner in the whole process. The first traditional, spiritual role to be performed for an Ooni is by Obalufe. So, I cannot say exactly when the new Ooni will be announced. The only person to make the announcement is my dad. Then, with his demise, I think a new Obalufe has to emerge first or maybe there are some exceptions. The Ife traditional council are in the best position to give this detail.

Is there any process in progress then to select the new Obalufe so that the new Ooni can emerge soon?

I am not sure. We have to bury our father first before the new Obalufe could emerge.

How soon will his burial be?

We will announce the process of the burial in less than two weeks from now .

I am still consulting with my family members to give my father a befitting burial, because he lived all his life for Ife. Are you then being tipped to be

the next Obalufe since you are his heir apparent?

There is no way I could be Obalufe.

There are four family houses from which an Obalufe is selected. They are Adogbodo, Jaojo, Ajagbusi and Aga. My father hails from Adogbodo, so it is the turn of another family. This is a long-standing norm in our family.

Obalufe died shortly after Ooni Si-

The Araba awo agbaye from Oke Itase in Ile-Ife plays the spiritual role, the other 15 play the insightful role and Obalufe role’s is to make the announcement to the public.

Can you give us an insight into the private life of Obalufe, his wives, businesses and children?

He was born into the Orunto Adogbodo family house of Iremo quarters, Ile-Ife in March 1932 by the late Seleke Elufisan Omisakin and the late Omiwenu Elufisan Omisakin. Seleke, his late father, was the first born of the great Agbetu Omisakin, a stupendously rich cloth merchant of his time. When Christianity came to Ile-Ife, the late Seleke, who was a core traditional believer and healer, had led my father who is his only son into an Anglican Church in Ile-Ife, where he was baptized and subsequently picked the name Samuel as baptismal name. My father’s real name was Oluwafunminiyi Folorunso Obasola Omisakin .

He started his education in Ife. He attended St. Peters Anglican Primary School, Iremo, Ile-Ife and the prestigious Oduduwa College, Ile-Ife. He later attended teachers training college in Ondo town in the old Western Region. His brief stint in teaching started in Edunabon town, in the present Ife North.

Having done a part-time course in secretarial studies while teaching, he dropped the teaching job and took up a job as the secretary of the old Oranmiyan local government town planning authority, where he finally retired to set up his own private business in the agro-allied industry, also in Ile-Ife. He was installed as Obalufe on 1st June, 1988. He was a self-made man.

He was a seer, a spiritual consultant like his great late father, Seleke; a traditional tutor, historian and a core lover of Ile-Ife. My father had a number of children from five wives. Apart from the five wives, he had other wives who had no children for him.

Apparently, the Obalufe was rich He was not rich in terms of money. Traditionally, I think he was the richest ever in Ile-Ife. Is it true he used to do juju for wealthy individuals?

People come to him for spiritual consulContinues

pg 36

35

interview

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

Electing the new Ooni is everyone’s business —Adetise

Adeyemi Adetise is the secretary of Intra Community Peace Advocacy Committee (ICPAC) based in Ile-Ife. He speaks with OLUWOLE IGE about the vacant stool of the Ooni of Ife, the type of monarch the ancient town needs, among other sundry issues.

Excerpts:

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laid down rules. And if it is true that Ifa deity has a role to play, they should allow Ifa to speak. They should not allow Ifa to speak money language. They should allow Ifa to pick plainly devoid of any monetary influence. It would be absurd for some people to believe that they could make money through the process for the selection of a new Ooni. If they do so, they are going to sell the entire Ile-Ife town and Yoruba race. When the chips are down, they would not say it is the kingmakers, but they would say one of the first rated Yoruba oba has been arrested. The kingmakers should be thorough, follow due process and to allow clean fundamental process devoid of any bad or monetary influence.

HAT is the current position of things now as far as the selection of new Ooni of Ife is con-

cerned?

I learnt that the kingmakers came up with a position that Giesi ruling house should produce new Ooni of Ife. But, unfortunately, this position is being challenged by various interests. Other ruling houses are challenging whether 1980 chieftaincy declaration is still subsisting or not. I cannot comment much on this issue, because the matter is still in court.

It would be prejudice for me to comment on the matter, because it is still before a court of law. Other ruling houses have instituted litigation against Ife kingmakers over their position on the selection of the new Ooni.

While the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade was alive, he raised the bar of the stool such that internationally, he was a recognised monarch. Do you think that the new Ooni, when finally selected and coronated, would be able to match up with the standard Sijuwade laid?

Ooni is an institution. It is not a personalised institution. It is an institution that is recognised across Yorubaland. Whether somebody who is going to come in would be capable of sustaining that standard is not the issue. The kingmakers know what to do. The new Ooni must be above board and he must be capable. But, if we make a mistake of putting somebody that is below board, then we are in a serious problem.

The stool that the late Ooni left, I believe that God, in his infinite mercy, would help Ile-Ife and the entire Yorubaland to get somebody with integrity and above board to fill the stool.

Do you think the kingmakers would not compromise laid down procedures or standard in selecting new Ooni of Ife amidst possible temptations from the contenders?

The law says the kingmakers should do certain things. But, it is the work of everybody in the town to select the new Ooni either by advice or suggestion or when the kingmakers are about to do something wrong, they would point it out to them.

Ooni is not going to be the king of the kingmakers. He is going to be the Ooni of Ife. I must confess to you that various stakeholders across Yorubaland have interest in that stool. All Yoruba sons and daughters are interested in who is going to be the new Ooni of Ife. All of us are involved. You cannot leave it to the kingmakers alone. From what we are hearing, even though we cannot confirm it, the whole thing is becoming problematic.

Out of rumour, some facts may emerge.

We heard that some people are trying to compromise the tradition and proce-

Adeyemi Adetise

dures. The kingmakers should know that Ooni’s stool is not for sale and the people are watching them. If they bend the rule and select somebody who is not acceptable or somebody that lacks integrity and credibility, there would be serious crisis.

I just pray that the kingmakers don’t succumb to the pressure. If they do, it would affect the stool and their own image. A situation whereby they select an Ooni and such Ooni wants to travel outside Nigeria and he is arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), you know that would be a big problem. It would be a dent on those institutions that pick such person. It would also be an embarrassment to Ile-Ife as the cradle of the Yorubaland. I believe the task of picking new Ooni should not be left to the kingmakers alone, it should be the job of everybody. Yes, the kingmakers are empowered by law, but when it comes to critical issue like this, they must consider various interests. They must put in focus moral standard that whosoever wants to contest for Ooni’s stool must have.

What is your advice to the king-

makers as a body entrusted with the responsibility of selecting new Ooni?

My advice to them is that they should allow the process to be clean, free from any corrupt tendency. Some people might be telling them it is their time to make money, but it would not be in their best interest to make money at this particular time. They can make money through a very legitimate means. It is not by installing new Ooni that they will overcome all their financial problems. They must follow

The kingmakers should know that Ooni’s stool is not for sale and the people are watching them

Do you subscribe to idea that all contenders are subjected to scrutiny before the selection of a new Ooni?

The position of the kingmakers is that Giesi ruling family should produce new Ooni, but this is being challenged by other ruling houses in court. Nonetheless, the next Ooni should not have a moral burden. There is sharp difference between having a legal burden and moral burden.

When you have a moral burden, it is like somebody who has a criminal case in court, the chances are 50/50. He may win or lose. It is important for such person to get that moral burden off his neck. When he comes out clean, such a person can contest. But, if the appropriate authority ignores such moral burden and at the end of the day, the person already crowned is found guilty, are they going to ask him to vacate the throne? Though when allegation is made against somebody and such allegation is yet to be proved, you cannot reach a conclusion on such a case. We cannot take the chance to put such a person on the throne. The chiefs’ law is very clear on this issue. There are certain standards laid down for anybody who wants to be a king or monarch. Part of the condition the person must meet is that he must not be physically challenged; he should not be an ex-convict, among others.

What kind of Ooni do you think that Ife needs at this point in time We need somebody who will attract development to Ife town. You know the late Oba Okunade Sijuwade succeeded Oba Adesoji Aderemi. Taking a retrospective look, you will discover that Oba Aderemi tried as far as the development of Ile-Ife is concerned, likewise Oba Sijuwade. The new Ooni of Ife must be a father figure that can embrace everybody. He must be ready to play a servant role in Yorubaland in the sense that the Yoruba people lack unity. The next Ooni must strive to bring Yoruba together, including Yorubas in Kwara, Edo, Delta and Kogi. It is very sad to note how we have been relegated to the background in Nigeria’s politics.

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25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

‘Ife kingmakers have disrespected Obalufe’ Continued from

pg 34

tancy and counselling all over Nigeria. But I do not know what you mean by juju!

It was alleged by some that he could have been poisoned because of his hard stance on the due process in the emergence of a new Ooni. Were you aware of this?

I heard that and I have responded to that several times that my father was not poisoned. Who could have poisoned him and for what reason? He had no secret deal with anybody, so why would anybody kill him? See, my father was so fearless that we used to sleep in the house with the door widely open. The gate of our house till date is a skeletal gate. My father had nothing to hide from anybody. The first wife, Olori Adeola Omisakin, had just finished discussing with him when he slumped and he was rushed to the hospital where he was confirmed dead.

He did his normal routine that morning, according to Mama and the housemaid who were with him before the sad incident. It was, however, so painful that 12 hours

after his demise, some members of Ife traditional council commenced the process of selecting a new Ooni. Too painful. They should have shown him some respect. After all, he belled the cat for the process.

Even if they have to gain the whole world in the emergence of the new Ooni, my father was their leader; they should have, at least, commiserated with the family and given a considerable time space before continuing with the selection process. They must all remember that death is inevitable.

What qualities must the next Ooni possess?

The next Ooni must not only be rich traditionally, he must be accessible and must not involved in party politics.

It took a long time to announce the demise of Oba Sijuwade, even though many suspected that he was gone. Do you think we still need this kind of tradition in 2015?

It is tradition. It must be strictly adhered to. But the cyber age messed everything up. Imagine that I saw the

news of the demise of my father on facebook before my mother could break it to me. This is our age; we must accept it like that.

Can you give a little insight into your background?

Well, about my background, I am 44 years old. I went to St John’s Grammar School, Ile-Ife. I also attended the University of Lagos from 1993 to 1997, then travelled to the United States in 1997. I graduated from Richland College, Dallas, Texas with an associate degree in Business Studies.

I joined the Bank of America in 2000 and worked in the bank till 2005. Upon leaving the bank, I joined the United States Internal Revenue (IRS), which I left in 2007 to establish my own business, Omidee and Company in Dallas, Texas, and set up another branch in St Paul, Minnesota. We specialize in real estate investment, car dealership and heavy equipment. I have only one wife. I am married to an Ikorodu princess and I have two beautiful girls.

opinion Lagos failing? Of course not!

By Niyi Anibaba IT cannot be said of a man who has vowed that his watch would witness the rule and execution of brilliant ideas; that the state he is governing is no longer vibrant, that that state is failing. That would be far from the truth and reality.

To claim Lagos is failing under Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is to deny not only the empiricism of the success recorded so far but also to repudiate the firmness of the template upon which he is giving shape to the future.

Failure can’t also be ascribed to a man who made Lagos sail unscathed through a period of financial turbulence when he was the Accountant-General at a time the behemoth called the Federal Government had withheld the economic lifeline of the state.

But on account of the recent rash of robberies in Lagos, the sporadic gang wars in Mushin and Oshodi as well as the return of traffic snarls on the major roads of the megacity, critics are warning that Lagos might be sliding under Ambode. This is an unacceptable verdict. Indeed it is an unrealistic assessment even as it is a harsh conclusion unreflective of what is on the ground. What we behold really is a man armed with a gear preparing to land the state into the future. Ambode, by the reckoning of astute observers, is laying the foundation for an edifice that promises to house a beneficial future.

In a very short period (five months out of a potential 96-month tenure allowed by the constitution), he has posted a sterling performing that has seen the power of ideas at work.

The point is that Ambode is now wielding more enormous powers and operating with wider latitude supported by the vote of the majority in Lagos. These are weapons that are enabling him to work and achieve better than he did as the Accountant-General. In addition to other resources, they are capital requirements needed to add quality to governance, needed to add quality to the lives of the citizens you are governing and above all to “make life simpler and happier for our people” as Ambode himself put it on May 29, 2015 when he was sworn in as the Governor of Lagos.

He has gone ahead to kick start the great project of radicalizing governance in quite noticeable ways. One of such is that he has brought back from the precipice of death hundreds of senior citizens and their kinsmen and women numbering more hundreds. The governor gave out N11b to pay their pensions and gratuities. This is unprecedented! He is reviving the pay-as-you-go system which was discontinued in 2007. His goal is to return to that plan by August 2016.

The accountant that Ambode is, he is quietly reordering government priorities by cutting down the cost of running

the machinery of administration in order to free funds for social and economic renewal. This fiscal policy will enable him save N3b monthly in that area alone aside the huge income from the internally generated revenue and what the central government in Abuja would be putting on the table.

It is injudicious to say a man who has fixed in five months the notorious Ayobo-Ipaja Road has failed. It had been an eyesore for the past eight years, embarrassing successive governments and the citizens year in year out.

Ambode has also given a hint of how he hopes to run an administration oiled by compassion for the people. I think what he meant by the concept of “compassionate government” he spoke of on May 29 is what he has demonstrated many times over. He will relate with the people directly, not bureaucratically as it were. Their joy will be his joy. Their pain will be his pain.

In other words, his won’t be an abstract administration.

He won’t be a distant and inaccessible governor. Which is why as he headed for the office once, a lady in the throes of anguish during a road accident found Ambode as one of those pulling her out; a poor woman with multiple births whose husband had run away from home was pleasantly surprised to observe the refreshing hand of Ambode bringing back the fleeing spouse; motorists used to seeing their governor only on a high horse rubbed their eyes feverishly to confirm they were not under illusion when they sighted a sweating Ambode in the mad gridlock along Oshodi-

Apapa expressway as he sought a solution to the nightmare experienced on that route. Certainly this is not a failed governor who does not understand the pains of the citizens.

And early in October 2015, the governor announced a gigantic program to light up some 67 communities in Lagos state. Under the plan, nocommunity will be without electricity by the end of December 2015. No other administration in the country has embarked on a scheme this ambitious. It captures the whole state at a go. I must also comment at the dramatic speed that attended this development. Ambode disclosed the plan on Tuesday October 6, 2015 at the maiden Town Hall Meeting at Ayobo-Ipaja. By Thursday October 8, 2015 only two days after, he had concluded the plans to start the project! Talk of passion! Talk of commitment!

Now consider the benefits of electrifying the landscape of a mega polis occupied by more than 20 million citizens: criminals will no longer operate under the cover of darkness, thus enhancing security and safety of lives and business; artisans and small scale business operators can function with no worries over losses arising from lack of power; much money used to buy fuel for their businesses will be saved for reinvestment in other ventures; these will boost citizens earning capacity; thousands of jobs will be created through contracts for this ground-breaking electrification project.

All these activities on the part of Ambode represent an agenda to secure Lagos state in the present and launch it into the future.

Now there is some loose talk about Ambode not having a firm grip on the management of the traffic situation in the state on account of laws apparently attaching a human face to harsh traffic laws. For instance, critics have fussed about his statement that he wants to use technology in arresting those who contravene the law, instead of resorting to harassment or forcibly taking over people’s vehicles. Ambode has also asked Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) to treat motorists and street traders in a civil manner.

Of course, this aspect of the philosophy of compassionate government can be tempered with an application of the stick to discipline those who abuse the governor’s leniency and offer of a carrot. Which is why as I write this, the government has begun an intensive campaign against traffic misconduct.

The Governor’s Monitoring Team (GMT) has swung into action whipping those in the habit of driving against traffic, plying the BRT lane, and those disobeying traffic lights. The governor has also instituted 24/7 communication channels by which the operatives of GMT can be reached for prompt response to security and traffic breaches.

Can you identify the man wheeling this vision with failure? No way!

• Anibaba, an economist, writes in from Gbagada, Lagos State.

37

thepolity

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

Alaafin @ 77: When Rep thanked constituency with projects

1

2

1. The Alaafin of Oyo, His Royal Majesty, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi II, cutting the tape of the e-education centre project donated to Ojongbodu Grammar School, Oyo by the member representing Atiba/Afijio/Oyo East/ Oyo West Federal Constituency, Honourable Hakeem Adeyemi (right), in commemoration of the Alaafin’s 77th

By Moses Alao

F

or the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi II, who clocked 77 on 15 October, the birthday will go into the annals of history as a birthday celebration like no other.

The celebration became quite memorable with the laudable step taken by his son and member representing Afijio/ Atiba/Oyo East/Oyo West Federal Constituency, Honourable Akeem Adeyemi, popularly known as Skime, to commemorate the Alaafin’s birthday with the an e-library and a vocational training centre established to train 240 residents of Oyo in different crafts on a quarterly basis.

It was packaged to be a three-in-one event, beginning with the commissioning of the e-education facility located at Ojongbodu Grammar School in Oyo East Local Government, where Hon. Adeyemi equipped a fully airconditioned electronic library with 16 desktop computers, inverters and generating set for electricity as well as

birthday. With them are the Osolo of Isolo, Lagos, Oba Kabiru Agbabiaka Adelaja (second right) and some of the wives and sons of the Alaafin.

2. The e-education centre equipped by Hon. Adeyemi at Ojongbodu Grammar School, Oyo.

photocopier and scanning machines.

As the day progressed, Adeyemi showed his commitment to an all-round development and empowerment of his constituents, as the Alaafin, his chiefs and other respected royal fathers such as the Osolo of Isolo, Lagos, Oba Kabiru Agbabiaka Adelaja; the Oniru of Iruland, Lagos, Oba Abiodun Idowu Oniru and the Adokun of Igan-Okoto in Yewa, Ogun State, Oba Mukaila Salako and several other leaders of Oyo extraction, inaugurated the Ogo Oyo Free Skill Acquisition Programme set up by the lawmaker to train constituents in sewing, soap making, makeover, shoe-making and computer operation.

“We did this in appreciation to the people of Oyo constituency. It is our way of saying thank you for believing in us,” said Adeyemi, who added that the vocational training centre was also meant to empower constituents in different crafts, promising not to relent.

The computer centre, it was gathered, was also equipped with a five-year internet subscription plan.

The Alaafin described Hon. Adeyemi’s gesture as a good development in Oyo State.

The eventful programme had been capped by a visit to no other place than the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Oyo, which had benefited from Hon Adeyemi’s community development gesture through the donations of video and audio mixing machines, highlighting his commitment to sustaining legacies and building new ones in the historic town.

The leaders of the APC in Oyo Federal Constituency; the provost of the Federal College of Education (Special), Professor Kamoru Olayiwola Usman; the chairman of the Oyo State Pilgrims’ Welfare Board (Muslim Wing), Alhaji Taofeek Akewugbagold; Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu and a Permanent Secretary in the state, Mr Adeniyi Falade, among others were some of the other leaders in attendance at the event.

Those in attendance at the event also included the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State led by its chairman, Chief Akin Oke.

opinion Buhari’s cabinet of saints and sinners

By Yushau Shuaib

E

VEN after more than 20 years of graduation from Bayero University, Kano, my course-mates still refer to me as ‘Idiagbon’, the alias I bore as a fanatical supporter of the previous military administration of Generals Muhammadu Buhari and Tunde Idiagbon.

As an undergraduate, I took delight in writing articles defending the duo for their exemplary leadership qualities of discipline, incorruptibility and fearlessness demonstrated during their 18 months in office as Head of State and Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters respectively.

One of such articles published in the Triumph of November 13, 1991 was a response to a cover story reported by Etosa Iroh in the Nigerian Tribune of October 31, 1991 on the verbal attack on Buhari by Governor John Madaki of Katsina State.

In my rejoinder titled: “Haba Governor Madaki,” http://yashuaib.com/1991/11/haba-governor-madaki/ I took on the then military administrator for insisting that Buhari, the then Chairman of the Katsina Foundation, should release some money to him. Not only did I castigate Madaki on his insistence, I justified the refusal of Buhari to release the fund because the request did not follow due process.

Many Nigerians have consistently remained supportive and convinced that Buhari is the best to tackle ‘sinful’ acts of corruption. Nigeria being a deeply religious country, a corrupt person is tagged as a sinner while those that had not held public office and lived within their means are referred to as saints. Acts of immorality, wrongdoing, wickedness, dishonesty are not merely corruption but sins against God Almighty.

When he was running for office, Nigerians had thought

that Buhari would battle corruption with single mindedness by departing from the previous strategy of merely mouthing anti-corruption. It was thought that he would embark on a comprehensive probe of past administrations and appoint only untainted individuals, or saints rather than sinners into his government.

The unnecessary delay in the announcement of the ministerial nominees gave room to speculations that not only saints but angels might emerge as the new crop of ministers.

We expected more youths who are innocent and clean; more technocrats who are professionally competent; and more women who had been at the background in the anticipated ‘saintly’ cabinet. We thought politicians would be assigned to part-time jobs, rather than full-term appointments to avoid the politicisation of national and sensitive issues.

Meanwhile, party members expect rewards of juicy appointments for contributing resources to the political victory. They believe in a business model that recognises profits and rewards for investors’ contributions. It is public knowledge that the two major political parties, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) mobilised most of their financial resources through public office.

When alarms were raised over monetary inducements and reckless political spending during the campaigns, none of the major contenders for public offices questioned the sources of funding of the electioneering because doing so at that period might jeopardise their political aspirations.

Currently, anti-corruption agencies are proving cases of looting and mopping of public funds in all tiers of government through over-inflated contracts and expenditures on non-existing projects to ensure electoral victory.

The major suspects are politicians, with most of them

elected and appointed into public offices.

The initial appointments of little known and strange people into top positions by Buhari were hailed as a departure from the past. That early optimism has, however, been tempered by subsequent nominations of cabinet ministers and their confirmation by the Senate. The list was truly a combination of both the saints, who are not identified with corruption and the sinners who are alleged to be corrupt.

This unfortunate dilemma could have been avoided if President Buhari had, immediately after assuming office, compensated political investors for their contributions to his victory without preachment on corruption of the past.

He could, as well, have declared that after the swearingin of the new administration, anyone caught for corrupt practices would not only be arrested and prosecuted but listed in the National Database of Corrupt People (NDCP).

Meanwhile, it is worthy of note that there has been more noise on corruption of the past than setting concrete agenda to avoid the pitfalls of the past. There could be collateral damages if average Nigerian civil servants, especially those in Abuja are probed to justify the sources of their comfortable livelihood outside their meagre but legitimate remunerations when the untouchable campaign fund mobilisers and political godfathers are yet to be queried on their sources of wealth in influencing political decisions.

A sincere war against corruption campaign, especially on past misdeeds, can be handled in a more refined, matured and responsible manner devoid of suspicious antics that could be condemned as mere political witch-hunt.

• Shuaib writes from Abuja via yashuaib@yahoo.com.

38

L

AST week, reports in the media indicated that the All Progressives Congress (APC) was close to resolving the logjam over its leadership positions in the Senate. The reports indicated that the political solution, being worked on by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara was, close to striking a deal over the crisis in the senate.

The trouble, if you will recall erupted over the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki as Senate President on June 9. His emergence was against the grains of opinion of the leadership of the APC, which had named Senator Ahmad Lawan as its preferred choice.

Perhaps, to further rob salt into the injury, Saraki was seen to have committed further “sins” including allowing the emergence of Senator Ike Ekweremadu of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) as the Deputy Senate President. Further to that, Saraki also named his allies, including Senator Ali Ndume as Senate Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah as his deputy as well as Senator Francis Alimikhena as Deputy Chief Whip. He only allotted the position of Chief Whip to Senator Sola Adeyeye, who also appears on the list of the party.

Contrary to that, the APC had on June 24 written Saraki to name Senator Lawan, as proposed Senate Leader, Senator George Akume as his deputy, while it also named Sola Adeyeye as Chief Whip and Abu Ibrahim as Deputy Senate Whip.

In the books of the APC, Saraki had committed compound infractions and must be dealt with. The Senate has not regained its usual robustness since June 9. An “axis of evil” had been created with perpetual crisis erupting from the camp of the Senate Unity Forum (SUF) which is pushing the party’s position on the floor.

Spokesman of that group, Senator Kabir Marafa had become a thorn in the flesh of the Saraki- led Senate with scuffles and eruptions of near violence on the floor since June 9.It was apparent that something must give at a stage and the chamber have to regain its natural shape. That is where the efforts by Dogara come in handy.

With reports indicating that the Dogara committee, which is working in tune with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and other stakeholders had reached

IN 1952, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka and six other mates of his, at the University College Ibadan, now University of Ibadan formed a confraternity called The Pyrates Confraternity to separate themselves “from stodgy establishment and its pretentious products in a new educational institution different from a culture of hypocritical and affluent middle class; different from alienated colonial aristocrats”. What started as a noble idea decades ago has now been so abused that as Frankenstein’s monster, it has gotten out of control and is fast consuming the lives of our children and the society at large. It has taken such a devilish and occult dimension that all forms of criminality are perpetrated by the different groups that exist all over our educational institutions.

A frightening dimension is the introduction of cultism to primary schools, which are meant to be avenues for laying educational foundations. Our primary schools are fast becoming grounds where cultism thrives with many of such groups being overtaken by occult practices.

Just last Tuesday, Radio Nigeria Ibadan broke the story of about fourteen pupils of St. James Primary School Ologuneru Ibadan (aged between seven and nine) that were allegedly initiated into an occult group. A follow-up last Wednesday by the radio station revealed that the pupils had confessed to the school authorities. In interviews conducted with some of them and aired on the station, the pupils claimed to have killed six persons through diabolical means. They also claimed that they were initiated into the occult group through the handkerchief that Barakat, a JSS 3 student of Community High School, Ologuneru rubbed on their foreheads. Confirming the allegations, the girl Barakat, explained that she was initiated into the group by one of her neighbours and that she in turn initiated these other children. Accompanying pictures on the website of Radio Nigeria showed deep cuts (the initiation marks) on their foreheads. The initiated pupils explained that Barakat who had access to them because the two schools were within the same compound did not explain to them the purpose of the initiation.

In her defence, Barakat said that those that got the mark willingly came to her, a claim that was refuted by one of

25 October, 2015

the lynxeye with Taiwo adisa

08072000046 taiadisbabatj@gmail.com

When will APC end the drama in the Senate?

an agreement which would see the leadership of the APC as currently constituted except Adeyeye lose their seats to those preferred by the APC. The development would also ensure that those to lose their positions are accommodated in the committee positions that are yet to be constituted. Words were said to have gone to those affected including

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

Cultism among primary school children

the pupils. It was discovered that some of the pupils, who initially claimed to have gotten the bruises while playing, had sworn to an oath not to divulge the information to anyone, not even their parents if they did not want to lose their lives. The marks on their heads (fourteen of them) however raised the suspicion that made the school authorities enquire about such a coincidence (bruises while playing) on the foreheads of fourteen

Sunday Tribune

Ndume, Na’Allah and Alimikhena but reports indicated that only Ndume had refused to accede to the request.

According to findings, Ndume, who had refused the offer when the idea was broached with him by Saraki, practically tongue lashed the stakeholders who met him over the issue. He was said to have been invited to the Presidential villa and told to go and resign in order not to continue to hold down the peace option in relation to the Political solution. Osinbajo, Oyegun and Senator Danjuma Goje were said to have attended the meeting.

But Ndume was said to have flatly rejected the offer and insisted on keeping his seat since he was voted for by members of the North East caucus of the APC. He was said to have told the leaders that even Saraki cannot compel him to leave the seat. He was also said to have declared that the party cannot sanction him on the position and that if they so think and expel him, he would still win election no matter the party he joins.

Ndume was also said to have told the leaders that the APC needs him more that he needs it and that he had been winning elections since his days in the PDP. It thus appears that the political solution was heading for the rocks even before it could set sail.

What is to be done? This is where the leadership qualities of the APC leaders would come into play.

In handling this matter, the APC needs to learn from the former ruling party, the PDP, which handled situations like this almost clinically for 16 years.

Though the idea of party supremacy was existing in the days the PDP held sway, it was not slammed on the faces of the members of the National Assembly.

While the party influenced all appointments on the floor, it often refrained from forcing its positions down the throats of its foot soldiers in the National Assembly. Where that was done, it backfired. If history is there for us to learn from, then the APC should not repeat the errors committed by the PDP at the infancy of this Republic.

What the party needs to do is to call its members in, appeal to their sense of nationalism and then ask for the way forward. Any attempt to slam decisions on party members in the name of party supremacy would only backfire. The time for the APC to forge a united Senate and then move the nation forward is now.

pupils in the same school. The Barakat of a girl couldn’t have been more than 12 or 13 years old herself; and it is alarming that she had such a strong hold on these young children. A parent who was interviewed said she virtually had to beat the living daylights out of her child before that child confessed to being in the group.

About two weeks ago, a young boy of about six was physically assaulted by two other children in the neighbourhood. The other two, one also six and the older in his early teens forcefully opened the victim’s mouth and poured petrol into it. The boy was almost roasted alive but for divine intervention. Reason? There had been a disagreement between the parents of the two sets of children and the one set decided to teach the father of the other a lesson by that devilish act of theirs. As the victim spewed the petrol out of his mouth, one of the antagonists lit a match and the fire burnt the victim’s throat. It was frightening! I couldn’t imagine that children that young could be so heartless and so hardened.

Such occurrences as narrated above are reflections of the decadence in the society and the extent to which parents have abdicated their responsibilities of moulding and nurturing their children. True, the initiation of the fourteen happened in a public school and there is a tendency to believe that there is a high prevalence of such in public schools, yet a recent report revealed that cultism in primary and secondary schools are more prevalent in private schools. It does not really matter where the prevalence is; the important thing is for parents to awaken to their responsibilities of raising morally upright children instead of devolving their parental duties to teachers and schools. It is a shame that most parents would gladly leave their children in school from 7am until as late as 5pm before picking them up. Virtually all the child’s waking hours (10 solid hours) are spent with strangers; it is within this 10-hour period that children pick up habits and mannerisms that are strange to the parents; and they exclaim that the monster they were confronted with was not the child they raised. What would one expect where there is little or no child/parent interaction in a twenty four hour day? The ball is in our courts as parents and we had better play it well.

39

25 October, 2015

ON THE

Sunday Tribune

With Bolanle Bolawole turnpot@gmail.com 07052631058

lord’sday

Matters arising from Buhari’s ministerial nominees (III)

B

Y the time you are reading this, it is most likely that all – or at least, most – of those proposed as ministers by President Muhammadu Buhari would have been cleared by the Senate. Can we call the Buhari ministerial nominees – or ministers - a good buy, as they say? The answer is “yes”; interestingly, it is also “no”. Yes, because, truth be told, it is obvious serious efforts were made to come up with a good list. This administration said time without number that it would not be business as usual and I believe they made strenuous efforts to walk the talk, even if, in the end, they floundered for reasons beyond their control. I suspect there is an original list of ministers-designate that Buhari compiled and which the secret service had helped him to vet but which, eventually, he had to keep to himself when he came up against party and godfather brick walls. I am sure you know that as powerful as they appear in this country, even presidents have godfathers\masters. “Elewon l’oga”, meaning, “prisoners have masters”, as they say!

Even at that, it is also obvious that the eventual list they came up with attempted to sift the wheat from the chaff. They made an effort to present a credible list. Better put, from the pool of resource-persons to which they found themselves restricted to make their pick, they did their level best to pick the very best. In a couple of cases, they even made daring forays into the forbidden forest of the uninitiated (those who have never been in the corridors of power).

The protestation of anti-corruption groups notwithstanding, the list of ministers is about the best pick you can have from the pool; the most conscionable among the country’s generally underperforming ruling class; those who are still modest and who believe that “eating” must be accompanied by some level of service. The reason why corruption is killing Nigeria today is because we have graduated from the First Republic era of 10 per cent bribe-taking to the supersonic age where contracts are inflated 1000 or more percent and, still, quality job is not done. In times past, the jobs were not only done, they were also very well done.

Hence roads, buildings, and other projects constructed in the 1950s and 60s are still with us today whereas those constructed a few years ago have all fallen apart. In State as well as Federal budgets, projects are voted humungous amount on paper year-in, year-out; the money is accessed and shared by those concerned; yet, no sod is turned. If we are lucky to have moderately conscionable persons in government; those whose conscience has not been totally seared and whose souls have not been completely sold out to the devil, then, our situation will become a lot better over time. I may be wrong but this is the best that I believe we can have in the circumstance. May it get better as we go along!

If I sound too pessimistic for your liking, pardon me! I do not mean to pour

cold water on the enthusiasm of those who have faith in the ability and or resolve of Buhari and his vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to turn the tide and rescue this nation. But I have my doubts! Quote me: In the end, the best of the efforts of Buhari and Osinbajo would be no more than a flash in the pan or, better put, a candle in the wind; it will not be sustainable if certain conditions were not met. Whatever happened to the billions of dollars left by former President Olusegun Obasanjo for his successor, Umoru Yar’Adua, in 2007 or the thriving state enterprises the same Obasanjo bequeathed to Shehu Shagari in 1979? While Karl Marx and Frederick Engels postulated that “the history of all societies is the history of class struggles”, their bourgeois counterparts countered that “the history of all societies is that of elite rule”. Both were right. There are social classes in all societies and the struggle to corner and control state resources through access to state power is eternal, even though, in most societies the struggle appears to have been long settled in favour of the ruling\master class to the chagrin of the oppressed, toiling masses. Another truth, however, is that in all societies, indeed, in every human organisation, be it political, social, cultural or religious, it is the elite that rule. Even in the best of democracies, the people do not, and cannot, rule.

Democracy defined as “government of the people by the people and for the people” died with the Greek city-states. Population upsurge and urbanization have combined to make it impracticable any more, even in the villages, for every able-bodied adult to gather in the village square and participate in arriving at the decisions that rule their lives. The passion for democracy properly so-called is hallucinatory and nostalgic; reaching out, as it were, for a past that is absolutely beyond reach.

So, (bourgeois) power theorists are

right in their construct of the pyramid of power in which a tiny minority sit at the top while the vast majority make up the base. The middle class, lower upper class and such other classifications\stratifications where they exist, fill the gap. This is so in our mosques and churches; town’s unions and social clubs are no different.

Interestingly, this is also the case in Socialist\Communist countries and organisations! There is a cabal that rule; what makes the difference is the end to which the power that they wield on behalf of the people is put. Is it to subjugate and oppress the masses while allowing the leaders the luxuries denied the people or is it to lift the people from poverty and oppression and give them a taste of the good life? But even where the ruling elite deploy state resources in the interest of the people’s well-being, this does not still translate into the people being the ones that rule. Indeed, theorists of power posit that when revolutions take place, what is immediately abolished is not inequality and what is enthroned is not rule of the people. To the contrary, new ruling elite fill the void created by the departing elite and the power pyramid, like water that is troubled, soon settles down. This must be what Presidential adviser, Femi Adeshina, meant recently when he referred to his principal, Muhammadu Buhari, as the “new Sherriff” in town, who has replaced “old Sherriff” Goodluck Jonathan! And the beat goes on! But may it not be the same old beat!

If it is not going to be the same old beat, then, there is something which is lacking and which must be quickly done. In most countries desirous of meaningful development, whether Capitalist or Socialist\ Communist, elite consensus is formed around development goals. This is where conscionable and visionary leadership comes in to galvanise and give direction;

not that any leader can single-handedly develop any nation. It is not a one-man show; if it is reduced to that, it becomes mere theatrics or what Williams Shakespeare described as so much sound and fury but in the end signifying nothing. The belief of many is that Buhari and Osinbajo are visionary enough and can provide the needed leadership to galvanise the citizenry to action; I believe so, too. But should they allow the din of the messianic chant everywhere resonating around them to deafen them to words of wisdom and of reason; we may all, in the end, fall flat on our face. If they succumb to the allure of partisanship, they will fail to rise to the lofty height of statesmanship that the mission at hand demands. Sadly, I am not encouraged to vouch that this administration will rise up to the occasion because on two very critical occasions when attempts – however imperfect - were made in the past to create a consensus of the ruling elite, the president\APC stood hands akimbo.

The first was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission aka Oputa panel set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. It is on record that Buhari snubbed the panel.

The second was the National Conference of the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan, which Buhari and his party, APC, also snubbed. I am tempted to think that Buhari and or his party do not have a sufficient understanding of the place of consensus-building amongst the nation’s power elite in propelling the onerous task of nation-building. I am also tempted to believe that these are guys who run solo and who think they can salvage the country all by themselves.

It has been posited, and appropriately so, that the ruling ideas in any given society are the ideas of the ruling class.

What, if I may ask, are the ideas ruling the Nigerian nation? What are the ideas or body of ideas that the country’s ruling elite subscribe to? Are we not operating a free-for-all, a Hobbesian state of nature of the war of one against all; is it not everyone for himself and God for us all? Yet, we often say, glibly, that the anti-graft war can only be won when all Nigerians shun corruption. What we are saying in effect is that there is a need for a Code of Conduct to be known and subscribed to by all and sundry, with the ruling class leading the way, for us to make a head way not only in the battle against corruption but also in our dream of rapid economic development. Even the Nigeria Football Federation, as dumb as it is, knew that simple truth when it decided on a code of conduct for footballers! Once consensus is built across party, religious, ethnic, and social divides, whoever becomes minister has a gauge to measure his or her performance.

There are dos and don’ts and penalties are not only known to all but must obligatorily be inflicted, regardless whose ox is gored.

As they say, there is honour even amongst thieves. Let us strive to first establish such honour here. That done, it will no longer matter who is made ministers or if all the leaders come from a single hamlet in the country!

40

25 October, 2015

language&style A harvest of errors!

S

AMPLE 1: “After taken the oath of office in 29th of May, 2015, after his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) won a landslide victory at the polls, Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State in his determination to take Kebbi State out of the woods, set up various machineries that will galvanized and transform the state to comply with current trend of civilization and globalization…In the power sector, Governor Bagudu is of the strong belief that for any state economy to be develop, there must be steady power supply to people both the small, medium and large scale businesses…In addition, he released money for the purchase of two 11.7kva transformers and 50 units 7.5kva subtransformers that would transmit power from the 11.7kva to various parts of Birnin Kebbi, the state capital. This is now in force…Shocked by the meager amount of money he met in government covers on assumption of office, Governor Bagudu set up a 25 man committee headed by his deputy, Suma’ila Dabai Yombe, to look into the finances of the state government under former Governor Saidu Usman Dakingari…

The giant Flour Mills Plc aim to establish a full fledges Flour Mills Company in the State, because of the abundance rice cultivation and production which cut across 17 out of the 21 local government areas of the State…Governor Atiku Bagudu’s administration set up a committee to verify the Local Government finances and also to establish the accurate figure of staffs in each of the local government council areas. In the area of sanitation, a committee headed by a retired Navy Captain was mandated to clear and get rid of the heaps of refuse that dotted every nook and crannies of the state capital.

Further, the clearing of drainages and seaways for easy passage of erosion has drastically prevented flooding which has been the bane of the metropolis in the past…The governor also used the opportunity of the visit to advocate for strong economic ties between Kebbi and Benin Republic…” (Atiku Bagudu’s 100 Days: The Story so Far, The Nation On Sunday, September 27, 2015) This piece of communication is marred, in fact almost ruined, by all sorts of errors. In many places, the lexical, syntactic and idiomatic choices are far too puerile, too infantile for the level of seriousness the medium in which it appears confers on the discourse. On the whole, it is difficult to tell when the lapses are the result of poor mastery of the language or insufficient attention or even inability to pay attention to superficial forms. It is impossible to exhaust the analysis of the errors in one single week. At any rate, not every error can and will be attended to; analytic attention will be paid to only those errors from which, in our judgment, readers, especially young learners, are likely to learn the most.

Take the form taken which occurs in the following context: “after taken the oath of office.” It is indeed disturbing that the writer is not familiar enough with the language to know that it is the –ing form of take that the context here requires. He obviously doesn’t know that there are two contexts in which the ing form can occur. There is the use as a present participle where it is preceded by a relevant form of be. What are the forms of be?

They are: is, am, are, was, were, being, been, and be. The following sentences illustrate this usage: 1) We are taking a decision on the matter immediately. 2) The students are not taking us seriously because we are not taking our work seriously.

3) Why is it taking you such a long time to do the job? 4) Members of the community are taking laws into their hands. 5) The chairman is not taking the matter lightly even though the issue has been discussed fairly extensively. 6) The lecturer is taking us through the process of developing an electrical device. 7) He was taking us to his new house when the incident occurred. 8) Hungry and tired, we were taking turns at the steering.

The other context in which the ing form is used is that of the gerund---a form in which the verb has been converted to a noun by the addition of ing. The following sentences illustrate the usage of the gerundive nominal form: 1) He was commended for taking the pains to help the weak and the elderly. 2) He would remain a hero forever for taking the country out of the woods economically. 3) After taking several samples of his blood, the medical team certified that the man was totally healthy. 4) The police have been blamed for taking the innocent man into custody. 5) In taking that decision, we were guided by a sense of fairness and the interest of the company. 6) The chairman praised the management team for taking those measures that prevented the misunderstanding from snowballing into a major crisis. 7) Nobody should persecute me for taking a different position. 8) The appropriate thing you should have done before taking the visitor round the premises was to take permission from the chairman.

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

Sunday Tribune

line

life with

Niyi Osundare

Random Blues As for the en form (taken), it occurs in the context of the perfect tense. The following sentences illustrate the usage: 1) Why has it taken you years to complete the job? 2) I have not taken time to reflect on the matter. 3 She has taken the boy to his father. 4) How many papers have you taken today? 5) Your parents seem to have taken the matter lightly. 6) My candid opinion is that he has taken his job seriously so far. 7) The man obviously has taken interest in the affairs of the lady. 8) The president has taken the nation to a greater height.

As a past participle, the form taken also occurs in the context of passive sentences: 1) A different position was taken by the chairman. 2) The suspect has been taken to court. 3) The matter was not taken with the seriousness it deserved. 4) The decision was not taken at the appropriate time. 5) The food was taken with milk. 6) Not surprisingly, the information was taken with a pinch of salt. 7) The problem is that wrong steps were taken at the initial stage.

At any rate, the form taking should replace taken in the context under review: “after taking the oath of office.”

Next, we note the particle (in) which occurs in the following context: “in 29th of May, 2015.” Note in particular the mention of the exact date---29th. Here lies the problem. Once the exact date is indicated, as it is here, the preposition that should occur where the particle in occurs in the writer’s phrase is on.

Please read the following sentences: 1) Nigeria gained her independence on October 1, 1960. 2) On February 13, 1976, something of immense historical importance happened in this great country.

3) I will arrive, by God’s grace, on Friday September 5. 4) The protest is scheduled to take place on the first day of January, 2016. 5) The meeting will be held on 17th August, 2015. 6) The controversial election took place on June 12, 1993. 7) Every four years, the newly elected public officers are sworn in on the 29th day of May. Further examples of contexts in which the preposition on is used: 1) Let’s meet on Thursday next week. 2) The dialogue took place on Monday last week. 3) Are you sure you will be there on Wednesday? 4) I hope to see you on Saturday morning. 5) When I visited him on Sunday morning, I found out that he wasn’t preparing to go to church. 6) I was with the family on Christmas day.

7) She woke up on that fateful day, happy, cheerful and upbeat. 8) On the day of his coronation, his wife could not receive visitors.

The following sentences exemplify the context in which the particle in appears: 1) Born in 1962 in Nigeria, the man has been to all the continents of the world. 2) The Nigerian Civil War started in 1967 and ended in 1970. 3) In what year did Nigeria become a Federal Republic? 4) Rains usually start in March every year. 5) I propose that the programme should come up early in the year. 6) The current democratic experience started in 1999.

The point of the discussion and illustrations is that the particle on should replace in in the context under review: “on 29th of May, 2015.”

This is how much we can handle this week. The analysis continues next week by God’s grace.

Statesmen think about the future State-men think about the next election See, Statesmen think about the future State-men think about the next election Eye on the podium, eye on the polls In every wily act, a permanent feature

The hardest habit to kick Is the one that harbours the guilt Yes, the hardest habit to kick Is the one that harbours the guilt A stubborn vow, a lingering burden It plunges the sword right to the hilt

They can make seven giants Dance on the head of a pin Hear? Make seven giants Dance on the head of a pin Too far gone on the other side They never think about their sin

If at first you don’t succeed Fail fail and fail again Say, if at first you don’t succeed

The other context in which the ing form is used is that of the gerund--a form in which the verb has been converted to a noun by the addition of ing. The following sentences illustrate the usage of the gerundive nominal form: 1) He was commended for taking the pains to help the weak and the elderly. 2) He would remain a hero forever for taking the country out of the woods economically

Fail fail and fail again The powerman’s skin is crocodile hide Remote from remorse, inured from pain

Medal after medal after medal His coat has become a busy burden Hun, medal after medal after medal His coat has become a busy burden He bends and bows in his cumbersome cloak Right down to its bewildered button

41

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

With Rita Okonoboh rosarumese@gmail.com 08053789087

tribunechurch

Chibok girls: Fathers share pain,

hope at Christian forum

T

oday, October 25, 2015 makes it 559 days since over 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped from Chibok, Borno State.

After a gruesome 18 months with their daughters still within the confines of the Boko Haram terrorist group, Christian fathers in Chibok have expressed the hope that their daughters will return some day.

A number of the fathers of the over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from Chibok, recently spoke about the continued dangers their families face on a daily basis, and shared their pain of not knowing what has happened to their daughters.

Kristin Wright, director of advocacy for relief group Open Doors USA, told The Christian Post in a phone interview last week that she was able to meet with 10 of the Chibok fathers during a recent trip to Nigeria. She revealed that despite the grim situation their families find themselves in, the fathers are refusing to give up hope that one day their daughters will return to them.

“One of the fathers, when asked, ‘Where do you think your daughter might be?’ he said, ‘She is the hands of God.’ It was a sentiment that was echoed by all of the parents that I met with. They are not going to think about any other reality,” Wright told CP. While there have been reports that many of them have since been married off to jihadists, the Nigerian military has reiterated its commitment t doing everything possible to find them and reunite them with their families, but, so far

You would think that with the media spotlight on the issue, things would have improved in this area, but unfortunately the security issues are still very intense. These fathers, they see security issues on a daily basis, they are trying to protect their own families from the onslaught of Boko Haram.

the parents have little to no information on the fate of their daughters.

According to Wright, “In Chibok, the situation has only gotten worse. You would think that with the media spotlight on the issue, things would have improved in this area, but unfortunately the security issues are still very intense. These fathers, they see security issues on a daily basis, they are trying to protect their own families from the onslaught of Boko Haram.

“There is a constant fear that Boko Haram will attack again. The challenge to international organisations is that Chibok is incredibly dangerous to reach. All the roads leading to Chibok, it is incredibly risky to drive on those roads because of Boko Haram.”

Wright said that despite the initial media focus on the kidnapped Chibok girls last year, the families are disappointed that there has not been further help from the international community.

“These families, in many cases, feel incredibly forgotten by the international community, because there is sort of this one moment of media attention, and then most of these families remain in an incredibly isolated town,” without much information and with little security, she said.

“So many people forgot about it. After it happened, and the #bringbackourgirls campaign, it sort of drifted out of the international spotlight, and there was definitely this sense from the fathers that the situation hasn’t changed for them.

Their daughters are still missing, there is still urgency.”

Open Doors has been one of the few NGOs providing direct help on the ground to the Chibok families, and to other victims of violence throughout northern Nigeria. The relief group has been reaching out with trauma counsellings for the grieving parents, and has also been providing much needed basic supplies.

A number of the families in Chibok have found themselves

‘Sometimes, poverty influences prophecies’ Pg42

on the brink of financial disaster, as many of their food supplies have been destroyed by subsequent Boko Haram raids.

President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to eradicate Boko Haram from Nigeria, and his army has been battling hard the Islamic militants throughout 2015. Wright said that the fathers have hope that Buhari will be successful in the end.

“They feel hopeful about the new president, hopeful that he can make a difference in the area,” she said.

At least 150 Boko Haram militants were killed in heavy fighting in the Madagali and Gwoza areas last week, The Associated Press reported.

Self-defense fighters said that they recovered guns and explosives from the terrorists that could have been used to launch another large attack, like the many bombing operations Boko Haram have carried out in the past few months that have killed hundreds.

U.S. President Barack Obama pledged $5 million in funding to Nigeria’s military, and praised Buhari’s integrity, saying that the Nigerian president has “a very clear agenda in defeating Boko Haram extremists of all sorts inside his country.”

Wright noted that many of the fathers are Christians, and have been looking to their faith to give them hope and courage through these dark times.

“I can see personally from spending a day with these men the toll that the kidnapping of their daughters has taken on their lives, and the lives of their families. One man even told me, ‘I would prefer to not even live my life.’ But he added, ‘We have to abide by the word of God, we have to have patience. God promised that all that happens is known by Him.’ And he said, and most of the fathers agreed with him: ‘We have faith that our girls will come home.’”

Wright added: “That’s something I definitely did see — that there is hope that the girls will return one day.”

CSR is a must for churches —RCCG Pg43

We must keep shining amidst darkness

—Oluwarohunbi

Pg44

42 tribunechurch

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

Sometimes, poverty influences prophecies

—Rev’d Olubo

Reverend Bayode Oluwole Olubo is the visionary of the House of Favour Church. In this interaction with SEYI SOKOYA, he speaks on the state of the nation and the activities of religious leaders. Excerpts:

W

HAT is your perception of the Buhari-led administration?

Buhari is not God. It is only God that can stand fully on his words.

Now that the ministerial list is out, are you saying that nobody is lobbying for the positions? People will still fault him because of the sentiments on ground. Loyalty is the first component in leadership and it is what will generate team work and team work is what will produce good work, because leadership is a process. The fear of Buhari is instilling fear in Nigerians now at all levels and sectors. We can now see the effect on electricity and telecommunications. It is sad that Nigeria is being engulfed with decadence and corruption and it has become a culture. We all need to rise to cleanse this nation, because Buhari cannot deliver all our expectations alone.

Has God revealed anything to you about Nigeria’s prospects?

I have the confidence that there are better days ahead for this country. If we can experience constant electricity for two years, I bet that Nigeria will generate more income than any other country in the world, because we have the resources, capacity, and intellectual wherewithal, but the only challenge is that the environment doesn’t give room for professionalism. We are aware that Buhari is bringing change to Nigeria, but it should be gradual process.

As a pastor, are you satisfied with the state of Christianity today?

I am not a pastor, but a prophet and I have refused to function in the prophetic office the way people manipulate it, especially for profit and to create fear in their members. Only few prophecies are positive. When pastors are hungry, they will say what God has not told them. Though some lies are scriptural, Elijah said there will not be rain for three and a half years and God told him that though he didn’t ask him to say so, since Elijah had said it, given the fact that he was a righteous and a sincere man, he stamped it. He made that decree to shape them up. Abraham and

Peter, among others, also lied too. This shows that there are some lies that are tenable, but you don’t create lies to instil fear in your members. What is the essence of John 3:16-27 which says “I have not sent you to the world to condemn the world…”

Personally, God has mandated me never to condemn any human irrespective of any damage, because I was once a condemned person, but grace found me out and I should let them see the grace in me.

Poverty is the brain behind some prophesies; we also make some prayers out of poverty. People have forgotten that givers never lack. Luke 6:38 also confirms it.

How do you think this can be corrected?

To be candid, I never loved God and I never wanted to do His works, because I never believed I needed God in my life for anything. But now, I am the one in love with Him. I have now realised that He paid the bill of my sins even before I was born.

Don’t forget that pastors are also human beings. Good prophets are on the mountain crying and fasting on daily basis, but some pastors wants to live comfortably and maintain affluence by creating fear. I told one of my sons who contested in the last Lagos State governorship general election that he would not win, despite some pastors and prophets who had promised and assured him that he would emerge the winner. He came back after six months and accepted the truth. It is uncalled for.

Poverty, greed and self-centeredness have blindfolded some men of God. In fact, the competition among pastors now is worse than in corporate organisations. We

Most people have transferred all their problems to pastors, forgetting that pastors are also human beings.

should always cultivate the habit of saying the truth irrespective of any temptation.

We don’t need to cut corners, because it is scriptural to be rich. We don’t have to be desperate in the work of God, because it is profitable Why don’t some prophecies come to pass?

Many people have forgotten that there are principles of prophecies. Most people go to church with different motives; they are not ready to follow God, commit themselves to God and serve God wholeheartedly in privacy. They have transferred all their problems and confidence to pastors, forgetting that pastors are also human beings. This is why many pastors disappoint them. Another thing is that every man God created has his own prophet. Until you meet your own prophet, you will be stranded. Some church members are glued to one church because of the population, class, popularity or doctrine of the church, yet they are suffering. I told my members to look for another church if their lives don’t change within six month to one year; that means I am not sent to that particular person. Another thing is that I don’t call it my church; it is the church, because that is the only property God has on heart, so He is the one managing His church and the people.

How did you receive the calling?

I was born and bred in the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Oke-Anu in Isolo, Akure, Ondo State. According to my mum, the midwife at the maternity home gave a revelation that I am a prophet to this nation immediately I came out. So, I have been prophesying since 1974. I knew I had a calling but I was not ready to do it. I have done several things to discourage God from using me. Honestly, I have never bargained for what I am experiencing in the ministry. A lot of people hurt me, but the funniest thing is that the more people hurt me, the more I forgive and erase it from my mind. I had to leave my IT business for God’s work, because it got to a level that I was losing money and people would besiege my house for prayers and counselling before I go to work. It got to a stage

that I began to lose concentration and I no longer found fulfillment in what I did.

In 2004, my income was N20million per annum; I computerised the Lagos House of Assembly in 2004, I serviced Merger paints, SO&U, EKO Hospital, Evans Medical, Vita Malt among others. But I was not fulfilled, because of God’s vision. 11 years gone; I have never regretted dropping my IT business to follow God. You may be surprised that I am not under the doctrine of CAC this is because the ministry God gave me is different and I also have a conflicting personality, very controversial and will never lobby. I rededicated my life to Christ in the Redeemed Christian Church of God in 1986 and I left to start my ministry full time in 2004. There are lots of politics in the church that is even worse than that of PDP and APC. My area pastor refused to give me a branch because I wouldn’t compromise. I don’t have any grouse with the general overseer; I respect him and his anointing.

How have you impacted your generation?

My ministry is not only to preach, pray and prophesy, but to affect lives, especially the needy. We focus more on widows and we extend our hand of fellowship to them often. Plans are ongoing to also make them happy in December. In fact, I would celebrate my 50th birthday with the widows in few months’ time. This is the assignment God gave me. He said this church will never grow without welfare. A church is not worthy if it doesn’t affect the world better than it met it.

How have you been able to combine ministry and the home front?

The wisdom of God has made me achieve this with ease. Also, my wife and the children have been helpful and understanding. She never interfered in the ministry or climbed the altar in the first four years the church started. The secret is that if you miss God and you find a good woman, the good woman will reconnect you back to God, but if it is the other way round, it is a sorry state. My wife has really helped me.

And after God, it is my wife.

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25 October, 2015

churchnews

Sunday Tribune

With Olaide Sokoya ollydesanmi@yahoo.com 08074497425

Corporate Social Responsibility is a must for churches —RCCG

By Victor Ogunyinka

T

HE Zonal Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Higher Ground, Zone 19, Sanyo, Ibadan, Adekola Aderounmu, has categorically stated that it is essential and a must for churches to give back to their host environment, adding that it goes in tandem with the portion of the Bible that says cleanliness is next to godliness.

Pastor Aderounmu made this statement when the zonal headquarters coordinated areas and parishes under her to sanitise Boluwaji-Sanyo and its environs.

“Corporate Social Responsibility is a worldwide exercise and the RCCG has also imbibed the goodwill of cleanliness. The General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye has also encouraged this exercise.

“We are disposing their refuse, clean the gutters and drainage systems and we also have disinfectants and other protective kits to carry out this exercise with all precautions,” he said.

One of the coordinating ministers of the project, Area Pastor, Open Heavens, Pastor (Mrs) Oluwatoyin Oti, explained that the initiative was to demonstrate love to the community, stressing that Jesus is also particular about their wellbeing.

“Instead of going to remand homes or motherless homes, another way to demonstrate our love is by cleaning their garbage, cutting grasses and others, so that they will know that Jesus is also particular about their health.

“We are also reaching out to their souls; Jesus wants to rid their lives of every demons, so that they will be

BELIEVERS’ LoveWorld Incorporated, otherwise known as Christ Embassy, Warri Zone, in conjunction with Reach Out Nigeria 2015 Foundation, has renovated two patient wards and donated various medical equipment to the Warri Central Hospital.

The inauguration of the refurbished wards and donation, was held, in the spirit of Nigeria’s 55th Independence Anniversary, last week at the hospital’s premises in Warri, Delta State.

Among the wards refurbished were the Female Medical Ward and the Chest

Zonal Pastor, The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Higher Ground Zone 19, Adekola Aderounmu (left) with other ministers, during the Corporate Social Responsibility exercise at Boluwaji-Sanyo, Ibadan recently.

Bishop Odetoyinbo confers sacrament of confirmation on Catholic faithful NO fewer than eighty catholic faithful who are parishioners of Catholic Church of Transfiguration, Arepo, (CCTA) in Ogun State were last Sunday given the sacrament of confirmation by the Bishop of Abeokuta Diocese, Most Rev. Peter Kayode Odetoyinbo, in a spirit-filled Confirmation

Christ Embassy renovates wards, donates hospital equipment Ebenezer Adurokiya - Warri

receptive to the Holy Spirit,” she said.

Furthermore, the Area Pastor of Divine Touch, Davies Aregbesola, noted that the general overseer had clearly passed the vision of CSR to the ministers and both the workers and members have also tapped into that, adding that “this was what prompted a large turnout from all areas and parishes in the zone.”

Commenting on the project, an Islamic clergy, Musimilu Omonije revealed that the church had made good their promise of sanitising the environment, adding that a similar CSR project on free medical check-up was held last year.

Ward which were in a priorparlous state.

The church made a donation of two vacuum extractor, two wheelchairs, five glucometre, five Episiotomy scissors, two baby weighing scales, 40 bedsheets, 20 theatre outfits and long artery forceps, among other medical equipment.

Pastor of Christ Embassy, Warri Zone, Pastor Siji Dara, who was represented by his wife, Taiwo, said since government should not be expected to do all things for the masses because of limited resources, individuals and corporate organisations should rise to the occasion.

Mass.

The lucky faithful were conferred with the sacrament after passing through rigorous catecheism training and tests before the arrival of the Bishop who was on a canonical visit to the Parish.

Administering the sacrament on the parishioners at a well attended mass, Bishop Odetoyinbo urged the parishioners to change from their old ways as the sacrament being conferred on them requires them to live the rest of their lives as worthy followers and apostles of Christ.

According to His Lordship, “You are now confirmed as worthy ambassadors of Christ. Your attitude, conduct and behaviour must henceforth be Christ-like. You are also to be at the vanguard of evangelism, winning souls for Christ.”

Earlier in his homily, the bishop, who quoted extensively from the Holy Bible, Matthew chapter 18, verse 18 – 20 urged the faithful to go out like the apostles and preach the word of God.

Parish Priest, Catholic Church of Transfiguration, Arepo, Rev. Father Charles Soyombo (middle) with the Catholic faithful who received the Sacrament of Confirmation during Bishop Odetoyinbo’s canonical visit, last weekend.

Founder/General Overseer of Fresh Grace Tabernacle, Professor Reverend Ademola Akinpelu (second left) his wife, Olumide (left); the wife of former governor of Oyo State, Mrs Oluwakemi Alao-Akala and Reverend Tola Sofoluwe, during the prophetic praise atmosphere event, tagged: “By this time tomorrow”, held at Pentonrise event centre, Ibadan.

CAC Oke-Ife marks 20th children anniversary IT was a period of spiritual rejuvenation last Sunday, at Christ Apostolic Church (Oke-Ife), Agbowo, Ibadan, as the church celebrated its 20th children anniversary.

The anniversary with the theme: “Remember your God in your youthful days,” saw renditions and presentations that were basi-

cally a call for self-appraisal and repentance, especially among believers.

In his speech, the anniversary chairman, Elder Alfred Folayan, called on parents to give priority to Christian education in the training of their children.

Also speaking at the event, the children coordinator,

Pastor Samuel Ogungbemi, while restating the theme of the programme, said 10 out of the 45 children teachers had been picked for further training.

Representatives of Oke Iwosan, Oke Orisun Iye, Oke Alaafia, Oke Igbala, Irefin, all of the CAC, among others were in attendance.

Children choristers of Christ Apostolic Church (Oke-Ife), during the 20th children anniversary of the church.

44 tribunechurch

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

We must keep shining amidst darkness —Bishop Oluwarohunbi •As Yewa Diocese celebrates 25 years of existence

By Rita Okonoboh

T

HE Diocese of Yewa, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Ilaro, Ogun State, is currently in celebratory mode as the church marks 25 years of its existence with events which began on October 14, 2015 and will end with the grand finale that will feature a thanksgiving service and presentation of awards/book launch slated for 2nd November.

Other activities which form part of the programme include a three-day revival service, talent hunt/choral competition, women sports fiesta, bible quiz, diocesan power night, football competition, among others.

Speaking with Tribune Church on the history of the diocese, The Right Reverend Michael Oluwarohunbi, Bishop of Yewa Diocese, Anglican Communion, noted that “The history of Yewa diocese is synonymous with the history of Christianity in Yewaland. The church fathers saw the need to take the gospel closer to the people and the diocese was inaugurated on November 2, 1990. Our members are fully aware that Yewa is on the move and the joy continues even after the celebration of the anniversary.

We have reached out to those in the Diaspora to work with the church in spreading the gospel of Christ.

“The efforts of the predecessors – Bishop T.I.O. Bolaji and Bishop S.O.M. Adebola – are very commendable in terms of taking the diocese to greater heights, and we have improved on their efforts. The church’s presence is felt everywhere. The Anglican Church is the official church of the Yewa people and we have never relented in making the life of the people better spiritually and materially. We have over 70 priests, which is also our way of showing commitment to the spiritual needs of the people. When Christ came, He came with the total gospel – preaching and doing good – and that is what the Anglican Church in Nigeria is known for which we also preach in this diocese.”

Sharing the efforts of the church towards societal development, Bishop Oluwarohunbi stated that “We have established Ipadeola Bolaji Model College which is of the highest standards, evident in the total success recorded in this year’s external examinations. It is also worthy of note that the fees are cheaper than what is obtainable elsewhere. The youth ministry is also dear to us in this diocese and we have trained youths in collaboration with Peter Akinola Foundation. We have also organised em-

powerment schemes for the youths as part of activities marking the anniversary.”

What next after 25?

According to him, the future of the diocese is very bright. In his submission, “The foundation has been laid and what is next is for us to build on every aspect of the lives of the people by ensuring that the church plays its role in strengthening its presence. We will make our impact felt both within the defined area of our diocese and also outside, in line with Christ’s injunction that we should take the gospel to every nook and cranny of the world. We hope to take the church to the next level as God wills. The years ahead are for work.

“The anniversary will also feature ‘Mission Safari’ which will, by God’s grace, herald the planting of a church at Ipake, under Eredo Archdeaconry and we will also continue with missionary work. There will also be a ‘Carnival for Christ’ which will see the presence of Christians from the 17 administrative areas of the diocese.”

Church proliferation and moral standards With the seeming imbalance between the proliferation

of churches and declining moral standards, based on the church’s 25 years experience with spreading the gospel, Oluwarohunbi noted that “the church has been doing what can be done but societal problems are also on the increase and this can also be a fulfilment of the scriptures on the revelation of happenings in the last days. However, our responsibility as a church is to continue to preach the gospel which has the power to remould the people into what God wants them to be. We are in the business of making the light of the gospel shine through the darkness of the society.”

The church, government and the people While lamenting on the neglect suffered by the people of the diocese in terms of government efforts, the bishop expressed optimism that Ilaro is on the priority list of the government, especially as Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, settles down in his second term in office.

Noting that while the church had experienced setbacks in certain areas, especially with government presence, with the various activities embarked upon by the church, Yewa Diocese can be said to be competing favourably with notable dioceses within the Anglican Communion.

Bishop of Yewa Diocese, Anglican Communion, The Right Reverend Michael Oluwarohunbi (eight right), with other members of the diocesan clergy.

Baptist deacons urged to partner with local pastors for spiritual growth

By Tunde Ogunesan DEACONS of the Nigerian Baptist Convention have been urged to equip themselves with qualities that will make them increase nobly as servants of God and partner with their pastors to edify the church of God. This advice was contained in an address delivered by the Chairman, Deacons Fellowship of the Nigerian Baptists Convention, Deacon Timothy Akanbi, during their annual retreat held recently at the Assemblies of God Mission Bethel camp Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.

Deacon Akanbi while stressing the objectives of the retreat stated that it is aimed at equipping the deacons “with qualities that will make us to be increasingly noble servants of God Almighty by partnering with the pastors effectively to edify the church of God, share experiences with deacons from other churches that will enable us function as better deacons in our local churches.”

Other objectives, according to Deacon Akanbi is ther pursuit to “ interact and make friends with other deacons from other churches in order to strengthen the bond within our fellowship” and “to be acquainted with the functions of the Convention with a view playing our part to strengthening it.”

During the retreat, there were seminars on various topics like “developing passion for evangelism and missions”, “deacons edifying the church through the gift of the holy spirit” and “deacons as leaders in the church” by Deacons Dr A.T. Onosode from Ebenezer Baptist Church, Sapele, Dr B.C Okoro from First Baptist Church, Owerri and Dr Sam Oloruntoba, OON, from Calvary Baptist Church, Ilo-

rin, respectively.

In addition, deacons and deaconesses were charged to always note that the Deaconship ministry exempts any deacon from taking chieftaincy title, even if he rotates out of office.

In his address, the President of the Nigerian Baptist Con-

vention, Reverend Dr Supo Ayokunle who was represented by the Special Assistant on Ecumenism and Special duties, Baptist Building, Ibadan, Reverend Dr O.O. Testimony appreciated God for the annual coming together of the retreat for spiritual growth, prayers and encouragement in the deaconship ministry.

Jesus House holds convention This year’s annual convention of Jesus House International Incorporated, which was held at the International Headquarters of the Church, William Ojediran Close, Papa Alajiki area of Ogbomoso, between Wednesday 30th September and Sunday, 4th October 2015 witnessed a large turnout of Christians from within and outside the country, with seasoned men of God that refreshed the congregation with the word of God, which resulted in copious miracles amongst the participants.

The convention that had as its theme “Ye Are Gods” taken from John 10:34, and featured Reverend Tunde Gideon from Lagos and Reverend (Dr) Paul Siyanbola, Voice of Power Ministry, Ogbomoso, as guest speakers.

The General Overseer of the Church, Pastor Olu Victor, in his opening charge, gave all glory to God for the journey so far. In explaining his call to the ministry, he narrated how God called him from the banking industry to start the church fourteen years ago.

Speaking on the theme of the convention, “Ye Are Gods”, Pastor Olu Victor emphasised that “whenever we have a wrong definition of our destinies, our destinations will be wrong. How far you can go in life depends on knowing

your appropriate identity of who you are before God and in heaven. If you are oblivious of your true identity, devil will push you up and down. It’s when you know who you are in Christ, you can never go far in life, because right identity leads to right destiny.”

Speaking at the convention, Pastor Tunde Gideon emphasised the characteristics of God Himself in us, noting that we need to study the word of God by which we can grow into spiritual maturity and have a supernatural encounter with God Himself.

Also speaking at the convention, Siyanbola, who spoke extensively on the theme of the convention said God wants us to rise up to our identities and challenges so as to be able to work miracles like God. Dignitaries present at the convention include, Pastor Mark Debo Taiwo from Ogbomoso; Pastor Dr (Mrs) Victoria Abioye, Senior Pastor, Jesus House Church, Randa, Ogbomoso; Pastor Abayomi Oluwaseun, Senior Pastor, Jesus House Church, Epe; Pastor Henry Newman, Senior Pastor, Accra, Ghana; Pastor Taiwo Oyewole, Lagos; Arch.

Yusuf Suleiman, Director, Built System, Lagos, among others.

45

tribunechurch with Most Revd J.O. Akinfenwa

with Bishop Emmanuel Badejo, fradebadejo@yahoo.com

In the world, but not of the world

Family: Back to our roots

Back to basics And Jesus points out where it all originates from! If we agree then it is logical to say that effectively tackling corruption would mean doing so from the roots from where these ills originate, namely the heart of every man. In other words a sincere Nigeria seeking to fight corruption must, along with other measures, restore the moral status of its population, knowing that prevention is not only better but cheaper than cure. Prominent among the social institutions best suited for this necessary task is, of course, the family; others being the schools, religious institutions, and organizations of civil society. Too often we see governments behave as if the family is of secondary importance to society. Nothing can be farther from the truth.

For Christians the fact that Jesus Christ came into the world through a family consecrates that institution already ordained

by God and confirmed by nature and anthropology. Therefore one cannot highlight enough the importance of the ongoing Synod on the Family by the universal Catholic Church. The Synod seeks to collate, address and engage the challenges endangering and undermining marriage and family life while confirming its role as the civilizing unit of all civilizations.

Re-launching platform of civilisation Today’s family institution needs to be

Sunday Tribune

dawnofanewera

firmfaith:rightreason

The seat of corruption A precious proverb of the Yoruba runs: “Ti aja ba fori ko imi, a mo ile olowo re” meaning that when a dog gets into serious trouble outside, it heads straight for its owner’s house. The recently concluded Nigerian Economic Summit, brought to the open once more, from the mouth of experts, how low Nigeria has fallen on many socio-economic development parameters. Two main reasons advanced for this are firstly, the crash of the price of oil, the country’s main revenue source and secondly, the persistent perception of the country as a major stakeholder in corruption. One of the questions raised also at the summit bordered on how to broaden the fight against corruption in Nigeria to cover more than just the activities of the government and the public service and extend it to other areas of the life of the citizenry. In this manner it is envisaged, we could ensure that even after the government leaves office the momentum against corruption could be sustained. My opinion is that we must see corruption as only the generic name for numerous, smaller-digit ills and tumors eating up the Nigerian nation. The list of Jesus Christ in the gospel might just eminently describe this phenomenon. He said “For from the inside, from a person’s heart, come the evil idea which lead him to do immoral things, to rob, to kill, commit adultery, be greedy and do all sorts of evil things: deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander, pride and folly” (Mk. 7: 20-22). It must be very hard indeed to find a more comprehensive sentence on what corruption really comprises.

25 October, 2015

assisted to enhance its performance.

Modern society must help guarantee the central role of the family in sustaining civilization. It is in the best interest of humanity to protect families against corrosive influences and aggression. The Second Vatican Council document Gaudium et Spes, long ago offered the following rich and evergreen perspectives which are worth sharing: “The family is a kind of school of deeper humanity. But if it is to achieve the full flowering of its life and mission, it needs the kindly communion of minds and the joint deliberation of spouses, as well as the painstaking cooperation of parents in the education of their children. The active presence of the father is highly beneficial to their formation. The children, especially the younger among them, need the care of their mother at home. This domestic role of hers must be safely preserved, though the legitimate social progress of women should not be underrated on that account. Children should be so educated that as adults they can follow their vocation, including a religious one, with a mature sense of responsibility and can choose their state of life; if they marry, they can thereby establish their family in favorable moral, social and economic conditions....

Thus the family, in which the various generations come together and help one another grow wiser and harmonize personal rights with the other requirements of social life, is the foundation of society”.

Arise all you powers “All those, therefore, who exercise influence over communities and social groups should work efficiently for the welfare of marriage and the family. Public authority should regard it as a sacred duty to recognize, protect and promote their authentic nature, to shield public morality and to favor the prosperity of home life. The right of parents to beget and educate their children in the bosom of the family must be safeguarded. Children too who unhappily lack the blessing of a family should be protected by prudent legislation and various undertakings and assisted by the help they need”. These wise thoughts are put together with only one purpose in mind, to create the best environment in which the drivers and foot-soldiers of the society are cultivated. If we have a dream of growing a society where corruption would be seen by the majority as undesirable we must reverse the wheels of this society in which over the years that cankerworm has become endemic”. In summary, the constitution, law enforcement, education and even employment cannot save society if a coalition of authorities do not act in favor of the family. The family, all through history, has done nothing but good. In these turbulent times well-meaning individuals and organisations should come to its rescue. Those who do will enjoy the favorable judgment of history and society can then seriously expect results in moral regeneration and social restoration. Now is neither too early nor too late to make that move.

Continued from last week THE seed of the word of God has been sown in our lives. Let us ask ourselves, what has been the result so far? Many Christians remain stunted and dwarfed in spiritual things. Year after year, they appear the same, if not worse. No advancement and no refining takes place in their lives. They exist but do not “grow up into Him in all things.”

Many of us are busybodies. We worry and complain about other men’s vineyards, but we neglect our own spiritual growth and ripening. Nigeria is what it is today because we Christians are who we are. If we were better Christians, Nigeria would be a better country. Why should it always be winter time in our hearts? Why is our spiritual garden always in the dry season? The rain is falling all around us, why are we still dry?

May God give us a new season; may He give us the former and latter rain together, so that we may become his instruments of revival in Nigeria and in the world in Jesus’ name.

When we begin to bring forth fruit, what shall the world around us see?

Righteousness Miracles Growth (numerical & spiritual) Victory in spiritual warfare A church that is strong morally & spiritually

Apostle Paul warns us in Ephesians 4:17-18: Ephesians 4:17-18 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: How do the gentiles “walk”? What are their characteristics? We can see the ways of the unsaved through their attitude towards Time Money Position Pleasure Sex Books Television and other products of technology Etc. The question then is, are we believers not beginning to copy the people of the world in their attitude towards money; in their attitude towards power; in their attitude towards sex; and so on. When you put each of these things in the possession of a Christian, the results should be different.

The gentile may use them to glorify self or the devil. The Christian should use them to glorify God. That is the difference. That is what shows that we are in the world, but not of the world.

To be continued

livingword

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

Engaging the wonders in the mystery of the anointing oil! (4) Since this month began, we have been examining the Mystery of the Anointing Oil and how it is one of the Kingdom mysteries that guarantee our mastery on earth. Last week, we look at the wonders forces inherent in this mystery and how they manifest in our lives. In this concluding edition, we shall explore more manifestations of this composite mystery as unveiled to Moses by God (Exodus 30:22-25, 30-31).

There are as follows: Restoration of Dignity: And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands (1 Samuel 10:3-4).

Supernatural favour: The anointing confers on us the aroma of favour (Psalms 45:6-9).

The anointing confers dominion on us: When the anointing comes on us, we are empowered for dominion over life situations and circumstances (1 Samuel 10:7).

Instant intervention: The Bible says: And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day (1 Samuel 10:9).

Supernatural change of level: When the oil came upon Saul, he received a new identity and experienced a change of level.

That will be your testimony from today! (1 Samuel 10:6, 10-13) But, how do we apply the oil?

We apply the oil on our foreheads: Just as the horn of every beast is on its forehead,

every redeemed child of God also possesses spiritual horns to beat down their foes and the anointing oil is the divine medium through which our horns are empowered.

Thus, when we anoint our foreheads, we are conferred with dominion over the forces of wickedness (Psalms 92:10; Ezekiel 3:8-9).

We can take a shot of the Oil for the uprooting of everything planted by the wicked: When we take a shot of the oil, the Holy Spirit goes forth with the mystery of the “fan and the fire” to flushes out every negativity in our system (Matthew 3:11-12; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

We can also anoint things that we desire to be separated unto God: These can include our offices, businesses, homes, construction sites, cars and all areas of concern to us (Exodus 30:26-27). In other words, everything that pertains to us is “anointable.”

When we engage this profound mystery in any aspect of our lives, the Bible says that every siege would end. That will be your portion in Jesus’ name! (Isaiah 10:27) Friend, we must understand that Kingdom mysteries are revelations from scriptures.

However, until we apply them, life would remain an adventure in frustration.

Therefore, Word practice is what guarantees our profiting from the mysteries discovered from scriptures. Thus, it is my prayer that this season shall be most profitable for you, as you believe and engage the mysteries of the oil and other mysteries gleaned from scriptures.

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25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

specialreport

Happily built, sadly abandoned The deplorable state of Ologbo health facility

BANJI ALUKO examines the situation of a health facility in Ologbo, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, on which millions of naira was spent but which has not provided the needed healthcare for people of the community, because it has been abandoned.

The health centre built by NNPC/ Pan Ocean in Ologbo, Edo State

O

NE of the greatest challenges facing Nigeria today is health. With a population of over 150 million scattered between the urban and rural areas, the nation lacks the needed medical manpower to cater for her huge population while existing medical facilities are overstretched. Even in situations where the manpower and the facilities are available, they are far above the reach of many average Nigerians, most of whom are too poor to access them. Such facilities, in most cases, are private establishments set up to make profit.

The rising poverty level in the country, indeed, has made public hospitals, where healthcare is not as expensive as the private hospitals, the most important facility rural people crave from government. Any rural community with a standard public hospital is usually considered blessed, as the people would not need to travel to the city or visit neighbouring communities to seek medical services.

The situation in Ologbo, a burgeoning border town in

Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State on the Benin-Warri Expressway, is rather paradoxical. Here is an oil-producing community that has been provided with an ultra-modern hospital, but whose doors have been put under lock and key since it was built and donated through the joint effort of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Pan Ocean Oil Company on October 23, 2014.

There was no way to take a look at the facilities inside the hospital save for the accounts of residents. They stated that the hospital was equipped with medical facilities, a stand-by generator and a borehole. One person who has been able to see the equipment locked inside the hospital is the lawmaker representing Egor/Ikpoba Okha Federal Constituency, Honourable Ehiozuwa Agbonnayima, who remarked that some of the equipment at the health centre were not in some other big hospitals in the country. He regretted that the hospital was well furnished, but now laid fallow.

He said: “it is sad, if Pan Ocean could build that health

care centre and the people are now deprived of using those equipment due to absence of personnel. There is no single staff there. No medical doctor, no nurse and the complex is [kept] under lock and key. Grass has taken over the beautiful place.”

Many in Ologbo described the day the hospital was handed over to the community by the NNPC and Pan Ocean as a glorious one. They said residents trooped in to the hospital to mark what was described as a “special day.” They also said the event was celebrated with pomp, as the completion of the hospital marked the fulfillment of a forlorn hope, a demand that took a long time to come to fruition. For the donors as well, the handover marked the height of corporate social responsibility, a commitment to a community, whose resources they have plundered.

About a year after completion, the hospital looks pitiable. When Sunday Tribune visited last week, there Continues

pg 47

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specialreport

25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

I will ensure the hospital works —Lawmaker

Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Delta State

Kachikwu, NNPC Boss

Hon Ehiozuwa Agbonnayima

Front view of the health centre Continued from pg 46

was no sign of life within the premises of the hospital. Most noticeable were weeds that have overtaken a good part of the facility. It was quite difficult accepting that a crowd had converged upon the place about a year ago as the footpaths have virtually disappeared. The inactive state of the water taps were obvious as well, thereby giving a pointer to the unseen equipment inside the locked premises.

Mr Actor Osakpolor, one of the elders of the community, said the health centre was closed because no medical personnel was available. “It was built and commissioned years back. There are some equipment there, but some professionals said the equipment were not complete. We don’t have doctors and nurses on ground.

We have not been using it because there are no doctors. We love peace here and we don’t give the oil companies operating here any trouble. We have been awarded

the most peaceful oil producing community in the Niger Delta for the past five years by NNPC,’’ he said.

A woman, who lives within the neighbourhood of the hospital, Mrs Uwa Obamoge, also bemoaned the present status of the hospital, which she said, held so much promise for them when it was completed.

“We expected that they will start using the place immediately it was completed. Now, the whole building is surrounded by bush and nobody seems to care about it.”

Secretary to Ikpoba Okha Local Government, Pastor Kennedy Osifo, however, explained that the non-usage of the hospital was connected to the refusal of the donor, Pan Ocean Oil Company to hand over the health facility to the local government. He pointed out that there was little the council could do if the facility was not handed over to the council for management and upkeep, adding that it would amount to invasion if the council moved manpower

If not for Pan Ocean, the hospital will not be there in the first place. It is unfortunate that there is no culture of corporate social responsibility in this country.

to the hospital.

He said: “When an organisation or corporate body builds a hospital, the proper thing is to hand over to the local government. By the time that is done, the hospital will now become the responsibility of the local government. As I speak with you right now, there is nothing to that effect.

Government is not run anyhow; running government is procedural. I have been secretary to the council enough to know if they have approached us and the answer is no. I can’t remember Pan Ocean inviting the council chairman or my humble self to the hospital they built; there is no file to that effect.

“There is a road off Sapele Road close to the Winners Chapel that was built by an oil company, Network Oil and Gas. After constructing the road, they tarred it and invited us. They practically handed over the road to us. That is how things are done.

In return, we drop the tenement rate for them because they recognised their corporate social responsibility and have greatly contributed to the society. They also enjoy other benefits from us. We also named the road after them. That is recognition. That is what we expected of Pan Ocean.|” For now, it appears the best hope to make the hospital serve the purpose it was designed for lies with Hon Agbonnayima.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker promised to update the state governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, about the present condition of the hospital with a view to reversing the situation. He said apart from working with the state government, he would explore other alternatives to ensure that the hospital works. He praised Pan Ocean for building the hospital in the first place, pointing out that the company was alive to its corporate social responsibilities.

“If not for Pan Ocean, the hospital will not be there in the first place. It is unfortunate that there is no culture of corporate social responsibility in this country, otherwise the people would have secured a lot from companies working and making money in their localities. Other companies should do something. We have a lot of churches and mosques amongst us.

What are they doing to better the society.

I implore them to do something in their immediate society,” the lawmaker stated.

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25 October, 2015

Sunday Tribune

Olaide Sokoya ollydesanmi@yahoo.com 0807 449 7425

children’sarena famousinvention

History of the violin

A

LTHOUGH it is believed that the Italian luthier Andrea Amati created the modern violin family around the year 1555, bowed stringed instruments were invented long before this date. For this reason, it can be helpful to think of the violin as an instrument that has evolved over time, rather than as a perfected product that was instantaneously invented.

While there are records of stringed instruments existing in Europe in the Middle Ages, it is thought that the first bowed, stringed instruments may have originated in Central Asia with instruments such as the morinkhuur from Mongolia.

These Central Asian instruments then travelled via trade routes to other parts of the world. Once instrument craftsmen in Europe became aware of these instruments and how they were made, they then created their own take on them, using traditional European crafting techniques.

The violin became a popular instrument in Europe with both low class and high class instrumentalists due to its small size, versatility, and its sweet, melodic tone. The violin family eventu-

ally became more popular than its close rivals the viol family because the violin instruments had an increased sound projection that was better suited to larger concert venue.

Eagle • Eagles are large, powerful birds of prey.

• Eagles have hooked beaks.

• Eagles have excellent eyesight.

• Eagles have powerful talons which help them catch prey.

• Eagles build their nests on high cliffs or in tall trees.

•There are over 60 different species of eagle.

• Eagles feature prominently on the coat of arms of a large number of countries, such as Germany, Mexico, Egypt, Po-

Words from the kids

If you were a leader, what would you change in your country?

Respondents are pupils of Amazing Grace High School, Ibadan.

land and Austria.

• Golden eagles have been known to hunt foxes, wild cats and even young deer and goats.

• Female golden eagles usually lay between one and four eggs each breeding season.

• Bald eagles aren’t actually bald.

Riddles Q: What is it called when a cat wins a dog show?

A CAT-HAS-TROPHY! Q: Why can't you give Elsa a balloon?

Because she will let it go.

Q: What do you get from a pampered cow?

Spoiled milk.

Q: What do lawyers wear to court?

Lawsuits!

Q: What gets wetter the more it dries?

A towel.

—Adedokun Favour Ooreoluwa, S.S 3, 16 years

I will make my country the best in terms of tourism IF I were the leader of my country, I will change the way tourism is being handled. I will revive the entire tourist centres and bring in attractive tourist materials.

My country will be recognised across the world and more tourists will like to visit my country. In doing this, the country would be ranked among the top five countries in the whole world in the aspect of tourism.

Tourism is life and tourism is relaxation.

—Ige Nasrat, J.S.S 3, 13 years

—Ayangbenro Precious, J.S.S 3, 13 years

—Ogunbusola Blessing, SS1, 14 years

I will reduce the salary of ministers and senators

I will remove all corrupt leaders

I will motivate the youth

I will change both the political and financial conditions of the country if I become a leader. I will try my best to make everyone to become rich so that we can help each other.

Also, I will stop religious conflict in the country. I will empower youths in other to start a businesses on their own so as to eradicate poverty. Finally, I would remove corrupt leaders from office.

I will like to change the academic system of Nigeria if I become a leader. Youths want to become rich overnight which is not supposed to be so.

There is a saying that ‘there is no short cut to success. As a leader, I will motivate the youth to take due process of acquiring education and also advise parents to impact knowledge because ‘education is the best legacy’.

I am going to change the financial status of the country.

The method by which the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer will be eradicated in my country.

The wealth of the nation is meant to circulate to both the rich and the poor. I will reduce the salaries of ministers, councillors and the senators.

They are leaders and leaders should be able to serve their citizens and as well their country.

Q: What do you get if you cross a cat with a dark horse?

Kitty Perry.

PROVERB

If you think you have someone eating your hands, it is a good idea to count your fingers.

—Nigerian Proverb

Interpretation: When in doubt always make sure.

Compiled by Victoria Ilari.

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25 October, 2015

Trouble not yet over for Amaechi over ministerial screening Taiwo Adisa-Abuja

T

he travails of the former Governor of Rivers State, Chief Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, in the Senate as regards his screening as a ministerial nominee may not be over yet following indications that the Senates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are making fresh moves to thwart his confirmation hearing.

The senate had on Thursday screened Amaechi in a dramatic fashion, which saw the senators of the PDP ignore him, while

their counterparts from the All Progressives Congress (APC) took the floor.

Senators of the PDP who spoke to Sunday Tribune had alleged a breach of trust by their APC counterparts, a development that has informed the fresh plot against Amaechi.

Sources in the senate have said that the lawmakers had, at a closed session on Thursday, agreed to a procedure of handling the Amaechi issue but claimed that the APC senators breached the agreement on the floor.

The senators were said to

have agreed that Amaechi be asked to take a bow and go while the report of the Ethics Committee is debated at a later date ahead of his confirmation.

But the APC senators were said to have reneged after the PDP announced their decision not to question Amaechi.

By allowing Amaechi answer some controversial questions, the PDP caucus is said to be angry and has resolved to find other ways to deal with Amaechi before he can be confirmed.

A source said that the PDP will, on Tuesday, push

for the approval of the report of its Ethics Committee which indicated that since the issue of the petition against Amaechi was in court, the nominee should be advised to clear the matter in court before he can be confirmed.

“The PDP Senators are in a fresh plot against Amaechi. They believed that they were outsmarted by their APC colleagues who went ahead to ask Amaechi some perceived leading questions. That is why the Tuesday sitting would have to answer a number of issues,” a senator said.

Sunday Tribune

Plateau APC debunks insinuation of disaffection over Dalong Isaac Shobayo-Jos All Progressives Congress (APC) in Plateau State has condemned the insinuation doing the rounds that the nomination of Barrister Solomon Dalung as ministerial nominee from Plateau State has polarised the party and causing disaffection among stalwarts of the APC. Speaking with Sunday Tribune in Jos, the State Secretary of the party, Alhaji Bashir Musa Sati, said the insinuation of bickering was just a figment of the opposition’s imagination, adding that the expectation was that the nominee would have come from outside the Southern zone where the governor comes from but Mr. President thought otherwise.

“APC on the Plateau is not begrudging the president for nominating Barrister SOlomon Dalung as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The president has the perogative right to nominate whoever he feels he can work with but that does not translate to friction within the party as being peddled in some quarters,” he said .

Akure group commends Deji The Akure Division Renewal Group (ADRG) has commended what it called the sense of maturity and commitment to the defence of culture and royalty displayed by the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi, Odundun II, in the ongoing resolution of the misunderstanding between the palace and the Igbo community living in the capital of Ondo State.

The ADRG made this known in a release issued by its President, Professor Abiodun Fayose.

According to the group, the people of Akure were proud of the Deji and his show of abiding faith in the culture of the people that modernity and civilization seemed to be taking out of them.

“The Deji has made us proud as Akure people by how he underscored our pride and culture. Some other traditional rulers who are not that mindful of their culture and the place of pride their land occupies from ancient times, would have buckled in the face of cash and intimidation. We are happy that Kabiyesi chose to defend our pride as a people,” the group said.

Gbolarumi confirmed as Balogun Adeen of Ibadanland

By Moses Alao

From left, bride’s father, Mr Olusola Olaluwoye; groom’s mother, Mrs Felicia Owonikoko; the new couple, Mr and Mrs Yomi Owonikoko (middle); bride’s mother,Mrs Bola Olaluwoye, and groom’s father, Mr Titus Owonikoko, during the wedding of their children, at the RCCG Dominion Parish, Ibadan, recently. PHOTO: SEGUN ADEBAYO

Obasanjo escapes death

•Says Stella’s memories will forever linger in his heart OlayinkaOlukoya-Abeokuta FORMER President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, narrowly escaped death on Saturday, while travelling to the nation’s former capital, Lagos State.

Sunday Tribune learnt that the incident occured shortly after he left the church programme in honour of his late wife, Mrs Stella Obasanjo, in Abeokuta.

An eyewitness account

had it that one of the rear tyres of the Jeep in which he was travelling in burst, on his way to the 80th birthday ceremony of pool magnate, Sir. Kesington Adebunkola Adebutu.

The incident was reported to have happened on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, few metres away from the Sagamu-interchange.

Obasanjo was said to have alighted from his vehicle to

join another one in his convoy, and headed straight to Adebutu’s church service.

Meanwhile, at the 10th year remembrance service in honour of the late first lady of Nigeria, who died on October 23, 2005, after a surgery operation in Spain, held at the Chapel of Christ the Glorious King of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, in his remarks, the former

Money laundering: NDLEA nabs 2 passengers with 89 ATM cards Shola Adekola-Lagos Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ahmadu Giade, has warned passengers smuggling Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards to desist from such act or be prepared to face the long arm of the law.

The NDLEA boss gave the warning, following

the arrest of two passengers at the weekend with eighty-nine debit cards at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

Giade said that the suspects conspire with others to evade scrutiny from government agencies by opening various bank accounts with the aim of using the debit cards for daily withdrawals abroad.

NDLEA commander

at the Lagos Airport, Mr Ahmadu Garba, gave the names of the suspects as Nweke Pauline Osita, 40 years and Egesiokwu Frank Chukwudi, 41 years.

“We arrested Nweke Pauline Osita with sixtyfive (65) debit cards and Egesiokwu Frank Chukwudi with twenty-four (24) debit cards during screening of passengers on an Ethiopian airline flight to China,” Garba stated.

President, while acknowledging that much had been said of Stella in his book, “My Watch” stated that “I think it suffices to say that we miss her dearly – the Obasanjo family and Abebe family. Her memory will remain fresh in my heart .”

Also speaking on behalf of the Abebe family, Mr. John Abebe narrated fond memories of Mrs Obasanjo.

Notable among the personalities present included, Senate President, Bukola Saraki who was represented by his wife, Toyin, Deputy national chairman south of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governor of Ekiti State, Chief Segun Oni, former governors of Osun and Cross Rivers States, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Donald Duke, Ogun State governor, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun, Senator Daisy Danjuma, Senator Ben Bruce, Funso Kupolokun, Ms Evelyn Oputu among others.

The former president had since jetted out of the country.

A deputy governor during the 11-month impeachment of former Oyo State governor, Senator Rashidi Ladoja and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarumi, has been confirmed as the new Balogun Adeen of Ibadanland, replacing the late Chief Lamidi Adedibu, who last held the position.

Making this disclosure yesterday, the Chief Imam of Ibadan, Sheikh Abdul-Ganeey Agbotomokekere, who was accompanied by the League of Imams in Ibadanland and the new Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Dauda Akinola, confirmed the new status to Gbolarumi at his Bodija Ibadan residence.

The clerics noted that Gbolarumi was chosen because of his immense contributions to the uplift of Islam and support to the cause of Allah, adding that the turbaning ceremony will come up on Friday at the Ibadan Central Mosque, Ojo ‘ba, Ibadan.

In his response, Alhaji Gbolarumi who expressed surprise at the development, pledged to continue to do more for the Ulamas and the propagation of Islamic religion.

Those present during the visit included a former Military Administrator of Lagos State, General Raji Rasaki (retd), Alhaji Shina Alabi, Zonal Auditor of the PDP, Alhaji Rasaq Adekola and a host of others.

Power shift to Edo central in 2016 not negotiable —Imansuagbon Banji Aluko-Benin City Ahead of the 2015 governorship election in Edo State, one of the leading aspirants in the All Progressives Congress (APC), Barrister Kenneth Imansuagbon, has sounded a note of warning to his co-contestants and the APC that the issue of power shift to the central senatorial zone of the state was “not negotiable.”

He said it was only natural for the Edo Central zone to produce the next governor after Edo South and North would have completed eight years each in 2016.

Imansuagbon spoke as chief launcher at a public presentation of the book “The Future in our Hands,” compiled by Ikole Esan, an umbrella associations of the Esan people of Edo Central senatorial district.

He said, “it is not negotiable; it is only natural. Our brothers in the north will support us like our brothers from Edo south because we are all one and they know it is our turn and must give it to us.

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Again, Benue govt borrows N10bn JohnsonBabajide-Makurdi For the fourth time since assumption of office, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has concluded plans to obtain another loan, this time to the tune of N10billion.

The governor dropped this hint at the weekend during an interaction with newsmen, stating that nothing was strange with the new development.

The state executive council, at its emergency meeting held last Tuesday, had given approval to the governor to explore special intervention fund frameworks for devel-

opment for critical infrastructure from the Federal Government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Answering questions from newsmen before he jetted out of the state onFriday, the governor said, ‘‘Yes, we are borrowing another money as several other states are doing from CBN for infrastructural development.’’

When asked how much the state was going to borrow, the governor retorted, ‘‘we are borrowing N10billion, just few days ago, Bauchi State House of Assembly has given nod to their governor to ex-

plore this special fund from CBN. At least, about 28 states have gone for it, so we will not be left out.’’

With this new development, the administration of Governor Ortom may have procured N58billion loan within five months he assumed office; the first was N10billion he said he obtained to pay May and June salaries of the state workers, as well as making governance running.

Few weeks after, Ortom proceeded to a commercial bank where he procured another N5.5billion loan, which, he said, was

going to be used for counterpart funding with various agencies intending to partner with the state government.

The last but one was the N28billion bailout intended to offset the backlog of salary arrears of the workers in the state with the breakdown as follows; N12.5billion to settle state workers’ salaries and N15.5 local government workers’’ salaries expected to commence early this week.

Then the latest of N10billion from special intervention fund, which, he said, would be channelled to developmental projects.

Sunday Tribune

Group partners police to train 12,000 policemen Olalekan Olabulo-Lagos The Crime Victims Foundation of Nigeria has collaborated with the police to train no fewer than 12,000 policemen on human rights enforcement .

Two hundred and sixty others are currently undergoing training as part of efforts to completely abolish the rising case of human right abuse .

Executive Director of Crime Victims Foundation of Nigeria, Gloria Egbuji , while speaking during the 10th anniversary of the training, stated that a former Inspector General of Police , Muhammed Abubakar, was a beneficiary of the training .

The police formations include the Lagos State Police Command, Airport Police Command, Railway Police Command and the Zone 2 Police Command .

Egbuji also stated that, apart from the police, the Nigerian Bar Association, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Office of the Public Defender, National Organisation for Police Reform in Nigeria, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, National Human Rights Commission and others have keyed into the programme. “ It is on record that CRIVIFON, in 2006, conceptualised the idea of bringing human rights education to the police by creating human rights desks at the Lagos State Police Command,” Egbuji said.

She added that “some officers were initially selected and trained to pioneer the programme. Prior to that time, there was no human rights desk anywhere in the Nigeria Police .’’

Nurses appeal to el-Rufai to remit outstanding dues Muhammad Sabiu-Kaduna

From left, Head, Small Business Group, Skye Bank Plc, Ayodele Olojede; Managing Director/CEO, Skye Bank Plc, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo and Executive Director, Skye Bank Plc, Ibiye Asime Ekong, at the official launch of Skye Pearl Initiative by Skye Bank, at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Saturday.

Anxiety, tight security as Plateau tribunal set to deliver judgement •APC, PDP engage prayer warriors Isaac Shobayo-Jos

T

here is anxiety and disquiet within the fold of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State, as the governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Jos, Plateau State, is set to deliver its judgement tomorrow.

The three-man tribunal, headed by Justice Johnson Candide, which began sitting in May, in respect of the petition filed by the governorship candidate of PDP, Senator Gyang Pwajok , challenging the victory of Governor Simon Bako Lalong of APC, has notified the two parties of its readiness for judgement.

In the governorship election, Lalong polled a total of 564, 913 votes, to defeat his closest challenger, Senator Gyang Pwajok of the PDP, who scored 520 627, winning by a margin of 44, 386 votes.

Apparently dissatisfied with outcome of the election, Senator Pwajok had dragged the winner and the APC to

the governorship tribunal alleging that the election was marred by rigging, corruption and malpractices.

Sunday Tribune learnt that since the two parties received notice through their respective lawyers that the tribunal had reserved judgment for the gubernatorial election for Monday both the APC and PDP had retrieved into their shells and resorted to prayers for divine intervention.

Findings revealed that most top APC government officials and PDP stalwarts on the Plateau could not be

reached on their cellphones at the weekend, as they were at various locations within the state capital passionately praying for a favourable outcome.

It was further learnt that prayer warriors were imported from the neighbouring states to complement those on ground for the spiritual exercise to wade off the tide and give them favourable judgement.

To forestall the breakedown of law and order, heavy security, mounted by a plethora of armed policemen, oper-

atives of the Department of the State Security Service (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), including those on an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), have been deployed in the vicinities of the venue of the sitting of the tribunal ahead tomorrow’s judgement.

A source close to the police told Sunday Tribune that vehicular and pedestrians movements within 60 meters radius of the High Court, the venue of the Tribunal sitting would be restricted on Monday.

‘Enugu govt will reverse policies with negative impact’ GOVERNOR Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has said he will reverse all policies of previous administrations, including levies, which have negative impact on the people.

Ugwuanyi made the pledge at the 2015 Award Night of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Enugu State Council, on Friday.

The governor, represented by the Commissioner for Enugu Capital Development, Mr Chidi Aroh, said the welfare of the people was his concern.

According to Ugwuanyi, the recent suspension of levies on traffic offenders in Enugu was to alleviate the suffering of the motoring public in the hands of the task-force. ``You should expect

further reversal of such policies by this administration,” he said.

The governor said he had, within the five months of his administration, awarded road contracts at over N20 billion.

He explained that the contracts were for the construction and rehabilitation of five roads in the state, which would start in November.

The National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, (NANNM), Kaduna chapter, has appealed to Governor Nasir el-Rufai to pay the outstanding check-off dues owed nurses.

Though the nurses’ union commended el-Rufai for releasing the three per cent check-off dues deducted at source from salaries of its members from the state and local governments, it believed the governor could do more by clearing the outstanding dues.

In her speech during the official commissioning of the new two-storey secretariat complex, the state chairman of NANNM, Comrade Cecilia Musa, said prompt payment of the check-off dues in the past assisted the union to build a befitting secretariat and take care of the welfare of distressed members.

While urging the nurses in Kaduna to place more emphasis on quality service delivery in their various designated places of work, Musa, however, assured the governor of support of the union in all areas necessary to promote good and efficient healthcare delivery.

In his brief remark, Governor el-Rufai, who was represented by the Commissioner for Health, Professor Jonathan Andrew Nok, assured the nurses of remitting the outstanding dues accrued to the union as soon as possible.

Plan by Niger govt to postpone LG election suffers setback Adelowo Oladipo-Minna A meeting between all the registered political parties and the Niger State Independent Electoral Commission over the plan to postpone the local government election scheduled for November 7 this year, on Thursday, ended in a deadlock, Sunday Tribune can report authoritatively.

The meeting, which was at the instance of the Niger SIEC, was attended by 25 of the registered political parties operating in the state and came almost 24 hours after Governor Abubakar Sani Bello had told stakeholders at a meeting on Wednesday, at Doko International Hotel in Minna, that the election ‘‘will go ahead as planned.’’

Sunday Tribune further gathered that immediately the meeting commenced at the commission’s headquarters, the chairman of SIEC, Alhaji Ibrahim Danlami, told the gathering that the major issue for discussion was the plan to postpone the election, basing his submission on the inability of the government to release the needed funds to the electoral body.

Danlami also said the election had to be postponed to January 16, 2016, because the ‘‘card readers needed for the conduct of the elections were not available.’’

He emphasised that so far government had released only 40per cent of the needed funds for the election to the commission, while the card readers were still at various election petition tribunals serving as exhibits.

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Sunday Tribune

Court restrains Fayose, others on Ikun-Ekiti chieftaincy stool Sam Nwaoko - Ado-Ekiti

Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (second right); former governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi (left); former Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi (second left) and Nobel Prize winner, Professor Wole Soyinka (right), during the formal inauguration of Wole Soyinka Foundation, held at June 12 Cultural Centre in Abeokuta, on Saturday.

Lagos PDP, others back court order on Ambode to hold LG polls in 30 days Bola Badmus - Lagos

R

EACTIONS have trailed the verdict made on Friday by a High Court sitting in Lagos ordering the state government, headed by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to conduct elections into 20 local governments (LGs) and 37 LCDAs within 30 days with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), describing the judgment as a welcome development.

Also, the governorship candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the 2015 poll, Dr. Rotimi Olulana, who also spoke with Sunday Tribune on phone, described the ruling as a welcome development, but contended that the period of 30 days given by the court for the exercise to hold was too short.

According to him, he would rather want the court to extend the period to a minimum of 90 days to allow for preparations on the part of all stakeholders, including LASIEC, otherwise the outcome of such exercise, if held within 30 days, would favour the party in power, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In its own reaction, the Lagos PDP, who spoke

through its publicity secretary, Mr. Taofik Gani, said the judgment was a good development that should embarrass the APC that had always emphasised progressiveness and democracy, that it was being compelled by a court to conduct an election that it ought to have done since October 2014.

The party said: “It confirms that it is a party that does not have any respect for constitutionalism.”

The PDP urged Governor Ambode to abide by the judgment and make no move to appeal it, nor use tax payers’ money to accomplish that, adding that “This is not the type of case that

should be appealed.”

The PDP threatened that should the governor make any attempt to appeal the judgment, it would not hesitate to join well-meaning democrats in the state on a mass protest.

“The constitution is sacrosanct and it is clear in Section 7 of the constitution says there must be democratically elected local government councils and to have refused to conduct local government elections since October 2014, is a violation of the constitution.

“If Governor Ambode goes ahead to appeal this matter, wasting taxpayers’ money for an appeal, we shall not hesitate to join well- mean-

Boko Haram: Lagos urges citizens to remain calm, vigilant Bola Badmus - Lagos LAGOS State government on Saturday urged citizens in the state to remain calm but very vigilant, assuring that the police and other security agencies have since intensified their efforts to rid the state of hoodlums, armed robbers and suspected terrorists.

The government gave the assurance against the background of the arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS), of 45 suspected Boko Haram members who allegedly planned to attack Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi.

In a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, the govern-

Ogun Child Network returns 63 street children to schools OGUN State Chapter of Child Protection Network (CPN) disclosed that,it has succeeded in returning 63 street children to school and has engaged thirteen others in vocational training.

This was disclosed by the State Coordinator, Mrs Peju Osoba during the 3rd year anniversary of the network which took place at Iwe-Iroyin Press Centre,Abeokuta, Ogun State, recently.

The anniversary pro-

ing democrats in the state on a mass protest.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State government has assured that it will appeal the verdict of a State High Court which declared the appointment of caretaker committees of local government councils in the state illegal and unconstitutional.

Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, said this in a statement made available to newsmen, while reacting to the judgment.

He said the state government would file a stay of execution and appeal against the verdict immediately, even as he faulted the ruling.

gramme also included a lecture with the theme : Power of the adolescent Girl: Vision 2030’,which attracted school children across the state and other stakeholders which included; Non-Governmental Organisations, which roles were centred on the welfare of the children, Osoba also added that the network had supported parents of some of these children for economic empowerment, in the period

of its establishment,while some cases against children maltreatment,particularly defilement were pursued to court and won.

‘CPN has been able to put 63 pupils back to school, engaged 13 others into vocational training and has well been able to support 12 families for economic empowerment. We have also had direct intervention in several rape cases”,the coordinator said.

ment expressed confidence in the combined efforts of DSS, police and other security agencies to keep the state free of terror attacks and stamp out robberies and violent crimes.

It vowed not to relent in its constitutional duty to ensure safety of lives and property throughout the length and breadth of the state.

The government said the current reality was that times had changed and the need to urge every citizen to be more security conscious had become paramount.

“Due to the economic hardship being experienced all over the country with many states and private business owners battling with payments of salaries and wages, Lagos State has become the prime destination for several thousands of people who now throng there daily with no plan to return, because they believed this is the state where economic succour is available,” it said.

AN Ado Ekiti High Court presided by Justice Lekan Ogunmoye, has granted a motion ex-parte brought before the court by Prince Omowumi Olarotimi Aderogba of Ikun-Ekiti against Governor Ayo Fayose of the state, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs over the community’s chieftaincy controversy.

In a motion brought by Aderogba’s counsel, Emmanuel Adedeji, the court also restrained the Obalegosi of Olerikun, High Chief Ahmed Amini; Chief Obalotin of Ilotin, Ikun-Ekiti, Chief Omotunde Emmanuel and Prince Olusola Olatunde.

The court had granted the applicant the leave to apply for an “order of certiorari restraining the respondents from taking over the duties of king-makers of Ikun-Ekiti when the kingmakers are willing and ready to perform their statutory duties.”

Justice Ogunmoye had averred in the ruling that the leave granted shall operate as a stay to further actions by respondents from consenting to, considering, approving, treating and recognising any person as the selected candidate to fill the vacant stool of Onikun of Ikun-Ekiti pending the determination of the motion on notice.

Aggrieved Delta APC candidate raises posers on tribunal judgement Ebenezer Adurokiya - Warri AGGRIEVED candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Delta State House of Assembly election, Mr Robinson Ariyo, has questioned the election tribunal judgement decided against him in Asaba.

Ariyo had approached the election petition tribunal sitting at Asaba, Delta State, calling for the nullification of the election that purportedly brought the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate for Warri South Constituency 1, Mr Godwin Abigor, into power.

Chairman of the three-man tribunal, Justice Umar Mohammed, last Tuesday, upheld the election of Mr Abigor, on the grounds that the use of card reader was not known by the electoral law.

But Ariyo, while addressing journalists in Warri, on the weekend, vowed to appeal the judgement, which he described as “a violent rape of democracy.”

“I want a high court’s interpretation of the use of card reader. If it was unknown to the electoral law, then, why did they declare winners in respect to results from the card reader,” he queried.

Transgender programme: NBC vows to shut offensive broadcast Christian Okeke - Abuja THE National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), on Saturday, vowed to continue to safeguard Nigerian airwaves and ensure peoples’ right to quality broadcasting as a regulator of the industry.

The commission said its attention had been drawn to the concern shown by some members of the public about the alleged plans by the TLC channel on the DSTV to begin airing a programme, I am Jazz, the story of a transgender child.

The commission, in a statement signed by its Director in charge of public affairs, Awwalu Salihu disclosed that it had since drawn the attention of the service provider to the concern and had received firm assurances that they would investigate and if they confirmed that the programme would indeed promote undesirable ideas that would offend the Nigerian public, they would pull the plug on the programme.

The Commission also commended the concerned citizens that raised the matter for their constructive approach to the issue, stating that it is always ready to receive complaints from the public.

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Editor: Ganiyu Salnan 08053789060 tribunesporteditor@yahoo.com

Oliseh on 2-week compulsory rest Super Eagles head coach, Sunday Oliseh has been placed on two weeks of compulsory rest after taking ill in camp during preparations for today’s second leg African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifier against Burkina Faso.

Oliseh suddenly started feeling dizzy on Thursday in Port Harcourt and had to be excused from camp and allowed to travel to Belgium on the advice of the team medics.

Intensive tests were carried out

on him at the Mediapark Klinic, Cologne (Germany) where doctors placed him on compulsory rest.

The Super Eagles handler told thenff.com that he is overwhelmed by the messages of support, well wishes and prayers he has been receiving from Nigerians.

“I have been so touched and much moved, almost to tears by the prayers and good wishes I have been receiving from Nigerians. I want to thank them so much for the love and sup-

port.

“I was told I should have rested a lot more than I did after the initial illness I had when we concluded our Belgian tour earlier this month. The doctors have now made the rest a compulsory one. I believe that after the two weeks I would be fully recovered,” he said.

Oliseh was discovered to have contracted a viral infection in his system and would need to be monitored during the period of rest to ensure complete recovery.

Oliseh

NGS Nike, Enugu wins COPA Coca-Cola tourney National Grammar School Nike, Enugu recently won the Enugu leg of the 2015 edition of COPA Coca-Cola local championship following their 3-0 victory over the Community Secondary School (CSS) Ogbakwe, Enugu.

The final of the football

tournament decided at the Government Secondary School, football pitch Enugu, was themed “Everything for Football”.

The winner went home with N200,000 cash prize, while the Ogbakwe lads settled for the cash prize of N100,000 and a silver

CHAN qualifier:

medal, as the Annunciation Secondary School, Enugu, which defeated College of the Immaculate Conception 1-0 in a third place match claimed N50,000 and a bronze medal.

Rabiu Mohammed of the Community Secondary School was voted the Most

Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament as Okunna Rapilchukwu of the Annunciation Secondary School emerged the best goalkeeper, while the top goal

Oliseh.

“We want to win the game for Nigeria and we believe that securing the CHAN ticket will hasten the complete recovery of our head coach,” Salami, who scored in the first leg game in Port Har-

Salami

court told thenff.com Oliseh is expected to resume duties on November 9, when the Super Eagles camp opens for the 2018 FIFA World Cup round two fixture against Swaziland.

Meanwhile, efforts by the host federation (FBF) to move today’s match to 3.30pm, as against the 4:00pm ealier made known to the NFF, was opposed by Nigeria Football Federation officials led by deputy director (competitions) Bola Oyeyode at the match coordination meeting held at the Splendid Hotel, Ouagadougou.

Oyeyode, himself a CAF general coordinator, produced the letter sent to the NFF by the FBF, to the effect that the match will start 4:00pm (5:00pm Nigeria time) and showed same to the Match Commissioner, Mr Idrissa Sarr from Mauritania, who later ruled in favour of Nigeria.

Cola, Patricia Jemibewon expressed satisfaction with the organisation of the tournament as well as the passion displayed by the teams in Enugu.

Obasi knows fate at Sunderland this week

Eagles will win in B/Faso —Salami C APTAIN of Nigeria’s home-based Super Eagles, Gbolahan Salami is optimistic that they would silence the Etalons of Burkina Faso today in a crucial CHAN qualifier second leg tie billed for the Stade August 4, Ouagadougou.

The Warri Wolves striker said they are working towards winning the match to serve as a ‘get well soon’ message to their recuperating head coach, Sunday

scorer award was won by Nwachukwu Divine of the National Grammar School Nike.

Speaking after the final, Marketing Director, Coca-

Obasi

Sunderland manager, Sam Allardyce has said he will decide whether or not to give Nigeria forward, Chinedu Obasi a contract in the new week.

The team will today play host to Newcastle United.

Obasi, who is currently a free agent after being released by German Bundesliga side, Schalke in the summer, has spent time training with ‘The Black Cats’ first-team squad in an attempt to persuade Allardyce to sign him.

“He’s been injured with a broken shin, and that had taken a long time for him to recover, and he spent some rehab time in America.”

“His agent got hold of me and said he was worth looking at based on his CV, which looked pretty good, so we’ll make a judgement early next week,” said Allardyce.

Allardyce outlined a desire to improve his squad when he agreed to replace Dick Advocaat at the struggling EPL club.

With 24 of their 25 Premier League squad places filled, Sunderland has space to accommodate one free agent before the January transfer window opens.

The Nigerian international made 10 league starts in his three seasons with Schalke, with his time in Germany being blighted by a series of shin injuries.

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Action involving Enyimba and Rangers in the Globacom Premier League.

Wikki won’t miss continental slot —Captain

NFF endorses

Odegbami for FIFA

presidency poll

F

ormer international, Chief Segun Odegbami (MON) has been nominated by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to contest for the FIFA presidency election scheduled to hold next year.

Odegbami’s nomination ends the ambition of the former Abia State governor, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu who is equally seeking the nomination of the NFF. By this development, Odegbami remains Nigeria’s sole representative at the elections where he is to contest with the likes of Prince Ali of Jordan and UEFA boss, Michel Platini, among others.

However, the IICC Shooting Stars legend has denied knowledge of his nomination by the nation’s soccer ruling body saying he is still waiting for the NFF to contact him.

“I haver only been hearing it, many people have been calling to ask, but I have not been called officially from the FA, but I hope it is true,” said the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) winner.

The election to replace embattled Sepp Blatter will hold on February 26, 2016 in Switzerland.

... As APFON lauds NFF on his choice The Association of Professional Footballers of Nigeria (APFON) the official Nigeria Players Union on behalf of all Nigeria footballers has appluaded the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for nominating Chief Segun Odegbami as Nigeria’s nominee for the FIFA presidency poll billed for next year.

According to a statement by APFON’s General Secretary, Comrade Austin Popo, “the players union never expected anything less or doubted the ability of the present leadership of the NFF to take the right decision, given the visionary leadership qualities of the NFF board members.

“To us as players, the NFF has again scored a major feat in its untiring quest to reposition Nigerian football by affirming the position of the players union.”

While congratulating the former Nigerian internationa on his endorsement by the NFF, it also called for support for Odegbami to realise his dream.

“Now is the time for Nigerians to rally round our nominee, Segun Odegbami and mobilise support for the big stage. God can do anything for anything to happen. Nobody gave David any chance against Goliath,” the statement added.

3,000 athletes for RIGAN Games Muhammad Sabiu - Kaduna No fewer than 3,000 athletes are expected to participate in the forthcoming Research Institute Games Association of Nigeria (RIGAN) Games in Zaria, Kaduna State.

The National President, Research Institute Games Association of Nigeria (RIGAN), Professor Rabi’u Adamu stated this while addressing sports journalists after a pre-games council meeting in Zaria.

He stated that the Games would provide an opportunity to bring research and

Sunday Tribune

development institutes together through sports and provide recreation, interaction as well as promote friendliness among members.

Adamu said: “This edition is unique because it is coming at a transition year when we are experiencing changes in the administration especially at the federal level.”

Earlier, the Director-General of the Nigeria Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) Zaria and Chairman, Local Organising Committee, Dr Aminu Musa-Yusuf had said the LOC was making concerted efforts to at-

tract sponsorship from other reputable organisations and agencies.

He said the competition will feature 14 events in both indoor and outdoor, saying that all indoor games would be played at the NITT with the exception of badminton and squash.

Musa-Yusuf assured that the institute had secured some of the facilities from sister institutions such as the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) and the Division of Agricultural Colleges (DAC).

Wikki Tourists captain and right back, Mustapha Ibrahim has said his side cannot go below the third position in the ongoing league season, to claim a continental ticket for next year.

The top flight newcomers are currently third on the 20-team log on 57 points with four matches left on the season’s calendar.

Ibrahim said part of their resolve towards achieving the set target is to avoid defeat at fourth placed side, Giwa FC in match day 35 clash on Wednesday in Jos. “Third place finish is the minimum target we set for ourselves in the ongoing league season as that’s the least to earn us a ticket to Africa.

“That’s why we are doubling our preparations and training for the clash at Giwa FC on Wednesday in Jos. “Now we understand that we cannot afford to drop point at Giwa FC as that will certainly cost us the third position.

“We share same 57 points with Giwa FC though we are better placed due to our superior goals, but a defeat will see the Jos outfit leapfrog us and we will not want anything like that to happen.”

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Sunday Tribune

Mourinho

Mourinho sent to stands as West Ham dumps Chelsea Wayne Rooney

Vincent Kompany

Manchester Derby:

City can win at Old Trafford –Van Gaal

M

anchester United manager, Louis van Gaal piled the pressure on Manchester City ahead of today’s derby by insisting the Premier League leaders will be favoured to win the Old Trafford showdown.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side have scored 11 goals in winning their last two league matches, beating Newcastle 6-1 and Bournemouth 5-1.

That has kept them two points clear of United, who lost the chance to claim top

spot when they were beaten 3-0 at Arsenal three weeks ago.

While both sides harbour genuine ambitions of replacing Chelsea as English champions, Van Gaal was happy to deflect all the attention on to City ahead of the season’s first Manchester derby.

“When you look at the facts, they are first and we are third. They are first so they are the favourites, I think,” van Gaal told reporters on Friday.

“If we win, we are first in

the table. That doesn’t mean we are the champions.

That’s decided in May. “It’s a big step when we win but still you have to continue.”

Van Gaal acknowledged that today’s derby is bigger than the average United league match, but he is determined to ensure he does not get caught up in the emotion of the occasion.

“For me, it’s not an issue.

I have to do my work. And I have to do it more rationally and not emotionally,” he said.

“I think for the fans, it’s very emotional. I live in a little village and it is also the talk of the town there. But in Manchester, it’s more.”

Pellegrini has won three of his four derbies as City manager, two in his first season against a United side then led by David Moyes.

U-20 World Cup qualifiers:

Falconets are on tight rope –Dedevbo Saliu Gbadamosi-Abuja THOUGH his charges won their first leg U-20 World Cup qualifier against their South African counterparts, head coach of Nigeria’s national U-20 team, the Super Falconets, Peter Dedevbo, lamented that the 2-1 victory had put his players on a tight rope in their bid to qualify for U-20 World Cup. An added time penalty awarded the South African girls, which was converted, denied the Falconets a comfortable 2-0 win in the match decided at the National Stadium, Abuja, on Saturday.

Ihezuo Chinwendu had put the Nigerian lasses in the lead in the 31st minute of the match before Kalu Patience made it two on the dot of 45 minute.

Speaking after the match, Dedevbo stated that the last minute penalty committed by his girls, which gave the South African a goal from the encounter, was as a result of momentary loss of concentration.

He added that the goal had put his team on a tight rope going into the second leg in South Africa. He, however, urged Nigerians not to write the Falconets off yet, saying that the task ahead was yet surmountable.

“We are walking a tight rope going into the second leg but the task ahead of us is not sur-

mountable. If the South Africans can come here and walk away with a goal in their kitty, we too can go to their country and score goals to qualify for the U-20 World Cup,” Dedevbo, who led the team to a second-place finish in the last FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada said.

Meanwhile, the South African coach, Elizabeth Megchelleson, declared that it was not over yet for her side, saying that the Nigerian side was a good team.

She stated that they were going back home and work on the lapses noted during the encounter, assuring that Nigeria would see a better South African side in the return leg tie.

Ihezuo

Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands as the Premier League champions’ crisis deepened with a stormy 2-1 defeat at West Ham United on Saturday.

Mourinho was banished from the touchline by referee Jon Moss at halftime at Upton Park, after Mauro Zarate had put West Ham ahead and Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic had been sent off for two bookable offences.

Mourinho’s assistant Silvino Louro was also sent off for protesting against Matic’s dismissal and although Gary Cahill equalised early in the second half, West Ham substitute Andy Carroll headed in a 79th-minute winner.

Mourinho blanked the media after the game, but Cahill told the BBC: “Last season we weren’t used to

it. The lads are devastated.

You’re left scratching your head sometimes.

“We worked really hard at 10 men and had the majority of the play in the second half. It’s a summary of our season at the minute.”

It was Chelsea’s fifth defeat of a wretched season and left them in 15th place in the table, 10 points below leaders Manchester City ahead of today’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford.

Slaven Bilic’s West Ham, remains unbeaten in seven league games and has climbed to the third spot on the table with 20 points.

Mourinho now risks a stadium ban, having been handed a suspended onegame ban by the Football Association last week for accusing the referee of being “afraid” during his side’s recent 3-1 home defeat by Southampton.

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Sunday Tribune

Arsenal takes over EPL

O Koscielny (front) and Giroud celebrating Arsenal’s second goal.

Ayew wins family battle at Villa Park Andre Ayew scored a late winner for Swansea at Villa Park to pile more pressure on Aston Villa boss, Tim Sherwood.

The midfielder side-footed in a Kyle Naughton cross to give Swansea a first win in six games.

Andre’s brother Jordan had given Villa the lead with a stooping header before Gylfi Sigurdsson curled in a 25-yard free-kick to level.

Villa’s sixth straight defeat sees them remain second bottom of the Premier League, four points from safety.

Home defender, Joleon Lescott had a chance to equalise late on when he found space at a corner but hooked a shot over.

Sherwood, whose team have won only once all season, had likened this game to a cup final in the build-up.

The club’s hierarchy were also reportedly looking at the games against Chelsea and Swansea to judge the side - Villa have lost both.

They survived a Swansea chance when Federico Fernandez skied a shot from close range as both

sides struggled to stamp any kind of authority on the game.

Jordan Ayew gave Villa hope with his first goal for the club but the hosts led for only six minutes.

There was a family affair with Jordan and Andre Ayew on opposing sides and both midfielders played a key part for their sides.

The pair played against each other in the French league last season and Jordan’s team won on that occasion, but this time their fortunes were reversed.

livier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny scored first half goals that assures Arsenal of top spot in the English Premier League, at the very least until the Manchester derby has been settled later today.

It is saves from Petr Cech, like the one from Gerard Deulofeu after four minutes, that can help to convince this team they can end the 12-year wait to win the biggest domestic trophy in English football.

Between now and December 21, when Manchester City arrive in north London for a real hum-dinger, that Arsenal can build some title-winning momentum.

Arsenal are on a big run now, oozing confidence after the spinetingling victory against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday.

They have got to grips with various competitions, digging deep against Pep Guardiola’s team before returning to the challenges presented in the Premier League.

Everton at home was another test, with the chance to top of the pile, at least until matters are resolved in the Manchester derby on Sunday afternoon.

At times this Arsenal team is so easy on the eye, with Santi Cazorla and company hovering on the ball and waiting for that special moment to lift the home fans off their seats.

It eventually arrived in the 36th minute when Mesut Ozil’s latest assist, chipped in from that magical left foot, met the head of Giroud inside the penalty area.

It was a clever goal, with Giroud eluding the attentions of Everton captain Phil Jagielka to steer his header beyond the flailing arms of Tim Howard.

Giroud deserved his place in the team after his midweek heroics against Bayern, netting Arsenal’s stunning opening goal in their Champions League group game.

Three days earlier he had scored within minutes of replacing Theo Walcott during the 3-0 victory against Watford at Vicarage Road.

Here the celebrations had barely subsided when Arsenal scored again, this time from the head of Koscielny when he met Cazorla’s in-swinging free-kick.

Ayew

... I won’t quit Aston Villa —Sherwood EMBATTLED Aston Villa manager, Tim Sherwood has vowed to continue despite the poor run of the team in the English Premier League.

Sherwood declared after the 1-2 home loss to Swansea that he hopes for the best with the relegation struggling team.

“It is out of my control,” said Sherwood, when asked about his future. “I will continue to do my best for the club. That is all I can

do. I will work hard and make myself ill doing it. It’s not an easy job but it is one I love and one I am not going to give up easily.

“We can’t carry any players. We have to find a team that is going to play to a consistent level every single week otherwise we are not going to be able to win football matches because there is a lack of quality. We have to have more devil in us. It’s not me that’s in a hole, it’s the club that is in a hole.”

Asked about whether he was worried about receiving the call from Lerner or chief executive Tom Fox, he wrapped back: “Just turn my phone off.”

Richards was initially blocked off by the Swansea defender and as they locked foreheads, words were exchanged. Sherwood claimed afterwards Fernandez had headbutted his player.

“If the referee has seen it, he has to send him (Fernandez) off.”

Sherwood

Ighalo’s team, Watford secures away win NIGERIAN international, Odion Ighalo fired blank on Saturday, but his superlative form helped Watford secure a 2-0 away win against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.

Ighalo who is having five goals in the kitty in the English Premier League this season, was unable to hit the back of the net this time and was replaced in the 88th minute by Adlene Guedioura.

Goals in each half from Troy Deeney and Almen Abdi, both from forced defensive errors, gave Quique Sanchez Flores’ forceful side the points.

And while it would be wrong to claim the home faithful were demanding a return to the blood and thunder days of Tony Pulis as they trudged out with 10 minutes to go, more steel may be needed for the foundations of what already looks like an unlikely pursuit of last season’s record ninth-place finish.

Deeney’s strike was a first in the Premier League for a player who has remained at the club for five years, despite considerable change.

“I wasn’t worried about the situation because he works very hard,” said Flores.

“He is the soul of the team and a striker’s confidence is very important.’

The victory means that the Hornets, who leapfrogged Stoke, now have 13 points from their first 10 matches and lie in 13th place.

“It is important to (now) make a report,’ Flores added.

“The points are OK but most important is the way we got them.

We feel competitive.”

SIDELINES NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER

25 OCTOBER, 2015

no 2,017

www.tribune.com.ng

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As part of his commitment to integrity, President Muhammadu Buhari, at the weekend, promptly disowned the fake aide who claimed that he was shy around women. Indeed, just how can a handsome Alhaji, who is blessed with beautiful children, be said to be shy? The magnetic gap-tooth of Mr President alone is enough to draw ladies!

For the yoruba nationand for Nigeria: New path forward

W

HAT does the Buhari presidency mean? What can it do for Nigeria – and for us Yoruba people of the Southwest? Surely, Buhari has started poorly and disappointingly in one respect – by thoughtlessly appointing a predominant mass of Northerners to the non-ministerial positions in the federal government, and by sidetracking the those leaders of the Southwest who were mostly responsible for creating the alliance and party that won the presidency and a strong majority in the National Assembly. About these, no explanation by him or by his partisan or ethnic supporters can satisfy the rest of Nigeria. He has reawakened the monster that dragged Nigeria down in the decades since independence – the monster of the ambition of the Arewa North to dominate Nigeria.

But, is that all that the Buhari presidency can mean to us all? Absolutely not. Whether Buhari and the promoters of Northern domination like it or not, the base for a strong Southwestern, and a broadly Nigerian, input into the federal government of the next four years has been firmly created. In the nature of things, the party, APC, is the base upon which Nigeria and the world will expect the presidency to operate – whether or not Buhari and his people like that or not. Buhari has raised suspicions that he wants to push the party aside, but he will learn soon enough that that is impossible to do. The adventure embarked upon two years ago by some gutsy Yoruba political leaders and others has yielded results that nobody can will away. These gutsy adventurers deserve congratulations. From the Yoruba nation

in particular, they deserve the loudest of thanks. Thanks because, just as the Yoruba nation and Nigeria were getting stuck in the darkest tunnel in their modern history, these adventurers suddenly sheared off mountains of heavy earth to make it possible for us to see a ray of light in the

The Yoruba adventurers who paved the way to the Buhari presidency, and the broad masses of Yoruba people, know what is called for in order to achieve these things. First, as much as possible, Nigeria must liberate the inherent energies of each Nigerian nationality, so that it may

diranapata@yahoo.com

distance. If Nigeria stabilizes and then prospers from now on, these Southwestern leaders will get a chunk of the credit.

In the immediate, the opportunity is here now for the Yoruba nation to grab what they have always cherished most – the chance to march forward towards becoming a great modern people in education, the sciences, technology and the power of knowledge. The chance is here too for them to help their country of Nigeria to straighten up its internal structure and character, so that Nigeria may fulfil its destiny as a great power in the world, a land of opportunity and fulfilment for all its peoples and citizens. That is what the Yoruba people have always wanted for Nigeria. That is what the modern father of their nation, Obafemi Awolowo, strove unceasingly for until his last breath.

We must zero in on electricity, and make partial, haphazard and spasmodic supply of electricity a thing of the past in all parts of our country

develop its own homeland in its own way and make its own kind of contribution to the overall progress and prosperity of Nigeria. That means, we need to restructure our federation rationally. The capricious structure given gradually to the Nigerian federation since the 1960s, and the massing of all power and resource control in the hands of the Federal Government, has not worked and it can never work. It is a path to the death of Nigeria. And it needs to be changed expeditiously.

Secondly, I am sure they know that Nigeria must invest heavily in our youths in all corners of our country. I mean in quality education, in modern job skills training programmes, in entrepreneurial development programmes, and in leadership development programmes – all of which programmes should be a nationally mandated agenda in all our states, and strongly shielded from infestation by partisan political germs and viruses.

The objective must be that our men and women will soon rank among the world’s best modern workers, best managers, best chief executives of companies, most prolific inventors and business starters, most professional and dignified civil servants.

Thirdly, we must definitively crack the naughty problem of our infrastructures.

In particular, we must zero in on electricity, and make partial, haphazard and spasmodic supply of electricity a thing of the past in all parts of our country. This will serve as an incentive to draw countless Nigerians out to scramble for, and push, a modern economic and industrial culture in our country.

Continues

pg 54

U-17 World Cup: Eaglets suffer first defeat We lost to a better side —Amuneke

By Oluwabunmi Ajayi

Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets suffered their first defeat at the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile, following their 1-2 loss to Croatia, in their last group game.

The defeat did not however, prevent the reigning world champions from topping group A with six points having won their two previous games before the grudge match with the Croats.

This was the second time Croatia had beaten the Eaglets this year also in similar fashion as they also came from behind to silence the Eaglets 3-2 at an invitational tournament in Korea early last month.

Croatia finished second in the group to also advance to the round of 16 with five points.

Eaglets hitman, Victor Osimhen broke

the deadlock in the 20th minute, when he beat the offside trap and dribbled past the goalkeeper, before he put the ball into the net for his fourth goal of the tournament.

Brekalo drew parity in the 50th minute for the Croats before Majic grabbed the winner four minutes later.

Emmanuel Meanwhile, coach Amuneke said his wards did not play to their potential against the Croats.

“My players wanted to win, but we were not the best tonight. The Croats have given us many problems. They prevented us from playing our game and deserved to win. My players are very talented, but still have room for improvement collectively,” Amuneke told FIFA.com.

His counterpart from Croatia, Dario Basic said it was a well deserved victory for his lads who played to remain in the

competition.

“I am very proud of my players who played a great match. We approached this game as a final, telling us it was absolutely necessary to win or go home. I believed in my team. It has shown that it can compete with the best teams in the world,” Dario said.

English Premier League results Aston Villa 1 Swansea 2 Leicester 1 C/Palace 0 Norwich 0 West Brom 1 Watford 2 Stoke city 0 Chelsea 1 West Ham 2 Arsenal 2 Everton 1

POOLS: 11, 12, 16, 21,24, 25, 27, 29, 32, 38, 39, 42, 47 SUNDAY MATCHES: 3, 6, 9, 43

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. 25/10/2015

Amuneke