August 16 edition 2017

The VOX POPULI SACRUM

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NE question that could provoke a major national crisis is any one about the whereabouts of President Muhammadu Buhari. It is a question that one cannot even explain along the lines of being sympathetic to the President. We should not ask. We should imagine that

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Today Today

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WEDNESDAY AUGUST 16, 2017

ISSN: 2545-5869

VOL.2 No. 34. N200

The Oracle Today Comment

pray for him. We are, however, not allowed to know the nature of his illness. We are only told to pray harder, which creates the impression that his slow recovery could be from the circus that the Presiassume his duties. We are the paucity of dent’s men have made of told of his concerns about our prayers. Those who so the office. We are told that things being run properly in believe, pray more. the President was ill, he was his absence.

Cont’d on Page 24 recovering, he would soon WE wish him well. We

Where is the President? the President is fine because some imagine and tell us so.

NOTHJING in the situation is more intolerable, some would add scandalous, than

News

‘Calabar Channel contract not bogus’ – Page 44

Politics

Buhari’s Ministers:

No flattering testimonial – Page

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Business

Ozubulu killing

•St. Philip’s Church (background) scene of Sunday’s killing during an early mass (insert Gov. Obiano visiting the injured. Incident has raised new debates on state police

•Is state police solution?

From TONY AILEMEN, (Abuja), BONIFACE OKORO (Umuahia), COLLINS UGHALAA (Owerri), CHUKS COLLINS (Awka) and THEO RAYS (Onitsha)

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ould the shooting at St. Philips Catholic Church, Ofufe, Amakwa, Ozubulu, Ekwusigo Local Council of Anambra State have succeeded if Anam-

bra State had its own police organization, with its officers and men deployed to police remote communities of the State? Would the hoodlums who carried out the dastardly attack have so conveniently killed so many in the church and escaped, if the State had its own law-enforcement organization with its well-trained personnel policing its cities and communities?

These and more are the questions that Sunday’s early morning attack on a Catholic Church in the sleepy but dainty community of Amakwa, Ozubulu, by a lone gunman, has sparked as Nigerians battle to come to terms with such a ferocious rifle assault on an otherwise peaceful environment as a typical Anambra community would be.

Cont’d on page 2

Capital market to remain bullish – Page 17

Sports

Mikel demands World Cup ticket from team-mates – Page 45

2

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

NEWS

For more stories, interview, LIVE reports

visit www.oraclenews.ng for 24/7 service

Continued from Pg 1 In a rather uncanny way, the Ozubulu mayhem has again brought to the fore the debate on the imperative of restructuring Nigeria in a way that federating units should be able to take steps, within the confines of law, to provide security for life and property in their communities as best as they could.

Last Sunday, the peace and pristine beauty of Ofufe, Amakwa community in Ozubulu town, Ekwusigo Local Council of Anambra State were, in the early hours of that day shattered when a ‘slim a riffraff gunman, wearing a face-cap’ (as one eyewitness put it) entered St. Philips Catholic Church while the 6 am mass was in full swing and emptied two magazines of AK 47 bullets upon the worshippers, killing sores in the process.

Indeed, by the time the “three-minute macabre drama” was over, as one eyewitness put it, dozens of parishioners lay dead while many others were seriously wounded, most of them women and children.

When The Oracle Today got to the crime scene at about 12noon, there were still many people milling around and discussing the development in low tones.

However, while there were still stains of drying blood of the victims on the doorsteps, many of the dead and injured had been taken away to mortuaries and intensive care units of hospitals around, but especially at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, for treatment.

Eyewitnesses said the gunmen came in a black Toyota Lexus 350 SUV whose number they could not copy. But, it was gathered that while the gunmen “were about three or two”, only one of them carried out the attack.

A parishioner who lives close to the church and a relative of one of the injured, said he saw the “jeep” drive past “but I didn’t know they had driven down the road and turned back almost immediately.

Suddenly, I started hearing gunshots and because I don’t normally run away from danger without first knowing the direction from which it is coming, I decided to peep and lo and behold, a young man in a facecap was, “calmly but determinedly raining Ak 47 bullets upon the parishioners.” It was at this point I started running for safety. It was while I was running that I saw blood running down my arm. Apparently, one of the parishioners who had been hit by bullet was sitting close to me.”

The motive of the attack was not immediately known but a source close to the Parish Priest said the Reverend father found it difficult to believe that the generating set he used for early morning mass the previous day could no longer “bring light” when it was started that morning, prompting speculations that there may have been sabotage, either earlier carried out by the criminal invaders on survey of the scene of the crime or from an insider or insiders who may have been paid off.

“In fact, the priest had to use lantern to conduct the mass. So, when the attackers came, it was still pretty dark. The gunman was directly facing the Reverend Father, but, of course he (the Rev. Father) couldn’t see his face. For one reason or the other, the priest was not hurt. We saw him empty the first magazine, from which he shot sporadically but mostly wild. It was when he loaded the second magazine that he start-

•Gov Willie Obiano with Rev. Fr. Anthony Obele (right) parish priest of St. Philip’s at the scene of the attack

Ozubulu killing •Attack most heinous, barbaric—Anambra CAN boss •Sokoto indigene as DPO in Anambra not good-Ezeonwuka •We should have regional, provincial police –Eze Ogbonnaya ed shooting directly at people. All this happened within a space of three minutes,” an authoritative parish source said.

Community sources told The Oracle Today that they suspected a vengeful attack over ‘a business deal gone sour.’

“We believe they came for Ebubechukwu Uzo Ozubulu,” a man identified as Bishop, a South-African-based wealthy son of the soil, who built the Church, the Parish House and much of the network of roads that have turned the community into a pristine beauty, a source confided in The Oracle Today. “They must have thought he was in the church. He may have planned to come to mass with his father, who sustained a bullet wound. But, Ebubechukwu had gone back to Lagos. The attack on hapless parishioners when they couldn’t get their target was a very callous thing to have done; it’s an unforgiveable sin,” our source added.

Speaking with The Oracle Today at the scene of the crime, Chief Jude Emecheta, an indigene of the town and Chairman of Obiano Support Group Worldwide, described the incident as unprecedented in the history of the town, assuring that the Obiano Administration would surely unmask the criminals and their masterminds.

Already, some arrests have been made in connection with the attacks, according to the police.

And condolences and messages of solidarity have poured into Anambra from different parts of the country.

But, while the incident has been blamed on ‘undue anger arising from soured business relations’, concerned citizens who spoke with The Oracle Today are aghast at what they called ‘an inexcusable example of security failure’, sparking arguments as to whether the could have been different if Anambra had power under the law to set up its own law enforcement institution and use its personal to secure its environment.

His Royal Highness, Eze Uwadiegwu Ogbonnaya, the traditional ruler of Umuanyi Autonomous Community, Isuikwuato Local Government of Abia State believes that State Police could have made all the difference in a situation like what happened at Ozubulu.

“I am totally in support of State Police. It is a misnomer where somebody from Maiduguri will be posted to Kaima in Bayelsa State where he does not understand their language,” he said in a chat with The Oracle Today. “Before the war, we had Native Police and they were doing well but after the war, the Northern establishment took control of the recruitment, promotion and posting of the Police personnel. What we have now is unwieldy, and State governors as Chief Security Officers of their states lack the power to control

Commissioners of Police.”

According to Ogbonnaya, a former journalist, “we should have regional and Provincial Police with the six geo-political zones serving as regions while the states should serve as provinces. Only the Aburi Accord will address Nigeria’s problems.”

Similarly, Comrade Ogbonnaya Iheaka, pioneer Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists, Abia State Council told The Oracle Today: “I believe in restructuring because what we have today is a structure handed down to us by the North-dominated military which is skewed against the South and in favour of the North. There should be true restructuring which should enshrine true federalism and it should include power devolution and this makes the issue of state police important in certain tiers of government. Restructuring should affect Police. The Police as we have it today, works for the federal government. We should even have the Police at the local and community levels.”

Describing the attack as “barbaric, naive and uncalled for” as the “Igbo are not known for going to the church to attack worshippers,” leader of Imo Network Group (ING), a pro democracy and good governance advocacy group in Imo State, Mr. Pauly Chinenye Samez said: “State Police would be able to address issues like this and nip it in the bud and not letting the get to

this level where innocent worshippers were killed. I believe state police is good, and it is part of the restructuring we are talking about.”

He continued: “The Commissioner of Police in Anambra State is less than two months in the state and in two hours he came out with a postulation that the church killing was due to a drug matter between two families,” stressing: “We need state police because they will able to understand the make-up of the state. If you have a state police, it would culminate into the communities and local governments”.

He warned, however, that Nigerians should guard against abuse of state police by government officials.

For his part, Anambra State Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), His Grace SP, Snr. Apostle Timothy Uchenna Okpala agreed that establishing Stateowned police should form part of the restructuring that Nigerians are calling for at the moment.

Okpala said that the restructuring is very important and imperative as it will address the challenges facing the country, adding that nobody can explain the reason why the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari is delaying the commencement of the restructuring exercise.

The Anambra CAN boss said that State owned Police is needed now because the safety of religious worshippers at various worship centres can no longer be guaranteed what with “some barbaric criminals going to the Church of God and opening fire on innocent people who came to worship their God.” Also Speaking, a member of the Board of trustees of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka said he supports the idea of State Police because it is naturally wrong for somebody from Jigawa State who doesn’t know anything about Anambra State to serve as a Divisional Police Officer in a community in Anambra State.

He said: “Common sense tells us that we need local policemen who are home-grown and are conversant enough with the system they are assigned to secure; the idea of bringing somebody from Sokoto to serve as (DPO) in Anambra is not a good security measure.

“If I am a police officer and I am posted to serve in Oba where I grew up and know very well, there are chances that I will do well. But if you send me to a rural community in Akwa Ibom State, where I am purely a stranger, I cannot guarantee good performance, so we need State Police to enhance adequate security of lives and property in this country.”

Former Snr. Special Assistant to Anambra State governor on Revenue Generation and Market Development, Chief Morris Ebo is also of the strong view that the massacre at Ozubulu could have been avoided if the “police had taken community policing seriously,” stressing that “State police will work in a restructured Nigeria.”

However, former governor of Adamawa State, Ambassador James Barka, has declared that the overbearing attitudes of some State governors form a major threat to the viability of State Police.

Ambassador Barka who was also Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly and Nigeria’s Ambassador to Tunisia respectively, said state governors have the tendency to abuse the power invested in them under the law to control the police.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

NEWS ACROSS THE NATION Lagos unveils roadmap to fix potholes, tackle flooding

By SAMSON AKINTARO

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AGOS State Government has unveiled a new roadmap targeted at maintaining and rehabilitating roads across the State as well as comprehensive drainage maintenance and flood control programme between August and December 2017.

Recently-appointed Special Adviser to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Public Works and Drainages, Engr. Temidayo Erinle, who reeled out the roadmap at a press briefing held at the Bagau-

da Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, said in the coming days, the State Government, through the Public Works Corporation, would carry out rehabilitation works on 43 major link roads across the State, while other major highways and arterial roads found to be in bad state would be fixed.

“As you are all aware, we are presently in the rainy season, as such much cannot be done during this period. However, we are currently carrying out palliative works on our major roads through the application of boulders, crushed

stones and other construction materials to address the potholes problems in order not to paralyze the economic activities of the State.

“Similarly, we also take advantage of some dry days to carry out repair works in an effort to reduce traffic gridlock on Lekki-Epe Expressway between Adetokunbo Ademola to Samuel, section of Ikorodu Road between the new and old pedestrian bridges inward Maryland, Ikorodu Road, Ketu Bus Stop and Ikuomola Street, Idimu Alimosho Local Government Area.

FG orders immediate electrification of Ariaria market From VICTOR NZE

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CTING President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has directed the the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to ensure Ariaria International Market, Abia State, is provided with constant power supply.

To achieve this, the Ru-

ral Electrification Agency (REA) has been given the mandate to provide adequate electricity to the market. The REA has now commenced a technical study to collect data and determine the Market’s power requirements.

The Governor of Abia State, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, has earlier made a strong

case to the Presidency for the electricity intervention in Ariaria Market.

Reacting, President, Aba Chamber of Commerce, Sir Emma Nwakpadolu, expressed gratitude to the Acting President, Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and the Abia State Government for their plans for the mar-

Ebonyi Govt. seeks involvement of more youths in empowerment schemes

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BONYI Commissioner for Economic Empowerment and Job Creation, Mr Uchenna Orji, has urged youths in the state to key into government’s empowerment programmes to enhance their economic status.

The commissioner, who made the appeal, Friday, in Abakaliki, said that states and the Federal Governments were working hard to ensure that Nigerian youths, especially the unemployed, had jobs doing through the various economic empowerment intervention programmes.

Orji said that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) were key to national economic growth and development, adding that the economic empowerment initiatives were aimed at encouraging development of Small and Medium Enterprises through youths Involvement.

“The N-Power scheme aimed at reducing poverty by empowering the unemployed Nigerian youths, especially the unemployed and the SouthEast Development Centre (SEEDC), are Federal Government sponsored empowerment programmes.

“The SEEDC is being facilitated by the Central Bank of Nigeria where states pay counterpart funds to benefit from the empowerment scheme.

The scheme trains enrollees in different entrepreneurship programme for three months after which the graduates of the scheme are given N3 million start-up fund to establish their own businesses.

“Apart from the Federal Government-assisted economic empowerment programmes, our state also empowers the youth under the state government revolving loan scheme where it gives N250,000 to youths and indigent women to

ket, assuring that ‘the leadership of various clusters in the market have agreed to assist the REA with all the support required to implement the project.’

The Federal Government’s delegation to Ariaria was led by the Managing Director, REA, Mrs Damilola Ogunbiyi, while the Abia Government delegation was led by Mr. Chinenye Nwogu along with the Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Communications, Sam Hart.

start a business.

“The economic empowerment policy is aimed at reducing poverty and unemployment rate since government cannot employ all qualified citizens,” Orji said.

Orji said that there was correlation between poverty and crime and that the best strategy to confront crime was fighting poverty and unemployment.

“The state government has earmarked about N600 million to be given to 2,400 youths in its revolving loan scheme programme. It is part of strategy to help youths own businesses, curb crime and youths restiveness and permanently solve unemployment,” he added.

He said the state government, under Gov. Dave Umahi, had significantly reduced rate of unemployment and added that the loan scheme had recorded massive success since introduction in 2016.

103,742 children die annually over poor breastfeeding –UNICEF

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HE United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that 103,742 children die annually in Nigeria due to lack of exclusive breastfeeding.

UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Mrs Ada Ezeogu, made this known at a media dialogue on Breastfeeding and Global Breastfeeding Collective, organised by Child Rights Information Bureau, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, sponsored by UK Department for International Development (DFID) on Friday in Ibadan.

Ezeogu who spoke on

“Breastfeeding Importance and Benefits to Children and The Role of UNICEF,” decried the low uptake of exclusive breastfeeding in Nigeria, noting that the gap or lapses robbed 5.4 million children yearly of its benefits.

“Delaying breastfeeding for two to 23 hours after birth increases the risk of dying within 28 days of a baby’s life by 40 per cent. Based on UNICEF fact sheet, the low rate of Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) leads to 103,742 child’s deaths and translated to almost 12 billion dollars in future economic losses for

the country.

“The summation of low cognitive development, low IQ and health costs in inadequate breastfeeding is estimated to cost the country economy 21 billion dollars per year or 4.1 per cent of its gross national income,” Ezeogu said.

She said that exclusively breastfed babies were 14 times less likely to die than those not breastfed.

“Breastfeeding reduces the incidence of death in newborns as they account for close to half of all deaths of children under the age of five.

“Asides that, I want to assure the people that immediately the rain subsides, the Lagos State Public Works Corporation will embark on massive road maintenance and repairs of all major highways and arterial roads found to be in bad state.”

Erinle said aside the 43 major link roads to be repaired in coming days, engineers of the Corporation have also been sent out to identify other failed spots across the State, assuring that the State Government was determined to fix all potholes to bring about seamless driving experience to motorists.

He listed some of the 43 roads to include Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi which work has already commenced; Ojota Interchange transiting the ramps on both directions, Sina Ogunbanwo Street, Agric Road Oko-Oba, Ifako Ijaiye; Club Road off Osborne Road, Ikoyi; Oroke Drive, Ikoyi, Eti-Osa LGA; Central Avenue, Apapa; North Avenue, Apapa; Maybin road, Apapa; Lateef Jakande road, Ikeja; Gberibe road, Ikorodu; TOS Benson road, Ikorodu; Oke Sabo along Imota; Itamaga, Itoikin; Oba Sekumaderd, Ogolonto, Ikorodu; Adeniran Ogunsanya road Ikorodu; Admiralty way, Lekki Eti-Osa; Topo inward Ajido, Badagry; Hospital road, Badagry and Ijesha road network, Surulere.

Others include: Liverpool Apapa; 1st Avenue Festac Amuwo- Odofin;

Kirikiri road, Ajeromi Ifelodun; Ojo road, Ojo; College road, Agric, Ojo; Baale road, Ojo LGA; Okun-Owa street, Ajegunle, Ajeromi Ifelodun; Crowther Crescent, Apapa LG; Oba Akran Avenue, Ikeja; Shasha road Akowonjo; Bonny Camp Victoria Island; Musa Yar Adua street, off Ozumba Mbadiwe; Obafemi Awolowo way, Ikeja; Old Abeokuta motor road; Pen Cinema to Abule Egba; Iju road, Ifako Ijaiye LGA; Akowonjo road, Alimosho; Itire road, Babalola bus stop axis, Mushin LGA; Diya street, Gbagada Kosofe; Chivita road, Ajao Estate; Asa Afariogun street, Ajao Estate; Herbert Macaulay road, Yaba; Ahmadu Bello way, Victoria Island; Lekki Epe Expressway to Ibeju Lekki Axis.

While reeling out the plans of the State Government to control flooding, Erinle said works have already commenced in earnest to deflood the State, adding that in a bid to forestall flooding as witnessed few weeks back due to torrential rainfall which led to high intensity of about 465mm of water within five days, the State has been divided into five zones namely Alimosho, Ikeja, Mushin, Kosofe, Agege, Ifako-Ijaiye, Oshodi-Isolo and Somolu (Zone 1); AjeromiIfelodun, Amuwo Odofin, Ojo and Badagry (Zone 2); Ikorodu (Zone 3); Apapa, Surulere, Lagos Island, Mainland and Eti-Osa (Zone 4); and Ibeju Lekki and Epe (Zone 5).

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The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

NEWS ACROSS THE NATION

Anambra church shooting: FG places doctors on standby From VICTOR NZE

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to the scene to rescue the worshippers. Victims were evacuated to the hospital, and the hospital authority has confirmed 11 persons dead, and 18 injured as a result of the shooting.

“The Executive Governor of the state visited the scene while I was there, and assured the injured persons of his support in offsetting the medical bills and that the full wrath of law will be visited on the perpetrators. The Command under my watch will leave no stone unturned in locating and prosecuting those behind the massacre of innocent worshippers.

“The Command assures Ndi An-

ambra and the general public that the Police is on top of the situation and will locate and prosecute the perpetrators soon. Intelligence report/Preliminary investigation shows that the incident is as a result of a feud between two individuals who are from the community but who live outside Nigeria, one of the individual we learnt, built the church where the incident occurred. It is definitely not a terrorist attack in the mold of Boko Haram or Fulani herdsmen attack.

“The Command views this dastardly act as sacrilegious but for now considers it still premature

to disclose the identities of those involved in the act. The Command will brief the public after investigation is concluded.

“I commiserate with all those who lost their loved ones from this unfortunate incident and pledge that the command would not rest on its oars until the perpetrators are apprehended to face justice.

I want to also encourage Ndi Anambra to be vigilant and to report strange and suspicious movement of persons and actions in their locality to the security agencies promptly, please,” the commissioner said.

HE Federal Ministry of Health said, Monday, it has placed medical experts on standby to beef up services at the Nnamdi Azikwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, for worshippers injured in the Ozubulu church attack, should the need arise.

Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, gave this indication in a statement by the ministry’s Director of Media and Public Relations, Mrs Boade Akinola, Monday, in Abuja.

The minister, who described the incident as shocking, assured the Chief Medical Director of the hospital of immediate Federal Government support as soon as such was required.

He commended the doctors at the hospital for being proactive in their response to the emergency.

Adewole commiserated with the government and people of Anambra on the unfortunate incident.

Meanwhile, the Anambra State Police Command has confirmed that 11 persons lost their lives in the Sunday morning shooting incident at the St. Philip Catholic Church Amakwa in Ozubulu, Ekwusigo Local Government Area of the state.

The command also said 18 people sustained various degrees of injuries in the incident.

Making the disclosure, Monday, in Awka, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Garba Baba Umar, said his command will issue another statement on the incident ‘after investigation is concluded.’

“At about 6.30hrs of 6th August 2017. I got a distress call that gunmen had invaded St. Philip Catholic Church Amakwa in Ozubulu, Ekwusigo LGA while the mass was going on and shot at worshipers.

“Police teams along with other sister security agencies under my direct supervision were deployed Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo with Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu during Friday’s meeting.

CVR: INEC registers 1.8m new voters, distributes 65,000 PVCs

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HE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that it had registered no fewer than 1.8 million voters nationwide since the nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise began on April 27.

The commission which revealed this in its summary timetable on the exercise released, Thursday, in Abuja, further said that 1,810,153 voters had so far been registered across the country, and that 65,001 Permanent Voter cards (PVCs) had been collected during the period.

It also stated that 76, 256 requests of transfer of voting units were recorded, while 155, 471 requests for replacement of defaced PVCs were received nationwide.

A breakdown of the table showed that Lagos has the highest number of new registered voters with 109,040, follow by Rivers with 103,919 and Anambra with 80,439. The Federal Capital Territory and Gombe State recorded the least number of registrants with 14, 957 and 17,720.

On the PVC collection, it revealed that Lagos also topped with 9,982, Kogi, 8,239; Ebonyi, 3,863; Zamfara and Taraba had 22 and 53 PVCs.

Police retirees in Kano, Katsina, Jigawa seek exclusion from CPS

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he Association of Retired Police officers of Nigeria (ARPON), Kano Chapter, is seeking immediate exclusion of its members from the Contributory Pension Scheme.

Secretary of the association, Saidu Garba, which membership covers Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa states, made this known at a news conference, Monday.

According to Garba, it is the desire of the retirees for the Federal Government to revert to the previous Police Pension Scheme.

“We, the retired officers from Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa states, are using this medium to express our willingness and desire as police pensioners under this scheme, to be excluded from the Contributory Pension Scheme,“ he said.

Garba said that the call for the exclusion of the police retirees form the scheme became necessary because it had become detrimental to the interests of members of the association.

He added that most of the retired senior police officers received pension far below what they were supposed to be getting.

He stated that senior officers receive N18,000 monthly as pension benefits under the contributory scheme.

“We want to return to our normal police pension scheme like the military. We police pensioners know where the shoe is pinching us. The (contributory pension) scheme is seriously dealing with us. The much-anticipated benefit of the contributory pension scheme we are operating now has turned out to be a mirage,“ he said.

He praised members of the House of Representatives for amending the Pension Reform Act 2014 to exclude the Nigeria Police Force from the (contributory pension) scheme.

Kaduna State: FRSC records 37.7% drop in road accidents

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HE Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Monday, said the number of road accidents recorded in Kaduna State dropped to 392 in the first half of this year.

The figure was against the 620 accidents recorded in the corresponding period in 2016, a drop by 37.7 per cent.

Sector Commander, Malam Umar Ibrahim, who gave the statistics in Kaduna, Monday, said that the 620 accidents recorded in the first half of 2016 involved 856 vehicles, but the figures dropped to 392 accidents involving 555 vehicles in the same period in 2017.

“The number of people involved in the accidents equally reduced from 4,767 to 2,699 with corresponding decrease in the number of injured from 2,546 to 1,700,” he said.

The sector commander did not, however, give the number of deaths recorded in the accidents, but attributed the successes to improved attitude of motorists towards their safety.

He said that compliance by commercial vehicle owners to the directive to install speed limit device had greatly improved in recent times, just as he commended motorists and urged them to continue to cooperate

with security agencies on the highways to ensure accident free roads.

“I am equally calling on private vehicle owners to install the device of self-regulation to control speed and save lives. Political office holders can help in that regard, this is because if members

of the national and state house of assemblies installed the device, others will follow.

“I want to also say that not all accidents are the will of God as many people erroneously believed. If you guard yourself against accident, God will help you, but you cannot be careless on the road and expect to be in-

vincible. Let us all join hands to keep our roads safe for all road users at all times,’’ he said.

Ibrahim said that the command has concluded the “audit” of the entire township roads in the state to know roads that require roads signs and those that are bad and need repairs.

command also seized a truckload of diesel allegedly meant for the Boko Haram sect in Samba forest.

The comptroller who displayed the confiscated items said that they were seized from the culprits along the Mubi- Madagali Highway, adding the truck was conveying about 500 jerry cans filled with petroleum product when the customs’ officials impounded it.

“The men of the Federal Operation Unit (FOU) of the NCS patrolling the Mubi-Madagali highway in Adamawa, seized a Mitsubishi truck fully load-

ed with about 500 jerry cans of petroleum. The driver and other passengers of the truck ran into the bush on sighting the operational team. We suspected that the fuel was being transported to Sambisa Forest for Boko Haram use ” Adetoye said.

He who also said that eight members of the team narrowly escaped being lynched by suspected smugglers in Wuro Bokki area of Adanawa, said that this happened when the team was chasing smugglers in the water ways along the Nigeria – Cameroon maritime border.

Customs generates N111.75m within 6 months in Adamawa

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damawa/Taraba Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Monday, said it generated N111.75 million as revenue between January and June.

Area Comptroller, Mr Francis Adetoye, who disclosed this to newsmen in Yola, said the command also made 22 seizures with a Duty Paid Value of N42.765 million within the period under review.

He said that of the amount, the command recorded over N26 million as increment in revenue in June alone, adding that the officials from the

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The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

NEWS Paris Club Refund: How Delta spent its N10bn — CPS

Ozubulu: Bayelsa condoles Obiano

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From CHRIS EZE, Yenagoa

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he Bayelsa State government has condoled with the governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano and families of the deceased over last weekend’s shooting incident at St. Philips Catholic Church, Ozubulu in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State.

In a condolence message to the Government and people of Anambra State, the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Hon. Jonathan Obuebite, described the incident as most disheartening, shocking and barbaric, noting that, the Bayelsa State government condemned the action in its entirety.

The statement read in part: “On behalf of the Restoration Government of Bayelsa State, the Chiefs and peace loving people of the State, I condemn in very strong terms the killing of innocent worshippers last Sunday morning at the St. Philips Catholic Church, Ozubulu in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State.”

While, commending the Anambra State Government and Police for the steps so far taken to bring the perpetrators to book, it called for greater vigilance on the part of the law enforcement agencies to check future occurrences.

The Bayelsa State Government also prayed God to grant the souls of the departed eternal rest in His bosom.

From JONATHAN AWANYAI, him into office”.

Asaba “He has assured that Deltans will get value for every money he Chief Press Secre- that accrues to the state at all tary to Governor Ifeanyi times.”

Okowa of Delta State, While answering questions Mr. Charles Aniagwu has dis- bothering on the payment closed how the Delta State of local government workers Government spent the N10bn salaries, Aniagwu stated that it recently received from the the local governments are a Federal government as part of separate tier of government, the Paris Club excess loan de- adding that the State Governduction refunds. ment is not responsible for the Aniagwu disclosed that out payment of their salaries. of the N10bn, local govern“Even though we assisted ments in the State were given them in the past, we couldn’t N2.1bn as their statutory share continue in the present ecowhile about N5bn was set nomic circumstance as we aside to settle certain issues re- have our own challenges belating to certain aspect of sala- cause a man cannot give what ry arrears, co-operative deduc- he doesn’t have”. tions and pensions. The sum of Justifying the setting aside N2bn plus was earmarked for of about N3bn for infrastrucpriority projects that require ture and payment of contracurgent attention and payment tors, Aniagwu stressed that of contractors. government exists for everyThe governor’s Spokesman body and not just for the paystated this recently while an- ment of salaries of workers swering questions on ‘Trend which are less than 2 percent talk’ a Radio Programme on of the population of the state.

Trend 100.9Fm Asaba.

“If the government spends He noted that the Okowa-led virtually all that comes to pay administration is committed salaries of workers, what hapto the prudent, transparent pens to the larger chunk of the and accountable management population?” he queried of the state’s resources just as He assured that the State he is committed to taking deci- Government with the support sions that would be in the best from the Nigeria Society of interest of the people.

Engineers will tackle headlong “Governor Okowa has the flooding of Asaba while vowed to remain prudent, also reiterating the governtransparent and accountable ment’s commitment to comto the people because he re- pleting the Okpanam road, alises that the ultimate politi- DLA and Mariam Babangida cal power rests on the people roads. who overwhelmingly voted

• The celebrant, CSP Ambrose Igbokwe (right) with the Area Commander CPS Onitsha Area Command, ACP Abubakar Yahaya (middle) and DPO Okpoko Police Station, CPS Gabriel behind is the incoming DPO Inland Town Police Station, CSP Kayode Olabanjo dancing during the event.

Photo by Modestus Igudobi.

Umahi mourns literary icon, Austin Chukwu From CHINEDU NWAFOR, Abakaliki

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overnor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has expressed shock at the news of the death of one of the State’s literary icons, Prof Austin Chukwu who died after a brief illness at the Federal Teaching Hospital (FETHA), Abakaliki, and descried his death as monumental loss to the State and family in particular.

In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Emmanuel Uzor, Governor Umahi described the late Chukwu as a literary giant and academic guru who has contributed immensely

to the development of education in the country and Ebonyi State in particular.

The governor while paying glowing tributes to the fallen literary icon, prayed God to grant his soul eternal rest and give the family the fortitude to bear the loss.

He further condoled with his wife, Dr. (Mrs.) Christiana Chukwu and the entire Chukwu family over the death of their illustrious son and husband, adding that such death further puts arrows into the hearts of the people left behind.

Governor Umahi disclosed that the late university don had been part of the efforts of re-

molding the society through arts, noting that as a Professor of English Language and immediate past Dean, Faculty of Arts and Humanities in the Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo, Prof Chukwu was in the forefront for academic excellence in the State.

He urged his family and his academic colleagues to be consoled by the fact that Prof.

Chukwu lived a fulfilled life and imparted his abundant knowledge to the younger generation, charging them to immortalize the late literary icon by upholding his virtues as a teacher, father and mentor.

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6

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

NEWS Group seeks social change to enthrone participatory democracy in Bayelsa From CHRIS EZE, Yenagoa

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non-governmental organization, Campaign for Democracy and Development in Bayelsa (CDDB) has advocated social change as a basis to enthrone participatory democracy in the state.

The Executive Director of the group, Dr. Ekiyor Welson Konrad, who made the assertion last weekend during the flag-off of its awareness and sensitization campaign in Twon Brass in Brass Local Government Area of the state said: “What Bayelsans need at this crucial moment is social change and development made possible by the institution of participatory democracy which is currently lacking in the state.”

He regretted that the lack of participatory democracy in the state has alienated the people from their own social heritage, and called on Bayelsans to imbibe the culture of searching and choosing credible leaders for the 2019 elections in the state.

According to him, the political class has used the cover of democracy to “subjugate, disenfranchise and undermine the people of the state in the past 18 years, making them poorer, less productive and completely worse off.”

Dr. Welson charged the people of Twon Brass to actively participate in the electoral process by supporting credible candidates to represent them and create the enabling environment for development to strive in their communities.

He maintained that without this, their plight would not change, as the elites would continue to convert their common heritage to private use.

In his response, the Vice chairman of Twon Brass council of chiefs, Chief Ben Dick Williams who spoke on behalf of the traditional leaders and the president, Federated Youth Council of Twon Brass, Chief Ebiegberi Richson expressed their frustration in past elections in their area, stressing that CDDB awareness is timely.

He called for oneness as CDDB carries out the campaign for social justice, development and good governance.

They decried the situation that has existed in the state where the people work for politicians but are later abandoned as soon as the politicians get into office. They promised to work with CDDB to create a new socio-political order in the state.

Highlights of the ceremony were the commissioning of the Brass Local Government office of CDDB in Twon Brass and the inauguration of the LGA executive led by Chief George Robinson and ward coordinators from the ten wards that make up the local government.

From CHRIS EZE, Yenagoa

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n Associate Professor of Development Communication/ Media Advocacy, Dr. Godwin Okon, has predicted that crisis will persist in the Niger Delta region unless there is a change of approach in the quest for resource control by the people.

The university don who teaches mass communication at the Rivers State University, made the assertion in Yenagoa last weekend while delivering a lecture during the 15th anniversary and public lecture of Gesi Publications with the theme,

Why violence may persist in Niger Delta –Don “Journalism Education and Sustainable Development in the Niger Delta Region: A Focus on Bayelsa State”.

Okon pointed out that the form and number of pressure, protest, and interest groups in the Niger Delta clamouring for resource control are “diverse and fuzzy”.

“Their mission and vision sometimes becomes undefined and blurred. As long as many of these groups remain unfocused, violence in the area will remain unabated”, he said.

He, therefore, advocated that the agitation for resource control should be “community-driven” rather than “state-driven” since this could lead to another vicious circle of intrigues.

The lecturer further asserted that previous attempts by the federal government at resolving the Niger Delta crises failed because the government used a “vertical approach” instead of a “horizontal method”.

Describing the horizontal approach as the best tool, he said it is

predicated on the principles of dialogue.

“The advantages of this approach are indeed far reaching,” said Okon at the event which was chaired by Dr. Godkonws Igali, a retired federal permanent secretary and Nigeria’s former ambassador to the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway.

Group seeks social change to enthrone participatory democracy in Bayelsa

• Traditional Ruler Mbala Ancient Kingdom, His Majesty Eze AB. Udeogu Okpala JP, Aguogba II (middle) flanked from left Ogbuehi Okereke Dan, Chief IK Ukekwe, Surv. Ike Orika, Elder Chikezie Eziako during the New Yam Festival at the Aguogba Palace, Mbala Isuochi.

BY IBE NWACHUKWU

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ational chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie Oyegun has asked the Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano to start now to prepare his handover note to the in-coming APC Governor in Anambra State.

Oyegun who stated this in Awka, Anambra State Capital while inaugurating the State chapter of the coalition of APC support group, said the call has become necessary because, no Jupiter will save the state from not being taken over by the APC in the Nov. 18 governorship election.

However, in a swift reaction, the Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters, Hon. Arinzechukwu Awogu described Oyegun and his APC as daydreamers, considering an adage, which

Begin to prepare your handover note now, Oyegun tells Obiano • He’s a daydreamer-Obiano’s aide states that “an outsider does not have inheritance in another man’s estate.”

Represented by the Deputy National Chairman Coalition of APC support group South, Ambassador Mustapha Adeyawayu, the National chairman tasked the group to embark on immediate house- to-house mobilization exercise to convince the Anambra electorate on the need to vote for APC and return the state to the party at the centre.

He added that the State cannot afford to continue to survive in opposition particularly at this period of economic recession in the country as such would deny them their fair share of the National cake and retard the state

development.

He said: “I charge you as coalition group to work as a team and ensure that you left no stone unturned to bring more people to join the party in your various wards and local government areas. We are confident that APC is going to win the Anambra election come Nov. 18 and all hands must be on deck to ensure that APC sweeps the polls.

Also speaking, a founding father of AD and a BOT member of APC of Anambra State extraction based in Lagos State, Chief Chris Igweilo counselled the members to be fishers of men for APC in the interest of Ndigbo and the party.

He charged the chairman of the group to ensure that every mem-

GE to inaugurate multi-model manufacturing and industrial services centre in Calabar • Unveils long term development plan for Nigeria

From ANIEKAN ANIEKAN, Calabar

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multi-model manufacturing and industrial services centre, a project being undertaken by an American conglomerate, General Electric is to be inaugurated in Calabar, Cross River State

by December this year.

The multi-million dollar facility, which is the first of its kind in subSaharan Africa is expected to make Nigeria the hub of oil, gas and power activities.

To achieve this dream and further demonstrate its long-term commitment to developing the country, the Executive Director, GE-Calabar Free

Trade Zone, Mr. Ahmed Zakari said their cardinal strategy is localization.

“Localizing our manufacturing and servicing capabilities is one of our four pillars. We have a major site in Onne and we are winding down a site in Port Harcourt. The Calabar facility, which is multi-modal and one of only two in the world is the one that will represent the hub for GE activities in oil, gas and for power,” he said.

“The second is localizing our supply chain. So basically all our suppliers and partners that help us are being recruited in the country and we are inviting those who are not based in the country to come and invest with us in this site.”

Also speaking, the Executive Strategy, Growth and Initiatives, BHGE Mr. Femi Adewunmi announced the creation of BHGE, a merger between Berger Hughes and GE. The new company will not change the core values of GE. Rather, it will be the only fully stream company in the oil industry.

“The evolving company has over 500 people in Nigeria and 98% of them are Nigerians. In 2016, the local sources spent N25billion in Nigeria and we are trying to see a similar level in 2017 despite the fact that all you are seeing in the market today is pointing to a sustained meltdown,” Adewunmi said.

ber of the group is carried along and not to compromise the position of the group in favour of any particular candidate in the election.

“I want to warn you to be very careful as the chairman. Your position demands enough of political will and courage to resist the temptation of money bag politicians who will come to dangle the carrot around you. I don’t say you should refuse the Ghana-Must-Go when it comes around you, but try also to tell them that your group is for APC and candidates of the party in the election.

In his speech, the newly inaugurated chairman of the group Comrade Onyebuchi Francis Osakwe thanked the National Executive of the coalition of APC support group for their perseverance, total commitment and resolve to give them the opportunity to serve, promising that the group will do everything within their powers to ensure that they mobilize Anambra electorates to enable APC overrun any other political party in the election.

According to Awogu, “We know that their stock-in-trade is to rig the election because any party that is prepared for the polls cannot talk in that manner. But we are waiting for them”.

Awogu further declared: “ This is Anambra state and not Edo or Ondo. We are fully waiting for them. Let them come and we will show them that there is no landing place for them here in Anambra. Governor Willie Obiano has in three years and four months now, transformed this state in no small measure.”

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The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

NEWS

Anambra election must hold to avoid state of emergency —Council boss

Anambra 2017: Umenzekwe, APC chieftain backs Ngige on consensus • Canvasses support for Obiano candidacy

By IBE NWACHUKWU

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chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Modestus Okechukwu Umenzekwe has said the Minister for Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige was right when he made a case for all the governorship aspirants on the party’s platform to agree to work for a consensus candidate to emerge from among them.

He, therefore, advised the numerous aspirants vying on the party’s platform to emulate the kind of consensus candidacy, which was adopted by the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) during the 1978 Second Republic primaries that went in favour of former President Shehu Shagari.

According to Umenzekwe who spoke to newsmen in Awka, “We should remember the position of Anambra State in the South East geo-political zone.

I would wish that those able qualified contestants should do as was done in NPN then. Our great party, the APC is greater than any member. Therefore, let us join hands without drawback to oust the ‘out-going’ present government of Anambra State.”

“In terms of the forthcoming Anambra State gubernatorial election, I stand on the platform on which His Excellency, Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige is standing, namely, that those contestants should be able to within themselves give the party the support of one person amongst themselves. Everybody cannot be Governor and Deputy Governor at the same time,” Umenzekwe added.

“Such a thing happened in 1978 in NPN, then there were three qualified contestants namely, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Danmassanin Kano Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule and Alhaji Aliyu Shehu Shagari. The contest became so hard for any of them to step down for the other. Fortunately on the day of the convention at Rowe Park in Yaba, Lagos, Alhaji Maitama Sule first stepped down unconditionally followed

by Mallam Adamu Ciroma.

“At the end of the day, Alhaji Aliyu Shehu Shagari was left and supported to face the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN led by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) led by the late Rt. Hon Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. The rest is now history.”

Umenzekwe who is also the Chairman of Adem Industrial and Commercial Complex, Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Lagos state, further added that the recent visit made by seven State governors to President Muhammadu Buhari in London has calmed the high tension created by the constitutional absence of Mr. President.

By IBE NWACHUKWU

T

he Chairman of Idemili North Local Government Transition Committee in Anambra State, Chief Raphael Asha Nnabuife has reaffirmed that election must hold in the State as scheduled on November 18, this year, despite insinuation by some pro-Biafran groups that it would not hold.

He, therefore, urged every member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the local government in particular and the State in general to come out en masse to

cast their votes for the incumbent Governor Willie Obiano during the election to enable him get a land slide victory for his second tenure.

Addressing 50 APGA members at Nkpor Ward I who had just decamped from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during their solidarity visit in his office at the council secretariat, Ogidi during the week, Nnabuife urged the entire electorate in the State not to boycott the election as demanded by the pro-Biafra groups because the consequences would be as an ill-wind that blows no one any good.

Flanked by the member representing Idemili North Constituency at the State House of Assembly, Hon. Tochukwu Mmegbuanaeze, Nnabuife declared: “We are all Biafrans and we support its agenda but nobody should stop forthcoming election in the State. I want to advise our youths not to create tension and crisis that will force federal government to declare a state of emergency and appoint military administrator in the State.”

He further declared: “We should not thwart the democratic system existing in the State. We should not listen to anybody who says

The Regent of Ojoto in Idemili South LGA, Chief Sir Gerrald Mbamalu cutting the yam to mark the new yam festival at his Palace.

Photo by Modestus Igudobi

that election will not hold because election must hold, which will be for our benefit. If the election fails to hold, the tendency is that the federal government will declare a state of emergency in Anambra and consequently appoint a military administrator to govern the state for some time.”

He noted that since Governor Obiano has provided adequate security of lives and property in the State by making it the safest state in the country, increased rice production, exported yams and vegetables to the United Kingdom, UK and United States of America, USA and currently constructing a cargo airport as well as other infrastructural developments in the State, “it is our responsibility to give him opportunity to go for a second term.”

Distributing wrappers designed with APGA logo and Obiano’s head to some of the decampees, the council boss urged them to settle down for work at once as soon as they get back to their ward, adding that their decision to join APGA has reduced the campaign stress in the area and paved the way for APGA to cruise into victory at the polls, even as he assured them that they would be definitely carried along in all the party’s activities in the area.

Earlier, the leader of the group and former Councillorship candidate of PDP, Mr. Obioma Arinze Molokwu had explained that they took the decision to defect from PDP to APGA due to the laudable developmental projects embarked upon by Obiano in the State.

Alvan Ikoku lecturers inciting us against management - students cry out From COLLINS UGHALAA, Owerri

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tudents of the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education (AIFCE), Owerri, Imo State, have accused their lecturers inciting them to revolt against the management of the institution in protest against alleged moves to extend the tenure of the Provost,

Dr Blessing Ijioma.

A coalition of four unions in the institution under the auspices of JAC had last week demanded the “immediate retirement and completion of tenure of the Provost, Dr (Mrs.) Blessing Ijioma.

In a press release issued in Owerri by the Chairman of JAC, Comrade Bede Blaise Onwuagbaoke, and secretary, Dr. Benjamin Nwokedi,

the group demanded that the Provost be made to proceed on retirement immediately, having reached the retirement age of 65 on August 2, this year.

They also requested the Governing Council of the institution to appoint a new Provost from among members of the academic staff of the College whom they said are abundantly qualified for the job.

Abam communities ordered to keep off disputed land From BONIFACE OKORO, Umuahia

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s a step towards permanent resolution of the protracted boundary dispute between two warring communities in Arochukwu Local Government Area, the Abia State government has assured that demarcation of the boundaries between Ndi Ebe Abam and Ndi Ojiaku (Ndi Ojiugwo Abam) communities would commence as soon as the rains recede.

The State Deputy Governor, Sir Ude Oko Chukwu gave the assurance when he received in his office, a delegation from the communities, which have been locked in boundary wrangling for decades.

The delegation, which was led by the member representing Arochuk-

wu/Ohafia Federal Constituency, Chief Uko Nkole, came to appeal to the State government to implement the Supreme Court verdict on the disputed land to avert further bloodshed.

Nkole said the peace talks were his initiatives to avoid a breakdown of law and order due to rising tension between the communities occasioned by the non-demarcation of the boundary by the relevant government agency, in line with the Supreme Court decision on the disputed land about 21 years ago.

The Deputy Governor ordered the parties to cease further development on the land until the boundaries were properly demarcated and established.

The Deputy Governor, who doubles as the Chairman of Abia Bound-

ary Committee, therefore, mandated the Ministry Of Lands and Surveys to expeditiously establish the property beacons and properly demarcate the boundary in line with the survey plan as contained in the judgement of the Apex court once the rains subside within the year.

Chukwu appreciated the peaceful co-existence between the two communities and reiterated the commitment of Abia State government under the leadership of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu towards amicable resolutions of land disputes.

The Deputy Governor commended Nkole for his proactive approach that has put the communities on the path of peace, while admonishing the communities to abide by the law and maintain peace at all times.

They claimed that the Provost was reappointed in 2014 when her first tenure elapsed, stressing that she was 62 years old at the time of her reappointment.

Meanwhile, the College has been shut down following a one-week warning strike embarked upon by the staff.

Some students who spoke with The Oracle Today in Owerri, however, alleged that the one-week warning strike followed the refusal of the Students Union Government (SUG) of the College to lead the students to cause chaos in the school in protest against the alleged moves to extend of the tenure of the provost.

The students who craved anonymity said some prominent lecturers in the College had approached the SUG to help them stage a protest to send the message that they do not support the moves to extend the tenure of the Provost.

Explaining why AIFCE SUG refused to comply with the demand of the lecturers, the students said the matter was purely a labour issue and does not concern the students.

They said they did not employ Dr Mrs Blessing Ijioma, and as such those concerned should sort themselves out.

8

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

INTERNATIONAL NEWS Tillerson in Thailand presses for more action on North Korea

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ecretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday pressed Thai leaders for more action on North Korea during the highest level visit to Thailand by a U.S. official since a military coup in 2014 soured relations with the U.S. Tillerson’s top priority has been urging Southeast Asian countries to do more to cut funding streams for North Korea.

“The U.S. believes that North Korean front companies are active in Thailand and trying to encourage the Thais to shut them down.

“The companies are using Bangkok as a regional hub and change their names frequently,’’Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton told reporters aboard Tillerson’s plane.

Before meeting Tillerson, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Thailand would support a UN resolution on new sanctions on Pyongyang over its missile tests.

However, he made no mention of

specific action.

Thornton said the U.S. was encouraging Thailand to take as many North Korean refugees as it can handle.

Reuters reported exclusively on Aug. 2 that the number of North Koreans slipping illegally into Thailand has surged in recent months.

Thailand’s own politics and human rights record were also in focus, as Washington strengthens relations with its oldest ally in the region after they were downgraded following the coup.

“We want Thailand to emerge as a strengthened democracy that respects and guarantees human rights and fundamental freedoms at home and plays a leading role in advancing regional security and prosperity,” U.S. embassy spokesperson said.

Tillerson offered no specific message on human rights when he spoke to the American community at the ambassador’s residence and

highlighted the 200-year-old relationship.

“We want to continue to grow that relationship, even in its ups and downs,” he said.

Tillerson met Thailand’s foreign minister, Don Pramudwinai, before junta chief Prayuth.

Don also emphasised support for the UN resolution on North Korea.

U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken to Prayuth by telephone and invited him to the White House, but no date has been set yet.

Human rights groups have voiced concern about the re-establishment of normal relations while Thailand’s junta continues to crack down on critics.

“It would be a practical mistake for Tillerson to not condition positive diplomatic relations on improvements in the protection of human rights,” Matthew Smith, of the Fortify Rights group said.

Thailand’s military seized power in May 2014 after months of street

protests with a promise to eventually restore democracy, but elections will not happen before next year and a new constitution retains a powerful political say for the army.

Since the coup, Thailand has aligned itself more closely with Beijing, and this year approved purchases of more than 500dollars million worth of Chinese submarines, tanks and helicopters, besides construction of a new rail link.

Another source of friction is Thailand’s trade surplus over the U.S. It was the 11th largest in 2016, at nearly 19 billion dollars, although Thai officials expect a sharp rise in U.S. imports to reduce it.

During his five-hour visit to Bangkok, Tillerson signed a condolence book for the revered late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, whose death after seven decades on the throne was felt deeply in Thailand.

Tillerson’s visit follows his attendance at a regional security forum in Manila at the weekend.

Chicago sues Trump administration over sanctuary city plan

C

hicago on Monday sued to prevent the Trump administration from enacting new policies that would withhold money from so-called sanctuary cities that deny U.S. immigration officials access to local jails.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court claims that the federal policies forced the city to choose between its constitutional rights and funding for law enforcement.

“These new conditions also fly in the face of longstanding City policy that promotes cooperation between local law enforcement and immigrant communities,” the lawsuit said.

The policies also include a requirement that local law enforcement give federal authorities 48-hour notice before releasing anyone wanted for immigration violations.

Democratic Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, said on Sunday that the city would file the lawsuit, escalating a pushback against a federal immigration crackdown launched by Republican President Donald Trump’s administration.

The lawsuit came nearly two weeks after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the Justice Department would bar cities from a certain grant programme unless they allowed immigration authorities unlimited access to local jails and give the 48 hours pre-release notice.

Chicago and its high murder rate have been frequently criticised by Trump, and cracking down on illegal immigration was a major theme of his 2016 presidential campaign.

The Justice Department said on Sunday that more Chicagoans were murdered in 2016 than residents of Los Angeles and New York combined, and cited comments by Sessions last week saying sanctuary cities “make all of us less safe.”

Justice Department spokeswoman, Sarah Flores, said in a Sunday statement: “It is especially tragic that the mayor is less concerned with that staggering figure than he is spending time.

“Also spending taxpayer’s money protecting criminal aliens and putting Chicago’s law enforcement at greater risk.”

3 marines confirmed dead, after crashed U.S. military aircraft located off Australian coast

T

hree U.S. marines have been confirmed dead after the wreckage of their downed military aircraft was located off the coast of Australia on Tuesday.

The three victims were part of the Talisman Saber joint military exercises, conducted biannually between the Australian Defence Force and U.S. military.

During a scheduled exercise on Saturday, the tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey which they were traveling in with 23 others crashed into Shoalwater Bay, off the coast of Queensland State.

It was reported that the aircraft collided with a transport ship while it was attempting to land.

The Osprey then slid off the deck of the vessel and fell into the ocean.

After three days of searching, the aircraft was discovered by Australia’s HMAS Melville late Monday night and a Royal Australian Navy dive clearance team immediately began the recovery operation with assistance from U.S. forces.

The commanding general of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, Lt.-Gen. Lawrence Nicholson, said, he appreciated the efforts made by the Australian Defence Force.

“They volunteered their help before we could even ask, demonstrating their friendship and value as international partners,’’ Nicholson said.

“The crew of the Melville and its assets have been invaluable in the recovery effort.

“On behalf of the Marines, sailors, and families of III MEF, I thank you for your support.”

The 23 other men were rescued onboard the aircraft are now recovering from the incident.

Thousands evacuated as German city disposes of World war II bomb A demonstrator, dressed as both Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, joins a protest in New York City’s Time Square against Trump’s plans to reinstate a ban on trasgender individuals serving in the US military. (Photo: Reuters)

UN, Obama urge peaceful polls in Kenya

A

head of Tuesday Kenya’s presidential election, the UN and former U.S. president Barack Obama on Monday called for peaceful polls, urging respect for the outcome of the polls.

The UN urged whoever is dissatisfied with the outcome of the polls to use legal channels to address grievances, according to Mr Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the secretary-general.

“We urge the leadership of the various political parties to respect the outcome of the elections and to use the existing legal channels to address grievances.

“We also call for impartial and human-rights compliant conduct of the police and security forces as a cornerstone of peaceful elections,” he said.

Obama, whose father was born in Kenya, said there has been “too much incitement and appeals based on fear from all sides”.

The former president warned that the Kenyan people “will be the losers if there is a descent into violence.”

“I urge Kenyan leaders to reject violence and incitement; respect the will of the people; urge security forces to act professionally and neutrally; and work together no matter the outcome.

“The choices you make in the coming days can either set Kenya back or bring it together,” Obama said.

“As a friend of the Kenyan people, I urge you to work for a future defined not by fear and division, but by unity and hope” Obama

added in a statement.

Tuesday’s election has been predicted as a battle between incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta battling to secure a second fiveyear term and his opponent and long-time rival opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Odinga alleged voting irregularities after losing to Kenyatta in the 2013 election and took his case to the Supreme Court, which ruled in Kenyatta’s favour by saying the election was valid.

Odinga was also a candidate in the 2007 election, which was followed by deadly violence fueled by ethnic rivalries.

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is among international observers who will be monitoring the election.

P

eople living within 250 metres of a World War II bomb discovered during construction work in the German city of Dusseldorf are being evacuated while it is being disposed off.

A police spokesman said officers were checking houses within the exclusion zone on Tuesday to make sure no residents were still at home before work proceeds to dispose off the bomb discovered the day before.

Police were stationed to watch over the site during the night.

According to the city council, some 2,300 people were affected, while a spokesman said on Tuesday that a further 4,400 were ordered to stay at home and not go outdoors until the allclear signal was given.

Some 80 residents of a care home had to be brought to other facilities as part of the evacuation.

The WWII aerial bomb was due to be defused at 11 a.m. (0900 GMT).

Streets were to be cordoned off around the site and public transport restricted during the operation

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The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

POLITICS

Royal rumble in Awka ancient Kingdom Pg 10 & 11

Buhari’s Ministers’ scorecard: Not yet flattering testimonial for change agents Pg 12 & 13

When lawmakers wittingly endorsed secessionist agitations, by Abia Onyeike • Describes ‘Nigeria’s unity not negotiable’ mantra as a criminal statement

T

he two Chambers of the National Assembly recently voted against restructuring of Nigeria, which many groups, individuals and regions have been clamouring for. What is your take on this?

In the first place, the National Assembly is dominated by representatives from Northern Nigeria and that domination came as a result of more than 30 years of military dictatorship from July 29, 1966 to 1999 when you minus the four years of civilian rule under Shehu Shagari’s administration. That is, three decades of northern military domination through which the northerners were able to impose their political hegemony on Nigerians. They also imposed a military constitution on Nigerians, that is, the 1999 constitution, which was more of decree No.24 of the 1999. So, the two chambers of the National Assembly, which we have today, were the creation of the military to give the north an edge over other regions of the country.

The whole idea of restructuring is aimed at dismantling the structures put in place by the military dictatorship of northern origin for 30 years. So, ordinarily, you don’t expect the present National Assembly to dance to the tune of the agitators who are clamouring for some tinkering with the structure of Nigeria as it is at the moment. What the NASS has done is to preempt the whole idea of restructuring and to preempt the nationwide agitations by various groups of Nigerians who are fighting for self-determination.

What are the implications of the action of the National Assembly in view of the ongoing agitations from all quarters?

The implication is that those who are agitating for self- determination have been proven right, in the sense that many of our leaders, especially the Igbo leaders, decided to embrace restructuring without first trying to know what northern leaders had in mind.

Chief Abia Onyeike is a public affairs analyst, former deputy National President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), former Commissioner for Information and State Orientation and current General Manager, Ebonyi Printing Press. In this interview with CHINEDU NWAFOR in Abakaliki, he posits that the rejection of restructuring by NASS is an endorsement of the growing agitations by various groups for secession from Nigerian state, even as he insists that the National Assembly as presently constituted can never take actions that will be in the general interest of Nigerians. He avers that the claim by a set of leaders that ‘Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable’ is a criminal statement! Excerpts: Speaking

at the launch event, Emeka Emuwa, Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank, spoke effusively about the Bank’s new ban

”

Some of them are disparaging IPOB and MASSOB, saying the solution lies in restructuring, without taking time to study the crisis in the nature of the Nigerian politics. Some of them failed to understand that the northern hegemonic leadership is anti-democratic in nature and does not care what happens to other people.

As far as I am concerned, the NASS should play no role in the search for a new constitution for Nigeria. It is not the role of NASS to make a new constitution for the Nigerian people. They were elected to make laws for the good governance of Nigeria. They were not elected to make the constitution of the country. The national assembly has no capacity to solve that problem. It is only the Nigerian people that should have the sovereign rights to make a new constitution that will solve the problem of the Nigerian state.

The constitution that Nigerians want is

the one that will dismantle the structures that were put in place by the military and that constitution should also renegotiate the basis for the unity of the country, so that we can also dismantle the structures that were built on the basis of monolithic unitary system of government so we can have a true federal system that will serve the purpose of governing such a diverse nation State like Nigeria with diverse ethnic, language, cultural and territorial groups and spread.

But, the northern hegemonic overlords have used force initiated by the military to impose their will on the rest of Nigerians and what is happening in Nigeria is worse than apartheid, which was dismantled in 1994.

That is why there are agitations everywhere.

What have they been able to do for the Nigerian people? They only bequeathed a regime of backwardness and inferior leadership that has created poverty, underdevelopment, mass unemployment, economic recession and destitution on the people of Nigeria.

That is why, in spite of being the 6th largest producer of oil in the world, Nigeria has practically nothing to show for it. We cannot generate ordinary electricity. Everybody now wants to depend on oil from the Niger Delta, which is the southern part of Igbo land.

Every federating unit should be autonomous politically and economically. They should be relatively autonomous and control their resources and pay a stipend to the federal government. That is how federations are run. But, in the case of Nigeria, because of the backward and primitive mentality of members of the northern ruling elite, who want to perpetuate the enslavement of people of Nigeria, they want to “nationalize” feudalism but they cannot do that successfully because our people are not used to it.

The Igbo society is a society of open democratic system and this is what we inherited 10,000 years ago from our ancestors. We

cannot be ruled like the northern caliphate.

What do you think should be done to resolve these problems?

It depends on the way you look at it.

But I want to tell you that the agitation will continue and whether they like it or not, they must succumb to the agitation and see reasons to have a negotiating table and restructure, if they want Nigeria to still remain as one country. They must accept the pressure for restructuring. They must accept the pressure to return to a genuine federalism and I think the only way out is to recognize the six geopolitical zones. That is the basis for the new Nigeria federal system people are advocating. Let the six geopolitical zones be the federating units. But when the zones go back, they continue to retain the states that were created. Like in the southeast, the five eastern states will continue to be a viable entity for political administration. But everything about our economy within the zone should be autonomous and independent; that is the only way our people can develop internally. When this happens, the pressure coming from Abuja, which amounts to wastage of resources and time will no longer be there.

Igbo is a big nation that has a population of over 50 million people. Igbo population is more than all the African countries that are independent today with the exception of Ethiopia with about 71 million people. So, let us stop deceiving ourselves. Igbo nation is more populous than Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Angola, Egypt, South Africa, etc. So, why should we be wasting our time talking about belonging to a bigger nation where people are sharing poverty?

The Niger Delta territory and the southern Igbo land is supposed to be the richest part of Africa because of the enormous resources

Cont’d on page 15

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The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

Bold ‘n’ Blunt

•Eng. Anhony Okechukwu, President General, Awka Development Union Nigeria (ADUN).

“We are waiting for their so-called new traditional ruler to emerge in November, as they said but I must emphasize that this kind of madness is not what I am expected to react to publicly without making more ridicule of our dear town, Awka.

• Eze-Uzu Awka, Obi Gibson Nwosu

G

ood Friday, April 14, 2017 may remain an indelible date in the history of Awka ancient kingdom. Awka is the capital territory of Anambra State and the administrative headquarters of Awka South Local Government Area of the State.

On every Good Friday, Christians all over the world celebrate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. But, incidentally, during this yåear’s Good Friday, members of Awka Council of Kingmakers, an umbrella body of Nze n’ Ozo titled men in Awka and highest authority as stipulated in the 1986 Traditional Rulers Amended Constitution for Awka town pronounced the impeachment or better still the dethronement of the traditional ruler of Awka, His Royal Majesty (HRM), Igwe Gibson Nwabueze Nwosu (the Eze-Uzu Awka II).

The Kingmakers gave as reason for the ‘dethronement’ of the Eze-Uzu alleged his failure to abide by the ‘code of conduct and privileges of Awka royal throne’, which they said he signed into law by himself on January 1, 2000 in the presence of four witnesses.

They also noted that when they discovered that the Eze-Uzu does not obey the code of conduct, they wrote to him to appear before them and explain the rationale

behind his failure to obey the code of conduct but he failed to appear.

According to Dr. Aneze Chinwuba, Secretary of Ozo Awka Title Holders, Nwosu, after his dethronement, kicked against it and the State government supported him.

“We informed the government accordingly but the State Commissioner for Local Government and Community Matters and the Special Adviser to Governor Willie Obiano on Chieftaincy & Town Union Matters, Ikechukwu Onyeabo insulted us in that regard,” Chinweuba explained.

“In our meeting (Izu) of April 30, I was appointed the moderator by Ndi Nze-na-Ozo (the kingmakers). On that same day, we picked Ozo Nwibe Nwosu from Umudioka Village, Awka, a 116-year old man as the Otochalu Awka (oldest Awka man), while his deputy is Ozo Michael Nwume from Umunoke village who is 110 years. In Awka royal institution, the head of Ozo titled men will serve as chairman of council of kingmakers. The present chairman of kingmakers and head of Ozo Awka is Ozo Obuora Essell.

“It is Ndi Ozo that have the constitutional responsibility to checkmate the activities of the traditional ruler and it is the responsibility of the king makers to approve or disap-

prove the list of those to be conferred with chieftaincy titles. So, it was in the effort to discharge our responsibilities as kingmakers that we discovered that Eze-Uzu disobeyed the code of conduct and privileges of the royal throne. The traditional ruler can be removed by the kingmakers if he goes insane or if he fails to comply with the code of conduct.

“He, himself signed this code of conduct and privileges in the presence of four witnesses, namely: the then chairman of Awka kingmakers, Sylvester Egwuonwu Onejeme, father of Ifeatu Onejeme, the incumbent Commissioner for Finance in the state.

Sylvester qualified as a medical doctor in 1943 and became Ozo title-holder in Awka in 1961.

“Others who were present when he signed the code of conduct were the then secretary of Awka kingmakers, Prof. Kanayo Onyiliogwu of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN); the then President-General of Awka Development Union Nigeria (ADUN), Engr. Pat Nzekwe Ibe and the then Secretary-General of ADUN, Barrister Ifeanyi Obiakor.

“Now, that the dethroned Nwosu is from Isiagu village in Amikwo quarters of Ezi Section in Awka and he became the Eze-Uzu

”

Awka in 1999 and signed the code of conduct in 2000, we have mandated Ifite chieftaincy section whose turn it is to present an Igweship candidate to be screened by the Council of Kingmakers and if he scales through, he will replace Nwosu with him as the next Eze-Uzu Awka.

“Such a candidate must be an Ozo titled man but if he has not yet taken the Ozo title, he has to do it before coronation and we hope that both the presentation and coronation would have taken place by November, this year.

“Apart from the kingmakers, those who endorsed his dethronement were the Otochalu Awka and his deputy, with 10 representatives from each of the 33 villages in Awka.

The Secretary of Awka Kingmakers, Barrister Okechukwu noted that it was not only because Nwosu supported those who perform dust-to-dust ritual when their spouse died, that led to his dethronement but because he ‘desecrated’ the traditional institution in many ways, apart from creating parallel Awka kingmakers, Ozo Awka Society and ADUN leadership.

“You see, performing dust-to-dust ritual is a sacrilege in Awka but Nwosu supports it in the name of being a Knight of the Catho-

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The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

Bold ‘n’ Blunt

•Secretary Council of Nze n’ Ozo, Awka, Dr. Aneze Chinwuba (middle) and others members of the council at a meeting.

Still on the royal rumble in Awka ancient Kingdom While the kingmakers say they have dethroned Eze Uzu Akwa, HRM Eze Gibson Nwosu, the highly respected former Air Force officer, says it’s a joke taken too far, vowing never to allow himself to be frustrated out of office as the kingmakers had allegedly done to his predecessors. IBE NWACHUKWU writes that the last is yet to be heard about the controversy. lic Church,” Okechukwu charged. “For you to be a traditional ruler, you must respect the traditional institution, no matter how religious you are, but if you know you can’t cope with the traditional institution, then you vacate the seat and allow another who is ready to respect the traditional institution to take control of the tradition.”

However, in his reaction, Nwosu told newsmen in his palace that he was happy that it was only this reporter from a major newspaper that had bordered to approach him to get his own reaction, accusing most other journalists of “allowing themselves to be compromised by the opposition to write whatever they liked.”

He challenged the kingmakers to produce one single piece of “evidence that I violated the code of conduct and privileges or that I desecrated the traditional institution as they are accusing me of.”

Declared the Eze-Uzu: “Majority of the people in Awka have not really understood what is going on. Even members of our educated elite living in various parts of Nigeria and abroad do not know what is happening and do not care to know, as long as money exchanges hands. This is a conflict between evil and good. By the time everybody who loves Awka knows which is good and which is bad, they would know that my restraint about not agreeing to wash dirty linens in the public is the best for our dear town.

“I carefully avoided any open confrontation with the so-called kingmakers for the period of 20 years I have been on the throne and this really upset the applecat and they

intensified their drive to remove me from the throne.

“When they saw that they were not making any headway, they switched over the torchlight to the President-General of ADUN, Tony Okechukwu who also happens to be a Catholic, but has a time frame for his elective office. The father of the P-G who was a practicing Catholic died and his wife (P-G’s mother) performed the dust-to-dust ritual, as she agreed with her late husband when he was on a sick bed.

“The Secretary of Ozo Society in the person of Ozo Chief Aneze Chinwuba stood up during the funeral and brazenly announced that Okechukwu, the P-G had been relieved of his post because his mother performed the dust-to-dust ritual, a declaration which he had no authority to make.

“Long after this declaration, the tenure of the P-G expired and he wrote me a letter, as the monarch of the town, that he was prepared to conduct a town union election and I notified the government in writing, as required by law, to send in officials from the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy matters to come and supervise the election.

“Then after the presidential election of 2015, the P-G, Okechukwu wrote me again that he was ready for the election and I wrote back to the State government to send in representatives as required by law but before we could get a reply from the government, Ozo Society organized through their proxy called Amobi Nwokafor to get a court injunction stopping the election.

“We are waiting for their so-called new traditional ruler to emerge in November, as they said but I must emphasize that this kind of madness is not what I am expected to react to publicly without making more ridicule of our dear town, Awka. My education and exposure are higher than that of any Awka chicken farmer who may have gathered billions of naira through all sorts of means.

“Since all the actions being taken by Ozo Awka and their cohorts are illegal, namely: (1) Election of P-G and town union. (2) Election of kingmakers, (3) Election of OtochaluAwka (oldest man in Awka). (4) Notification of Ifite Section to start process of producing a new traditional ruler; since I know that all these are illegal, I don’t need to lose any sleep.

“There have been instances of reported presence of native doctors and witch-hunters being gathered and accommodated in a private farm on the outskirts of Awka to continue to cause havoc in town. It has never been known that the powers of darkness have ever overcome the powers of light.

“I leave everything in the hands of God whose decision is final. There is no dispute that cannot be settled. If this matter can be settled, may the wish of Almighty reign supreme. Who am I to reject amicable and justifiable settlement, which must not compromise the laws of the land?

“I can forgive these opposition members at the end of the day. If God can forgive human, who am I not to forgive them?”

However, a press statement issued by the State government and jointly signed by the

Commissioner for Local Government and Community Matters, Greg Obi and Special Adviser to the Governor on Chieftaincy & Town Union Matters, Ikechukwu Onyeabo said the attention of the State government had been drawn to the brewing crisis in Awka town being orchestrated by a group that goes by the name of Awka Council of Kingmakers who purported to have removed the traditional head/ruler of Awka Community, His Royal Majesty, Obi Gibson Nwosu, Eze-Uzu from the throne.

The statement quoted the government as noting that “for some time now, Awka community has been restive on account of the antics of some indigenes of Awka masquerading as members of this group in concert with a few misguided elements within the Ozo-Awka Society, giving rise to a situation in which government had to intervene in the management of the Awka Development Union Migeria (ADUN) on the side of the rule of law.”

The statement added: “Government notes that the traditional institution being a solid structure around which many of its programmes are hinged ought to be protected and must not be allowed to be desecrated. Government, therefore, affirms the status of HRM, Obi Gibson Nwosu as the traditional ruler of Awka community and in the same vein, government reaffirms its recognition of Engr. Anthony Okechukwu-led executive committee of ADUN, pending the outcome of the application lodged before the Court of Appeal.

“The State government, therefore, warns the Awka Council of Kingmakers and their collaborators in the Ozo Awka Society to stop forthwith further attempts to embarrass the respected institution of Eze-Uzu Awka and in view of the fore-going, the State government hereby advises all security agencies in the State to be on the alert to forestall any attempt to cause a breach of public peace.

But, in a reply to the government’s statement, the Kingmakers said it was utterly surprising that Chief Willie Obiano’s government has incongruously been collaborating with a few misguided, self-seeking and corrupt individuals within Awka community to create unwarranted crisis- firstly with town union administration with a view to having unchecked restriction in confiscating and selling the community land heritage - and lately with the dethronement of Gibson Nwosu as Obi Eze-Uzu II. According to the statement jointly signed

by Ozo/Barrister E.C.G. Okechukwu (JP), Secretary, Awka Council of Kingmakers and Ozo/Dr. Aneze Chinweuba, Secretary, OzoAwka, “however, government cannot succeed to destroy the citadel of peace in Awka which has reigned from time immemorial…

Awka must survive and outlive your administration.”

Reminding the state government that Awka people are law-abiding and peaceful, the Kingmakers declared: “We hereby reaffirm that Obi Gibson Nwabueze Nwosu was irrevocably dethroned on April 14, this year as the traditional ruler of Awka, in accordance with the tenets of the constitution and code of conduct, which he had stubbornly and continuously and grossly violated since his installation, in spite of his previous sanctions by the community.

“As the sitting governor, we believe that the dictates of impartiality and concern for maintenance of peace in Awka as one of the vital communities in the State and more importantly the State capital would naturally have impelled you to seek prudent and amicable resolution of the issues, rather than inflaming them as your officers have carelessly done.

“Your Excellency, Awka people have noted with concern your order to the security agencies to crush us if we go against the unjust wishes of your administration. However, we wish to inform you that we can never be bullied or intimidated in exercising our fundamental right of choice in the selection of our leaders. The just struggle for our freedom must continue in Awka and other areas of the State facing the same instability created by your administration,” the kingmakers concluded.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

POLITICS

A

t the emergence of the current administration, Nigerians had high hopes and looked forward to a “change” that would really usher in better life for the nation.

But, two years after, the fear of a bleak and uncertain future driven by economic recession and an administration lacking in vision on how to deal with the myriad of challenges facing the nation, is producing despair and confusion.

It is common knowledge that the President’s ill-health may have dealt a deadly blow to his frugal and imperturbable approach to national issues. However, if Buhari couldn’t perform because of ill-health, his ministers, by their poor performance, have helped to strengthen the assumptions that Buhari may indeed be a lone ranger in this current administration.

The ailing President probably understood this better than most people when, in an unflattering assessment of the roles of Ministers, he said: “The ministers are there to make a lot of noise; for the politicians to make a lot of noise.

But the work is being done by the technocrats. They are there to provide the continuity, dig into the records and then guide those who are just coming in.”

The President, mindful of the need to set a clear visionary road map, that would guide the actions of his administration and benchmarks for empirically verifiable yardstick for assessing performance, rolled out the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.

The plan was anchored on four basic thematic areas, namely stabilization of the macroeconomic environment, delivering agricultural and food security, energy sufficiency/ adequacy of power and petroleum products, improving transportation infrastructure, as well as driving industrialization through small and medium scale enterprises, including delivering an effective social investment programme.

Although the plan was established as part of the strategy for driving budget implementation with effect from the 2016 budget, indications emerging from government circles show that the plan died on arrival, due to the absence of the President and lack of zeal on the part of the Ministers.

By November 2017, the Ministers, with the exception of very few would have spent two solid years in office. After two years, it has been observed that less than five per cent of these Ministers has ever presented, not to talk of getting an approval for, memos at the weekly Federal Executive Council FEC. In the light of the foregoing, The Oracle Today, in the following report, makes an unbiased assessment of the performance of the first set of Ministries below: MINISTRY OF HEALTH…40% This Ministry is saddled with the responsibility of making cheap and affordable healthcare services available to all, including reducing maternal mortality rate.

The Minister had on assumption of office, vowed to initiate policies that would help discourage Nigerians from seeking medical treatment abroad.

In 2016, the Ministry commenced the construction of 10,000 primary health centres across the 36 States of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Professor Adewole’s health Ministry also targeted provision of sound health access to 100 million Nigerians, in addition to tackling the menace of cancer, regarded as one of the most deadly si-

•Babatunde Fashola (Minister of Works, Power and Housing)

• Ibe Kachikwu (Minister of Petroleum)

Buhari’s Ministers’ scorecard: Not yet flattering testimonial for change agents TONY AILEMEN, in Abuja, writes that two years down the line, most of the promises made by serving ministers of the Federal Republic at their inauguration are yet to be fulfilled and that, he says, seems to justify ailing President Buhari’s assertion that “the ministers are (only) there to make noise… while technocrats do the job.” lent killers in Nigeria.

One of such primary healthcare centres was launched at Kuchingoro, one of the sub-urban communities located in Abuja.

Aside the health Ministry’s inability to accomplish several targets it had set for itself, the revelation of deep altercation between the Minister and his Minister of State, Dr Osagie Ehanire is seen as a major distraction in the Ministry.

The Ministry was also recently engrossed in crisis following the refusal of the suspended Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme to proceed on suspension, to pave way for investigation into allegations of corruption levelled against him.

The level of impunity exhibited by heads of some of the agencies under the Ministry had also contributed to the low level of performance by the Ministry whose overall performance is said to be below average.

The recent poor response to the challenges of Lassa fever and Cerebral Spinal Meningitis exposed the weakness of the Ministry to deal with epidemics.

Also Nigerians, unfortunately, still spend close to $3b annually on treatment of ailments outside the country

MINISTRY OF WORKS, POWER AND HOUSING: 35 % With power generation hovering around 4,000 megawatts, the level of power infrastructure has not advanced any bit since the coming of this administration. The performance of the Minister, Babatunde Fashola, is completely at variance with the earlier promise he made to deliver adequate power to Nigerians within six months of his assumption of office.

Like power, federal roads in the country, especially those linking the southern parts of the country, have remained death traps dotted with potholes with some degenerated into deep gullies.

A total of N283 billion was allocated to the Ministry in the 2017 budget, as government progressively increases capital budget.

But, despite the huge allocations, the Ministry has the highest number of abandoned projects, littered across the country. Following the poor state of Nigerian roads, the Minister unveiled plans for 44 roads, which he hopes to either rehabilitate, or reconstruct under the 2017 budget.

Aside from power and works, very little has been committed to the development

of the housing sector in Nigeria with estimated 17 million housing deficit.

MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM RESOURCES: 55% This Ministry appears to be the only one with clear focus so far. This administration has been able to cub the massive graft in the oil sector where close to $4b was lost yearly to subsidy on fuel imported to Nigeria. The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachiku has through his proactive response to challenges in the Ministry, also restored the nation’s crude oil production back to 2.2 million barrels of crude oil per day, while leakages in the sector have been reduced if not blocked completely. It also planned to make Nigeria self-sufficient in Petroleum product refining by 2019, when the country is expected to exit importation of refined petroleum products.

The Ministry has restored sanity to the oil sector by reducing subsidy to the lowest ebb if not completely eliminating it, while also stopping the long queues at the filing stations often associated with the subsidy regime. Working with the Niger Delta communities, the Ministry has also succeeded in reducing tension in the region, while extracting coopera-

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The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

POLITICS

issues of Chibok girls or budget defence.

The Minister is rarely present at the FEC meetings

• Kemi Adeosun (Minister of Finance)

•Mohammed Bello (FCT Minister) tion from the people to check pipeline vandalism and other unwholesome practices that had brought oil production in the region to its knees.

The Ministry is however yet to check gas flaring, address environmental degradation as well as unjust Labour practices in the oil industry. Although actions are on for the establishment of modular refineries in the region, none has taken off.

The Ministry has also promised to make the country self-sufficient in Petroleum product refining. Apart from the private sector interventions through Dangote refinery currently under construction, no other visible infrastructure is available to suggest that this is attainable by 2019.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE... 30% The Ministry has successfully unveiled the policies on Treasury Single Account TSA and the Whistle Blower, the two policies that have largely aided the fight against corruption and the massive leakages associated with public sector administration.

But the inability of the current administration to quickly take the country out of recession has been largely blamed on

•Audu Ogbeh (Minister of Agriculture)

• Ogbonaya Onu (Minister of Science and Technology)

Like power, federal roads in the country, especially those linking the southern parts of the country, have remained death traps dotted with potholes with some degenerated into deep gullies. A total of N283 billion was allocated to the Ministry in the 2017 budget, as government progressively increases capital budget. the actions and inaction of the substantive Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun. Only recently, the Nigerian Youth Entrepreneurship Forum for National Development (NYEFOND) came out bluntly to accuse the Minister of “derailing the economic progress of the Buhari’s administration” Under her regime, Nigerians were taken aback in October, last year when the government requested for a credit facility of about $30 billion to finance infrastructure. This is despite the fact that the government had incurred about N 2.2

”

trillion within the first one year in office.

This is just as the country’s total debt liability increased from N12.12trillion in June, 2015 to N16.29tn in June 2016.

Sadly, the amount borrowed was said to have been used to pay salaries rather than being invested in the development of the much-needed infrastructure.

MINISTRY OF WOMEN AFFAIRS...20% The only time Nigerians get to hear about the existence of this Ministry currently headed by Aisha Alhassan, is either when there are discussions around the

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE…45% There is no doubt that the fastest way to recovery from the current recession is strong investment in the agric sector to boost exports and provide raw materials for local industries. The Agricultural Transformation Agenda aka ATA, was mulled to provide roadmap that would drive investment in the sector.

As part of efforts to give teeth to the new policy, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbe recently flagged off yam export to the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

The absence of capacity for mechanized agriculture, lack of adequate supply of fertilizers and high cost of agric inputs are still majorly responsible for low food productivity in Nigeria as many would-be farmers are often discouraged by these challenges.

Many believe that as beautiful as most agric policies are, most of these policies fail due to corruption. Fertilizers often end up not reaching the actual farmers as middlemen hijack and divert them midway. Government’s inability to forge a consistent agricultural policy has been blamed for the low productivity in the agricultural sector.

MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY...50% The Ministry under the current dispensation has been consistent in pushing for new policies to drive technological development.

Conscious of the fact that the activities of the Ministry have direct impact on almost all the sectors of the economy, the Minister, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, recently got FEC approval for a new policy that allowed government declare a State of Emergency in the nation’s Science and technology sector.

Following the memo presented by the Minister, FEC approved the declaration of the state of emergency for science and technology as part of the economic recovery and growth plan from 2018 to 2020, which recognizes the cardinal place of science and technology in driving this recovery and growth plan of government.

Only recently too, the Minister had secured approval for a new plan that would encourage researchers to carry out more research by encouraging commercialization of all research outcome in Nigeria MINISTER OF FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY FCT…35% The Ministry of Federal Capital Territory (FCT0 has remained in a comatose state since the coming of Muhammadu Bello as the Minister. Most of the departments now just carry out routine activities.

All the FCDA agencies located in the area councils have been withdrawn and relocated to the parent ministry. Land purchase and recertification of land documents by the Abuja Geographic Information Service (AGIS), which were suspended on the arrival of the Minister are yet to be reopened. This is just as the Minister has refused to attend to land requests, no matter how genuine.

The activities of the Minister suggest that the President deliberately appointed only those who will act only if directed by the Presidency to do so.

Since the coming of this administration, indiscriminate parking of cars in blatant disregard to the city’s Masterplan, has become the order of the day.

14

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

POLITICS

My preferred candidate for Anambra governorship –Prof. Stella Okunna •Says Anambra governorship not for mediocre, lily-livered Professor Chinyere Stella Okunna is the first female professor of Mass Communication in the Nigeria. She is currently the Dean, School of Social Sciences, as well as Director, UNIZIK 94.1 FM, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. Okunna, who was Chief of Staff to former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, among other several portfolios she held under the Obi administration, spoke to CHUKS EZE in Enugu, and bared her mind on several issues including the Obiano administration and the forthcoming governorship poll in Anambra, among others. Excerpts…

What are your views about the performance of the Willie Obiano administration, which is widely believed to be a product of former Governor Obi’s political magnanimity?

Honestly, this is a topic I really do not want to discuss. If I say it the way it is, they would think that I am not being modest.

I would only say that Chief Peter Obi was good and that he worked very hard while in office. He was fanatical about Anambra’s development, and when I think about it, I fully understand why. At the time we were in government, the blueprint for development in this part of the world was the Millennium Development Goals, (MDGs) and any governor who knew his onions was trying to achieve MDGs for his State. For former Governor Obi, it was not just like every other governor trying to achieve the MDGs, it was the vision of the State, under his leadership, to achieve the MDGs. So, he was particularly fanatical about it because if he did not achieve the MDGs, his vision would have been lost. Therefore, using his special strategy and programme of action, which he called ANIDS (Anambra Integrated Development Strategy), he worked really hard in every community, in every sector and every facet of governance. When we were leaving office, it was about three years to the completion of the MDGS. So, even some of the MDGs that were to be continued, I am not sure they were continued, maybe because it was not the vision of the succeeding government, which came with its own vision. So, they had other things to do, which I am sure they began doing.

As the November 18 governorship election closes in, and speaking in terms of seamlessness and performance strategy, would you say that the Obiano administration has been threading along Obi’s laid out paths as expected?

In terms of continuity, I would say that it has not been as high as expected because the government that replaced ours, while coming in, had promised to continue work on on-going projects, complete and inaugurate them and commence new ones. Maybe Governor Obiano did that to some extent, anyway, but the general understanding is that not all the vital projects were continued.

You know that Anambra is a traders’ community, so to say. For instance, the shopping malls in both Awka and Nnewi, and a number of roads that were yet to be completed by the time Peter Obi left office, are still there – not continued or completed as the case may be. But then, in all honesty, it does not mean that if an incumbent does not complete his predecessor’s outstanding projects, he did not perform. In Governor Obiano’s rights, he has his own vision, guiding principles, strategies and goals. I am sure that he has worked hard in his own capacity to deliver. And as regards the forthcoming election in the State, it is Anambra people that will speak through their votes. The government in power now

coming in for the first time, you would be made to state specific things you would want to do, and if you have been there, you would be made to clearly state what you have been able to achieve, and leave the electorate to assess you. That is one way to curtail all those jostling for the lone mandate. But again, you see several people coming out to contest for the governorship position in Anambra because it is a beautiful State – highly endowed state. You find that every typical Anambra citizen is naturally very hardworking, highly committed and ambitious. Ambition drives people, and when you see or conceive a good thing, and you are ambitious, you would want to grab that thing. The beauty of democracy is another factor that makes everybody aspire to become governor. Democracy allows every individual with the minimum official qualification to vie for the office, and that is why we must always hold them accountable. You must be made to sell your vision for the state to the people, as well as all your plans for the people for them to weigh you up and decide on their voting pattern.

What kind of election do you foresee in November 18, 2017?

I foresee a very vibrant election. In APC alone, there are so many heavyweights that are aspiring to grab the governorship ticket.

So, it is really going to be an interesting exercise.

•Proffessor Okunna

has been there for over three years and, like I said earlier, they have been working in their own capacity and style.

What do you think are the necessary questions the electorate should confront those aspiring for public office with, ahead of the polls?

Yes, brilliant! This is a very important question, and there are just a few basic questions to ask. But the main question is: how many of our people bother about confronting politicians with those pertinent questions?

The electorate should be able to ask those aspiring for elective offices for the first time, such questions as: what would you do if you are elected; what is your vision for the state; what have you done for your people in your private life and all that. For the incumbent seeking re-election, or former elected officers that had served before, the question should be: what have you done; what did you achieve with the previous mandate given to you? Why did you do this, why did you not do that? And so on.

Why does everybody always want to be Anambra governor, going by the multitude of

There is nothing as nice as allowing the people to decide on their preferred project to be constructed for them.

”

aspirants that usually troop into the guber election in the state? Is it that people view the governorship as an all-comers affair?

Well, it still boils down to my earlier statement about the electorate asking seekers of elective political office decisive questions.

There should be a system whereby, if you are running for governorship and you are

Do you have soft spot for any of the political parties, candidates or aspirants as the case may be?

I am no longer in government and so, I am not a politician anymore; I have gone back to the classroom. So, I do not mind any of them becoming our governor. I think there are about 50 of them now, and I do not mind whoever that emerges victorious from the lot.

What is your take on the issue of zoning of political offices, especially in Anambra State, where your former principal, Peter Obi advanced it by insisting on zoning it to Anambra North after his shot?

Zoning is a wonderful idea because if you leave everything completely to merit, it might not always be fine. Like it had been stated on several occasions, I do not think that Anambra North would ever have produced the governor if Peter Obi had not insisted on zoning. You see, many people do not know that the first thing that Governor Obi did when he came on board as governor, was to do what he called poverty marking, to identify where the poorest local government areas were and where the richest ones were.

And the survey to that effect, which was supported by development partners such as DFID, indicated that the least developed LGA and the poorest were in Anambra North. In

Cont’d on page 15

15

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

POLITICS

‘When lawmakers wittingly endorsed secessionist agitations’ Cont’d from page 9 embedded in our land, but our people are enslaved by this contraption called Nigeria. It was the British that brought third and fourth parties, which is Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba to create a nation State that is not viable and the Hausa/Fulani which they gave power in the 1960s have messed up everything. And then, when people agitate they kill them. Is it happening in other parts of the world? International laws support self-determination of any ethnic nationality. It is enshrined in international laws and the Africa Union Charter for the right of indigenous people to seek self-determination and Nigeria is a signatory to these laws. Nigeria has become ungovernable because of the primitive ruling class in northern Nigeria. If they don’t want democracy, let them practice that dictatorship in that part of the country. This is a federation and a very large country. This is 21st century; they cannot impose their primitive way of life on us. We don’t have the same culture or religion.

Do you think that NASS can right this wrong?

The National Assembly as presently constituted is an instrument in the hands of the Northern oligarchy. So, they cannot represent the interest of the generality of Nigeria. The military used its 30 years of reign to establish institutions that favored only the northern region; that is why local government is a creation of the federal government. Local government matters are supposed to be left for State governments and not the federal government. But, because the ruling class of the Northern origin wanted a situation where the oil resources

from the Niger Delta and southern Igbo land would be used to service the local government, they took over the management of local government. That’s why they used the local government reforms of 1976 headed

by Dasuki to impose their own local government system on the people. And every time they will be making noise that they want local government to be autonomous but they don’t want states to be autonomous.

So, what both chambers of the national assembly have done is to make local government completely autonomous. Why should they support local government autonomy?

Why should the local government be autonomous whereas the state, which is the federating unit is not autonomous? All these things are what I see as manipulations of symbols and semantics.

Everything about northern leadership is based on deceit. You may have heard recently that T.Y Danjuma and his group who have been working with them (Northerners) had to abandon them over allegations of trying to impose a jihad on Nigeria. You have seen the killings taking place in all parts of the country; the use of Fulani herdsmen to murder the innocent people at will in different parts of the country. How can you have a country where the rulers will be sponsoring the killings of innocent people because of the mentality of jihad, the permanent quest for conquest and domination of other people? What kind of ruling class is that?

How do you think that will be possible in the 21st century? The National Assembly has no capacity to solve that problem. It is only the Nigerian people that should have the sovereign right to make their own constitution that will solve the problem of the Nigerian state. President Muhammdu Buhari and

•Abia Onyike

his government should take the necessary steps to save the Nigerian nation to avoid a war. They set up a Constituent Assembly that will conduct a referendum to determine whether the various groups that make up Nigeria are still willing to stay together in the Nigerian State. It is very important.

The whole idea of saying ‘Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable’ is unreasonable; it is a criminal statement and political crime for a set of leaders to claim that the people they have enslaved have no right to opt out of their enslavement. That cannot happen. So

there should be a constituent assembly that will organize a referendum in order to make a new constitution that will be acceptable to Nigerians and that constitution must be based on guarantee genuine federalism or confederation.

The Nigerian people must do their own constitution, a brand new Constitution that shall not be like the 1999 Constitution that was promulgated by the military and which shall be divested of the military entrapments and the ancient northern caliphate oligarchic mentality.

‘My preferred candidate for Anambra governorship’ Cont’d from page 14 terms of development, Governor Obi began in Anambra North. He began by opening up the area with good road networks because he understood that the reason they were very poor was because they were locked up, so to say, in comparison with other parts of the State. So, like you asked, for that kind of relatively backward area, in comparison with, say, Anambra South, if the former governor did not intervene by insisting on zoning formula, I do not think that Anambra North would have had the clout, the voice, population and needed capacity to field a governorship candidate and win the election. So, what Peter Obi did was very nice. I do not know whether they are going to continue with that arrangement, but I would say that I support zoning of public offices. The present governor is from the North and some people are rising from that zone as well as other zones to indicate interest to challenge him at the forthcoming polls. So, only time will tell what will happen in the end.

What kind of candidate would you wish to emerge as the next governor of the State?

Anambra is a very highly developed state – educationally, economically, even though, by Nigeria standard, we are not a rich State. But individually, Ndi Anambra are extremely rich.

Many of them are controlling revenues in the extent of state budgets, and so, anybody that is coming in as governor cannot be mediocre. For you to come in and govern people that are so richly endowed, you must first, have a good education because, Anambra is an educationally advantaged State. You cannot come in without a good education, and

you must also be bold. In fact, you must have something extraordinary to offer a State that is populated by extraordinary people.

So, the person must convince us about what he is bringing to the governance table, otherwise, he should not even come in at all. I believe that a good number of the aspirants have something to offer. I also believe that they must have examined themselves and are convinced that they have the capacity to govern the State, which was why they mustered the courage to move into the race. I am just praying that the election would be free and fair.

Do you think that the incumbent governor and candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – the party that produced the government under which you served for about eight years – should win the election, or your former principal’s new platform, PDP? Like I told you, I am no longer in politics, I am a teacher. I am back in the university and cannot speak on that. When I was in government, we were in APGA, like you pointed out, and we were all qualified to fight for the party and talk politics, but not anymore. I do not belong to any political party now.

What is your take on the issue of one community one project, or one local government one project scheme introduced by some governors including Enugu and Anambra States?

It is a commendable policy, and I hail those governors for running participatory governance. There is nothing as nice as allowing the people to decide on their preferred project to be constructed for them. A project of N20 million, as is the case in some states, is good.

But I hope that as days go by, they would

•Proffessor Okunna

start to scale up the amount because, honestly, a project of N20 million for a local government in a four-year tenure is far below expectation, considering the amount of money that local governments would have received if they were autonomous. If you consider how much allocation that accrues to the local government per month and you multiply it by one year, then you would realise that a N20-million project is just poor in a four-year tenure. But, it is really a good start.

Are you aligning with the campaign for local government autonomy?

Yes, I am in support of that because that is the ideal thing. And it is cheering that the National Assembly has just favoured the campaign too. There are three tiers of government namely – the federal, state and local

governments. The ideal situation is for each tier to function on their own; control their revenue and their affairs. But sometimes, the ideal doesn’t always obtain, not always because of governors’ making but rather, because sometimes local government elections cannot be conducted due to crisis or litigation. You cannot conduct election when there is crisis. For instance, during the administration of Peter Obi, there were several litigations and court injunctions as a result of so much infighting that existed at the time, which delayed the local government election for long. But when there is appreciable peace, and there is nothing threatening conduct of local government election, the ideal thing is to have in place a duly elected local government executive that would run the respective local councils.

16

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

POLITICS How motivated are you for this mission, because you have been categorized as elitist, who is not really on ground?

I am surprised at the erroneous categorization, because I came into politics from a rich political background. I was privileged to be introduced into grassroots politics by my late father, who was a great politician of note in this country. I cut my political teeth at the grassroots level, contesting and winning in 2002 the PDP election for local government chairman. I also successfully ran for the senatorial election on the platform of the PDP in 2006. You can see I have not been disconnected from the people, my people know me and I know my people. This is part of the reason I am throwing my hat into the ring in this governorship race.

What new thing are you bringing to the table? Why would the electorates vote for you, assuming you get the nod of the PDP? I salute Their Excellencies, the past and present governors for their services to the State.

A lot of work has been done by the past governors from 1999 and vision laid in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) now Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Example was the ANIDS under ex-Gov Peter Obi. I don’t think these visions have been sustained in the past three (3) years. I believe our economic growth would be guaranteed when we remain consistent and committed to well thought-out and agreed policies, programmes and projects. We, therefore, need a governor who understands this simple strategy, who will not deviate while grappling with future challenges. We need a governor who understands that government is a continuum but where the end result differs, a manager of our scarce resources, a listening ear, defender of our core social values and a governor in touch with the people.

Anambra 2017: PDP has learnt its lessons, set for comeback –John Emeka

Prince John Emeka, former Minister of State for Transportation and a Chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the State is a governorship aspirant on the platform of the PDP. In this interview, extracted from a chat he had with select journalists in the state, Emeka, a 2011 Senatorial candidate who won election on the platform of the PDP, speaks on his chances in this November 18 Anambra governorship election, governance in the state and other issues of State and national importance. From Awka, CHUKS COLLINS reports.

Considering you are from a political dynasty with a rich pedigree, one is hard put to explain why not much has been attracted or done for the senatorial zone.

Anambra North has undergone tremendous changes in the past 18 years. Infrastructures like roads were built by both the State and federal governments. At individual level, as a Minister, I was instrumental to the bringing of the Federal road from Anam to Kogi State -the shortest route from Anambra to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). And the work that was done on the River port was another.

All these were done to boost the economy of the State and its residents. More, however, needs to be done in order to harness the large economic potentials of our State and make life easier for the common man.

Every tier of government today laments paucity of funds and lean resources. What do you intend to do to pull funds in for development that the electorate needs?

Anambra needs a governor who will be a prudent manager of our scarce resources and not a governor who will waste them on frivolities. We will improve the internally-generated revenue (IGR)without overburdening the people with taxation. We can achieve IGR with a friendly tax system. We will close all leakages and wastage in government.

Anambra needs to be made an investorfriendly State by being an accountable government and providing basic infrastructure.

In being openly accountable, you will attract development partners, who have the funds to invest both in infrastructure and industry, which will drive growth and development in the State.

It’s surely not going to be a tea party this time, as more political parties-APGA, APC, UPP, PDP, PPA and the MPPP have gained a lot of political weight and sagacity in Anambra, especially for the coming Nov 18 governorship poll. Do you think you have what it takes to beat them?

Yes, it will be a tight race but I believe it’s a straight fight between APGA and PDP, given the peace in the PDP today where all previous factions have agreed to work as one. I believe I have all it takes to sustain the unity in the party and take it to victory, being a loyal party member and my experience as an entrepreneur, politician and having served as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

• John Emeka Many have suggested that zoning is imperative for equity and fairness in the State. What do you think, especially when it has not been formally discussed?

The disquiet in the country presently is as a result of agitations by different ethnic groups, which is a fallout of bad governance and marginalization. People want to have a sense of belonging and equal access to opportunities.

I believe this informed the wisdom of the elders to introduce the concept of zoning.

Zoning as a matter of fact is enshrined in the PDP constitution because PDP as a party believes in justice and equity. Though not formally discussed in the State, our people are accepting it, having overwhelmingly voted for an Anambra North candidate in the last gubernatorial election (2013) and I believe this has come to stay. If elected governor, I will absolutely respect the zoning policy and have it formalized if need be.

We need a governor who understands that government is a continuum but where the end result differs, a manager of our scarce resources, a listening ear, defender of our core social values and a governor in touch with the people.

”

PDP has faced a steady decline in its political fortunes, what with all the electoral losses it has recorded in recent time. What are the party’s chances in its comeback bid?

That is the beauty of democracy--when you are not delivering on good governance, the

people have the right to change you by voting you out. I believe in one-man-one-vote. I believe in the power of the people. In Anambra State, the November 18, 2017 is for the people to decide and choose a leader who will run an all-inclusive government, where no one and no voice is shut out. Anambra needs a governor that can prudently manage our scarce resources, invest in the future of our state and provide the comfort we need now. This is the governor I will be. No doubt, the PDP has learnt her lessons.

Insecurity was the bane of Anambra State until Gov Obiano tamed the monster. The airport project; refinery; agric revolution; restoration of peace in the State; multiple MoUs; market developments, return of the Int’l donor agencies, etc… Why do you think he deserves to be replaced at this time?

The people are the judge and jury. It is left for the people to decide if our schools are better now than they were 4 years ago. Or whether they are now better secured. Just this morning (Sunday August 6) dozens of villagers were sent to their early graves in Ozubulu where they had gone for a 5am Mass in their own village church--may their souls rest in peace. In Law, there is a popular maxim -”the fact speaks for itself”.

So, it’s for our people to decide if our students are still among the top 3 in WAEC, GCE and JAMB overall performance rating. It is for them to decide if jobs have been created and provided for the people. It is for the people to decide if our projects are properly priced and our scarce resources properly managed.

It is left for the people to decide if there are concrete and visible foreign investments on the ground impacting on their socioeconomic well-being or if multiple MoUs like you pointed out are sufficient to meet their hopes. I believe we need a leader that will be radical in tackling development issues. We need development now.

Zoning apart, Anambra North has been accused of political weakness despite commanding the numerical strength that usually makes the difference. Are you ready to make the difference?

I disagree with the assertion. Anambra North has produced great leaders not just for Anambra State but also for Ndigbo and Nigeria, like the great Zik, Ajie Ukpabi Asika, Rt. Hon. Chuba Okadigbo and my late father, Igwe John Emeka. These were great leaders and that makes us the heirs of great political heritage thus setting a benchmark for us.

What makes us different is that the people of Anambra North have long supported others in political affairs. That’s why we have supported other zones to produce governors of the State. I believe also that it’s the realization of this fact that persuaded the elders to decide to zone office to Anambra North not out of weakness but to ensure justice, fairness and equity.

Will I deviate from the principle of Anambra North fathers? The answer is no, I will continue in their strides. f you get elected, what would be your first 100-days’ priority?

I will be coming into office prepared and ready to serve. As such, I will hit the ground running from first day by restoring orderliness in the business of government.

I will create a highly motivated civil service structure to prime the government for work towards achieving greatness by implementing my agenda.

What would you like to be remembered for, as governor of Anambra State?

Our people have become cynical about politics and political leaders. They have lost hope in the ability of elected leaders to meet their expectations of government. I want to be remembered as the governor who gave back hope to the people and a sense of pride to the future generation.

Who really is Prince John Emeka?

Prince John Okechukwu Emeka is peace loving, devoted husband and father, a Christian and a Catholic with a listening ear to the people and a believer in our core social values. I am a former Minister of State for Transportation.

The Oracle Today

17

Wednesday August 16, 2017

BU$IN£SS •Energy •Finance

•Stock

A

PPARENTLY smarting from impacts of the recessive economy, the Nigerian capital market ended the first half of the year on a positive side with all its indices pointing northward even as the equity market’s capitalization crossed 12 trillion mark in July.

However, while many would describe the gains as fluke, market analyst are confident that the gains would be sustained throughout the year, citing improving economic fundamentals and imminent earnings reports from quoted companies.

Indeed, with the gains recorded so far, the market is said to have recovered two years losses in the last six months of this year. Also for the first time in the space of two years, the market on 21st of June hit a new high of 34,477.89 points which was last seen on May 21st, 2015 when it dropped below 34,533.40 points.

Market watchers believe that investors’ confidence in the market was buoyed by the relative stability in the forex market and the rock bottom prices of most stocks prior to the rally. It is believed that the market was also significantly boosted by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s major decision on export and import side of the foreign exchange referred to as “Investors’ and Exporters FX window”, which was established on April 21st and kicked off April 24th.

According to analysts at GTI Capital positive trend would continue until the end of the year.

“We expect the market to stay on the positive side for the rest of the year. This we anticipate will be boosted by the recently passed 2017 Budget which has 30 per cent provision for infrastructure development. Given that the appropriation bill is implemented to the letter, we expect the market to benefit indirectly which will largely sustain the positive activity witnessed this far.

“Other anticipated positive triggers are; improving macroeconomic environment, increasing confidence from foreign investors on Nigerian economy and expectation of strong full-year corporate earnings,” the GTI said in its market outlook.

“We expect the ALSI to close the year positively by 7.5 per cent in 2017 driven by fresh listings and improved FPI participation,”

the analysts said, adding that 2017 would be a year of recovery for most of listed companies which would impact their performance.

Also speaking on the market performance, Mr. Tunde Jeariogbe, analyst at Trade Lines Investment Limited, said the market would continue to benefit from the relatively stable forex market and expected corporate earnings.

According to him, with economic indicator looking positive, foreign investors are now gradually returning to the market.

“In the last five, we have not seen this kind of sustained positive trend at the market, and that shows that investors’ confidence is getting stronger. As you can see, the market has regained, under few months, what it lost in two years and from all indications, the gains will be sustained until the end of this year. He said.

According to the Nigerian Stock Exchange in its half year review of the market, the nation’s bourses had recorded 37 gains in the first six months. This came as equities transactions on the bourse in the first half of 2017 shot up to N935.26 billion. This figure represents 49.78 per cent increase when compared to the transactions figure recorded in the same period of 2016, which was N624.41 billion.

Analysis of monthly equity transactions on the Exchange from January to June 2017 reveals that transactions worth N95.3 billion was carried out in January. In February and March, transactions worth N74.1 billion and N285 billion were carried out respectively.

In April, the transactions at the bourse were N54.9 billion, while total transactions for the month of May were put at N205.6 billion.

In June total transactions at the nation’s bourse increased by 7.13% from N 205.61 billion recorded in May to N220.27 billion. The NSE in a latest market statistics released also pointed out that the institutional composition of the domestic market decreased by 17.09 per cent from N67.95 billion recorded in May to N56.34 billion in June 2017.

“However, the retail composi-

CBN EXCHANGE RATES July 21, 2017 Buying(NGN)

•Aviation

Nigerian capital market to remain bullish H2 2017

By SAMSON AKINTARO

Currency

•Insurance

Central (NGN) Selling(NGN)

US DOLLAR 304.7 Pounds Sterling 400.65 EURO 356.4685 SWISS FRANC 317.2967 YEN 2.7352 CFA 0.5218 WAUA 426.5058 Yuan/Renminbi 45.2014 RIYAL 81.2468 DANISH KRONA 47.9299 SDR 428.4082

305.2 305.7 401.3075 401.9649 357.0535 357.6384 317.8173 318.338 2.7397 2.7442 0.5318 0.5418 427.2057 427.9056 45.2761 45.3507 81.3802 81.5135 48.0086 48.0872 429.1112 429.8142

Energy

Indigenous oil firms trapped in acquisition debts P20

e-Platform How stiff competition muffles Nigerian ISPs P22

Aviation Plan for National Carrier still on course –FG P27

Insurance

• NSE-CEO, Oscar Onyema,

tion increased by 46.92 per cent from N42.47 billion to N62.40 billion within the same period. This indicates a higher participation by retail investors over their institutional counterparts for the first time this year,” it stated.

The NSE noted that since 2011, foreign transactions have consistently outperformed domestic transactions, adding however, that domestic transactions marginally outperformed foreign transactions

in 2016, accounting for 55 per cent of the total transaction volume in 2016.

“Also, foreign transactions have further declined by 66.34 per cent from N1, 539 billion in 2014 to N518 billion in 2016, representing about 45 per cent of total transactions in 2016. Over the nine (9) year period, domestic transactions have significantly decreased by 85.43 per cent from N3, 556 billion in 2007 to N634 billion in 2016”.

Leadway Assurance boosts penetration with mobile office P28

Stock Market Highlights As At 28 July, 2017

Summary

ASI DEALS VOLUME

VALUE CAP

Most Traded S/N Coy (By Volume) Volume

36,864.71 5,799.00 525,596,090.00 8,137,975,429.34 12,705,446,827,912.26 Value

5 Top Gainers Company Last Close Current Change NESTLE 955.5 1003.27 47.77 PRESCO 71 73.2 2.2 DANGSUGAR 9.88 10.86 0.98 WAPCO 60 60.75 0.75 INTBREW 31.5 32 0.5

5 Top Losers Company Last Close Current Change 1. FBNH 96,861,563 548,645,946.73 DANGCEM 244.99 235.51 -9.48 -2.15 2.

DIAMONDBNK 88,086,783 117,024,410.79 NB 173.77 171.62 -1.2 3. TRANSCORP 57,846,125 83,680,521.63 FO 62.9 61.7 65.05 -0.95 ZENITHBANK 46,197,370 1,224,604,770.53 GUINNESS 66 4.

11.2 10.45 -0.75 5.

GUARANTY 46,001,762 1,895,096,292.76 CADBURY

18

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

BUSINESS

Nigeria to extend gas pipeline to Cote d’ Ivoire

By SOPURUCHI ONWUKA

G

overnment has confirmed plans to extend the West African Gas Pipeline to Cote D’Iviore in a measure to foster regional integration and create bigger market for Nigerian gas export.

The operators of West Afrcian Gas Pipeline Company (WAGPC) had stated earlier that the project had initial plans to extend as far as Senegal and Gambia.

However the pipeline, apart from being vulnerable to the country’s internal supply crisis, has found it very difficult to meet its supply obligations to clients in countries it presently supplies.

For years, the WAGPC has decried low supply pressure on the pipeline and failed in sustained campaign to persuade government allocate more gas to the regional market.

But the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, who received a delegation from Cote d’Ivoire in Abuja, assured that the pipeline would still meet its design objectives.

He said stated extension of WAGP to Cote d’Ivoire would facilitate easy transmission of gas within the West African subregion.

Earlier, leader of the Ivoirian delegation and Deputy Director, Production, of Ministry of Petroleum, Cote d’ Ivoire, Mr. Patrick Marshal, said the visit was to share experiences with the Nigerian petroleum industry drivers.

•Niger State Governor, Sani Bello with an official of the WCCD at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Council of City Data at the Nigeria House, in New York, United States.

Dangote, others sign agriculture investment pact

By VICTOR NZE

D

ANGOTE Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GrowAfrica and the Nigeria Agribusiness Group aimed at boosting private sector’s in-

Air Peace to begin Akure flights

By VICTOR NZE

I

ndigenous carrier, Air Peace has announced plans to begin scheduled commercial flight operations to the Akure Airport in Ondo from August 11.

The airline which made the announcement in a statement issued by its Corporate Communications Manager, Mr Chris Iwarah in Lagos, Monday, said that the carrier was collaborating with the Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu administration to guarantee easy access to Ondo State by investors, tourists and other categories of air travellers.

He said that the inaugural LagosAkure-Lagos flight would take off from the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja and touch down at the Akure Airport.

“We are delighted to announce the commencement of our LagosAkure-Lagos service on August 11.

Air Peace has been operating from our main hub in Lagos State since 2014, so the launch of the second route in the South West of Nigeria is only a natural progression.

“Air Peace is pleased to have this opportunity to add such an important destination as Akure to our local route network. Akure lies

geographically on the tropical belt and is bordered in the north by Ekiti and Kogi; east by Edo; west by Oyo and Ogun. Ondo is one of Nigeria’s most exciting destinations for leisure and business travel.”

Iwarah expressed optimism that the flights to Akure would open up a whole new opportunity for Air Peace guests to visit and explore the wealth of tourist attractions of the state, adding that it would also expand the access of investors and other categories of air travellers to connect with the state.

“The new route allows for connections to additional markets from Akure, creating a more convenient trip for those wishing to visit the city. We expect that our new service will contribute to the economy of Ondo State by bringing new travellers to the area from across our route network.

We anticipate that the launch will jump-start the effort of Akeredolu to open up the Sunshine State to massive investment engagements,” he said.

The airline has also secured approvals to operate flights into Lome, Monrovia, Abidjan, Dakar, Douala, Niamey and other West Coast countries of Africa.

vestment in agriculture.

The MoU was signed during the GlowAfrica and NABG Private Sector Consultative Meeting held in Lekki, Lagos, Friday.

Vice-President of Dangote Group, Mr Sani Dangote, signed on behalf of the company, while Mr William Asiko, Chief Executive Officer, signed for GrowAfrica as Mr Emmanuel Ijewere, the Vice President, NABG, dis same for his firm.

Dangote expressed optimism that the partnership would pave way for more private companies’ participation both foreign and local to improve the agricultural value chain in the country, adding that the private sector has the capacity to promote growth in agriculture with the Federal Government create the enabling environment.

Asiko of GrowAfrica said that he was excited with the development, describing it as a landmark achievement that was capable of facilitating agricultural development in Nigeria and Africa, just as he noted that the partnership would provide a platform for agricultural bodies to work togeth-

er and exploit opportunities within the agricultural value chain.

“Between 2011 and 2016, GrowAfrica has been able to mobilise over 200 companies from global and domestic companies in Africa to pledge nearly 10 billion dollars worth of investments in agriculture. These were pledges made by these companies to invest in agriculture with commitment from government on agreements with farmers and civil society and many others in the value chain,” he said.

“We are launching this partnership to transform the economy by engaging different actors in the value chain to evolve business scale of investments.”

On his part, Ijewere said one of the effective ways of ensuring the success of the partnership was to involve the grassroots in developing agricultural policies.

“This will create a relationship that builds from the ground to the top, thereby carrying the farmers along in decision making.”

Meanwhile, Mrs Gloria Akobundu, the CEO of the New Partnership for

FG offers savings bonds at 13.5%, 14.5 % in August

F

ederal Government, Monday, offered for subscription a twoyear savings bond at 13.535 per cent and three-year savings bond at 14.535 per cent.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) stated on its website that both bonds would be due in August 2019.

It, however, did not state how much was offered, but the maximum subscription was N50 million at N1,000 per unit, subject to minimum subscription of N5,000 and in multiples of N1,000.

According to DMO, the bond is

backed by the “full faith and credit of the Federal Government’’, with quarterly coupon payments to bondholders.

The savings bond issuance is expected to help finance the nation’s budget deficit.

It is also part of the Federal Government’s programme targeted at the low-income earners to encourage savings and earn more interest on savings, compared to what was accrued on their bank savings.

Africa’s Development (NEPAD), lauded the partnership, saying it will help to attract more youths to agriculture.

“It will help to stem the rural-urban drift and the private sector can play a significant role in making agriculture more attractive by helping youths to see agriculture as a business for wealth creation and empowerment,” she said.

FMDQ OTC Securities launches Investor Protection Fund

F

MDQ OTC Securities Exchange has formally launched its Investor Protection Fund (FMDQ-IPF) in compliance with the provisions of the Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2007.

The company said in a statement in Lagos that the inaugural meeting of the fund Board of Trustees (BoT) was held on July 5, 2017.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that IPF is a statutory fund established pursuant to the provisions of Part XIV of the ISA to compensate investors who suffer pecuniary loss in the market.

The company said that the launch of the fund and inauguration of the BoT was a significant milestone in the achievement of the OTC exchange’s mandate to provide a secure and credible platform supported by global best practices.

It said that the fund would serve as a catalyst for sustaining investor confidence in the Nigerian financial market.

The company said that the FMDQIPF was established for the purpose of compensating investors who suffered pecuniary losses arising from insolvency, bankruptcy or negligence of a dealing member of the OTC Exchange.

19

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

BUSINESS

NSE bags ‘CSR Company of the Year’ award

By SAMSON AKINTARO

T

he Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has received the “CSR Company of the Year” award at the Commerce & Industry Awards 2017 organised

by Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in Lagos recently.

According to Muda Yusuf, Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), “the objective of the annual awards is to recognize, celebrate and promote private and public institutions who have exhibited the core values of best business practices, growth through innovations, business sustainability and have positively impacted the society.”

The Exchange was recognised for its progress in providing a world class capital market with the implementation of innovations required to deliver a robust and efficient capital market. It was also commended for its role in delivering impactful Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to internal and external stakeholders through its numerous initiatives like the NSE Essay Competition, Employee Volunteering Scheme, Employee Give-Back Initiative and NSE Corporate Challenge.

Receiving the award on behalf of The Exchange, Ms. Pai Gamde, Acting Head, Corporate Services Division, NSE, stated “we are honoured and humbled to be

Erin Energy delivers rig to Oyo Field

T

he highly efficient sixth generation drilling rig Pacific Bora meant to carry operation at the Oyo field offshore Nigeria has arrived in the area according to Erin Energy Corporation.

The oil and gas exploration and production company plans to use Pacific Borato drill the Oyo-9 well (Oyo-9) on the Oyo field in deepwater offshore Nigeria. It expects to commence drilling of Oyo-9 in approximately 10 days and the well to add an additional 6,000 to 7,000 barrels per day.

The Pacific Bora is a highly efficient sixth generation doublehulled drillship, which the Company has the option to drill up to two additional wells. If exercised, the rig will be used to drill two of its offshore Nigeria exploration prospects in the prolific Miocene geological zone, which has been proven highly prolific in neighboring blocks.

Erin Energy Corporation is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused on energy resources in sub-Saharan Africa. Its asset portfolio consists of 7 licenses across 4 countries covering an area of 19,000 square kilometers (5 million acres), including current production and other exploration projects offshore Nigeria, as well as exploration licenses offshore Ghana, Kenya and Gambia, and onshore Kenya.

recognised by Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) as the CSR Company of the Year.

This award is a testament to the innovations we have undertaken to encourage and promote sustainability in the capital market.”

In the last few years, NSE has implemented far-reaching transformational policies aimed at strengthening the corporate governance of listed compa-

nies, providing products that are aligned to investors’ requirements, comprehensive set of value added services to listed firms and giving back to the society through impactful Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

“We have made giant strides in striving to see that sustainability is a way of life in the Nigerian capital market. Our sustainability strategy is hinged on four pil-

lars; Community, Marketplace, Workplace and Environment and we currently have the NSE Disclosure Guidelines in the works which will be unveiled later this year,” Olumide Orojimi, Head, Corporate Communications, NSE, said.

The NSE Disclosure Guidelines is to encourage listed companies report on their sustainability activities.

•L-R: Assistant General Manager, Public Affairs Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Mr. Jimoh Mohammed, General Manager Public Affairs, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Sam Adurogboye; Mrs. Victory Ugonwenyi of the NCAA Public Affairs department during the Press Conference on the coming visit of Federal Aviation Administration of United States.

Niger State signs data agreement with WCCD

By VICTOR NZE

N

iger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has said that the administration would serve as a good representative of Nigeria and the subregion by ensuring that the state maintained its commitment to the objectives of World Council on City Data as one of the ‘WCCD Local Hubs’, on Sustainability Solutions.

Governor Sani Bello who stated this at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Council of City Data at the Nigeria House, in New York, United States, said the deal with the state showed the level of confidence and interest of the organization in the modest effort of the administration towards positioning of its cities to meet the ever increasing demands of its residents.

“My presence with some of my cabinet members, member of legislature and technical staff show our complete support and commitment to the selection of Minna as one of the 8 WCCD Local Data Hubs” “As one of the WCCD Local Data hubs, I want to assure the WCCD of our commitment to the objectives of the initiative by ensuring other cities within Niger State join the WCCD reporting system and also serve as a very good representative in Nigeria and the sub-region.”

The Governor who congratulated WCCD for the global recognition

by the United Nations through Local 2030 Data Hubs for Sustainable Development Goals, called on the organization to initiate the process and means of strengthening local capacity of member cities to support accurate, timely and globally standardized city-level data generation, analysis and management.

“Without adequate and appropriate capacity , the sustainability of our effort is not guaranteed. I look forward to working with WCCD and Global Cities Institute at the University of Toronto , to improve the capacity of my staff and

train our ever enthusiastic youthful population.”

Earlier in her remarks, Chief Executive Officer, WCCD, Professor Patricia McCarney said that ‘time has come to harness standardized , independently verified, local level data to help drive transformational change on key global agreements, while also working with network of cities globally to drive local change.’

She noted that the launching at the United Nations demonstrated that cities around the world are the true determiners of sustainable future for the planet.

Brazilian companies now ready for business with Nigeria –Envoy

C

onsul-General of Brazil in Lagos, Amb. Maria Figueiredo, Monday, announced the new interest of Brazilian companies in doing businesses with Nigeria and Nigerians.

Figueiredo, who made the announcement in Lagos at a Brazil/Nigeria Business Forum, said that the companies had realised the need for mutually beneficial business relations with Nigeria.

The Consul-General said that a Trade Mission of 11 different companies were at the One-day forum to indicate the new interest of Brazilian companies in the Nigerian economy.

“We believe that it is about time that Brazil and Nigeria come together again in promoting mutually-beneficial business relations between our two countries. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil and ApexBrasil, a Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency have, therefore, organised a Trade Mission of 11 Brazilian companies to this forum.

“We really want Brazilian and Nigerian companies to know themselves and begin to do business together , especially now that Africa is asking for the presence of Brazilian companies,’’ she said.

She enjoined Nigerians and Brazilian companies to take advantage of huge business opportunities that currently existed between both countries, even as she also advised Nigerians interested in doing businesses with Brazil to always approach the Consulate General of Brazil in Lagos for necessary information and assistance.

Deputy Director at the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission(NICP), Mr Byron Isi, who spoke on “Business and Investment Opportunities in Nigeria,’’ described Nigeria as a country with huge business opportunities.

Isi said that it was imperative for Brazilian companies and businesses to know that Nigeria was the largest investment destination in Africa, as well as the gateway to other ECOWAS countries.

“We want you to know that Nigeria is currently not doing badly at all.

Nigeria is a closely guarded secret that you should take advantage of.

You should know that Nigeria is a strategic market, undergoing dynamic changes and transformation. We also want you to know that Nigeria is a nation that can truly give your investment and businesses the desired benefits,’’ he said.

The NIPC official said that the Nigerian Government had come up with reforms aimed at enhancing the country’s Ease of Doing Business.

Bank frauds, forgeries drop by 11% –NDIC

By VICTOR NZE

T

he Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has said that the banking industry recorded a decline in the rate of successful fraud incidences and extent of amount of losses in 2016, compared to 2015, just as the level of attempted cases of frauds and forgeries declined by N0.329 billion or 11.94 percent from N2.756 billion in March 2017 to N2.427 billion in June 2017.

A statement signed by H. S. Bitch, Head, Communications & Public Affairs at the corporation, said the Managing Director/Chief Executive of the corporation, Alh. Umaru Ibrahim, made this disclosure while delivering a lecture titled: “The Role of NDIC in Mitigating Corruption in the Nigerian Banks” at the general meeting of the

Abuja Chapter of the Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI).

Ibrahim, who was represented by a Deputy Director in Research, Policy and International Relations Department, Mr. Hashim I. Ahmad, further disclosed that reported cases of frauds, forgeries and outright theft involving bank staff recorded a huge decline of 48.12 percent from N18.02 billion in 2015 to N8.68 billion in 2016, while the actual losses to the nation’s banking industry dropped by 24.29 percent from N3.17 billion in 2015 to N2.40 billion in 2016.

“Although reported cases of fraud and forgeries rose by 36.42 per cent from 12,279 cases in 2015 to 16,751 cases in 2016, the reduction in the rate of successful fraud incidences and actual losses was an indication of improved regulatory/supervisory over-

sight, increased vigilance by banks and the deployment of improved security architecture in the banking industry,” he said.

He attributed the factors breeding corruption in Nigerian banks to poor corporate governance, infractions in foreign exchange operations, cumbersome legal process and lack of effective sanctions of offenders, amongst others.

Ibrahim reiterated that the NDIC in conjunction with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continuously supervise the banks to ensure their strict adherence to sound corporate governance practices, just as he added that issues bordering on unethical financial practices and the resolution of conflicts between customers and their banks were being addressed by the Bankers Committee.

20

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

ENERGY

Indigenous oil firms trapped in acquisition debts Stories by SOPURUCHI ONWUKA

S

MALL indigenous companies that desperately rushed after brownfield assets divested by major multinational oil firms in the country face the challenge of exiting huge debts that supported the acquisitions.

Our enquiries about the financial position of independent oil companies that acquired marginal and middle sized assets in the country showed that the management of the companies frantically battling scheduled debt payment commitments.

It would be recalled that between 2010 and 2015 a number of indigenous companies including Starcrest Energy, Aiteo, Oando, Seplat, Eroton, First E&P, Neconde, Midwestern, Notore and Taleveras threw in cheques for a total of $12 billion in their scramble for brownfield assets divested by major multinational oil firms in the country.

Others indigenous companies that that threw their hats in the ring are Lekoil, PanOcean, Newcross and Shoreline.

The bulk of the assets put on sale came from licenses operated by Shell on behalf of its partners- Total and Eniunder a joint venture agreement with Nigerian national Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Other companies including ConocoPhilips, Chevron and Total also divested assets separately.

Shell had in July, 2010 divested the partners’ interests in oil mining leas (OML) 4, 38 and 41; then sold OMLs OML 26 and 42 in November 2011; it followed with OML 40 in August, 2012; OML 34 in September, 2012 and OML 30 in November, 2012.

OMLs 4, 38 and 41 were acquired and operated by Seplat Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited; OMLs 26, 30, 34, 40 and 42 were transferred to be operated Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), leaving the indigenous firms that acquired Shell and partners’ stake as mere financial interests.

In June 2013, the company also sold OMLs 18, 24, 25, 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line.

Midwestern Oil and Gas/Mart Resources/Suntrust Oil, under the Erotron Consortium, won the bid for OML 18 while Aiteo/Taleveras in partnership with four other companies made up the consortium that won bid for OML 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk line.

Pan Ocean Oil Corporation Nigeria Limited took OML 24; while Lekoil, Starcrest, Green Acres/CCC/Signet Petroleum, NDPR/SAPETRO and Essar clinched OML 25.

Oando literally bought out ConocoPhillips from the country in an audacious $1.6 billion divestment deal that saw it take over ConocoPhillips’ stakes in oil blocks hosted in OMLs 60, 61, 62, 63 and 131. The deal also included ConocoPhillips’ stake in OPL 214.

Outside the major divestments by the major oil companies, the industry was also abuzz with equity deals among operators, asset holders and portfolio investors.

Afren staked $142 million to increase its ownership in its Nigerian onshore subsidiary FHN from 44.4% at the end of 2012 to 78.1% in July 2013.

Lekoil raised $50 million on AIM in May 2013, followed by additional $20 million in July to fund a 30 percent farmin in Afren’s OPL 310.

Funding and technical partners poured in money to add value to the assets and also draw from the revenue rain as forecasters predicted medium to long term price upside.

Supporting the acquisition deals are a crowd of deep pocket banks that

•L-R: Rt. Hon.(Barrister) Onofiok Luke; Speaker, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Representing The Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Alhaji (Dr) Muhammadu Indimi, OFR; The Executive Chairman, Oriental Energy Resources and Alhaji Usman Mamman Durkwa, Deputy Governor, Borno State, Representing The Executive Governor of Borno State at the Groundbreaking Ceremony of Oriental Village, a residential estate of 100 Units In Enwang, Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. stepped out to showcase their strength and international clout in arranging dollar denominated transactions.

Leading funding creditors include First Bank group, Union Bank, Diamond Bank, Guarantee Trust Bank, Skye Bank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank. Other banks also played different roles in arranging funding for the big ticket deals.

While the successful indigenous companies received applause, their managers had entered another race to mop up funds for settlement of loan liabilities. Subsequent sudden crash in oil price since 2014 and host environment volatility which crippled output dashed hopes of quick wins from producing assets.

Huge debt liabilities and cash call obligations tightened pressure on the new asset owners, forcing them to seek cost free funds from equity markets.

Seplat had successfully launched dual

I

NDIGENOUS energy group, Oando Plc, may have different news for its shareholders at the end of the year as its unaudited interim financial report shows significant profit upside.

The company which is smarting from a position of heavy investment fatigue announced a N4.6 billion in half year net profit, posting strong signals that end of year results might surpass expectation of analysts.

‘The first half of 2017 has witnessed the country’s production levels steadily recovering to normalcy. This has largely been as a result of the containment of the Niger Delta unrest, and the more recent resumption of activity on the Trans Forcados Pipeline.

There is optimism around the approval of the Petroleum Industry Governance and Institutional Framework Bill (PIGB), which should result in a more efficiently regulated sector and a conducive business environment for industry players,’ the company stated.

Commenting, Mr. Wale Tinubu, Group Chief Executive, Oando PLC

listing on London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) almost simultaneously; while Onado Energy Resources had a debut in Calgary stock market in Canada.

Financial engineering in the two leading indigenous companies continue to amplify the state of the indigenous companies that bought assets at high cost during the high oil price cycle.

Since its acquisitions, Seplat has dutifully maintained delicate financial management, carefully balancing funding needs between debt servicing and growth projects’ financing.

Managing Director, Mr. Austin Avuru stated in the company’s half year report: ‘We adopted a prudent approach and proactively engaged in discussions with our lenders in the seven-year term facility to realign near-term debt service obligations within the existing tenor. Our lenders in the term loan ap-

proved the deferment of H2 2016 and 2017 principal repayment obligations totaling US$150 million until the end of 2017, thereby reducing Seplat’s principal debt service obligations during this period to US$57 million with the deferred obligations now being payable between end Q1 2018 and end Q2 2020 after which we fall into line with the original schedule.’

Faced with the full weight of its ConocoPhillips’ acquisition, Oando has chosen to shrink down its downstream subsidiaries, selling off a number of business units and maintaining less than significant presence in its legacy businesses.

Despite the cost cutting measures adopted by the two leading indigenous oil firms, their balance sheets are weak, bottom lines are negative and share prices are zeroing down as investors seek exit.

Fears are high among equity investor groups that some of the indigenous oil firms listed in many stock market platforms around the world may finally be delisted following their notoriously poor financial results.

A chief executive officer of one of the indigenous companies that acquired divested petroleum assets in Niger Delta told The Oracle Today at the just concluded 2017 SPE NAICE conference in Lagos that internal reorganizations and cost cutting measures preoccupy the management of the firms as they face pressure from lending banks.

According to him, some of the banks are turning down debt reschedule request from the companies following poor governance indicators, lowering value of hedge assets and rising risk exposure as crude oil reserve value of the operated fields drop proportionately with prices.

Oando posts N4.6 bn H1 profit said: “With security concerns in the Niger Delta receding, Nigeria’s economic recovery has been buoyed by a boost in oil output, while the legislative approval of certain segments of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) provides greater long-term policy certainty for the sector. Our returns underline our continued successful foray into the Upstream. Within the prevalent crude pricing regime, we remain committed to optimizing our overall production base, seeking unique profit-driven opportunities to further partner with IOCs, while firming up our balance sheet to provide greater shareholder value.”

Oando stated that the half year result covering the period ended 30 June, 2017, shows that turnover increased by 26%, from N212.3 billion in first half of 2016 to N267.1 billion in same period in 2017.

According to the company, gross Profit increased by 76%, from N19 bil-

lion in 2016 to N33.4 billion this year; while profit-after-tax jumped by 117%, from N26.9 billion in 2016 to N4.6 billion in 2017.

In providing its operational highlights, Oando however said its crude oil production in the first half of 2017 decreased by 20% from 8.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) or 44,892 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) in the first half of 2016 to 7.2 MMboe or 39,950 boed.

According to a statement by the company, the profit is buoyed by N3.2 billion from the optimization of the crude oil hedge program ‘which will be used to reduce corporate facility debt obligations.’

In the downstream, the company declared 72 percent improvement in revenues, from N6.0 billion in H1 2016 to N217.4 billion in H1 2017.

The financial figures derive from trading activities which saw the company export over 7.0 million barrels

of crude oil, and imported 600,000 metric tons (MT) of refined petroleum products in the first half of 2017.

Representing a 20% and 96% increase respectively.

In the operational update the company reported that Oando Energy Resources (OER) recorded an average production of 39,950 boed compared to 44,892 boed in the first half of 2016, explaining that the reduction was primarily due to significant reductions in gas production and delivery caused by a ruptured Gas Transmission System (GTS-4) gas line which supplies our contractual gas to the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG).

“Also, the Trans Forcados pipeline continued to suffer downtime in the first 5 months of the year and due to repairs and planned maintenance activities which resulted in reduced production from Ebendo,’ the company stated.

21

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

ENERGY

Nigeria pumps 2.06 mbd in July …Consumes 45.86 million litres of refined fuel Stories by SOPURUCHI ONWUKA

N

IGERIA’S crude oil production added 30, 000 barrels per day in July to reach 1.81 million barrels per day (mbd), up from 1.78 mbd in June and 1.73 mbd in May. In the same month, the country consumed total of 45.86 million litres of refined petroleum products on transportation, commercial, domestic and industrial application.

The figures which were compiled by Platts market intelligence group indicate continuously rising volumes interpreted in the global market as signs that the country might soon be returning capacity output.

When condensate and other petroleum liquids are added, the country production performance in the month saw an upside to 2.06 mbd, according to separate figures supplied by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in a monthly bulletin.

Platts figures which are collated from export tankers that lift petroleum cargoes from Nigerian terminals do not count condensate and other natural gas liquids that are mined from gas fields.

OPEC production (in million b/d) Member July Change June May Algeria 1.05 -0.01 1.06 1.06 Angola 1.64 -0.02 1.66 1.64 Ecuador 0.53 0.01 0.52 0.52 Equatorial Guinea 0.13 -0.01 0.14 0.15 Gabon 0.21 0.01 0.20 0.21 Iran 3.82 0.02 3.80 3.78 Iraq 4.48 0.03 4.45 4.43 Kuwait 2.70 -0.01 2.71 2.70 Libya 0.99 0.18 0.81 0.73 Nigeria 1.81 0.03 1.78 1.73 Qatar 0.61 0.00 0.61 0.61 Saudi Arabia 10.05 0.08 9.97 9.93 UAE 2.89 0.02 2.87 2.84 Venezuela 1.91 0.00 1.91 1.94 Total 32.82 0.33 32.49 32.27 Platts estimates combined output of Libya and Nigeria in July at 590,000 b/d above October levels, the month on which OPEC based its production cuts and quotas.

Nigerian output has continued its upward trend despite the ongoing

force majeure on exports of key crude grade Bonny Light due to pipeline issues.

Output of another key Nigerian crude, Forcados, continued to ramp up last month, and tanker tracking data also showed a steady

Oil majors ink funding deals with NNPC

F

our traditional partners to the government in oil and gas exploration and production have signed project funding deals with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to quicken two development projects in the industry.

The companies which are partners in separate joint venture agreements include Shell, Total, Eni on one part, and Chevron on the other. Whereas Shell operates the NNPC/Shell/Total/Eni joint venture, Chevron operates the NNPC/ Chevron joint venture.

The agreement with Chevron would see the development of the NNPC/CNL JV Sonam Project, hitherto financed through cash calls, to incremental proven and probable liquids reserves of 211million barrels and proven and probable gas reserves of 1.9 trillion cubic feet within in Oil Mining Licences (OMLs) 90 and 91.

Under the terms of the funding agreement which was signed in London, Chevron takes responsibility for $1.5 billion representing 97 per cent of project completion costs of Sonam Field development while the agreement would cover the remaining $780million to complete the project’s scope.

Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, stated that the project is envisaged to achieve an incremental peak production of about 39, 000 barrels per day of liquids and 283million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscf/d) of gas respectively over the life cycle of the asset.

He said $400 million is to fund the development of seven wells in the Sonam field located in oil mining lease (OML) 91, the Okan 30E NonAssociated Gas (NAG) well in OML 90, and completion of Sonam NAG Well Platform.

The GMD added that $380 million would also be required to re-

imburse the JV partners as cost of funding for the 2016 operating expenditure.

The Sonam Project, he said would earn government cumulative incremental earnings of $7.3 billion over the project’s life.

The GMD said the first phase of the Sonam Project focused on short term activities involving Oil and Gas Generation (STOGG) programme, comprising 128 rigless activities and 10 workovers; while the second phase would focus on medium term activities that would involve further development of EA/EJA fields by drilling 14 new well and three workover wells.

According to him, the first phase of the project is estimated to deliver incremental liquid reserves of about 202.9 million barrels of oil and 161.8 billion cubic feet on Proven and Probable (2P) basis.

The agreement with SPDC would comprise 156 development activities across 30 different fields hosted 12 mining license areas, including OMLs 11, 17, 23, 25, 27, 28, 32, 35, 43, 45, 46 and 79 in the Niger Delta.

The total third-party financing for the project is estimated at $1billion, inclusive of financing cost of which, he said, co-lending amounted to $420 mm with NNPC’s portion of $850million.

Dr. Baru stated that the project would generate about $9.0 billion of incremental revenue to government over the project’s life cycle and a Net Profit Value (NPV) of $5.2 billion over the loan life at 8.0 per cent discount rate.

The two projects are expected to generate incremental revenues of about $16 billion within the assets’ life cycle, generate employment opportunities in the industry and boost gas supply to power plants in the country.

Dr. Baru explained that NNPC’s objectives in securing third-party financing for the two sets of pro-

jects aligned with government’s aspiration to increase reserves and crude oil and gas production as well as monetize the nation’s enormous gas resources.

He emphasized that the financing option underscored the realization of one of the Corporation’s 12 Business Focus Areas (BUFAs) that is: Increasing crude oil and gas reserves and production to support government’s Seven Big Wins aspiration.

Shell Global Upstream Director, Mr. Andy Brown, stated that the alternative funding arrangement was an innovative financing plan that would enable SPDC commence exploration activities hitherto stalled due to funding challenges.

rise in exports month-on-month.

Sabotage attacks on the key pipelines in Niger Delta in July, however, showed that the Nigeria’s forward prospects continue to be riddled with uncertainty because of political tensions.

Nigeria’s production increase added to production upside from other member countries to sum up a cumulative production surge by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in the month.

According to Platts, OPEC’s July oil output hit 2017 high of 32.82, mbd, indicating about 920,000 b/d above ceiling.

Apart from Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Kuwait which posted marginal production declines in the month, other OPEC members recorded production uptick with key producers registering massive increases.

However, Qatar and Venezuela maintained output at June levels.

Saudi Arabia posted 10.05 mbd output in the month; Iraq recorded 4.48 mbd; and Iran registered 3.82 mbd to form the biggest gushers.

Libya, exempted from OPEC pro-

duction cuts that began January 1, averaged 990,000 b/d in July, up 180,000 b/d from June.

Not including Libya and Nigeria, compliance among OPEC’s 12 members with quotas under the production cut agreement remains robust at 114%, down slightly from 116% in June, based on an average of January through July output.

OPEC faces challenges in rebalancing the market through its output deal, which also involves 10 non-OPEC producers, as the two exempt countries’ recoveries threaten to undo a large portion of the group’s collective cuts.

Saudi energy minister Khalid alFalih in St Petersburg last month said there was room in the market to absorb 800,000-1 million b/d of growth from the OPEC/non-OPEC bloc, including Libya and Nigeria.

He pointed out that demand growth forecasts for 2018 range between 1.4 million and 1.6 million b/d, while the US Energy Information Administration has projected US production to increase 600,000 b/d.

Meanwhile, figures from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources have it that the country consumed a total of 45.86 million litres of refined petroleum products per day in the month of July, going by the measured average daily truck out from key supply centres in the country.

It is not clear whether the products accounted for in the report are supplied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) or it includes volumes supplied by private players in the market.

According to the ministry, daily truck out of the premium motor spirit (PMS) popularly called petroleum in the month averaged 34.70 million litres; load out of automotive gas oil (AGO) also called diesel averaged 7.83 million litres per day; dual purpose kerosene (DPK) averaged 2.22 million litres per day; aviation turbine kerosene (ATK) averaged 0.98 million litres per day; and low pour fuel oil (LPFO) also called black oil averaged 0.13 million litres per day.

There was no breakdown in the consumption of natural gas but the report has it that Nigeria produced an average of 7.812 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas per day in the month.

Oriental Energy builds N700 m estate in A/Ibom

O

riental Energy Resources Limited has launched a N700 million modern residential estate of 100 units in Enwang, headquarters of Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom state.

The estate named Oriental Village Mbo when completed will have a solar-powered electrification system, a school, clinic, a shopping centre and will be given freely to beneficiaries.

The project is being built and funded exclusively by Oriental Energy Resources Limited and the Muhammadu Indimi Foundation as a legacy project for Oriental Energy’s host communities.

This was revealed by the Executive Chairman of the company, Alhaji (Dr) Muhammadu Indimi in his speech at the groundbreaking ceremony yesterday in Enwang.

According to the chairman, the Oriental Village is clear manifestation of the company’s commitment to sustainable development of its host communities.

“The housing initiative we have commissioned will leverage innovative housing technology to provide accommodation to 100 families in Mbo Local Government Area. There will be 100 units of one-bedroom flats which will sit on a 2.5 hectare of land graciously provided by the good people of Eyo-Ukut and facilitated by the Enwang Council of Chiefs, led by our respected clan head.”

He further stated that the company is dedicated to social inclusion and its approach is to grow alongside its communities in a socially responsible manner while operating in an environment that fosters value creation and sustainable development.

Dr. Indimi revealed that “Since we commenced operation, we have created an annual scholarship fund which has seen over 470 scholarships awarded since 2009, at post primary and tertiary levels to recipients in Akwa Ibom. We have also trained over 270 youth

at seven Skill Acquisition Centres in Uyo, Oron, Eket and Ewang in Akwa Ibom state, all of whom received starter packs and start-up funds for their businesses. In addition, we have begun to engage other operators in Akwa Ibom State to create a sustained funding program of sponsorship for the University of Uyo’s Department of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering. We have also trained 500 women on business and financial literacy and given out seed funds to 200 community women to start up small scale businesses.

“OERL continues to carry out periodic free medical outreaches with Doctors, Nurses and medical personnel to our host communities with over 20,000 persons having benefitted cumulatively. We have also empowered the local fishermen by providing five modern fishing boats, nets and other equipment to enhance their productivity and economic growth.”

22

The Oracle Today, Wednesday August 16, 2017

e-Platform Stories by SAMSON AKINTARO

I

NTERNET Service Providers (ISPs) may be completely phased out of the Nigerian internet ecosystem soon as stiff competition in the industry push them further into oblivion, while many have since closed down. This came as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recently declared that almost 90 per cent of ISPs, who were hitherto the bridge between the wholesale bandwidth sellers and the internet users, are already dead.

Investigations reveal that lack of segregation between the wholesale and the retail dealers in the internet ecosystem, a situation where the wholesalers are also playing in the retail field sounded the death knell on small players, who are mostly ISPs. Indeed, the removal of data price floor, which fixes minimum data price for all service providers, is also being blamed for the woes of ISPs as bigger players offer their internet services at lower prices to the detriment of the small players.

Confirming that things are not well with ISPs in the country, the director of Licensing and Authorisation at the NCC, Ms Funlola Akiode, while speaking recently at a stakeholders’ Forum on ISPs, said the Commission had witnessed a tremendous decline in the number of applications for ISP licences while renewal rates had dropped drastically.

“In the past five years, the Commission has licenced a total number of 103 ISPs nationwide but about 10 per cent has applied for renewal of the licence. That is of the reasons why we are here today, to find out if and why about 90 per cent of our ISPs are out of business and why some ISPs have not rolled out services in accordance with the conditions of their licences,” Akiode said.

Akiode added that, “The world is a global village and a necessary tool for this process is access to information of which the internet is a key element. Despite the fact that over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population is active on mobile subscribers, the digital divide is still very wide especially as it regards rural dwellers.

According to her, as a responsive regulator, the sustainability of ISPs in the telecoms business is the primary interest of the Commission, adding however that the regulator is not unmindful of the difficult operating environment, the stifling competition from a variety of players, dearth of funding and so on.

But the Managing Director of VDT Communications, Mr Biodun Omoniyi, believes that the regulator, NCC, is also responsible for the ISPs troubles, adding that it has not done anything to protect them all along. “I don’t really believe the regulators are doing enough. There are a lot of under hand deals that is being done by the majors in terms of unfair competition, squeezing out the smaller players. As you are aware, many ISPs have fallen by the way side they had been victims and when we look at it, these are actually SMEs”. “VDT also used to be part of the SMEs, we grew from them and we were a bit fortunate but if the regulators had paid more attention, we would have seen a lot of them surviving” Omoniyi said.

According to him, in other climes, small players are protected. “Not just protection, I am saying let them do their job if they see any anti-com-

How stiff competition muffles Nigerian ISPs petitive behaviours, it should not just be that they are trying to create vibrancy between majors. There are a lot of unfair practices by the big players towards the very small people; the SMEs and the ISPs they are being competed with in a very unfair manner” he said. “ I want the regulators to put up a structure where they can be audited and a guideline where the people can see that there is even protection for these smaller companies because they are largely indigenous and they are providing employment to Nigerians”.

Before now, both the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) have called on the regulator to re-introduce data floor price as a way of protecting small players in the industry. According to ALTON Chairman, Engr Gbenga Adebayo, the NCC needs to revisit the data floor price determination in order to save and encourage small operators in the sector.

“Data floor price determination is meant for small operators not for

big operators who will still survive with the present situation. We are trying to avoid a situation where CDMA operators died because of price war. If data price is determined, it will encourage small operators in the sector. We need to look at it beyond public sentiment and emotions around it and revisit the issue for the growth of the industry,” he said.

Meanwhile, the NCC has expressed optimism that the ISPs, despite their current challenges, would play a big role in the nation’s broadband ecosystem. Ac-

cording to the EVC of NCC, “the viability of ISPs is particularly challenged by factors such as the availability of cheap/ubiquitous mobile internet access, bandwidth costs, vertical integration of mobile network operators as well as the growing uptake of leased line services by operators among others.

Also noteworthy is the question of availability/effectiveness of local internet exchange point. “We believe the ISPs have a critical role to play in the attainment of national broadband growth objectives and must therefore not be left to die out,” he said.

NIPOST goes digital with new addressing system N IGERIA’S POSTAL service, NIPOST, has announced its adoption of what3wards, an innovative global addressing system, with a view to increasing the number of homes it can deliver to and improve delivery services in preparation for the takeoff of Nigerian e-commerce.

With this development, Nigeria has become the seventh country to adopt what3words, and the third in Africa, as the system is already being used for mail deliveries in Mongolia, Sint Maarten, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Tonga and Solomon Islands. According to NIPOST, Nigeria’s poor addressing system means that only 20 per cent of its inhabitants receive mail at home, while 79 per cent of homes and businesses cannot receive deliveries to the door, and the remaining 1 per cent receives their mail using one of the 478,000 P.O. boxes throughout the country. “A postcode system does exist, but only 5% of mail gets properly addressed with the postcode, hampering the

efforts of NIPOST to improve its quality of service” it said.

Determined to improve this situation, NIPOST said it has set for itself an ambitious target of increasing home delivery to 70 per cent within the next 2 years and 90 per cent by 2020 through the Mail for Every House Initiative (MEHI), and has adopted what3words to help it achieve these goals. The innovative global addressing system, it said, has divided the world into 57 trillion 3m x 3m squares, each with a unique 3 word address. “It means that every home and business in Nigeria has a simple and accurate address that is easy to remember and to use” NIPOST noted.

Available in 14 languages, with many more currently in development, what3words is used in over 170 countries by governments, postal services, logistics companies, emergency services and NGOs, as well as individuals. It is more accurate than traditional street addresses, simpler than landmark-based directions, and

easier to remember and communicate than GPS coordinates. The system has built-in error detection and is available through a free mobile app and API integration. The system also works offline, without a data connection.

“We are very pleased to be collaborating with what3words as an addressing solution with huge potential to unlock opportunities” said Barrister Bisi Adegbuyi, Nigeria’s Postmaster General. “Better addressing is a key to NIPOST’s agenda, which

aims to transform, innovate, and deliver more services to more people all over the country”. Also speaking on the partnership, Chris Sheldrick, CEO and Co-founder of what3words said: “with a rapidly growing ecommerce ecosystem, Nigeria is a very exciting country to be working with.” “Postal services have a critical role in building a strong economy and NIPOST are firmly focused on the future, and are taking steps to modernise and grow their capacity and range of services” he added.

23

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

e-Platform

India, Nigeria collaborate for ICT growth Stories by SAMSON AKINTARO

T

HE Governments of India and Nigeria are set to forge closer cooperation in a determined effort to accelerate growth in Information and Communications Technology with a view to boost both countries’ economies through greater penetration and use of advanced technologies and services.

This is the pivotal focus of a two-day international conference and exhibition, under the auspices of Indo-Africa relations, scheduled to hold on September 6th and 7th at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, being organised by the Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC), an organisation set up by the Government of India to promote and support export of telecom equipment and services. His Excellency, Manoj Sinha, the Indian Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications, in a personal letter to his Nigerian counterpart, His Excellency, Barrister Abdul-Raheem Adebayo Shittu, Nigerian Minister of Communications, wrote that “India has emerged as one of the prominent trade partners for Africa,” adding that both regions “have shown complementarities for business to expand and grow.”

Specifically, Mr. Sinha wrote: “IT and Telecom form the backbone for the growth of any country and Africa has been one of the fastest growing markets worldwide in ICT adoption and communication technology.” To emphasise “the relationship and commitment between India and African countries, Government of India has proposed to host the 3rd edition of Indo-Africa ICT Expo 2017 in conjunction with IT

and Telecom Summit,” hence the need for collaboration of both countries’ ministries in charge of communications.

He stated: “I request your ministry along with ICT departments to be partner for the event,” which he explained “would bring together over 100 ICT companies from India and many more from ICT sector from Africa and attract over 2000 visitors.” Barrister Shittu on his part praised the idea

of the Indo-Africa ICT conference and promised Nigeria’s cooperation and participation to ensure a successful and worthwhile event for the good of India and Nigeria as well as the ICT industry in general.

“We are delighted about the idea of this event, and from Nigeria we will put in our best to ensure the programme comes out very well,” he said, adding that India and Nigeria share a lot in

• Shittu, Minister of Communications

common, and ICT currently being very topical globally, it is in the interest of both countries to pool resources to deliver results for their common peoples. According to details for the event, a key highlight will be an ICT Ministers’ Roundtable Meeting scheduled for September 6, on the guiding theme ‘Digital Vision of the Developing Nations,” a platform for ministers to present and share the ICT visions of their countries over the next five years thereby showcasing partnership opportunities that such vision would bring to the industry at large for the two regions.

TEPC is working in conjunction with the National Association of Software and Service Companies, (NASSCOM), which is the premier trade body and the chamber of commerce of the IT-BPM industries in India. NASSCOM is a global trade body with more than 1800+ members, which include both Indian and multinational companies that have a presence in India.

The organisers are also partnering with industry associations in Nigeria, including the Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN), Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) as well as the Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN) to make the event a full industry-focused programme. ITAN President, Mr. Tayo Adeniyi, ALTON Chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, ATCON President, Engr. Olusola Teniola, among others, have so far been listed to speak at the event, while more are to be confirmed as the

LG HOM-BOT rates high in artificial intelligence

S

EOUL National University (SNU) Robotics & Intelligent Systems Lab, the robotics program in the nation’s top university, has rated LG’s HOM-BOT as the most human-like robotic vacuum cleaner in the industry. Artificial intelligence, or AI, which is at the core of all of today’s advanced robots, has many definitions, one of them being the ability to learn from experience. Robots, contrary to science fiction and Hollywood, do not need to be intelligent but they must be machines capable of performing some type of work. Most of today’s best robotic vacuum cleaners have the ability to learn. However, not all robot vacuums learn at the same cognitive level, according to the SNU Robotics Lab results.

The university tested robot vacuum cleaners from leading manufacturers to measure their intelligence in the three areas of perception, judgment and action and classified the results into one of three levels of intelligence. According to SNU, the HOM-BOT Turbo+ earned the highest marks, a level the testers labeled Child (the others being Ape and Dolphin) because the SNU

Robotics Lab equated the learning ability of the HOM-BOT Turbo+ to that of a six- or seven-year-old adolescent. “By utilizing the convolutional neural network (CNN) technique LG engineers are able to give the robot the ability to distinguish between a human and a dog by analyzing stored image data.

The LG robot vacuum’s acuity of perception and judgment – two of the core facets of a high performing AI – improved significantly with the incorporation of LG DeepThinQ technology in the latest model, rising from Ape level two years prior” the lab said.

Reacting to the rating, LG said what separates its HOM-BOT Turbo+ with DeepThinQ from competing models is its ability to not only recognize obstacles and chart the most efficient course around the home, but its ability to allow for human intervention. According to the company,“for example, when the vacuum comes across a human, it waits for a brief moment to allow the individual time to move out of the way. However, for furniture and other immobile obstructions, the LG robot vacuum knows not to

wait and simply goes around and continues cleaning. It’s this kind of analysis which SNU Robotics Lab found to be unique and noteworthy in the category”.

“At LG we take tremendous pride in developing not only the best appliances but the smartest appliances as well,” said Song Dae-hyun, president of LG Electronics Home

Appliance & Air Solutions Company. “And what we’ve learned in the home is also being applied to our newest robots outside the home, such as our Airport Robot, which will be going into service later this month at Incheon International Airport” Dae-hyun said.

Global smartphone shipment up by 4% in Q2 –Report Smartphone shipments globally went up by 4 per cent in the second quarter of 2017 as over 340 million smartphones were shipped within the period, research firm, Canalys has said.

The report shows that despite recording relatively flat growth, Samsung remains at the top of the ladder, as it shipped 79 million units, while Apple managed to increase shipments by 2 per cent to 41 million iPhones.

“The smartphone market continued to grow in Q2, despite India and China both slipping into decline,” said Research Analyst Vincent Thielke. “Smartphone shipments to North America increased around 7% year on year, with Apple growing 10%. Apple outperformed Samsung despite the launch of the Galaxy S8, and growing anticipation for the next iPhone.”

Meanwhile, Chinese smartphone vendors have bolstered their expansion across the globe as Huawei Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo emerged the fastest growing Chinese brands outside of China during the quarter, with their mix of overseas smartphone shipments increasing from a year ago. Huawei, with a 10.5 per cent global market share compared with 9 per cent in Q2 2016 (see chart below, click to enlarge), shipped 38.4 million units in Q2 2017, up 20 per cent from the same period of 2016 thanks to a strong performance in emerging markets.

Xiaomi’s Q2 shipments jumped 60 per cent year-on-year to 23.2 million units. Its market share increased to 6.3 per cent from 4.1 per cent in Q2 2016. Oppo’s shipments increased by 33 per cent to 30.5 million units, while Vivo’s rose 45 per cent to 24 million. Both saw their market shares rise by about 2 percentage points to 8.4 per cent and 6.6 per cent respectively. The four Chinese vendors occupied the third through sixth market positions.

24

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

ISSN: 2545-5869

www.oraclenews.ng

EDITORIAL Where is the President?

C Cont’d front page 1

HANGE, they were told, meant improvements in the lives of Nigerians-across tribes, tongues, religions and regions. Before their eyes, change meant none of the things that took their votes. Change became a President who was promoted above human frailties.

HE was incorruptible. He loved Nigeria more other Nigerians. His patriotism was one of the major reasons that he should occupy the seat. The anti-corruption din has lessened in his absence, meaning that he was possibly the only one who thought that corruption was an issue with Nigeria.

THE narrow definitions of corruption, the narrower declensions of corruption to mainly non-party members, and the morasses that the government ran into with its decisions, told Nigerians early enough that there were major mistakes in choosing the President. More were to come, from appointments to intra-party frays that became persistent.

IT was obvious that no central authority controlled the ruling All Progressives congress (APC). Key party chiefs led their factions, catered for their followers, and tore the federation into shreds as they

VOX POPULI SACRUM

contested for appointments into positions to London. We have also been told that the President’s illness was his personal matter. that they expected would be their link to the paradise that the party promised NigeThose peddling that perfidy know that the Constitution is clear that he could be rerians. The frustrations grew as more party moved from office, if he is medically incamembers were excluded from the opporpacitated. tunities that running an open government IT is anathema to ask about his health, or sugwould have generated. gest that the country should carry on fully, THE President was ill. Many said they knew, by allowing the acting President work with but that he was the only chance that Nigeria the full capacities of the office. When he had of being saved from the brink—one signed the budget, the President’s handlers man, indeed, the only man that could save made the point of announcing that the acta country. Many became converts and led ing President only signed because the PresiNigeria to the stalemate that it is gradually dent had granted his permission. settling into--gleefully.

WHERE is the President that, in the past three WHAT kind of country are we that we could go through this dark tunnel, carrying neither months, he has not addressed Nigerians, about our present nor the future? Are we directly, as a leader should? Why is he not concerned about the precedents that are talking to Nigerians, the people he should being set with the constitutional violations account to, since they elected him? The of the President being away for more than same people that he went round the counthree months, without any of the processes try asking for their mandate cannot ask of evaluating his capacity to remain in office where he is. being evaluated?

THE last time that he spoke to Nigerians, he LAST week, the country was suspended as sectionalised country by rendering a relinews filtered in that the President was on gious festival message in Hausa. There were his way home. Nobody is sure where he is, converts to that religion who are not Hausa. no official statements anyone on him, except Some tried to defend it. One of the most his condemnation of Sunday’s killing at a ridiculous defences was that he made the church in Ozubulu. statement in his private capacity.

NIGERIA has run out of time for searching for MORE ridiculous things have happened since the President. The National Assembly has then. Each time voices demanding kept the charade for more than any permisthe President’s presence rise, the sible time. It should act and save Nigeria official response is heightened further embarrassment by a few, who have activities that range from vague overplayed their importance about the secupromises that he would “soon” rity and welfare of Nigeria, which the Constireturn, to desperate efforts to tution in Section 14 (2) b says is the primary prove that the President was well purpose of government. but that his doctors were keeping him from returning to his duties.

NOW it is a circus. In the past few Our Vision weeks, different delegations of Nigerian politicians have visited TO BE among the top five newspapers in Nigeria and, the President in London. There in due course, the Numero Uno; to be a newspaper of records that effectively caters to the information needs have been no dissenting views of all segments and sections of the Nigerian society as about his health, in what appears well as all social classes and cultures. Essentially, we to be a pantomime. What purwant to be a responsible corporate citizen, a commerpose do these visits serve? What cially viable, properly organised media business, which about the drain on the damaged meets its obligations to society, government and the workforce. economy?

THE smiles of the elect, those Mission who are privileged to visit the President in London, including WE INTEND to contribute to the development of an the acting President, show their inclusive Nigerian society, with a view to getting rid of the dark sides of our national life (slothfulness, greed, determination to reduce Nigeria corruption, nepotism, totalitarianism, etc); to continuto a country of clowns. Was the ally engender and sustain national debates that would President elected to be Londonultimately lead to the enthronement of healthy national based? How do the trips to Lonvalues--hard-work, justice, equity and fairplay, transparency, good governance, resulting, in themselves, the don serve Nigerians? egalitarian Nigerian society of our dream. We will give WE have obviously gone bevoice to the voiceless and at all times, strive to be balyond the morality of a man who anced, objective, honest, truthful and fair to all sides; so promised to ban trips for foreign that through The Oracle Today, our people, the Nigerian medical trips, since he would people can see a bright light at the end of what has been a very dark tunnel. And we shall do all this in absolute build modern hospitals in Nigeria, trust in God who blesses good intentions. making frequent medical trips

25

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

OPINION NASS’s missed opportunity on devolution of power

By EHICHIOYA EZOMON

T

he National Assembly was at the cusp of making history the previous week when members were gathered in plenary to vote on scores of bills listed for amendment (Fourth Alteration) to the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The voting was coming at a very challenging moment in Nigeria’s existence as an “indivisible and indissoluble” entity brought about by the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates in 1914 by the British colonial masters.

The country has had ups and downs, including a 30-month civil war (1967-1970), to bring back into the fold the breakaway Eastern Region that formed the “Republic of Biafra,” and a six-year-long political upheaval (1993-1999) that attended the Military annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

But never has the nation experienced numerous centrifugal forces simultaneously: In the Northeast are bloody attacks by an insurgent group, Boko Haram; and in the Southeast is agitation by self-determination outfits - the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Biafra Federation Movement (BFM).

In the entire North is a Coalition of Arewa Youths, which has given Igbo indigenes an October 1 deadline to leave the region, and also urged the government to declare IPOB a “terrorist” organisation and its arrowhead, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, re-arrested for allegedly flouting his bail conditions.

The South-South housed a plethora of

militant bodies, the most vocal being a Coalition of Niger Delta Militants, which has given a counter-ultimatum to indigenes of the North to quit the zone; and the Adaka Boro Avengers (ABA) that has iterated its threat to declare a republic in the Niger Delta on October 1.

And in the Southwest, besides the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and Oodua Selfdetermination Group that had flirted with statehood for the Yoruba-speaking peoples, a new group - Yoruba Liberation Command (YOLICOM) - is canvassing an Oduduwa Republic come October 1 as, in its words, “it is too late for the restructuring of Nigeria.”

Interestingly, these other self-determination groups are lining behind, and casting their lots with the Biafra agitators. For instance, while announcing its debut on the political stage, the YOLICOM declared: “Give Kanu Biafra, give us Oduduwa Republic.”

Similarly, opinion moulders in the North Central have warned that in the event of a Republic of Biafra or any other one actually manifesting, they would not align with the Northwest and Northeast but establish their own Middle Belt Republic.

This multiplicity of agitation and proclamation by ethnic groups partly reinvigorated the clamour for restructuring of the country, which devolution of power is a major component.

So, the National Assembly was expected to back the bill to the hilt, to serve two purposes: to reduce the powers, functions and revenue allocations to the central (federal) government in favour of the federating units (states), and to douse the uproar for self-determination across the country.

The argument over the years is that the Federal Government is unwieldy, saddled with 68 items in the Exclusive Legislative List and also has power, via the National Assembly, to make laws in respect of any of the 11 items in the Concurrent Legislative List the states can legislate on.

Thus, the devolution of power bill, which ranked No. 3 on the items for consideration, essentially sought to alter the Second Schedule, Part I & II of the 1999 Constitution, “to move certain items to the Concurrent Legislative List, to give more legislative powers to States.”

But what happened to the bill? Of the 95 senators who cast ballots for it on Wednesday, July 26, 46 voted in favour, 48 against and one abstained; and on Thursday, July 27, in the House of Representatives, 210 favoured the bill while 71 voted against it. However, the lower chamber’s balloting fell short of the minimum 240 votes to clear the huddles.

Yet, Senate President Bukola Saraki gave himself and his colleagues a pat on the back for being able to pull off 29 of the 33 bills slated for amendment.

His words: “This is an exercise for which we gave a promise and we have kept to it.

Definitely, we have made history this afternoon with the exercise that we have carried out... To be part of that history is a great honour for all of us and I want to thank you, my colleagues.”

But the shock of the defeat of the bill, and the instant rebuke it elicited from proponents belied the self-praise of the senators.

Ironically, the fear of restructuring caused the bill’s failure, Senator Saraki told news-

men in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital city, after receiving a delegation of the #NotTooYoungToRun# group in the state.

He said some stakeholders had misunderstood the intent of the proposed amendments in the bill “as a clever way of introducing restructuring, and were not ready to back such a move without proper consultations with their constituents.”

“I think what happened was that a lot of our colleagues misread or misunderstood or were suspicious of what the devolution of power to states was all about; whether it was the same thing as restructuring in another way or attempt to foist confederation on the country or to prepare the ground for other campaigns now going on in the country,” Saraki said.

And his advice? “What we must do is dialogue; reassure each other and let people understand that this concept (devolution of power) is for the purpose of making a modern Nigeria; that it is not going to undermine any part of the country.”

Then, he threw in a lifeline. “Nothing is foreclosed in this exercise; you don’t foreclose passage of a bill,” he said. “It has been defeated as at today but it does not mean that it would be defeated when it comes (up) tomorrow.”

Well, to critics who said members of the National Assembly, particularly senators, had missed the chance “to make ‘real’ history with devolution of power and be part of history,” there’s still time for them to lift the trophy. What a historic day that would be!

•Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

Imperatives of a campaign for restructuring (2)

By ANDY AKPORUGO Jnr.

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had commenced this conversation days ago. And then malaria struck. Well, while he is away for a stroll (I understand he returns home in two days) I have managed to put the following as a continuation of our interaction on the subject.

In the first part of this intercourse, I had stated in generous words that the current agitation for restructuring especially in the Niger Delta, suffers internally from a moral deficit and poverty of rhetoric.

By some inverted morality, we are, at the risk of being labelled retroactive for daring to decline, expected to jump on the bus to Abuja to demand further restructure even when we know that the yield of our previous restructure efforts, has not been accounted for by our trustee Governors through any improvement on our lives, even in the most minute of ways.

The expression ‘‘once bitten twice shy’’ is a universal prescription for caution, but this time they would have us sin against our senses. They want us to once again, go and fight for money before we come back much later to discuss how we will share it. They want two agitations, one before the other, with that of vesting more political and economic power on the states governments taking priority over the matter of the well-being of the citizen who by their estimation is supposed to be the ultimate beneficiary of the power!

To my mind, this is where they get the concept of governance wrong. The truth is that the individual ought to be the first line beneficiary of governance.

Nothing subordinates him to the structure of governance. The structures are only good or bad because of his preferences and the reality of his needs. Certainly, 21st century theories of governance have no room for messiahs. The only job available to be taken by any structure of governance is one of agency and so however we may romanticise with concepts (inclusive of those of ‘‘refederation’’ or

‘‘fiscal federalism’’ or ‘‘resource control’’ and many such high-sounding but low-punching Nigerian efforts at words manufacture) their whole purpose must be to arrive at the people’s preferences, at delivering good governance to them. The people are the principal.

At no time thus, not even for a split second, should they be taken out of the conversation.

But for a moment, let’s consider by its fabric, the logic of their argument, even if their agitators, many of them, are those who sat at the dinner table when the previous and current 13% derivation were being shared, to the deprivation of the people on whose account they were received. Their position, if it needs repeating, is that although bad governance by the State governments chokes us by the throat currently, we must yet find air somehow to deal with it later, after we have wrestled more powers for the states. One argument is that we will be more effective in insisting on good ethics or governance against a local tyrant, (by which I refer to most of our state governors) even if he had more powers, than we would against Abuja.

This position would have been plausible, except that it starkly denies our daily experience as a people. It denies the helpless vulnerability that poverty and illiteracy have consigned the people to, especially when set against more economic and political power of self-serving state governments. It denies the proven wickedness of state governments which have ensured that the wealth they have accessed on behalf of the state has been applied to keep their states so undeveloped as to cause the migration of the critical mass of the people whose education would ensure that they are not able to survive in them, and whose departure reduces the possibility of informed opposition against government. It denies the capacity of the State to intimidate the people off their will by sheer use of brute force, in a way that makes it all constitutionally, an internal affair of the state.

My insistence, although I confess my inability to match the size and timbre of the

‘‘people-later’’ restructure advocates, is that we do not need to have the conversation by installments. We require a ‘people-now’ restructure - the type that deals with the factual concerns over the total absence of good governance, along with whatever prescriptions for ‘‘restructure’’, ‘‘resource control’’ or ‘‘refederation’’.

If this is to be considered, then we must immediately deal with a few small questions, amongst others: i. What structure may be crafted that truly puts governance as much as possible within the control of the federating ‘‘peoples’’ themselves? ii. Who are the people, by the way? iii. What is the fair basis any way for determining ownership of resources? Does Nigeria have any direct claims to ownership of the oil in my community for example? How is the concept of State ownership of resources within its territorial jurisdiction a more valid preposition than that of federal ownership of resource within the territorial space of Nigeria? iv. Would those who insist on ‘refederating’ along the lines of the 1960 or 1963 Nigerian Constitutions still be keen on their arguments if we insisted that the regional delineations of the time should also be used as basis for resource control? Or are they going to cherry pick because for the instant it seems to favour their pockets? v. Shall we base the claims for restructure on state formations no less false in their creation than we accuse the 1914 amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates? vi. Shall we continue to federate under claims of tribal or cultural homogeneity that accentuates our divides and mutual suspicions? Why does the Delta man feel cheated out of his resources by the North or elsewhere for example, even when those areas are living theatres of lack, suffering and wicked deprivation as well? vii. Shall we use ‘‘natural’’ private or family or communal ownership of property (which

are truly the only legitimate forms of ownership of resource which are not an arbitrary sequestration of ownership by government, whether state or federal) as basis for ownership of resources?

In the third and hopefully, final part of this conversation, I shall consider a few of the above questions and more, and propose what I believe should be a more enduring manner of restructuring, that puts the Nigerian wherever he sprouts from, first, and commences a federation developed far away from mutual spite and the short-sidedness of our stomachs!

THE GROUP

Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief Ikeddy Isiguzo Editor Felix Oguejiofor Abugu Deputy Editor/Head, Lagos Bureau Sopuruchi Onwuka Abuja Bureau Chief Tony Ailemen Production Editor Henry Duru Head, Graphics & Designs Nnamdi Alex Chukwu Advert Manager Andrew Udeh Circulation Manager Felix Oti

26

The Oracle Today, August 16, 2017

Travel & Hospitality

Marriott targets 150,000 rooms by 2022 in Nigeria, others Stories by VICTOR NZE

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OSPITALITY chain, Marriott International, has announced the expansion and strengthening of its Sales and Marketing Leadership Team for Middle East and Africa. This is also as the Group revealed that is also targeting a projected growth of 150,000 rooms operational and pipeline in 38 countries by 2022 across Middle East and Africa (MEA).

Marriott is the world’s biggest hotel chain following the acquisition of the Starwood Hotels in September 2016 and the subsequent reflagging of the various Sheraton properties in Nigeria including the Sheraton Lagos and Abuja, Le Meridien in Port Harcourt, Ibom Resort in Akwa Ibom, Four Points by Sheraton in Lagos and Ikot Ekpene.

The revamped Brand, Marketing, Sales and Consumer Services (BMSC) Leadership Team comprises highly experienced professionals from Marriott International and legacy Starwood Hotels and Resorts, bringing together exceptional talent and expertise from both companies and speaks to the company’s commitment to support its enhanced footprint and aggressive growth plans in the region.

Led by seasoned Marriott International veteran, Neal Jones, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Middle East and Africa, Marriott International, the team will provide dedicated support to the company’s thriving regional portfolio and will be responsible for driving top line revenue for Marriott International brands, ensuring the region-

Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo receiving the visiting Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo, at the Presidential villa, Abuja, the second time in a month, Tuesday al Sales and Marketing strategy is aligned with the company’s vision and priorities.

With a current portfolio of over 240 hotels with 54,000 rooms in 30 countries, Marriott International is working towards targeting a projected growth of 150,000 rooms operational and pipeline in 38 countries by 2022 across Middle East and Africa.

“The leadership changes we are announcing today are important to foster greater synergies, teamwork, accountability and nimble decision-making critical to lay a strong foundation that will support our ambitious growth plans in the region. I am extremely excited to work together with such a talented and diverse group of leaders who bring with them exceptional domain expertise as

well as regional insights that will enable us to create a more vibrant organization that delivers value for all stakeholders,” said Neal Jones said, “I am confident that with this, we have the right structure and talent in place to accelerate our lead in the market, drive further innovation and strengthen the positioning of our brands while keeping our loyal and new guests

at the centre of everything we do, steering us into the next phase of our growth and success,” he added.

Marriott’s BMSC leadership team for Middle East and Africa has been formed with seasoned hospitality professionals currently on board and a Vice President Luxury Brands soon to be announced.

stimulating discourse on issues and experiences rooted in the African experience.

“The Lights Camera Africa!!!

Film Festival appreciates the past partnerships of a committed group of donors and friends of the festival including the Ford Foundation, Union Bank, Federal Palace Hotel, The Wheatbaker, Zircon Marine, Alliance Francaise, Goethe Institut, Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) and Film House Cinemas…. and in 2017 look forward to new and equally committed support from culture loving institutions and individuals.

“The Lights Camera Africa!!!

Film Festival also celebrates our alliances with scholars, directors, artists and personalities like Tunde Kelani, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, John Akomfrah OBE, Manthia Diawara, Uwem Akpa, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, Pascal Ott, Ego Boyo, Kunle Afolayan, Tam Fiofori, Odia Ofeimun, Victor Ehikhamenor, Emeka Ed Keazor, Femi Odugbemi, Chika Anadu, Remi Vaughan-Richards, Kene Mkparu, Shaibu Husseini, Mildred Okwo, Nadia Denton, Adebola Williams, Lala Akindoju and Jahman Anikulapo.

“We remain excited at the opportunities for cultural exchanges with

our friends of the French, German, Italian, Austrian and Dutch diplomatic missions, long-time enablers of cinema and culture in Africa - in particular we celebrate the support of the German, French and Italian

Consul-Generals.

“Great people of Lagos, get ready and join us for the 7th annual Lights, Camera, Africa!!! Film Festival from Friday, 29 September to Sunday, October 1, 2017 at Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.’

Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos readies for ‘The Lights Camera Africa!!! 2017 Film Festival’

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hat is becoming one of the continent’s landmark cultural events, the Lights Camera Africa!!! Film Festival is returning in 2017 with the theme “RESET.” The imagined world order that predicted a safe and stable world, that would bind people and cultures for the most prosperous age the human race had yet to witness appears to be experiencing fraught times.

The countries and their agents that would safeguard a safe and prosperous future are themselves fragile.

Despite the progress of humankind in all fields of endeavour, age-old fault lines in communities across the globe are becoming exposed.

Recognising the clashing civilisations, overturned norms, emerging trends - the Lights Camera Africa!!!

Festival brings to its audiences a reflective presentation of films that it hopes will support a common contemplation on opportunities for a RESET of the weakening world order. Identifying the error of our trajectories and retracing steps, these reflections are even more relevant in the festival’s home of Nigeria which is fighting a perennial

sectionalism.

This year’s festival will present a series of film works and conversations that examine these issues in various spheres – including politics, science and the arts.

This year’s programme, will not only provide a forum for open discourse, it will also provide entertainment for all the family over its three-day run.

“Our very popular Festival Marketplace returns again this year as will our inter-disciplinary showcases of literature, visual art and live music during this 3-day cultural fiesta.

“This year’s programme demonstrates the festival’s commitment to its mission of exposing African and global audiences to good quality independent African cinema with a view to stimulating discourse on issues and experiences rooted in the African experience.

“The Lights Camera Africa!!! Film Festival brings to audiences a strong programme for its 2017 edition and is proud to continue what has become an enduring partnership with the African Film Festival New York.

“This partnership has at its core a mission to expose African and global audiences to good quality independent African cinema with a view to

Le Meridien Ogeyi Place launches ‘Petit Plate’

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e Meridien Ogeyi Place in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, has announced the launch of the brand’s new Petite Plates program.

According to the General Manager of the Hotel, Fabian Martinez, the programme is a food and beverage initiative which is in line with the French Bastille Day and comes with a select array of top European culinary classics.

“Our guests can experience our unique Petit Plates which comes with a chic twist, featuring a curated selection of European classics with a distinctly local flavor.

“Petit plate is a food and beverage initiative activated on the 16th of July in line with the French Bastille Day with the display of varieties of the Chef’s locally inspired recipes.

“The campaign is designed to engage our guests and external audiences as they savor our unexpected varieties while enjoying Le Meridien Sparkling glass of wine.

“It is our culture at Le Meridien Ogeyi place to deliver our Le Meridien Brand experiences to our guests as we ensure that each guest stay is memorable” Said Martinez on a final note,” Martinez said.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

AVIATION

Plan for National Carrier still on course –FG Stories by VICTOR NZE

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INISTER OF STATE FOR AVIATION, Sen. Hadi Sirika, has stated that the plan by Federal Government to establish a National carrier was still on course, even as he disclosed that the formulation of a policy to regulate the engagement of expatriates in the country’s aviation sector.

Sirika who said these in a statement issued by Mr James Odaudu, the Deputy Director, Press and Public Affairs, Ministry of Transportation (Aviation) in Abuja, also assured leaders of the Joint Aviation Trade Unions and Professional Associations Forum, who visited him that the policy on foreign expatriates would help to engage the Nigerian teeming unemployed professionals in the industry.

The minister said with the policy in place, expatriates would only be engaged in the areas where there were no licenced Nigerian professionals to handle, as according to him, the Nigerian Government is eager to do what is right and proper to develop the sector.

“There is no reason why we cannot fix aviation now that we have seasoned aviator as head of the industry in Nigeria. We also have three other Nigerians as President and Second Vice President of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), as well as the General Secretary of African Civil Aviation Commission,’’ he said.

The minister also assured that the establishment of a National Carrier was on course, adding that as soon as necessary approvals were given, the deal would be sealed.

He also disclosed that the government had approved Automated Fire and Smoke Simulator for the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), as part of upgrade of the college, adding that the project is to maintain its status as a regional centre of excellence for training of aviation professionals.

Sirika said that the construction of a second runway for Abuja airport was appropriated for in the 2017 budget, adding that consultations were ongoing toward the commencement of the project.

NCAA upbeat over US FAA assessment

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HE Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has expressed optimism over the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification of the Nigerian Aviation industry slated for between August 21 and 25.

Speaking during a briefing at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, General Manager, Public Relations of NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, stated that the four-man FAA team will access the country’s aviation industry in eight critical areas.

According to him, the NCAA Director General, Capt. Muhtar Usman has assured Nigerians that it would acquit itself successfully as usual.

Adurogboye said the team which comprises of Louis Alvarez, the leader, LP Vanstory, operational specialist, Benjamin Garrido, airworthiness specialist and Jeffrey Klang, attorney will also visit the maintenance organisation of Med-View Airline and any other necessary airline operator.

He listed the eight critical areas to include legislation, regulation, organisation, technical staff, quality and training, technical guidance tools, licensing, certification approval, continuous surveillance, resolution of safety concerns.

NCAA general manager public relations said the regulatory body is expected to complete the latest International Aviation Safety Assessment, IASA checklist and return complete form to FAA before the team’s arrival.

He said the DG has activated the Authority’s standing audit team which have since swung into action.

Adurogboye added that meetings are being held in readiness for the exercise to ensure a successful outing.

He said there will be a debriefing at the end of the exercise and a written report will be sent from the FAA headquarters to NCAA thereafter.

The FAA last audited the industry in 2014.

He added that the 2018 budget would also make provision for the runway project even as the government was thinking of its completion in 2019.

Earlier, the Chairman of the forum, Mr Safiyanu Mohammed, said their visit was to foster partnership with the government to see how best to fix and move aviation sector forward, adding that he was glad that the minister, his

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agreements will affect members of aviation unions.

“The unions are in total support of the establishment of a National Carrier by the government,’’ he said.

Mohammed expressed appreciation to the minister for his disposition toward the unions and pledged their support for the government.

(L-R): Assistant General Manager, Public Affairs Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Jimoh Mohammed, General Manager Public Affairs, NCAA, Mr. Sam Adurogboye; Mrs. Victory Ugonwenyi of the NCAA’s Public Affairs Department during the press conference on the forthcoming visit of the Federal Aviation Administration of United States.

FAAN commends Ethiopian Airlines for Kaduna operations

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EDERAL Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has commended the management of Ethiopian Airlines for their confidence in Nigerian aviation industry.

Managing Director, Mr Saleh Dunoma, who gave the commendation while speaking against the background of the commencement of flight operations to the Kaduna International Airport, Tuesday by the airline, said the new route would open up the destination for business opportunities, create more employment and catalyse economic activities in the state.

According to the managing director, the new route will also lead to additional traffic, and boost FAAN’s revenue generation.

“This flight is very important because you cannot invest in an airport like this and allow it to lie fallow.

African Airlines record increase traffic, passengers HE International Air Transport Association (IATA) has disclosed that African airlines recorded remarkable growth in traffic, capacity and load factor for the month of June.

A statement by IATA, Thursday, said the airlines’ traffic soared by 9.9 per cent, capacity by 7.1 per cent, while load factor jumped to 64.3 per cent during the month.

It explained that conditions in the region’s two largest economies had continued to diverge, with business confidence in Nigeria rising sharply in recent months as South Africa’s economy fell into recession.

IATA also announced that the global passenger traffic data for June showed that demand measured in total revenue passenger km (RPKs) rose by 7.8 per cent compared

advisers and heads of the aviation agencies were all aviators.

According to him, the union wants to know government’s plans concerning the improvement of airports.

“We are also here to present to the minister the union’s observations concerning concession agreements and their workability in the industry, and how these

to this period a year ago.

According to the report, the rise was in line with the 7.7 per cent growth recorded in May, when all regions reported growth while June capacity available seat (ASKs) increased by 6.5 per cent.

It added that the load factor rose by one percentage point to 81.9 per cent during the month.

IATA’s Director General, Alexandre de Juniac, said the industry experienced a 12-year high in traffic growth of 7.9 per cent and 80.7 per cent load factor during the first half 2017.

According to Juniac, a brighter economic picture and lower airfares are keeping demand for travel strong but as costs rise, this stimulus of lower fares is likely to fade.

Traffic means a lot to any airport authority and to FAAN and Kaduna airport, it is key because this will open ways for the development of the state.

“So, the international flight that is starting today will open up the travel route to all parts of the world.

“As they say, one kilometre of runway takes you to everywhere in the world but one kilometre of road cannot take you anywhere.

“So, this international flight starting today will make any business man to come to Kaduna and also any businessman can link the rest of the world from Kaduna.

“As far as FAAN is concerned, our revenue generation depends on flights, especially international. So, this is an opener for us to generate more revenue to maintain old facilities and investments made in this airport, and we are very happy,” he said.

The FAAN boss assured that the FAAN had enough manpower in the airport to ensure smooth operation of all categories of flights.

A passenger, Malam Abdallah Gambo, said he was delighted to be able to fly from Kaduna direct without having to travel to Abuja or Kano to board an international flight.

Gambo told NAN that he was traveling to Dubai, adding that the new route would make it easy for people of Kaduna and neighbouring states to make international trips.

He commanded the Federal and

Kaduna State Governments for ensuring that the airport became attractive to international airlines.

It would be recalled that Ethiopian Airlines announced it will be returning to the Kaduna International Airport, which it utilized for six weeks during the rehabilitation of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport’s runway, in March, this year.

The airline, in a signed by its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Tewolde GebreMariam, in Lagos, Thursday, said it will now officially commence scheduled flight operations three times a week to the Kaduna airport, from August 1.

“We are pleased to commence scheduled operations to Kaduna, our fifth city in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As a Pan-African airline, serving our beloved continent, Africa has always been a source of pride for Ethiopian Airlines.

“With this commitment, Ethiopian has been able to create a missing link, availing easy movement of Africans from one corner to the other.

During the temporary closure of Abuja Airport for reconstruction four months ago, we were the first foreign carrier to land at Kaduna Airport, allowing our passengers to experience ultimate comfort onboard our B-787 Dreamliner,” the statement said.

According to him, the move is in line with the airline’s long-term strategic roadmap, Vision 2025, expanding and availing a more efficient intra-African network.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday AUgust 16, 2017

INSURANCE & PENSION Leadway Assurance boosts penetration with mobile office

By CHRIS EBONG

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EADWAY Assurance Company Limited, one of Nigeria’s frontline insurers has introduced a mobile insurance office to boost insurance penetration in Nigeria.

The initiative is directed towards educating and increasing the awareness of risks to which people and businesses are exposed and bringing insurance closer to customers as a way of managing those risks and protecting themselves against possible negative financial outcomes.

According to the firm, the Mobile Office enables direct access to insurance as a financial protection through next to door interaction, engagement and transactions. It is equipped with state of the art communication technology that allows the customers real-time attention, end to end, wherever they maybe.

It is also environmentally friendly as it draws its power from solar while within remote areas.

Starting with Lagos State, the company will be activating market roadshows across several Local Governments.

At a launch held on Wednesday, August 2, 2017, at the company’s Corporate Office in Lagos the initiative is about providing microinsurance and other while also engage and educate the public on the need to insure their risks, ensuring happiness and peace of mind.

Commenting on the initiative, Managing Director/CEO, Leadway Assurance, Mr. Oye Hassan-Odukale, represented by Executive Director, General Business, Ms. Adetola Adegbayi said, “As market leaders in the Nigerian Insurance industry, we have taken it upon ourselves to fulfill the task of reducing the financial protection gap within the country, which in turn increases on the low insurance penetration rate in Nigeria.

We have elected to bring risk protection and insurance education closer to the man on the street in Nigeria. The launch of this state-ofthe-art Mobile Office is a testament to the execution of this goal. Our

objective goes beyond sales; we intend to reverse the negative perception many Nigerians have of the insurance industry.

“With the huge potential of the insurance industry to positively impact our economy by safeguarding the enormous risks within the entire business ecosystem, and by creating wealth through investments, the industry is still way behind other financial and service sectors, contributing about 0.3per cent to the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Notwithstanding a population of over 180million people about a third of which are within the insurable class, Nigeria is said to have about 5 million registered policyholders.

This lack of density shows how largely untapped the Nigerian market is and the huge opportunities available to increase insurance uptake and the number of policyholders nationwide,” Adegbayi added.

The Mobile Office, will sell among

other products such as “Home Flexa” – which offers comprehensive personal/shop insurance coverage protection for home and belongings, including shops, personal accident and funeral expenses at just about N13,000 annually. Other products available on the Mobile Office include the Leadway “Hospital Cash Plan” which provides the benefits for hospitalization from accidental injuries or illness for as low as N7,000 annually.

The team will also sell the Leadway Third Party Vehicle Liability Insurance, basic Life and Life investment linked assurance and other Leadway retail insurance policies.

Leadway Assurance continues to improve access to its financial protection offerings to existing and potential customers, through online purchase capabilities, availability of its products in street-corner shops via the “Baxi-Box” partnership and now the Mobile Office which goes to neighborhoods to engage customers.

LASG counsels retirees on pension benefits

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he Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has urged retirees not to put their retirement money into ventures they could not manage.

A statement by Mrs Ajoke Lawal of Public Affairs Unit, Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC) said the Governor, who was represented by the Commissioner, Lagos State Ministry of Establishments, Training & Pensions; Dr. Akintola Benson, at the 41st Retirement Bond Certificate Presentation Ceremony held last week, Ikeja, Lagos noted that the continuous payment of retirees entitlements was to ensure that retirees do not live in penury.

He said in 24 months, from August 2015 to July, 2017, the State Government through LASPEC has paid accrued pension rights in the sum of N29, 658.560 billion into the RSA of 6,982 retirees. This is aside from the mandatory 15 per cent contributions which the Government remits monthly into the Retirement Savings Account of all the State employees.

The Director-General, LASPEC, Mrs. Folashade Onanuga reiterated the fact that the money being paid by the State Government to the retirees should not be used to commence projects (e.g. building a house) that cannot be completed.

She also emphasised the importance of educating their children. “You will eat the fruits of your labour, but my prayer is that you will not depend on them for survival,” she said.

She further advised the retirees not to allow anyone force them into opting for a particular type of exit option, that is Programmed Withdrawal and Annuity, rather, they should think deeply over any type that will suit them before going for it.

From left: Executive Director, Leadway Assurance Company Limited, Adebayo Okuwobi; Executive Director, Tunde HassanOdukale; Executive Director, Ms. Adetola Adegbayi; Head of Business Development, Leadway Pensure PFA, Osaghae Osarhieme and Head of Human Resources Department, Mrs. Kunbi Adeoti during the official launch of the Leadway Assurance Mobile Office in Lagos weekend.

Uber partners AXA for drivers’ accident cover

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ABS hailing firm, Uber and insurance group, AXA with interest in Nigeria have joined forces in France to offer accident cover for drivers who work for the ride hailing service after it faced criticism over their treatment.

The agreement announced in France on Tuesday comes on top of new benefit package schemes that have been announced in various countries in which it operates including the United States and Britain.

“This partnership will provide a safety net for the independent workers who enjoy flexible work at the touch of a button and we’ll carry on listening about further improvements we can make to create the best possible experience,” said Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber’s head of operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

No details of the French scheme were provided except to say that the insurance would be free for drivers. A statement from the two companies said there would be further information available once the system was in place in the autumn.

Currently, self-employed drivers’ compulsory insurance policies do not offer life cover. AXA said that the French protection of Uber workers would cover medical expenses, disability indemnities, and survivor benefits in case of an accident.

Across the world, large car insurers have begun rolling out coverage tailored to ride-hailing drivers.

In some places that fills a void that had existed for drivers whose personal policies do not cover trips during which they are driving passengers for pay.

In France, however, Uber services are restricted to drivers who already hold a minicab license. Its ride-sharing arm, UbperPOP, was outlawed in 2015.

Drivers working for Uber in Britain will be able to access illness and injury cover under a new scheme run by the Association of Independent Professionals & the Self-Employed, Uber said earlier in April.

10th Anniversary: FUG Pensions rewards staff

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he Future Unity Glanvills (FUG) Pensions Limited has rewarded various categories of its staffs to mark its 10 years of pension funds administration in the country.

The company in a low key celebration recognized staffs who have served the company from inception in the 10-year category, and those who have also served the firm meritoriously for five years and below.

Prominent among those who clinched the 10 year merit award includes the Managing Director and chief executive officer of the firm, Mr. Usman Suleiman who was recognized for driving the affairs of the

company from inception.

The second category was the general manager, Investment, Mrs. Ngozi Okereke who has served the company in various positions for five years and the company’s secretary/ legal adviser, Mr. Habib Daranijo who also served the company for a period of 10years. The award, however, cuts across board as every category of staff was recognized.

In his opening remark, the Chairman, Board of Directors, Mr. Farouk said the anniversary did worth celebration given the turbulent business environment the PFA passed through in the last 10 years and now becoming the PFA to watch in the

pension industry.

According to him, the journey wasn’t an easy one as a lot of sacrifices, resilience, tolerant and the zeal to succeed have been invested by staffs to see that the company gets to this height, adding that some of the PFAs that were licensed along with FUG Pensions could not see the light of the day and have gone under.

He eulogized the staffs for their zealous spirit which he said was the propelling factor behind the company’s success story, adding that in spite that the company came in as a late entrant into market, the PFA has been able to weather the storm from a zero position in pension Assets un-

der Management to over N57billion subscribed by 120,000 Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) holders and Retirees.

Mr. farouk added that efficient and effective system structure put in place by the board and management earned the company an internationally acclaimed ISO certification in Quality Management System (QMS) in 2016, assuring that the company is working relentlessly to sustain the standard in the subsequent years.

The boardroom guru assured the staffs he described as resourceful and assets of the company that their welfare would always be a priority to the board and management.

29

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

GRACIAS COURTS SCHEME 1 Great Value Don’t Last Long!

If becoming a Landlord this year is one of your goals, here is the quickest way to making that happen!

With the Introduction of Gracias Courts, owning a real estate investment has become easier for those who desire luxurious living in the prime location of monastery road, tucked behind the Novare Shoprite Mall Sangotedo, Eti Osa, Lagos state.

Lagoon Park was conceived out of the urgent need to provide a suitable, conducive and affordable site for home seekers and investors alike.

We guarantee a classic unique and serene environment for our occupant!

LOCATION: Behind Novare Shoprite, Monastery Road Sangotedo TITLE: Excision SIZE 600sqm PRICE: NGN 6,000,000 WHY YOU MUST BUY INTO GRACIAS COURTS SCHEME 1 • The estate is strategically located 10 minutes drives from VGC • This estate will appreciate Over 150% in 6 months • Excellent prime location • Excellent facilities • Good title (Excision) • Free from any known Government acquisition

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The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

INSURANCE & PENSION

Niger Insurance grows assets by 7.4%

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•NIA DG designate, Mrs Yetunde Ilori, Chairman, Mr. Eddie Efekoha, DG, Lagos State Safety Commission, Hon. Hakeem Dickson during the a courtesy visit to the NIA Governing Council of the Association recently.

NIA appoints Ilori as new DG

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igeria Insurers Association (NIA) on Thursday announced the appointment of Mrs. Yetunde Ilori as the new Director General of the association.

Ilori takes over from Mr. Sunday Thomas who was recently appointed as the Deputy Commissioner Technical, National Insurance Commission by President Mohammed Buhari in May 2017.

Unveiling the new director general to insurance journalists in Lagos, Chairman of NIA, Mr Eddie Efekoha said her appointment was widely accepted and approved at the council meeting of the association especially because of her vast knowledge and contributions at various level to the industry.

Others appointed by the council are: the Group Managing Director, NEM Insurance Plc, Tope Smart was appointed as the association’s Deputy Chairman; Managing Director, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Ganiyu Musa, Honourary Treasurer and Managing Director, Standard Alliance Insurance Plc, Mr. Bode Akinboye as an Assistant Honourary Treasurer.

He said their appointments would be ratified at the association’s next Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Ilori has worked in various capacities in the industry. Prior to her new appointment she was

the Managing Director, AXA Mansard Insurance where she worked till 17th July 2017 when she retired.

Speaking on her plans for the industry, Ilori said she will build on what her predecessor has done.

She also listed professionalism and insurance awareness as some of her plans for the industry, saying that she would build a formidable relationship with the insurance regulatory body and other arms of insurance.

NAICOM approves Universal Insurance 2016 financial accounts

T

he National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has approved 2016 financial accounts of underwriting firm, Universal Insurance Plc. The approval was contained in a letter signed on behalf of the Commission by its Director (Supervision) Mr. O. Oba, dated 25th July 2017 and captioned: “Approval for Publication of Year 2016 Annual Returns and Accounts.”

This in effect signifies that Universal Insurance is one of the underwriting firms that have secured NAICOM’s approval upon submission of its 2016 International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) based accounts to NAICOM as stipulated in the 2003 Insurance Act It further revealed that the underwriting firm reported a total assets of N11, 896billion at the close of business in 2016

and that its shareholders’ fund stood at N8,855billion at the end of 31, December 2016.

The underwriter gross premium income stood at N573, 833million while gross premium written was N536, 526 million. The insurer reported N125, 764million at the close of 31st Decembers as claims expenses.

The company noted that Customer satisfaction is the pivot of its achievements and this, inevitably builds brand loyalty.

It further said that they are a formidable team destined for greatness and propelled by a Board of Directors and Management team that keep the faith that there are no limits, there are only plateaus and we will continually strive to remain on the path of profitability and growth”.

iger Insurance Plc has grown its asset base by seven percent to N22.5billion in 2016 as against N20.9billion in 2015. The company’s gross premium written, however, dropped from N10.4billion toN5.9 billion within the period of review.

While the firm recorded a loss in operating profit to N99.04 million from N736 million recorded in the comparable period of 2015, the net operating profit after tax equally recorded a drop to N42.1 million 2016 as against N600.9 million written in 2015.

Addressing shareholders at the 47th annual general meeting of the company held in Lagos, weekend, the Board Chairman, Yusuf Abubakar assured the shareholders that in spite of the harsh economic environment, the firm will be relying on its robust asset base and diversified product portfolio

to overcome all odds.

He expressed confidence in the quality of the management team adding that support of shareholders is required to strengthen the confidence of the board and management to turn the company around. “I also have confidence in the quality of our management team and the support of our stakeholders that gives us strength and resilience to navigate uncertainty in our operations”, he said.

The Managing Director/CEO of the firm, Alhaji kolapo Adedeji stated; ” In spite of headwinds that characterized the operating environment up to the third quarter of the year, the company is moderately stronger with an asset base of N21.9 billion against the prior year figures of N20.4 billion, representing 7.4 per cent growth”, he acclaimed.

T

ble tool in carrying out their statutory functions and processes.

It listed some of the challenges being faced in the business as observed by marine offices committee of the NIA to include unscientific rating in marine hull underwriting, low knowledge of marine insurance among insurers; importation of extraneous terms and conditions said to be eroding the specialty nature of marine insurance; and generally low concerns for inspection and survey of vessels prior to commencement of cover, among others.

NIID grows marine underwriting by 65,000 genuine policies he Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) has said that the introduction of Nigerian Insurance Industry Database (NIID) has supported the growth of marine underwriting by 65,000 genuine policies.

The association added that the effort has also reduced the menace of fake marine insurance certificates at the nation’s seaports by that figure.

“The marine module has been running and member companies are daily uploading on the platform. At the end of May, 33 member-companies have uploaded 65,000 marine policies”, a report from the body stated.

The Chairman, NIA, Mr. Eddie Efekoha, who noted that the NIID which commenced in 2012 has continued to record resounding success, especially in the area of providing online solution in eliminating fake insurance certificates from the market, added that the platform has also supported efforts in the verification of insurance documents.

According to him, the platform is undergoing continuous enhancement to address some of the challenges thrown up with its implementation.

The association reported that the expectations of the operators in the nearest future were that the NIID would be fully integrated with all government agencies’ portals for real-time verification, and thereby becoming an indispensa-

•Efekoha

Premium Pensions pays N128bn to retirees

P

remium Pension Limited says it has paid a total of N128billion to 70,374 retirees since its inception under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

The pension fund administrator adds that its Asset under Management (AUM) has grown from a zero position to over N487 billion within the space of

its operations of over 10years.

The company disclosed this during the 2016 Annual General Meeting of National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) held in Lagos on Thursday.

Speaking on behalf of its Managing Director, Wilson Ideva, the South West Regional Manager,

Mr Fatai Olufeso further said the PFA’s Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders have also grown to 3.4562million while retiree unit price stood at 2.5735 as at the end of June 2017.

According to him the retirees are inclusive of those that retired under normal retirement, those that lost their jobs, those that

died in the service or after retirement and those that retire as a result of illness.

Speaking further on the effectiveness and benefits of the contributory scheme, he said: “why you have not heard of any case of fraud and will not hear is as a result of the structures put in place, once there is an effective

structure in place, the structure will drive the system effectively.”

He noted that the CPS will go a long way in eradicating corruption and poverty in the system, adding that when retirees are seeing its benefits to their lives they will be forced to embrace the system.

31

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

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32

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33

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

Love and Living

... With Ireto Temofeh

Oracle Girl of the Week

LOVE NEWS

Family moves in with lions and monkeys after buying zoo in Wales

W

Name: Jessica Tel: +234 814 395 2220 • Do you want to be our next Oracle Girl? Send your photos to ireto007@yahoo. com and call 07031028714.

hen Dean and Tracy Tweedy started making enquiries to buy a small petting zoo in Kent, little did they know they’d end up buying a working zoo in Wales - complete with lions, monkeys and a leopard.

Keen to incorporate animal therapy with Tracy’s job as a psychotherapist, the couple quickly found that the South East was built up and expensive, so took their search a little further afield.

Dean told Sky News: “We’d fostered children when we lived in Kent, and we saw how they responded to our pets - they allowed them to come out of their shell.

“Animals are being used in therapy more and more, and we were drawn to the idea of using the animals to help people.”

As soon as Dean saw the Animalarium Borth Zoo, in Ceredigion, he knew it was meant to be.

“We’d spent holidays in Snowdonia before, but never Mid Wales. As soon as we drove over the hill and saw it we both knew we would live there.”

Moving from Milton Regis in Kent, the animal-loving family - who already had about 40 pets - found a whole new raft of exotic animals to care for.

The £625,000 zoo has more than 300 animals, including lions, monkeys, meerkats, a leopard, crocodiles, turtles, wallabies (including a rare albino wallaby), lemurs, peacocks and osprey flying overhead.

There is also a reptile house, with snakes including “a medium sized” 15ft snake, and a 22ft female boa constrictor.

For those looking for a more tactile experience, there is also a petting barn with ponies, lambs, cows, goats,

pigs, rabbits and Guinea pigs.

And Dean’s daughters - Sophie, 13, Sarah, nine, and Paige, eight - can’t get enough of the animals during the summer holidays.

“From the moment they wake up they are helping the zookeepers,” Dean said.

“All their friends are keen to have sleepovers. They couldn’t be happier.”

While Dean insists he “is no Matt Damon” and wasn’t inspired by the 2011 film We Bought A Zoo, he has spoken to the man whose life the film is based on, Benjamin Mee. The former bricklayer, who bought the dilapidated Dartmoor Wildlife Park in Devon back in 2007, before opening it to the public the following year, has offered his words of wisdom to the Tweedy family as they go about returning the zoo to its former glory.

While Mr Tweedy says he has “no plans yet for an elephant or a rhinoceros”, the next job on his list is to engage boy scouts in painting the meerkat enclosure.

“I’m keen to get some social projects going, get local people involved with the zoo,” he said.

“Lots of the animals here were rescued - either from other zoos or from owners who they’d got too big for. The leopard used to belong to an Indian prince, but once he started showing an inclination to eat his owner, he gave him to the zoo.

“He’s so used to being around people, he has trouble relating to other leopards.”

He added: “Our dream is to make it a sanctuary for people as well as animals”

ODD NEWS

‘Meat-eating’ sea lice leaves teen bloodied

A

n Australian teenager is recovering in hospital after he was left with blood streaming from his feet and ankles following a nighttime paddle in the ocean.

Sam Kanizay had waded waist-deep into the ocean at Brighton Beach, Melbourne, on Saturday evening and remained still in the water for around 30 minutes.

But when he got out of the sea he discovered he was bleeding profusely from the calves down.

The 16-year-old told 3AW radio: “The cold water numbed my legs. I felt what I thought was pins and needles but maybe it wasn’t just pins and needles.

“It sort of looked like hundreds of little pin holes or pin-sized bites distributed all over my ankle and the top of my foot.”

Washing the blood off in the shower did not stem the bleeding and Mr Kanizay was taken to the hospital after what his family believed was a sea lice attack.

He added: “We had a few people guessing that it was sea lice, but no one really had any ideas.”

His father scooped some of the creatures out of the water and posted video of them eating small chunks of

• Dean Tweedy

Romantic Joke Thinking About Getting Married “Honey,” said this husband to his wife, “I invited a friend home for supper.” meat.

Other speculation has blamed stingrays or jellyfish for the teenager’s injuries.

Jeff Weir, from the Dolphin Research Institute, said the likely culprit was probably opportunistic amphipods, tiny crustaceans that latch on to decaying plant or animal matter to help break it down.

“They are not there to eat us, but sometimes they might take a little bit,

like mosquitoes and leeches and other things out there in the environment,” he said.

“He must have been very, very cold and he wouldn’t have felt it.”

He added that the creatures cause injuries similar to a graze and the teenager should not be afraid of going back in the sea.

Others pointed the finger at jellyfish larvae or stingrays.

“What? Are you crazy? The house is a mess, I didn’t go shopping, all the dishes are dirty, and I don’t feel like cooking fancy meal!”

“I know all that.”

“Then why did you invite a friend for supper?”

“Because the poor fool’s thinking about getting married.”

34

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

True Confession

‘I snatched my niece’s online boyfriend’ W

hen my niece Louisa was dumped by her boyfriend, I generously suggested she come and stay with me.

We had always gotten along as she was growing up and I saw no reason why we shouldn’t have a great time living it up in my flat now that she was an adult.

I had a fairly active social life and I knew Louisa was a novice in such matters, so I couldn’t wait to be the hip young aunt and show her a good time!

I soon found, however, that Louisa had totally different ideas when it came to filling in time.

While I liked going out to club or parties or going to see movies or hanging out with friends, Louisa just wanted to stay at home.

It got to a point where, if she didn’t have to work, I was sure she wouldn’t have even left the house!

I couldn’t imagine what she was doing, but I decided she must just be depressed about her boyfriend, and to leave her alone for a few weeks.

You can imagine my shock when I started tracking her browsing activities on my desk top computer in the house.

She had simply been blowing away my data plan by practically being on Internet all day and all night.

I suddenly realised what she had been doing. My niece was an Internet addict! I didn’t use the Internet much, so I never bothered to get broadband with unlimited downloads, and now all Louisa’s downloading had cost me a fortune.

I told her the cost and suggested that she contribute some money towards it. She gave me a little, but what she could afford barely made a dent in what she had spent.

I told her to change her browsing habit so that I would not be broke but she refused to listen.

She continued browsing all day and all night until one day I insisted that she would have to pay for a new data plan, but she refused, reminding me that she was a guest in my house and that I had told her to make herself at home.

I couldn’t believe she was being so spoilt and immature, so I decided to teach my niece a lesson.

Thankfully, she got a job the following week. And when she went to work on the morning she was supposed to resume, I was determined to see what she had been doing.

I knew her e-mail address and password because I had seen it in a saved text message on her phone.

I logged into her account and with great amusement discovered the secret: Louisa had an Internet lover!

I read through Louisa’s messages and it soon transpired that they had never spoken or met, though

they had been writing for months.

I decided that it was time for Louisa and “Gbenga” to break up!

I quickly wrote Gbenga a message, telling him that it was over. I didn’t intend to do any more than that, but before I had a chance to log off, “New message” flashed up on the screen.

It was Gbenga, begging me to speak to him. Before I knew it we were having an e-mail conversation.

He really thought I was Louisa and he had decided it was time for us to meet!

Still enraged by Louisa’s selfishness, I decided this was my chance to get her back!

Besides, Gbenga sounded intelligent and funny. I had no idea what he looked like, and I just hoped he hadn’t exchanged photos with Louisa or my plan would never work.

We arranged to meet up at an eatery the next day. I had no idea what I was going to say, or do, but I decided that, at the very least, I would ruin things for him and Louisa.

When I turned up at the eatery the next day, I met the man of my dreams. Gbenga was kind and funny and gorgeous.

I quickly realised I couldn’t deceive him, so I told him what I had done.

Gbenga informed me that he had known something was different when I started writing to him.

He said he knew I wasn’t the same person and he wanted to catch me before I went away.

He also said that he never intended to ask the real Louisa to meet him face to face! It seemed like fate; too good to be true.

My niece’s Internet addiction turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me, as I found a life partner in Gbenga.

But neither of us has ever been able to tell Louisa that I stole her Internet boyfriend!

“I knew her e-mail address and password because I had seen it in a saved text message on her phone. I logged into her account and with great amusement discovered the secret: Louisa had an Internet lover! I read through Louisa’s messages and it soon transpired that they had never spoken or met, though they had been writing for months.”

35

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

Relationships and Love Advice

‘My husband can’t satisfy me’ Dear Love Doctor, I have been married for 10 years now and for 7 years out of the 10, I have not enjoyed sex with my husband. He usually comes very fast and leaves me sexually frustrated. Now for the last three years, I had an arrangement with somebody who has been satisfying me, unknown to my husband. I did it because I have tried everything to make sure my husband is able to satisfy me, including buying sex pills for him, but nothing worked. However, after seeing my spiritual director last week, he advised me to stop committing adultery and make another effort to make my husband satisfy me in bed. My parish priest said that I shouldn’t give up. What do I do?

Thanks, Angela

Love Doctor’s Advice:

Dear Angela,

I think your parish priest has a point.

Marriage is for better, for worse. It is a commitment to remain with your partner for life and help him address all his inadequacies. Committing yourself to one person for the rest of your life means you should never give up on that person.

You need to keep trying to help your husband satisfy you in bed, except your husband is no longer willing to try. You’re there to encourage him. With your encouragement, he is likely to improve in his sexual performance.

Here are some tips to help you help your husband satisfy you in bed: 1. Discuss with him.

Explain to your husband that you married him because you love him. Therefore, your commitment to him goes beyond having sex. It is more about sharing lives.

This explanation should lay a good foundation on which you can build on to improve his sexual performance.

2. See a doctor, sex therapist, psychologist, counselor or relevant professional.

Book an appointment with a professional and go along with your husband to see him/her. Professionals are well trained to manage such cases, so don’t hesitate to see a relevant professional to help you and your husband spice up your sex life. Through a complete medical examination which may include blood, semen and/or other tests, a doctor would find out the cause of the problem and help him get a solution.

3. Examine yourself to determine if you’re part of the cause.

Don’t be surprised that you may even be a part of the cause of your husband’s inability to satisfy you in bed. For instance you may be overweight or have body odour, poor hygiene or anything that could turn him off sex. So you need to check yourself too to make sure that you’re not part of the reason your husband doesn’t give you all the sexual pleasure you want.

The good news is that if you’re part of the cause, then you’re also part of the solution; because if you start making yourself sexually appealing to your husband, his performance in bed will improve. What kind of perfumes do you use? What kind of clothes do you wear in bed? Maybe you can start by buying new sexy perfumes and lingerie that can help you arouse your husband.

5. Avoid self-medication.

When faced with sexual challenges, many people, out of ignorance, resort to self-medication. Some people resort to drinking medicinal substances or buying sexual performance enhancing drugs like Viagra without a doctor’s prescription.

This is wrong and extremely dangerous to health. Please do not buy any so-called sexual enhancing orthodox or traditional medicinal substance for your husband to ingest without first seeing a doctor and getting the doctor’s advice. Be warned: Many of these so-called sex drugs contain dangerous chemicals and poisons (that can seriously harm your body system without you knowing).

Self-medication kills. And self-medication is largely a result of ignorance. For instance, some men who have a history of high blood pressure are known to have died after using some drugs for the purpose of getting a harder and longer-lasting erection.

Encourage your husband to see a doctor for a complete medical examination.

Doctors are able to see many things about our bodies that we do not see. So never encourage your husband to engage in self-medication in order to boost his sexual performance.

6. Make sure he is free from stress, anxiety or other psychological or emotional pressure.

Stress is a major factor that kills a person’s libido. For instance, if you have too much work to do, you’re likely to have a lower sexual desire. So make sure your man is free from stress. Help him to find out ways to manage stress in the office or workplace so that when he comes back 4. Make yourself sexually appealing to home at night, he will still be able to ‘peryour husband. form’.

Anxiety is also another thing to watch.

If your man is too anxious to satisfy you in bed, he may just end up doing the opposite.

7. Encourage your husband to keep fit through exercise and a balanced diet.

When last did your husband go to the gym or work out at home?

Exercise will help both your husband and you keep fit and thereby boost your performance in bed. Through good exercise, your husband will shed unnecessary calories and improve his heart and body.

Through regular exercise, he will also discover that he feels less stressed out.

He will also happily find that he now has more energy to perform his duty of satisfying you in bed. Those are just a few of the benefits of keeping fit.

Also, help your husband watch what he eats. Adopting a good diet program will help refresh his body and mind and lead to improved sexual performance.

8. Tell him what pleases you and help him find your g-spot.

Have you ever told your husband what he can do to make you reach orgasm? If you haven’t yet told him what gives you maximum sexual pleasure and satisfaction, your silence is the main reason your husband can’t satisfy you! Therefore, you’re the main cause of your husband’s problem.

For many women, oral clitoral satisfaction or sucking or ‘eating’ their private parts makes them reach orgasm. However, since every individual is different, what works for some may not work for others.

Tell your husband what stimulates you, so that he can do it and satisfy you in bed.

Don’t hesitate or feel ashamed about telling him, because you can’t be happy without sexual satisfaction. Help your husband find your g-spot or tell him what arouses you, stimulates you, or makes you come, for the sake of your own happiness.

The above 8 tips will help you spike your husband’s sexual performance and leave you satisfied anytime, any day, anywhere.

Good luck as you implement them!

Do you have advice on this problem? Please share your thoughts. Call 07031028714 or 08131161840. Email: ireto007@yahoo.com Note: If you have fertility problems like childlessness, inability to conceive or get pregnant, miscarriages, fibroid, low sperm count, STDs, or need a male child or female? Call 07031028714, 08131161840. Love Doctor can help you succeed in your marriage/relationship.

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36

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

It happened to me:

‘I had a fight with my Midwife while I was in Labor’

M

y pregnancy had already been pretty awful. Being 4’10” and 95 pounds at the start, I ballooned all the way up to 179 pounds in the tenand-a-half months that I was pregnant.

It got to the point where I wasn’t able to drive because my belly pressed into the steering wheel too close for comfort. I wasn’t trusting Florida drivers to not rearend me, that’s for sure. My feet and ankles got so bad that it was hard to walk at all, and absolutely no shoes made for human feet would fit around my swollen cankles.

My face erupted in an angry mass of acne after a lifetime of clear skin. I was a mess.

But all in all, I was happy to be carrying my very first baby girl. I couldn’t wait to meet her.

At the start of my pregnancy, I knew I wanted to have my baby at home or in a birthing center. The idea of being in a cold hospital with strange hands guiding my baby into life was not one I wanted to entertain. I got information from friends, my insurance provider, and the birthing center I wanted to use. I was ready and empowered with my decisions.

Then, the 20-week ultrasounds were showing that the placenta was lying low, making the delivery more difficult and delicate than a traditional birth. Immediately, I knew what that translated to: hospital birth.

I was devastated, but I was determined to meet the situation with an open heart and mind. All birth plans can’t go exactly as written, and I thought the most important thing to do would be to just go with it.

I saw it as preparation for how important it is to stay flexible in parenting.

The rest of my pregnancy was spent trying to stay off of WebMD and everything else that would feed into my fear. I wasn’t afraid of giving birth; I was afraid of everything that comes with being in a hospital: needles and injections and pressure to do things a specific way. I wanted to bring my baby girl into the world with the love and energy intended by my new family.

I’d binge-watch The Office over and over, cringing at the episode where Cece is born and that awful nurse rolls her eyes at Pam for asking her to not bottle-feed her new baby to avoid nipple confusion. That kind of attitude was exactly what I didn’t want at a time where I was already unsure and nervous, like any new mom is.

Week 40 arrived. That’s not uncommon, my doctor assured me. Most babies don’t come at their due date. But when week 41 came, she wanted me to go to the hospital for an induction. Something inside was screaming at me from the beginning to turn around, and when the nurse gave me the option to leave and not go through with the induction that day, I gladly took it and went home for a few more days. That was a Tuesday, and they told me to be back on Friday if I wasn’t in labor already.

So, Friday morning, my boyfriend and I grabbed our birthing bag, our doctor’s notes, and our plans, and we went to the hospital to meet our baby girl.

From the very beginning, I was uncomfortable, but tried to be cooperative and honest and open with all of the medical professionals with whom I came into contact. I let them know I was nervous and already had a fear of hospitals and a history of sexual trauma; I wanted them to know that I needed them to be open with me and let me know everything they were doing and what I should do to help things be as comfortable for me as possible. To be perfectly honest, it’s hard enough letting my boyfriend be around me down there. To have a whole slew of people I don’t know and have never seen before just lurking around by my vagina scares me to pieces.

The first woman I met that would be “caring” for me was a midwife named Susie*, a squat little woman with chubby fingers and a grimace on her face. Her ap-

prentice was a soft-spoken, taller girl with a lip ring and long dreadlocks twisted into a top knot. The first thing Susie did was look me up and down, look at my chart, and say, “You know, you didn’t need to gain so much weight.”

I was shocked that a woman who chose to go into this profession would make such a condescending comment (especially when she really didn’t have a leg to stand on in this department).

Her first touches were firm but not necessarily rough. She instructed as she went, telling the apprentice what she was doing as she placed the medicine behind my cervix to help along the process of induction.

Susie told me not to move; she would be back to check on me in 12 hours. So I sat in bed for 12 hours, hooked up to more machines than I thought necessary for giving birth. How did we get by before modern medicine? How do people in places where these things don’t exist continue to populate the area? These are the thoughts that kept running through my mind while I pined for something real to eat and watched the edited version of Mean Girls three times on the hospital television.

Twelve hours later, my anxiety was starting to get the better of me. The medicine had done nothing to further the labor.

I was bloated with saline from IVs and hungry from not being allowed to really eat. Susie was clearly off her game, as she had forgotten to order the second round of medication and set back the process by another two hours. Frustrated and already exhausted, I laid back and prepared myself for the second round of medicine to be placed.

Susie decided to let the apprentice give it

a try this time, and I did my best to stay still and relaxed as she made three attempts to try to place the medicine behind my cervix. Susie finally told the apprentice to move and took the medicine from the apprentice to place herself instead.

Forcefully, Susie shoved her fingers inside me to her knuckles, and my body began to tense up from the discomfort. I don’t know if the show of force was supposed to be a way of telling the apprentice that this wasn’t a difficult task or if she was trying to tell me that I was to blame for the fumbles, but the shock and pain caused me to cry out.

At that moment, she forced her fingers as far inside me as she could fit and, gritting her teeth, grumbled, “Suck it up.”

The world stopped. I couldn’t breathe.

I couldn’t think. I can hardly remember anything that happened between that moment and her turning her back to me to remove the glove and wash her hands.

I was in complete shock. I looked around me; I was in a room full of people. My sister, my boyfriend, a nurse, the apprentice — none of them would look me in the eye.

My mouth hung open in horror at what just happened.

“That was absolutely inappropriate,” I managed to say to Susie’s back as she reached for napkins to dry her hands. I looked around wildly, hoping that someone would come to my aid, that someone would echo my disbelief at her unprofessional and insensitive behavior.

Susie turned to me in a rage, raising her voice about how I was being uncooperative from the start and was “clearly not trying to have this child today.” I was shaking as she came closer to me, her face only

a foot away from mine as she leaned over the bed. I reminded her that she was rude to me before I’d ever said a word to her — that the first thing she had mentioned was my weight.

She said she couldn’t help that I was “too fat.”

I bitterly spat back at her, “I’m pregnant.

What’s your excuse?”

I’m not proud of that weak moment, but I wanted her to hurt even a fraction of the amount she had inflicted on me in such a vulnerable moment.

I told Susie to leave immediately. I explicitly told her and the nurse and the apprentice that she was not going to touch me again, that she would not be in my room, that if she was the only midwife available that I would transfer to another hospital.

Susie left, but still no one told me that I was OK. No one told me that what she did was not right.

The rest of the induction is a blur. That interaction with Susie was early Saturday morning around 5 a.m. A combination of the shock and the pain medications put me into a state of delirium. I mostly slept.

The next thing I knew, it was Sunday night.

I had a fever and was now considered a high-risk pregnancy. It was around 11 p.m. that my new nurse checked to see how far I was dilated, and confirmed what was my worst fear through my whole pregnancy: we were having a C-section.

At 42 weeks exactly, we were wheeled into the operating room to meet my baby girl. I rested my forehead against my boyfriend’s while I was strapped to a T-shaped table, and I sang to him “I’ve Just Seen a Face” by the Beatles to keep myself calm while I felt the dull sensation of the surgeon moving around my insides and removing the beautiful creature I had housed inside my body for the better part of a year. It was 12:45 a.m. on Monday morning, and finally, the moment that made everything worth it was here. She was here.

It was only an hour or so later, maybe, and the nurses were noticing that I was bleeding too much. The surgeon came back into my room, took one look at me, and I was immediately swept back into the operating room. It was like one of those scenes on television, with a flurry of nurses and doctors saying “stat” and the patient looking up at the white hospital lights, wondering if that is the last thing they’re ever going to see.

I calmly asked the doctor at my side, “Am I going to be OK?” The doctor looked me right in the eyes and said, “I don’t know. You’re hemorrhaging. We may have to give you a hysterectomy.”

I just nodded back at him — or at least I thought I did — and tried my best to keep my heart rate as steady as possible. An angel appeared at my side in the form of an anesthesiologist, who stopped everyone from working on me before he could make me comfortable and sent me to a medically induced sleep.

When I was woke up in the same recovery room, I saw my boyfriend cross the room to meet me. He told me I lost a lot of blood from retained placenta in my uterus. I had been given four blood transfusions. We were all lucky I made it out of surgery alive, he said. I just nodded back at him, looking around for my new baby. She was all I wanted.

Even being in the hospital for two more days and all of the scares that came after my interaction with Susie, it is that moment that sticks out to me most. When I look back on my memories of bringing my daughter into the world, I won’t have something triumphant and sweet to show my daughter; I won’t have the breathtaking photos of the natural water birth we wanted. I won’t have a beautiful birth story to share.

37

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

Love & Living

To love a Criminal

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hange is constant and people change. If you love someone based on who they are now, the near future may present you with surprises, unpleasant ones. How else do you explain the situation of several woman and men out there who have to live with the knowledge that their spouses are either criminals or engaged in some form of nefarious activity.

Many who are in this fix are caught in the middle, not knowing how to make them stop yet can’t contemplate reporting to the authorities nor leaving them, Chioma is one of those.

She had known about his activities for all the ten years they were together. But he wasn’t always that way. Chioma had married him when he was only trying to put his life in order. He was a God loving and optimistic young man. And then after a while the long awaited miracle happened.

He told a well conjectured story about a contract job that just popped up and she of course bought it.

It was however the strange calls and lifestyle changes that later caught her attention.

She could tell that there was more to the new status than what’s seen, time to ask questions. Surprisingly, he was on the offensive, kept on about the fact that what’s most important is that he can now provide for his family, that how he does it is no

body’s headache.

She thought about all possible ways of getting him to stop but how could she without having them take away the father of her kids. And he had already threatened her life once if she ever told.

The vicious look in his eyes that day still sends shocks down her spine.

Then came the black day when her husband was gunned down during an ill fated operation. Now helpless, traumatised and consumed in self pity, saddled with the task of raising three children all alone, she thinks there was a better way out just that she never took it.

This story came to mind in the wake of the confessions and counter confessions by the recently nabbed king of kidnappers, Evans and his wife, Uchenna. While the husband earlier claimed that his wife was infact an accomplice, she mantains that she had no knowledge of his criminal activities. I have stopped asking if she knew or not as that’s not the main issue.

In my experience dealing with matters of the heart, I found that when the heart is involved, the head is on break. Only a few women will stay with a man for a long time without knowing what he does for a living, those ones who never notice are either plain dumb or not paying enough attention. It’s given that some may not know exactly what it is but they can smell

Ify ARONU ifyaronu@gmail.com the nature of it. For all I care, Evans wife may have very well known but only denying it now in the interest of her five children who may have to grow up without both parents if she has to go in for it too.

The reality is that most are staying with their criminal spouses, either hoping they change or just indifferent. I know of some cases where the other partner couldn’t take it and left though. Now, leaving a partner on account of their involvement in crime appears to be what many would rather do instead of reporting them but how safe is that? An abandoned spouse who knows why you left is boiling over on two accounts, abandonment and fear of being reported? Such a person may opt to silence his ex who he now sees as a threat.

The least favored option is to report to security operatives, I’m not sure if anyone would do that though except in extreme

cases where the violence knows no kin.

But here’s a good reason why you should probably report. You can actually cut down the scale of atrocities if you report, thereby saving your spouse from the death penalty. But when you do report, maintain anonymity in the best interest of the family, since all you want to do is to stop them from wrecking further havoc.

I know a young man who never knew his dad. The father was killed during an operation with his gang when his wife was pregnant many years ago. The same boy, only son, grew up to be a vicious criminal, last I heard, he was in prison. So, in making the huge sacrifice of turning in a dangerous spouse,you could be saving your children from going down the same bad road in the future. To love a criminal is to aid the act.

You will never be a victim of the same vices you decry, do the right thing.

Structures In Protecting The Child – A Survivor’s Perspective (2)

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e& ore

in more cases of juvenile delinquencies.

Of course, when children are not properly taken care of, they grow up to become damaged and broken teens and then adults who end up as perpetrators of many vices of which rape is a major one.

Sensitisation and education MANY parents are still naïve as to what to do when their children get raped or abused, this is so because they have not been properly educated. I believe we should take a look at ways of bringing this knowledge to mothers, fathers and guardians.

New and improved strategies should be in place so people can know where to get help, what help they need and how soon they should get the help.

Also, people need to know that rape and every form of sexual abuse has an adverse effect on the victim, especially if helps is not given.

Stigmatisation This is killing and damaging more persons than the actual experience they had. We should stop every form of making victims feel like they were the cause of what befell them. We should also desist from looking at victims as though they are damaged goods or human beings. Instead of stigmatising them, we should be more supportive.

We need to sensitise people too on the isthe vicious cycle continues. And alarming sue of stigmatisation and how it affects the is the rate at which these crimes are on the healing process of a victim. If we are to have increase. I believe if punishments were duly victims come out to declare they were vicmeted out, they would go a long way in curbing most of the wickedness we record daily.

We already have a law we should implement the laws for EVERY CHILD –irrespective of religion, status and origin.

We should come to the point in our lives where we understand that we have children under our care and so we must take care of them bearing it at the back of our minds that “that they are leaders of tomorrow”. I see today as the tomorrow we spoke about yesterday. So where is today, tomorrow and yesterday since the Child Rights Act of 2003?

Implementation of the Child’s Rights Act I am glad we are talking about the Child Rights Acts.

We already have the law in place, but then it seems as though we are always jumping the broom when we should act. It is unbelievable that this federal law, meaning that it should apply in parts of Nigeria, was enacted in 2003, 14 years ago.

I have seen and heard stories of how children were maltreated and often, the perpetrators are not brought to justice and

Collective Responsibility Most of us, if not all of us, have not seen the need to protect our children and our wards until something goes wrong. We do selective protection. It should be stopped.

Every child deserves to be protected from harm and every form of danger and it is a societal responsibility, meaning we all have a role in it As individuals, we all have to see children for who they really are and never seek to harm them. Failure to do this will result

Maureen Alikor maureenalikor@gmail.com (Continued from edition of 09 August 2017)

tims, then we need structures that would curb stigmatisation.

At about 11, an uncle constantly abused me sexually.

On 16 November 2016, armed robbers broke into my house and I was raped. I know how I was stigmatised especially after sharing my story and launching my campaign. I am sure that if I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do with my life, I would have regretted sharing my story.

If we have a healthy society and if we follow the structures put in place in protecting the child, I believe the many people who are victims of rape and various forms of abuses would also not have had those painful and damaging experiences, and also we would record less of these crimes against humanity as we would have less or no perpetrators.

A system for protecting children

38

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

The Law and You

With Barr. Ken Akpom 08162016410

Divorce in Statutory Marriage (Part 2)

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ust like I always say, in marriage there are two ultimate ends – Till death do us part and till quarrels, nagging, and problems do us separate. Most often, the second part is usually the case in most marriages in this country do to un-readiness of most couples before venturing into marriage. They usually do not understand themselves properly before going into it. Some may be due to parental arrangements – my best friend’s daughter or son, my club or society member’s daughter or son, etc., and the consequent result is misunderstanding and divorce. Some also may be an extension of the school’s relationships which was built on inflations and fool’s paradise without thorough understanding of each other’s likes and dislikes behaviors and attitudes and the resultant effect is separation and divorce very early in the marriage. The fact still remains that marriage is built on love, understanding and tolerance. And this is the reason why the law is carefully programmed to take good care of these ingredient of marriage before granting divorce to it. For instance, the court will normally grant some years separation periods to see if reconciliations could be possible before finally granting the divorce. The court loves unity, not putting asunder to what God has put together, and even goes on further in protecting the known hardships and discomforts the children of such marriage (even any) would pass in the hands of step mothers or fathers, by first of all employing all reconciliatory and peace restoring means before a divorce is granted. As I have explained earlier, there are certain crucial issues that may necessitate couples seeking for a divorce and which the court considers good issues to granting the divorce some of them are; a.

Willful and persistent refusal to consummate marriage b.

Adultery and intolerability c.

Conduct which the petitioner cannot reasonably

be expected to bear d. Desertion e.

Separation and respondent’s consent f.

Three years’ separation g.

Failure to comply with a decree of restitution of

conjugal rights h.

Presumption of death i.

Petitions for dissolution of marriage In the past, before the development of common law, the husband claims the right to exercise power and dominion over his wife. However, statutory marriage confers on the husband and wife rights and obligation especially for persons who are legally married. The previous rights claimed by the husband covered, inter allia control of the wife’s movements and complete servitude of the wife.

But this was disproof in law since the decision of the Court of Appeal in R.V. Jackson (1891) 1QB671 and the married wife acquired considerable freedom of action. This made it today that married woman is VIRTUALLY mistress of her own household. This does not make a married woman to be disobedient to her husband or to feel that she has complete liberty to do anything she likes contrary to the wishes and policies of her husband and the family. I do not want the married woman to misunderstand my impartation as a right to cause things that will lead to separation and divorce in marriage. When two elephants fight it is the grass (the children) that suffers, so be wise.

By the decision of that Court of Appeal in 1891, married woman is no longer into servitude and may follow any profession of her own choosing, acquire and dispose property, and enjoy freedom of movement without hindrance from the husband (especially those freedom of movement that is not legally and morally wrong).

CONSORTIUM: The numbers of duties owe each other by married couples is collectively referred to as consortium. In as much as there is no precise definition of this right of consortium by it can simply be described as the right of living together as husband and wife with all the incidents that accompany such a marriage relationship. In this context, it means that the duties which spouses owe each other in the domestic life is not permanent or stable

one but it depends on the circumstances in each marriage and those involved. This implies that this action is a matter of common knowledge and not the subject of legal definition. It is generally a known fact and generally accepted that the husband is the bread winner of the family while the wife is in charge of the running of the househols. However, the notion may be reversed by other circumstances and what next? Let us now examine some attributes of consortium which the courts have at least dealt with.

These are;

from physical withdrawal from matrimonial home.

3.

SEXUAL INTERCOURSE: The parties to a marriage owe each other the duty to consummate it. Failure may result into nullity of the marriage especially where there is persistent refusal without any good/genuine reasons by either of the parties. However, while there is a duty to have sexual relationship, husband or wife is not bound to submit to excessive sexual demands of the other party which may be detrimental to that party’s health.

1.

CHANGE OF NAME: The Holy Book makes us understand that in marriage the wife will leave her parents’ QUESTION home to the man and become one with him. This means that she may drop her surname to bear that of her husDear Lawyer, band. In law therefore, on marriage, a she may drop her Please, as marriage imports the consent of the spouses surname to her husband’s surname or she may retain the to sexual relations, can a husband be guilty of being a prinsurname, even after marriage has been brought to an end cipal in first degree rape on his wife? either by divorce or death of her husband. The law has Lanre, Lagos held it that a husband has no right to stop his divorced wife by injunction from using his name unless she is doing ANSWER so for the purpose of defrauding him or others.

Dear Lanre, 2.

DUTY TO COHABIT: Generally after marriage, it is Thanks for this nice question. I hope you do not intend expected that the husband and wife should live together to be forcing your wife to sexual relationship against her in a roof and sleep always on the same bed. But in law, this wish; I presume that you are not that type. A husband duty is not absolute for spouses to cohabit. It should be cannot be guilty of unlawful carnal knowledge or rape of noted that cohabitation does not necessarily imply that his wife. However to your question, a husband cannot be spouses must live together physically under the same guilty as principal in the first degree of rape on his wife, but roof. Come to think of it, what of where the natures of he could be an accomplice or an accessory to the offence their employments or jobs necessitates their living sepa- of rape committed on his wife by a third party. Also, if the rately, can one now take it as not cohabiting and a reason husband exercises or applies the use of force or violence for divorce? No. There is still cohabiting in a wider sense. in exercising his right to intercourse, he may be guilty of However, withdrawal from cohabitation may constitute wounding or causing actual bodily harm. the matrimonial offence of DESERTION. Desertion arises

• Do you have questions or seek legal clarification on issues concerning your marriage, probate, property, etc? Call or send a text message to Barr. Ken: 08162016410, 08075763840. Email: kenakpom@yahoo.com

39

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

Entertainment

With Douglas Omoyooma

Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich and partner announce separation

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ussian billionaire and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich, 50 and his partner, Dasha Zhukova, 36 have separated, Abramovich’s spokesman John Mann confirmed to AFP on Monday.

According to Forbes magazine, Abramovich is Russia’s 12th richest businessman with a fortune of $9.1 billion and he has owned Chelsea since 2003.

“After 10 years together, the two of us have made the difficult decision to separate, but we remain close friends, parents, and partners in the projects we developed together,” the statement reads.

The statement did not make clear whether Abramovich and Zhukova are married, although they have two children together, a son and daughter.

In the couple’s joint statement, they said that “We are committed to jointly raising our two children.”

According to The Guardian, Abramovich’s first marriage was brief, from 1987 to 1991 with Olga Lysova. He divorced his second wife Irina Malandina in 2007 after a marriage lasting 16 years. They had five children together.

Zhukova founded Garage, a popular contemporary arts centre and gallery in Moscow, as well as collaborating with Abramovich on the New Holland arts centre in Saint Petersburg.

The couple confirmed that they will continue working together as co-founders of the Garage Museum and the New Holland Island cultural center in Saint Petersburg.

Nicki Minaj posted a photo of her and Wizkid chilling on a couch with her name in lights right behind them. The rapper, dressed in Gucci, posted a series of photos before the one with the Starboy, which she simply captioned; Nicki and Drake are known to be quite close friends and after working with Wizkid on both hit songs, Once Dance and Closer, we suspect the Canadian rapper/singer is definitely the link between the stars. Hopefully, we get a song from these two in the near future, we’re so excited!

• Roman Abramovic

TY Bello, Denrele Edun, Destiny Amaka storm UNILAG for Dare2Dream Season 4

Kemi Adetiba reveals New Movie King of Boys is in the Works

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ce filmmaker Kemi Adetiba, who was recently featured in CNN’s “African Voices” took to her Instagram page to address people who were doubting her craft and someone who referred to her as “more hype than talent”.

In her statement, she also revealed she has begun shooting for a new film titled “King of Boys“, if her debut feature film Wedding Party which happens to be the highest grossing film in the history of Nigeria is anything to go by, then we are certainly looking forward to her new movie.

See her posts below My Google alert went off late yesterday, and I saw the headline, “I’m going to win an Oscar in 2-5 years.” I panicked slightly as I don’t remember saying this. I mean I BELIEVE it – but I didn’t remember saying it in an interview. I click on the link and it’s a recap of my “African Voices” feature (I totally forgot I did one) and it airs today.

I believe this was my response to a question about “goals” or where I SEE myself in the future. The entire interview is bigger than that one statement, but I understand the journalist’s choice of the one liner as a heading for sensationalism. I would choose it too. However I know with my “audacity to profess” some people’s panties might be in a twist over the statement, but I’ll ask you this. In my roughly 15 years in this business that spans from being a Radio personality, to TV personality, to DJing, to switching behind the camera as director, shooting my first short film (chosen to screen at two international film festivals without my personal submission), multiple award winning music videos (98% of my videos have been number 1 and I’ve worked with some of the biggest names in African music) spurring conversation and international spotlight reviews, to numerous documentaries and commercial campaigns for top Nigerian brands (you may or may not have known were shot by me), and finally KING WOMEN and the highest grossing film in the history of Nigeria. However you feel about the film, The Wedding Party, will not make the gross ONE naira shorter than it did or water down its significance in African cinema not just to us but to the world. I have constantly re-invented myself and ensured my new evolve totally overshadows the last.

Now, I reel these… accomplishments (?) not to pat myself on the back (anyone who knows me knows I’m bad at celebrating wins) but to ask you a question, “Have I let the world down yet?”. Now ask yourself another question, understanding my journey, if you were a betting man, wouldn’t you bet on me I’m just here trying to make my parents proud mehn and leave my stamp in this world. The roughness in my palms is proof of this.

Wizzy & Nickie Collaboration?

Wizkid poses with Nicki Minaj in new Photo

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icki Minaj posted a photo of her and Wizkid chilling on a couch with her name in lights right behind them. The rapper, dressed in Gucci, posted a series of photos before the one with the Starboy, which she simply captioned; Nicki and Drake are known to be quite close friends and after working with Wizkid on both hit songs, Once Dance and Closer, we suspect the Canadian rapper/singer is definitely the link between the stars.

Hopefully, we get a song from these two in the near future, we’re so excited!

T

he 4th season of Dare2Dream kicked off in UNILAG with the Class of Dreamers in ‘Music and Entertainment ’ graced by Noble Igwe, Osagie Alonge, Denrele Edun, Edewor Ajueshi, Kabuchi Michaels, Foza Doza, Fela Oke, Arthur Dieffenthaler (KLM Commercial Director) and TY Bello who shared wise words with the students on best practices to build a successful career in the Nigerian entertainment industry.

This was followed by Fashion and Lifestyle master classes

by Bolanle Olukanni, Destiny Amaka, Adesola Ade-Unuigbe, Mr Fab, Akintunde Disu, Akin Faminu, and Eke Eke (Da VIVA) who spoke about the various facets of the fashion industry: branding, marketing, mentorships, and networking.

The panel sessions were moderated by popular student MCs, OAPs, VJs, and there were also stellar performances from UNILAG’s finest acts – Marrz, Whytemuse, Magiks and Brainee, competing performing artists, designers and multi-talented models.

While auditions and master classes were happening inside UNILAG’s Afe Babalola Hall, FCMB Flexx, the bank account

for the upwardly mobile youth and Imperial Leather, the elegant personal care brand treating every woman with a little luxury moment, were bringing more fun with games, free makeup and hair styling and loads of other prizes.

When asked about the event, students commented that it was packed with “Edutainment” and it was a really unique experience for everyone in the room. This 3-day event saw the final selection of the 4 multi-talented female models who would join the Bootcamp: Oshevire Benedicta Omamuyovwi, Agatha Isioma, Avaligbe Juliet, Folorunso Boluwatife.

On the other hand, selected performing artist Amal Kansime and designer Obahor Tega will get the “once in a lifetime” opportunity to be on stage in front of Corporate Nigeria and the crème de la crème of Lagos at the grand finale at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, on September 10th 2017. dare2Dream would be continuing its Campus Tour and the next stop is UNIPORT from the 23rd – 25th of August 2017, then UNICAL from the 28th – 30th of August 2017.

• Nickie Minaj & Wizkid

40

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

Entertainment Lynxxx marks his 2nd Anniversary BBNaija’s TTT and Wife of Spiritual Rebirth welcome Third Child

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osting a photo on Instagram, he captioned: On this day 2 Years ago (7.8.15) i had an encounter with the Holy Spirit that changed my life, perspective and overall my entire being Forever.

There has been growth, ups, downs, challenges, misconceptions, attacks, mocks, gossip, sowing, reaping, healing, manifestations, uncountable blessings and miracles on this journey in such a short period of time BUT one things for sure, i have no regrets and would never ever look back.

Im not perfect, would never be, still a sinner saved by grace, still struggle daily but would keep pushing this calling till my purpose is fulfilled on earth.

Ill keep making Music for those that love it (not gospel contrary to what many believe lol) and keep living a regular life in a God

guided way but do me a favor today and say a prayer for me thats worth more than anything else.

God bless you all! #ManLikeLynxxx™ #7.8.15

#SpiritualBirthDay #Rebirth #Saved #PurposeDriven #PurposeLiving #Lynxxxdom #DailyLynxxxspiration #Lynxxxstagram, he wrote.

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ig Brother Naija 2017 contestant Thin Tall Tony, also known as TTT and his wife Laraba have welcomed their third child.

The couple both shared a photo of the little girl, celebrating her arrival.

The couple has christened the baby Zoey, and thanked God for her birth.

TTT shared the photo of the new baby with the caption: Ladies and gentlemen…first a huge THANK YOU to GOD almighty for the gift of LIFE and spearing both my wife and our newly added daughter to our growing family. ZOEY! you are most welcome….and trust your older sister and brother (Ella and Mayson) will agree to do their best to make you comfortable (lol)…we promise to love you all the rest of our days. #welcome#thintalltony #proudlynigerian#madeinnigeria #madlove#changebeginswithme #anothercalabarboy#anothercalabargirl Laraba shared the same photo with the caption: Our Princess is Here..Thank you Heavenly Father for another wonderful gift…#3

• Lynxxx

Caroline Danjuma wins 2017 Nelson Mandela Pan-African Exemplary Leadership Award

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ntrepreneur, award winning film producer & philanthropist, Chief Caroline Danjuma has been honored with the 2017 Nelson Mandela Pan-African Exemplary Leadership Award for her individual youth empowerment and charitable projects across Nigeria and beyond.

She was honored at an award presentation event on the 3rd of August, 2017 in Lagos, Nigeria by international delegates of the African Youth Global Network(AYGN); a non-governmental organization and an umbrella body for youths from 27 countries.

Chief Caroline Danjuma is the Founder of the Hopeville Foundation; a foundation which caters to less privileged families, women with life threatening

complications during childbirth and kids with disabilities.

With the conferment of this prestigious award, the acclaimed entrepreneur and philanthropist has joined the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu,The President of the Republic of Sudan, His Excellency Umar Al Bashir, General Overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries’, Pastor Daniel Olukoya, Chairman of Abia Warriors Football Club of Umuahia, Chief Emeka Inyama,Former Secretary General, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting countries (OPEC), Chief Edmund Daukoru and many other reputable individuals in the Nelson Mandela Pan-African Exemplary Leadership Hall of Fame.

Speaking at the presenta-

tion, the President of AYGN, Dr. Laurent Agbemadji said the AYGN has reckoned Chief Caroline Danjuma as a leader of great courage whose ebullient and vivacious nature fused with her remarkable administrative acumen are evident to all.

He added that a society can be moved to greater heights only by the numbers and strength of dreamers, thinkers and doers available to it as exemplified by Chief Caroline Danjuma.

Upon receiving the award, Chief Caroline Danjuma thanked the organization for recognizing her in the midst of several other great Africans.

She also pledged to contribute even more to the development of mankind in Nigeria, Africa and beyond.

• Baby Zoe

D’Banj Confirms His Marriage To Lineo Didi Kilgrow

• D’banj & Lineo Didi Kilgrow

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• Chief Caroline Danjuma and the Oganisers during the award presentation

he public has been limited to rumours about whether or not D’Banj is married. There were wide rumours suggesting that he got married to Lineo Didi Kilgrow in 2016, in a secret arrangement, however, the story remained unconfirmed until recently.

The Kokomaster confirmed the story in a recent interview with Beat FM, stating that he chose to keep the marriage out of the public glare to avoid the complications of celebrity relationships. He said…

“I decided to keep my marriage to Didi a secret because based on experience, relationships like this get mixed with media hypes and speculations and then it becomes complicated.”

The Emergency singer went on to confirm that his marriage has been blessed with a son, stressing that he is happy with his choice of woman.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

NEWS

Expulsion of State chairman: Bayelsa APC stakeholders go after Sylva, Lokpobiri From Chris Eze, Yenagoa

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ggrieved members of the Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) have accused former governor of the state, and leader of APC in the State, Chief Timipre Sylva and the Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri of plot to hijack the party and trade it for their selfish interest.

The members, made up of the party’s 105 wards Chairmen, the eight local government Chairmen, women, youths and elders of the party, during the week took to the streets in protest against what they called ‘misinformation’ on the alleged expulsion of its embattled Chairman, Tiwei Orunmighe, insisting that he remains their chairman.

The crisis rocking the State chapter of the party deepened at the weekend when the national headquarters wielded the big stick with the expulsion of the embattled and earlier suspended State chairman of the party, Tiwei Oruminighe.

The expulsion of Tiwie was contained in a letter from the National Headquarters of the party and signed by the General Secretary, Hon. Mai Mala Buni, after the National Executive of the party upheld the August 3rd recommendation of the National Working Committee.

In a protest yesterday led by the party’s 105 wards Chairmen, the eight local government Chairmen, women, youths and elders of the party, the protesters sent a message to the national body of the party that the Bayelsa chapter of the APC was ‘not for sale’.

Among the notable members who spoke at the protest include a former Senatorial Vice Chairman of the party, Chris Alogoa, a former leader of the party, Livinus Opuakpa, the Chairman of all the local government Chairmen, Phil Erepade and Jephthah Iyekoroghe, who spoke on behalf of the ward chairman.

According to Livinus Opuakpa: “There is need to join this vanguard

to forestall this misinformation that is making the round because it is unfortunate that we find ourselves in this situation at this critical time when we should be preparing ourselves to win elections come 2019.

“Unfortunately, the national committee that has taken this decision to suspend our constitutionally elected Chairman, secretary and the Deputy, if they have done so; must have been misinformed deliberately

by those who are seeking the soul of this party, to see that they trade with it, destroy it so that we will go nowhere as far as APC elections are concerned in this State.” the acclaimed leader, Sylva.”

From RAYMOND OZOJI, Awka

to teething problems in the society adding that research findings could be used by the leaders to address issues of agitations and other societal problems militating against development .

Obikeze who stated this during the workshop organised for post-graduate students of the institution on Research Methodology, explained that the essence of tertiary education is to engage in quality research that would guarantee that the society thrives.

He pointed out that without research many things would not come to fruition.

Declaring the two-day workshop

officially open, Vice Chancellor of the university Prof. Fidelis Uzochukwu Okafor underscored the importance of the workshop saying that the university is an institution that teaches and researches.

The Vice Chancellor who was represented on the occasion by the Dean of Social Sciences Prof.Okechukwu Nwankwo noted that if researches were conducted properly, they would contribute to the development of the society, stressing that the workshop was a veritable opportunity to understand the basic principles of research investigation.

Don tasks government on research implementation

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ean School of Post Graduate Studies Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Anambra State Prof.Obiajulu Sunday Obikeze has tasked the Nigerian government on research study implementation .

Obikeze stated that all researches conducted by scholars across the country are not put into use; this, according to him, is part of the reasons the nation continues to have problems.

The university don noted that the essence of conducting research is to proffer viable and workable solutions

Pray for Buhari; nobody enjoys ill-health-- Ezeife •Replies Okorocha: President’s midterm scorecard is poor From CHUKS EZE, Enugu

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lder statesman and former governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has condemned current calls for the resignation of President President Muhammadu Buhari, or his premature return from his medical trip abroad, describing the current bashing of the President from different quarters as un-Igbo.

He told The Oracle Today in an exclusive interview, that although the President and his assistants have not been courteous over the issue, Nigerians should not behave unnaturally as people without feelings.

According to Ezeife: “When it comes to the health of Mr President, my appeal is that all of us, from every part of Nigeria, should feel for him and pray for him. The current bashing being meted out to him is uncalled for and un-Igbo. Nobody chooses to be sick.

“He is not enjoying his present condition either. We should not behave unnaturally, without feelings.

Yes, it would be good for Nigeria if he had been stable. And we all know that it was a rigged majority that voted him to power in 2015, but he is our President. So, we owe him support.

If anybody is praying for him other than for his healing, that person is being inhuman, and the person would be preparing for hellfire.

“Yes, his being sick is affecting Nigeria, and it should naturally, affect the country, and people are not happy about the situation, which is why some people have even urged him to either return or resign. But that is not a decision for us to make but a decision for the President to make.

That is the truth, under the law. He had obeyed the laws of the land by transmitting power to the Vice President while travelling, whether the transmission was christened a strange term of coordinator or not, is not an issue.

“The issue is that until he transmits another letter to the contrary, that subsists. Even if he is not making it courteous, we should not talk like people who are without human feelings. The President is a human being, like all of us. I went to his house, he served me food and I ate. But even if he did not give me food or he refused to welcome me to his house, I would still be saying the same thing,” he said.

A group led by Charles Oputa, aka Charly Boy, under the aggies of Civil Society Organisation, commenced a perpetual protest march on Monday, August 8, at the Unity Fountain, in Abuja, to compel President Buhari to either return home to continue to carry out the duties for which he was elected, or honourably resign from office to take care of his health.

The group said they would march to the Presidential Villa and other vital spots across the Federal Capital territory until the President returns to the country or resigns.

Oputa had floated a campaign group which he termed, “Our Mumu Don Too Much”, which he said is aimed at encouraging the youth to rise and take their destiny in their own hands and not keep waiting perpetually for the current leaders and elders who have continued to brainwash them with such deceptive slogans as, ‘Youths are our leaders of tomorrow,’ without showing any sign of walking their talk. …President’s mid-term scorecard is poor On the President’s midterm scorecared and the recent statement credited to the Imo State Governor and Chairman of APC Governors Forum, Rochas Okorocha, that two years is too early to judge the APC-led federal government, Ezeife said the governor would not have escaped mass booing if he had dared preach such to his people during his first tenure as Imo governor.

42

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

Crime

NDLEA nabs woman in largest hemp haul

• Timilehin with the bags of Indian hemp.

Stories by XAVIER NDAH

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woman Timilehin Vincent Iyama, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) following a discovery of a Indian Hemp popularly known as ‘igbo’ depot at IyanaIra, Ketu-Lagos.

The present seizure is said to be the single largest since the Special Area Command Seme border was established about twenty-oneyears ago.

The woman believed to be a dealer on the enterprise was arrested when a total of 7.5 tons of the illicit merchandise was seized

in a sting operation carried out by Seme Special Area Command of the Agency.

Principal Staff Officer, Public Affairs (NDLEA) Jonah Achema told The Oracle that Timilehin, mother

of four from Ifon, Ondo State claimed that ‘her husband, Vincent Iyama, an indigene of Kwale, Delta State brought in the Cannabis sativa, known in local parlance as “wee-wee” from Ondo State

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he duo of Ebenezer Joshua and Franca Johnson have been arraigned by the Economic and Finance Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Abbas Ahman of the Kebbi State High Court on a three count charge of forgery.

The accused persons who once worked together at a new generation bank allegedly conspired and forged the Certificate of registration of the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML).

The scam came to light when the SCUML received two regis-

•The suspects

tration forms for clearance from a new generation bank bearing the names, Noble Women for Better Tomorrow Initiative and another, Support Initiative for Better Maternal Health. Upon receipt of the certificate, some abnormalities were discovered during verification, including the fact that the sector codes on the certificates were those allocated to construction companies and not NGOs. After the conclusion of the discrete investigation, the officials of the NGO were invited and they volunteered statements.

Also the accused persons were invited and after their statements were recorded, their offices were searched. An original Certificate of registration of SCUML and six forged ones were recovered in the process.

The operatives also raided the business centre where the accused persons were said to be using to conduct their illegal activities.

Upon conclusion of the investigation it was discovered that the first accused person, Ebenezer Joshua, was an employee of a new generation Bank and that he was approached by the Chairperson of the Noble Women for Better Tomorrow Initiative who wanted to open an ac-

the MTN mast located at Gbalefu village Ajebo, vandalized it and were in the process of taking away valuable equipment from the said mast.

Ogun state police command spokesman Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP, Abimbola Oyeyemi told The Oracle that based on the information the DPO led his men to the scene where the suspects were rounded up in the act.

He said a Ford bus with registration number EPE 613DJ, tools which they used in dismantling the mast, Cash sum of N98,600, telephone handsets of different types, many ATM and identity cards were recovered from them.

Meanwhile, he said the suspects have since owned up to the crime and made confessional statements adding that they have confessed that they came from differ-

him that he was being chased by detectives attached to the Task Force who are always stationed at the nooks and crannies of Oshodi.

The agency’s spokesman , Adebayo Taofiq, said “the notorious criminal, who specialises in dispossessing innocent members of the public of their valuable items on that particular day had snatched a ‘Gionee P5’ phone from a lady who alighted from a commercial bus on the Oshodi bridge”.

He said the Enforcement team of the Agency, who were alerted immediately after the incident chase and arrested him while the telephone was recovered.

According to him, the suspect had confess that he was in the habit of always hiding under the guise of

hawking bottled water and help himself by stealing people’s valuables most especially mobile telephones to enable him meet up with the demands of his wife.

The suspect said since he couldn’t raise enough money to cater for her through selling water so he device other means of helping himself.

He pleaded that he has nobody to help him and if he is jailed his wife will die of hunger and even he may end up there as there was nobody to help him“please help me I won’t do it again, I will like to see my child being delivered to me” he explained.

Reliving her ordeal the victim, Miss Onyejekwu Perpetual, explained that she was alighting from a bus, unknown to her that the miscreant was up to a sinister motive.

ent parts of the country and met at ijebu ode for their operations.

The commissioner of police CP Ahmed Iliyasu has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to FSARS for further investigation and possible prosecution of the suspects.

Pickpocket begs police for time to see pregnant wife

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•Olalekan

was based on a tip-off and very intense surveillance, is a major breakthrough for the Command.

“Although the Area command has made a cumulative seizure of about six tons since January, this present seizure is the single largest since the Command was established about twenty-0ne years ago.

The Special Area Commander has called on all well-meaning citizens to be more vigilant and to come forward with more of such hints to help the Agency to dismantle all the cannabis supply chains. According to him, Cannabis has become a locally threatening drug, given the volume of local production and consumption, a situation that calls for all Nigerians to work harder to stamp it out.

“With the present seizure alone, a lot of cannabis retail outlets within the metropolis are already sent out of business”, he maintained.

How two bankers forged SCUML certificates

Eight arrested vandalizing MTN mast

ight persons have been apprehended for allegedly vandalising telecommunication mast belonging to a telecommunications giant MTN in Ogun state.

The suspects Tunde Adebayo, Adewole Saheed ,Chinedu Eze,Isaac Dele,Henpery Evans,Emmanuel Otulo ,Olaniyan Olayinka and Jimoh Idowu were arrested following an information received by the Divisional Police Officer ,DPO,Owode Egba, Chief Superintendent of Police,CSP, Sheu Alao that the men who came with a Ford bus with registration number EPE 613DJ have stormed

where the illicit drug crop is predominantly cultivated.

‘The drug exhibit was stored in the family’s apartment at No. 40, Kayode Badejo Street, Off Chief Tunde Aluko Street, Iyana-Ira, Lagos. A Toyota Sienna 2005 model with registration KTU 737 DZ was also seized from the suspect’.

According to him, the suspect, a JSS 3 school drop-out hides under the guise of dealing in Garri by neighbours but investigations

by NDLEA showed that she was a wholesale dealer in Cannabis.

As at the time of her arrest, the husband is said to have travelled back to Ondo State, being the source of their illicit consignment.

It was gathered that she and the husband have been into the illicit business for a couple of years.

Commenting on the seizure Special Area Commander, Seme, Udotong Noah, a Commander of Narcotics, said the seizure which

young man who was arrested by operatives of the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences (Enforcement Unit), for allegedly stealing a mobile telephone has pleaded to the police to have mercy and let him go to fend for his pregnant wife.

The suspect Owoeye Olalekan who resides at House No 39, OkeOko Street, Ishawo, Ikorodu, owned up to the crime, attributing it to his preparation for his unborn baby, as his wife was four months pregnant.

Olalekan, was caught after snatching a Gionee P5 handset from one Onyejekwu Perpetual on the everbusy Oshodi bridge and disappeared into the crowd unknown to

count in the name of the NGO but she was told by the first accused person that she needed a certificate of registration from SCUML. Subsequently, the first accused person collected money from her to facilitate the issuance of SCUML certificate, which is actually done free of charge. He obtained a copy of the original certificate from the second accused person, reproduced a copy for the chairperson.

One of the count against the accused persons read that “You Ebenezer Joshua and Franca Johnson sometime in July, 2015 at Stanbic IBTC in Birnin Kebbi, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court conspired among yourselves to commit offense, to wit forgery, punishable under Section 97(2) of the Penal Code Law. Both accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge.

In view of the plea of the accused persons, prosecution counsel Rimamsomte Ezikeil asked the court for two clear days for commencement of the hearing of the matter.

Magnus Ihejirika for the first accused person informed the court that he was just briefed to handle the matter and could not file a formal bail application because of time.

He therefore made oral bail application on behalf of his client.

However, Hussaini Zakariyya for the second accused person applied formally that his client be admitted to bail.

Prosecution counsel objected to the oral application made by the counsel to the first accused person. He argued that such application should be presented formally. In respect of the second accused person, Ezikeil informed the court that he was just served with the bail application and needs time to respond.

Justice Ahman adjourned the matter to 4th and 5th October for the commencement of trial and referred the issue of bail to the vacation judge.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

NEWS

APC Government pays lip service to education --ASUU From RAYMOND OZOJI, Awka

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cademic Staff Union of Universities in (ASUU) says the All Progressive Congress led-federal government pays what it described as lip service to education in Nigeria.

The union said government has not given education the due attention it deserves when compared to what the sector had had in the last 5 years.

ASUU said the APC-led federal government is the worst so far in the way and manner it has handled the nation’s education sector in the

past two years.

ASUU Chairperson Nnamdi Azikiwe University chapter Prof.

Dennis Aribodor stated this at the union’s secretariat in Awka during an exclusive interview with The Orale Today.

He said: “I say it is worse because in the APC manifesto, they said they would work and give education 15% of the budget. But, the APC government has done at least two budgets in Nigeria since they came to power. In the 2017 budget, the government budgeted 6.14% to education as against 15% they

proposed in their manifesto and as against 26% UNESCO proposed. “ The ASUU NAU chairperson further disclosed that last year, the APC budget was about 8% for education, pointing out that the ruling party has not done any better than the PDP-led federal government it took over from.

He said in spite of the fact that ASUU embarked on a one-week warning strike to press home its demands as contained in the agreement cum memorandum of understanding it entered into with the federal government in 2013 to end a

5-month old strike action embarked upon by the union, the incumbent federal government seems complacent and not forthcoming about addressing pressing issues in the nation’s education sector .

According to him, past and present governments were liable for the poor standard of education in the country as the status quo has culminated into infrastructural decay, crisis, poverty and squalor, unemployment and insecurity, indiscipline and moral bankruptcy, among others.

He accused the federal govern-

Igbo culture, tradition on display as Ogidi celebrates Nwafor

By THEO RAYS

•Women Police Inland Town Division presenting a gift to the retiring DPO, Mr Ambrose Igbokwe during the Send forth organised by well wishers. Photo by Modestus Igudobi

Ojoto goes agog with Ufiejioku Festival Stories by UZO UGWUNZE

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t was pomp and pageantry over the weekend at Ojoto-Obofia in Idemili South Local Government Area (IDSLGA) of Anambra state as they celebrated their new yam festival popularly known as Ufiejioku.

To this end, the Regent of Ojoto Akanasato community, High Chief Gerald Mbamalu (Asato III of Ojoto) described the festival as a period of thanksgiving to God for always providing food crops to mankind despite their frailties, adding that yam is regarded as the king of the crops in Igboland and anytime it is harvested, it represents the ushering in of all other fresh food crops for man’s consumption.

He further revealed that ufiejioku festival as a period of celebrating peace and harmony in the community which has two major divides as a result of the Idemili River (Mmili John) that passed through the middle of the town resulting in the nomenclature-Ojoto Obofia made up of six major villages and Ojoto Uno made up of two major villages.

“There is seedtime and harvest time. This is when to know God loves us by allowing yam seedlings have good yield. That means Ojoto people will never go hungry. We thank God for his blessings. We hope that next year would be greater. We ask for peace in the entire Ojoto Akanasato because without peace and love there is no progress,” he prayed.

While performing the traditional rites at his Palace, High Chief Mbamalu said that if the Igwe or his representative eats yams the entire Ojoto people have eaten saying that the festival would last three days.

“According to our customs and

traditions, Ojoto is eating yam today.

The regency council, unbehalf of the Igwe that embarked on a journey has to eat first before the whole Ojoto people. The Regency council, traditionalists, town union and entire Ojoto Akanasato is here today to celebrate the Ufiejioku festival,” he said.

Moreover, High Chief Mbamalu eulogized the achievements of Governor Obiano of Anambra state which include Security, Agricultural prowess, remuneration of workers and pensioners as and when due, attracting both foreign and indigenous investors to the state among others,

adding that government should not overlook Ojoto people since they support and respect the laws of the land.

Similarly, cabinet members and titled men in Ojoto Chief Michael Okigbo (Onwa Ojoto), Chief Anumba Joe Obimma (Palace secretary), High Chief Sir Donatus Ezemadike II of Ojoto, Chief Okey Obiugo and Prof Victor Anosa all said they were happy to be celebrating the new yam with their Regent, saying that Igbos as hardworking people were always happy whenever God blesses their handwork with increase in farm produce.

s the Anambra state governorship election approaches and A communities, associations and

to support Governor Obiano in his good works, support his 2nd term bid; market all the achievements of the governor for it to be clear to Ndi Anambra to see; win the support of people to re-elect the governor for a second term and gather intelligence about pressing needs of the people which would be brought to the attention of the governor.

“The essence of this group is that it is a united front for major stakeholders from Anambra whose sole aim is to support the governor and his policies, especially in terms of re-election; to market what he has done for Anambra which is unbeatable. We also go from town to town to articulate what the governor has done for them and also ask them what they would want His Excellency to do for them within the limited resources of the state,” Enefe said.

Speaking during the occasion, the Regent of Ojoto community, High Chief Gerald Mbamalu assured the delegates from Awka of support, saying that because of the good

The ingredients of Igbo culture and tradition were displayed in full stretch last week at the ancient town of Ogidi in Anambra State just as the people of the town suspended business activities to mark the annual Nwafor Festival.

The Festival, which lasted for three days was characterized by events similar to all that are obtainable during the popular Christmas period with all types of masquerades, cultural dance groups and highlife musicians adding frenzy and razzmatazz to it.

Top of the bill was a courtesy visit paid to the traditional ruler of the town His Royal Majesty Igwe Pharm Alex Onyido by a group called Faith Care, a renowned charity organization from the United States specialized in rendering free healthcare services to the people round the world.

Igwe Onyido along with his cabinet chiefs were on hand at the Palace to receive them.

Receiving the group on behalf of the entire people of Ogidi, Igwe Onyido commended the group for their concern for the good health of humanity and for providing free healthcare service to his people.

The ruler who took time to pray and offer Royal blessing from His throne to all members of the entourage, said the people of Ogidi were happy to receive them, adding that it gave them special joy to identify with such a wonderful organization.

…Drums support for Obiano, asks for more

stakeholders continue to throw their weight behind the second term bid of Governor Willie Obiano and the need for Anambra north senatorial zone to enjoy up to eight years of running the affairs of the state, Ojoto community in Idemili South Local Government Area (IDSLGA) has endorsed the governor as their consensus candidate but asked for proper representation of Ojoto people in the governor’s cabinet and agenda.

Ojoto community made their governorship candidate choice known officially during a town-hall meeting between the Stakeholders for Willie Obiano for 2nd term (SWO) and stakeholders of Ojoto Akanasato at the St. Paul’s Catholic Church Christian Women organization (CWO) hall Ojoto-Obofia recently.

In his address, the National Coordinator of the SWO, Chief Ekene Enefe said the aim of the association is

ment of promoting private and commercial education Nigerians cannot afford even when the constitution provides that education should be free from primary to tertiary level.

ASUU also raised the issue of operating license for its Nigerian University Pensions Management Company, which the government promised to grant the union to enable it cater for its pensioners and retirees to save them from dying like other pensioners perpetually waiting and dying on queues for their pensions.

governance of Governor Obiano, his entire community made up of one Ward has decided to give him not less than 70 percent of their vote during November 18,2017 guber-election in the state.

“Ojoto people don’t belong to any particular political party. What they are interested is who is there as the helmsmen and what is that person doing. We have seen Willie Obiano and we know he is doing well. All the leaders representing various villages in the entire Ojoto Obofia and Ojoto Uno are here and we have resolved to repeat our feat just as we did during the House of Assembly election. To be frank, we’re giving him nothing lesser than 70 percent of our votes,” said Mbamalu The Regent however requested that Governor Obiano to construct Oba-Ojoto-Nnewi road and Oba-Ojoto –Umuoji road.

He also requested that Ojoto be elevated to urban status as the headquarters of Idemili South Local Government Area.

The ruler described Nwafor Festival as a time of joy and happiness during which the people come together in love and unity to wine and dine together in memory of their forefathers and to offer prayers to God for a successful season ahead.

He said that this year edition of the festival is special to him because it is the first after his emergence as the ruler of the town, noting that his palace as the ruler of the town will play host to various cultural groups, masquerades and visitors as part of the festival.

“We are happy that we were able to overcome the challenges of getting a traditional ruler, good to tell you that today we have a peaceful, lovely and United people of Ogidi after a along time of battle for the igweship throne,” he added Going further to give account of his stewardship, the ruler said that his near 12 months on the throne of his forefathers has given Ogidi a direction, stressing that he has been able to respond to the needs of the people in terms of security of lives and property, youth empowerment and maintenance of peace, love and unity of the people.

He said: “I was elected in August last year and the first thing I targeted was to bring people to together and I have succeed in doing that. We are together; my cabinet Chiefs are wonderful people who are ever committed to the development and progress of the town, and under my rein they are not doing badly.

“Let me seize this opportunity to appreciate and commend my cabinet chiefs and the entire people of community for their support in choosing me to lead them and their continued support to ensure that our vision and mission for the development and progress of the town are actualized.”

He gave Governor Willie Obiano a pass mark most especially in the areas of security, development in agriculture and prompt payment of workers pointing out that it will be very interesting to Ndi Anambra if Obiano is reelected to run for another four years.

In his response the leader of the charity group Professor John Nwangwu who is an indigene of Ogidi said that the group came from Amichi in Nnewi South Council Area of Anambra State on a two-week working visit where they are currently providing free medical service to the people through Anglican Diocese of Amichi.

Nwangwu said they came to felicitate with the people of his own town on the occasion of Nwafor Festival commending the people for ensuring that the town is peaceful while celebrating the festival.

44

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

NEWS

Calabar Channel, not a bogus contract – CCC

•The retiring DPO Inlad Town Police Division, Mr Ambrose Igbokwe (8th right) in a group photograph with friends and well wishers after the Mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church Inland Town Onitsha. Photo by Modestus Igudobi

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ANAGING Director of the Calabar Channel Management, CCM, Company Limited, Mr. Bart Van Eenoo has demanded an immediate apology and a retraction from the former Kaduna State Military Governor, Col. Abubakar Dangiwa Umar (rtd) over his recent statement that the contract for the management of the Calabar Channel awarded to CCM “is a bogus scam to siphon public funds”.

Eenoo in a statement in Abuja on Monday said the failure of the retired Colonel to meet the demand “will leave our company with no other option than to seek legal redress as the statement has cast aspersion on our integrity”.

He said it was disheartening that Umar, a leading national figure could spurn lies on a legal entity without verifiable facts, adding that contrary to the claims of the

former military governor, “our company has dredged the water channel by deploying dredgers, survey vessels, buoyage tender, wreck removal cranes and other ancillary marine crafts which so far, 16.3 kilometres out of the envisaged 20 kilometres high spots within Tomshort Island had been dredged with the deepening of the channel to 6.5 metres datum.

“It is absurd that someone can accuse our company of “a bogus scam” when our partnersBoskalis and Westminster Dredging, internationally acclaimed companies are involved. All the stakeholders at the Calabar Port including the NPA’s Station Manager in Calabar then, had alluded to the fact that CCM carried out appreciable work on the dredging until the disruption of work by the NPA. Even some of the stakeholders were always aboard

the dredgers during the cause of the dredging to have a feel of the work done. It is therefore, not correct that we did not carry out any dredging at the Calabar Channel”, he added.

Justifying further that work was carried out on the dredging, he said CCM on August 20, 2015 for instance, through its bankers, UBA, paid $1,207,440 to Dredging International Services for crewing and provision of logistics at the Calabar channel for nine weeks, $500,000 to Nigerian Westminster Dredging and Marine for dredging services at the Channel and $3,600,000 to Societe de Dragage for dredging services.

“If the former military governor is alleging that we did not dredge the Channel, why did our company pay for the services of these companies even when our invoices with the NPA were not paid? We have

spent more on the dredging than what NPA has so far paid us”, he said.

On the allegation that the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, in its report on the JVC advised against the dredging of the Calabar Channel, Eenoo said the transaction has a “No Objection Certificate” signed by the former Director-General of the BPP, Engr. Emeka Eze. According to him, a former Board Chairman of the NPA had written to the Presidency against the project and the President then, referred the matter to the BPP which after evaluating the matter gave the “No Objection Certificate” and said the complaint by the former Board Chairman of the NPA was merely personal differences which it advised should not affect the integrity of the project. The former Chairman also wrote to withdraw the petition.

By IBE NWACHUKWU

states that “an outsider does not have inheritance in another man’s estate.”

Represented by the Deputy National Chairman Coalition of APC support group South, Ambassador Mustapha Adeyawayu, the National chairman tasked the group to embark on immediate houseto-house mobilization exercise to convince the Anambra electorate on the need to vote for APC and return the state to the party at the centre.

He added that the State cannot afford to continue to survive in opposition particularly at this period of economic recession in the country as such would deny them their fair share of the National cake and retard the state development.

He said: “I charge you as coalition group to work as a team and ensure that you left no stone unturned to bring more people to join

the party in your various wards and local government areas. We are confident that APC is going to win the Anambra election come Nov. 18 and all hands must be on deck to ensure that APC sweeps the polls.

Also speaking, a founding father of AD and a BOT member of APC of Anambra State extraction based in Lagos State, Chief Chris Igweilo counselled the members to be fishers of men for APC in the interest of Ndigbo and the party.

He charged the chairman of the group to ensure that every member of the group is carried along and not to compromise the position of the group in favour of any particular candidate in the election.

“I want to warn you to be very careful as the chairman. Your position demands enough of political will and courage to resist the temptation of money bag politicians who will come to dangle the carrot

around you. I don’t say you should refuse the Ghana-Must-Go when it comes around you, but try also to tell them that your group is for APC and candidates of the party in the election.

In his speech, the newly inaugurated chairman of the group Comrade Onyebuchi Francis Osakwe thanked the National Executive of the coalition of APC support group for their perseverance, total commitment and resolve to give them the opportunity to serve, promising that the group will do everything within their powers to ensure that they mobilize Anambra electorates to enable APC overrun any other political party in the election.

According to Awogu, “We know that their stock-in-trade is to rig the election because any party that is prepared for the polls cannot talk in that manner. But we are waiting for them”.

Begin to prepare your handover note now, Oyegun tells Obiano ational chairman of the All ProN gressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie Oyegun has asked the

Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano to start now to prepare his handover note to the incoming APC Governor in Anambra State.

Oyegun who stated this in Awka, Anambra State Capital while inaugurating the State chapter of the coalition of APC support group, said the call has become necessary because, no Jupiter will save the state from not being taken over by the APC in the Nov. 18 governorship election.

However, in a swift reaction, the Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters, Hon. Arinzechukwu Awogu described Oyegun and his APC as daydreamers, considering an adage, which

Non-oil export: Nets $20.896b From TONY AILEMEN, Abuja

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GAINST the backdrop of the prevailing economic realities and dwindling oil revenue, Nigeria has earned over $20b Dollars from non-oil exports in the last 10 years.

Despite the low export profile in the non-oil sector, experts believe that the sector holds the future for Nigeria’s economic growth if the economy is properly diversified to boost non-oil exports.

These were the views of Mr. A. A. Lawal, a management consultant who presented one of the lead papers at a one-day training programme organized for newly registered exporters by the Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, in Abuja.

Mr. Lawal, in his presentation, noted that the export policy of the federal government is to increase the competitiveness of the Nigerian export commodities and manufacturing in the international market through the provision of production and processing infrastructure and special and distinct incentive scheme at the various levels of SMEs. “Through export, Nigeria offers a wide range of goods and services to the international market, which includes agricultural products, semi-processed, manufactures, solid minerals, information and communication technology (ICT) and other services,” Lawal said The programme was organized to give specific information about critical aspects of export trade in Nigeria covering areas of export planning, export procedures and documentation, transport system, supply chain management and other logistics support services.

The training was also aimed at giving an overview of the principles and procedures affecting those involved in the international movement of goods and services.

Some of the crops which formed the major focus of the one-day workshop included packaging and export of cocoa and cocoa products, sesame seeds/ beniseeds, cotton, Gum Arabic, ginger, dried split, raw cashew nut, among others.

Lawal however lamented that primary commodities still dominate Nigeria’s non-oil export product basket.

This is just as he declared that Nigeria is currently exporting downwards the value chain instead of up the value chain.

This, according to him, “ provides ample investment opportunities for agro processing industries and manufacturing as a developing and emerging economy, adding that “price development at the international market are unpredictable and volatile.”

“Nigeria’s future competitive advantage depends on development of value-chain for most of the products exported in primary forms. This will accelerate the diversification efforts,” he said.

45

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

SPORTS

Mikel demands World Cup ticket from team-mates Stories by MADUABUCHI KALU

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IGERIA and Tianji TEDA captain, John Obi Mikel has called on his Super Eagles teammate to ensure that they secure the 2018 World Cup ticket for Nigeria in order to save him from impending troubles.

The Super Eagles captain revealed that he will be in trouble if Nigeria do not qualify for the World Cup to be among the countries that will hoist their flags in Vladimir Putin’s country when the global football fiesta kicks off next year.

According Mikel, who has been struggling for form since returning from the injury he sustained during his club game in the Chinese ‘Super League’, is one player who would give anything to ensure that the Super Eagles qualify for the biggest football party in the world.

While fielding question from FIFA web site, Mikel explained that his inlaws want to see him play in their soil during the 2018 FIFA World Cup and failure to be at the World Cup will mean a lot of troubles for him and as a result, he has charged his national teammates to brace up to the challenge particularly the double header against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon on September 1 and 4.

He acknowledge the fact that Eagles are better positioned to get the sole ticket of African Group B of the World Cup Qualifier having garnered 6 points out of two matches while the Cameroonians are placed second with two points after two rounds of matches.

He, therefore, tasked his teammates to rise up to the occasion saying it is not going to be an easy game after all, knowing that the Indomitable Lions are a good side that play physical football. He explained that that Eagles should not lose sight of taking advantage of the four points that separate the two sides to brace up for the challenge.

“Our qualification for the World Cup is very important to me and the lads.

We can’t afford to miss out of the World Cup and we are already in advantaged position having secured the maximum points from our previous games,” Mikel began.

“It is even more important to me in the sense that if we do not qualify, I will be in trouble because my in-laws want to see me play in the World Cup in their own soil.

“You know that my wife is from Russia and most of her friends are from Russia, her siblings and parents are from Russia. They all want to see me

play in the World Cup. So, for me our qualification for the World Cup is an emotional and very important one.

“God forbid, if we do not make it, I will be in serious trouble that is the truth because my in-laws will not take it lightly as they wait to see Eagles land in Russia,” Mikel explained.

Continuing, the Anambra State born, midfield maestro said: “As everyone knows, Cameroon are a very good team. They are strong and they play with confidence. We must get ourselves well prepared for this game and try our best to get on top against them.

“It won’t be easy but these are important matches. If we win both, we will be almost there.”

“We have two wins from two games, and in our last game, we beat Algeria at home. We have a very good young team and the players play good football. If we can win our next match (against Cameroon) it will edge us closer to qualification.

I think we can go through.”

The Nigerian captain used the opportunity of the interview to confirm that he is fast recovering from the injury that sidelined from action for both club and country.

“I had maintained good form until this injury,” he said. “So, it was a shame. But this is part of the game and now I am focusing on recovery and on coming back stronger. I will do whatever I can to get fit to play for Teda and my national team,” Mikel said Speaking further he said: “This Nigeria team look up to me for advice, my team-mates miss me and they need me. As the captain, I want to fulfill my role and help them with my experience.”

It is recalled that in the absence of experience players like Mikel, Moses, Ighalo, Ideye etc. Eagles suffered a humiliating 2-0 defeat in the hands of Bafana Bafana of South Africa in the Africa Nations Cup qualifiers in June, in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

WC/Q: Moses fires Cameroon N

IGERIA and Chelsea striker, Victor Moses has fired serious warning to African Champions, Cameroon who will keep a date with the Super Eagles on September 1 in Uyo for the Group B of the African Zone of the 2018 World Cup Qualifier.

The Nigerian fired the warning to the Cameroonians during Chelsea’s Community Shield game against Arsenal on Sunday when he put Chelsea ahead in the 74th minutes only for the Gunners to restore parity after Pedro was shown the exit door by the referee via Gunner’s new

signing, Sead Kolasinac in the 82 minutes of the thrilling encounter.

It is recalled that Moses was sent packing during the FA Cup against Arsenal for diving with the intention to cheat. It is true that despite the deliberate intention to cheat to restore parity in the FA Cup that earned him a red- card, his manager, Antonio Conte absolved him of any wrong doings by declaring that Moses is not a cheat.

However, the Nigerian who has already been described Conte as irreplaceable in the

Blues’ squad this time, made up for the his mistake during the FA Cup final that saw them lost 2-1 to Emirates based club.

The FA Cup goal is a good way of telling the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon that they should not expect the Eagles that lost to the Bafana Bafana of South Africa in the Africa Cup of Nations Qualifier in Uyo where Eagles faltered against every expectation to be the same Eagles that they would meet on September 1 while the revised fixed is slated for September 4 in Cameroon.

FINA World Swimming Championship afforded us CANA Congresses

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ABATUNDE Fatayi Williams, the President of the Nigeria Aquatics Federation (NAqF) who just returned from this year’s Federation of International Swimming Association (FINA), has exclusively informed the Oracle Today Sports that the FINA World Swimming Championship which held from July 19-31 afforded the presidents of other federations from Africa the opportunity of holding CANA Congresses in Budapest, Hungary.

He explained that it is a normal routine to hold FINA Congresses during any World swimming championship and the just ended FINA World Swimming Championship was no exception as several congresses were held including FINA, CANA and Africa Zone II congress.

“It was a good FINA World Swimming Championship. It was okay,” Williams began.

“Everything went well. Of course FINA normally conduct their congresses during any World Swimming Championship and this one that just ended was not different. There were a lot of congresses ranging from technical congresses of the various FINA aquatics events such as High Diving, Diving, Synchronise swimming, Water Polo, swimming events, Open water etc.

“The various committees of the various aquatics sports held their congresses where new members were elected into various positions.

“It also afforded us the opportunity of holding CANA Congress because many presidents of African Federations attended the FINA World Swimming Champions/Congresses.

“Apart from the CANA Congresses, we equally had our sub-regional zonal congress. I mean we had our Africa Zone II Congress where we deliberated on this year’s Africa Zone Junior Swimming championship which Lagos is going to play host to.

“It was actually a good championship and Budapest was a good host. Everything went on well. The organization was perfect. There is nothing to complain about as far as the host nation is concerned.

“Despite the fact that Hungary was not the one to host this year’s championship they opted to host it and they did well. It was Mexico who supposed to play host to this edition of the FINA World Championship, but due to the drop in crude oil price in the international market, they have to opt out of the hosting right.

“The good thing is that due to the fact that Hungary has developed their infrastructure, they requested to play host the championship instead of waiting for the 2024 edition which they supposed to play host to and they performed excellently well,” Williams explained.

Speaking on the performance of the Nigerian swimming contingent to the World Swimming Championship which held in Budapest, Hungary, William said the swimmers performed well considering the type of preparations they had before championship, describing it as not the best of preparations.

He explained that the swimmers made up two male and a female swimmer virtually prepared themselves for the championship, as there was no board in place during their preparation. So, based on that, they did they best under the circumstance they found

46

The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

SPORTS

How Joshua’s deadly punch forced Klitschko into retirement

Injury knocks out Omeruo from W/Cup qualifier

Stories by MADUABUCHI KALU

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T IS no longer news that former heavy weight champion, Wladimir Klitschko last Thursday announced his retirement from the pugilistic sport that gave him fame and fortune but many people did not realize is that decision did not come easy.

A brief history of Klitschko has it he was born on 25 March 1976 in Ukraine, Eastern Europe. As at today he is being referred to as former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the World Boxing Association (IBA) (Super), International Boxing Federation IBF and World Boxing Organisation WBO titles, as well as the Internationa Boxing Organisation IBO, Ring magazine and Lineal titles.

Klitschko is a strategic and cerebral boxer. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time, as well as among the hardest punching knockout artists in the history of the division; his strong jab, straight right hand and left hook being his most formidable weapons. That is that for his brief history.

Now to why the Ukrainian despite the proposed re-match with 27 year Nigeria born British boxer, Anthony Joshua which supposed to hold in November in the boxing capital of the world, Las Vegas, has to call it quit.

It is true that Klitschko gave a different reason for quitting the square ropes, as he declared that has no motivation for the game any longer having won everything winnable in his chosen career.

On the face value, no follower of the sport would deny him of that but the hidden truth is that, Klitschko quit the square ropes because of the devastat-

By MADUABUCHI KALU with agency report

T

ing punch of the younger Nigerian boxer who knocked him out in the epic Wembley battle that ushered the Nigerian born British boxer as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world via the unification of both WBA and IBF belts.

For years, Klistchko never received any heavy punching like the one he received in the hands of Joshua. He did his best to ensure that he silenced his younger opponent but truly, he knew what he felt after the Joshua fight that is why he does think that it is reasonable enough to subject himself to yet another beating from the same guy that dealt with him.

It is recalled that Klitschko knocked down Joshua in the sixth round but the Nigerian refused to grant his heart desire as he recovered to continue the fight probably because of his determination to succeed and age being on his side.

So, no matter what klitschko’s good reasons are for quitting after having accepted for a rematch in November, the bottom line remains

that he does not want to be subjected to another round of beaten in November by Joshua.

But he has seen it all and should be allowed to go home and enjoy his wealth and in good health. And for the boxing world, it has to wait to see whether there will be another heavyweight pugilist who would bestrode the scene like klistchko. He has paid his dues and his wish is respected.

He will be remembered as one of the best boxers of that category. He achieved a lot during his 11 year illustrious boxing career. He had a total of 69 fights in during his 11 year illustrious boxing career. Out of the 69 fights, he won 64 and 53 of those victories were through knock outs and only lost 5. What a wonderful record. He will certainly be missed.

As a good sportsman, after the April bout in Wembley against Joshua, Klitschko declared: “The best man won. It’s really sad I didn’t make it tonight. But all respect to Anthony.”

That is the spirit.

his is not the best of time for Franco-German Nigerian tactician, Gernot Rohr after news filtered in that Nigerian and Chelsea defender, Kenneth Omeruo suffered an injury during Chelsea friendly game against a fourth-tier club Bergerac Pergord FC in a preseason friendly at the Gaston Simounet Stadium on Saturday.

This is coming barely a month before Eagles’ all important double header World Cup Qualifier against the African champions, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon that would determine whether Nigeria and Nigerians would be able to realize their dream of seeing Eagles land in President Putin’s country next year.

The Nigeria international played through the pain barrier before he was substituted at half-time, according to Canal+ English football television pundit Sébastien Chapuis.

“In possession, Omeruo – who had a quiet game overall in the centre (and went down injured during the first half only to be subbed at the interval) – essentially played the ball across the back three to let Colley and Ampadu play the ball forwards,’’ Chapuis stated in his match report on thechels. net. ‘’ Cole Dasilva came on for the (likely) injured Omeruo.’’

Omeruo’s fitness will be a major concern for Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr, with the German set to announce his roster for two crucial World Cup qualifiers against Cameroon as from next week.

The central defender has been maintaining his fitness by training with Chelsea loanees and U23 squad, before a decision is made on his future by The Blues hierarchy.

Any help for Eagles’ success is welcome –Agu

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ORMER national team goalkeeper and the current national goalkeeper trainer, Alloy Agu says any help from anywhere to ensure that the Super Eagles succeed in their bid to secure the prized 2018 World Cup ticket and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations will be welcomed.

The former national team goal tender stated this in response to the much talked about the appointment of a foreign goalkeeper trainer for the national team by the national team technical adviser, Gernot Rohr.

Agu declared that he no problems working with anybody provided that the set goal of securing the World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations ticket is achieved.

He explained that his loyalty and commitment to Nigeria is never in doubt assuring that he would continue to work hard in order to ensure that Eagles meet their target.

It is recalled that the media was awash penultimate week when

news filtered in that a foreign goalkeeper trainer has been recruited which invariably put question mark on Agu’s job but the football house has since come out to say that his job is not at risk but that the appointment of the Italian goalkeeper trainer is to ensure that there are no lapses anywhere.

“Well, I would like to start by saying that any help no matter where it is coming from to ensure that Eagles achieve their target of securing the sole tickets of our Group B of the 2018 World Cup Qualifier and Africa Cup of Nations qualifying group,” Agu began.

“I will continue to work hard to ensure that I give my best in Eagles’ quest to achieve their set target of the World Cup and AFCON tickets.

“Of course, my commitment and loyalty to my fatherland Nigeria has never come under question. I will continue to do my best to enable the team realize their dream of landing in Russia and Cameroon in 2018 and 2019 respectively,” Agu declared.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the technical committee of the Nigeria Football

Federation (NFF), Barrister Christopher Green has cleared the air over Agu’s job.

According to Green, Agu’s job is safe as the coming in of a foreign goalkeeper trainer has not in any way threatened his job rather that the two goalkeeper trainers would work together to ensure that Nigeria will be able to get a good goalkeeper that is capable of standing in-between the sticks when Eagles file out against Cameroon and other countries.

On the role of Gernot Rohr in Home based Eagles’ camp in Kano, Green said that Coach Yusuf is fully in charge of the team and not Gernot Rohr. Green explained that Rohr is just there to observe their training and to offer pieces of advise where he feels necessary and at the same time observe the goalkeeper to enable him make informed decision on who will man the post for Nigeria against the African champions come September • Alloy Agu in Uyo.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday August 16, 2017

SPORTS

Bolt’s legacy untarnished despite loss to Gatlin Stories by MADUABUCHI KALU

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T IS no longer news that Jamaican legendary speed star and the greatest sprint athlete of the modern era, Usain Bolt, was defeated by the American duo of Justin Gatlin and Christian Coleman to first and second positions respectively at the IAAF World Championship in London on Saturday.

However, the truth is that despite losing the first and second positions to the Americans due to starting late, it does not in any way remove anything from the achievements recorded by the Jamaican.

Of course, it will be difficult for the big shoe that he has left behind to be filled in the nearest possible time. His achievements in 100mtrs, 200mtrs and 1x400mtrs will remain a record for a long time to come.

Bolt remains the only athlete to have won 8 Olympic gold medals in the track and field and 11 World Championship gold medals. No athlete known to mankind has ever achieved this record and these he did without any scandal throughout the 10 year period he reigned as the undisputed track king.

He brought glamour back to athletics and hi exit will no doubt create a big vacuum that will be too difficult to fill. He is loved by everyone due to his carriage and undented image.

Losing his farewell event at the IAAF World Championship

• Usain Bolt in London showed he is human after all. It means he has blood flowing in his vein.

Kudos must also go to the American duo of Gatlin and Coleman for their exploit at the final of Bolt’s memorable race to bring his glorious career to an end. Though it would have been an icing on the cake had

he won the race as he was expected to do but at least he went home with something which is very remarkable.

Speaking after the race which heralded his exit from the sport that brought him fame and fortune, the Jamaican said he didn’t have any regret for participating in the

World Championship which seemed to have dented his impeccable career.

Meanwhile, the President of International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) Lord Coe said he was far from “eulogistic” to see twicebanned American sprinter, Justin Gatlin win the 100 metres at the World Championships in London.

CHAN Eagles departs to Benin Republic via road

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RRANGEMENTS have been concluded for the departure of Nigeria’s home based Eagles to travel to Benin Republic to keep a date with the Squirrels of Benin Republic for the first leg of their Championship of African Nations (CHAN) Qualifier.

According to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) release the team who have been camping in the ancient City of Kano, will fly to Lagos and then travel to Benin Republic via road for their August 12 qualifier with their neighbours, Benin Republic.

The home-based Eagles who are being handled by the Super Eagles’ assistant coach, Salusi Yusuf is confident that the players that he has selected to don the national colours would be able to get good result in Benin Republic.

Meanwhile, President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick has revealed that arrangements have been concluded to fly the Super Eagles in charter private jet to Cameroon and at the same time, arrangements

have been made for their hotel for the September 4 return leg of the double header of the Africa World Cup Qualifier Group B game.

It is recalled that the Eagles

are leading in their Group B standing having garnered six points of the two matches they have played while Cameroon are placed 2nd with two points while Algeria and Zambia are

I

gifting Arsenal their first trophy of the season.

It is recalled that Arsenal played the game without some of their key players like Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi.

Meanwhile, Manager Arsene Wenger has explained why he left some of the first team players in the Community Shield game. According to him, some of the players were left from the game because they were injured and someone like Alex Sanchez was yet to be match fit for the game following his extended leave and ill-health due to his participation in the FIFA Confederation Cup held in Russia in early July.

In his words, Wenger said: “I left them all out because some are short of preparation like Alexis Sanchez,” Wenger told reporters after the game.

Bowie wins dramatic 100m gold

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placed 3rd and 4th respectively.

NIGHT after American Justin Eagles are expected to conGatlin shocked Usain Bolt in the men’s final, Bowie went one solidate on their four points advantage if Nigeria are to make it better than a year ago in Rio as her perto the President Putin’s country fect dip on the line nicked the race from Ta Lou by one-hundredth of a second. come next year.

Arsenal win first trophy of the season T is no longer news that Arsenal FC on Sunday won their first trophy of the season after defeating Antonio Conte’s side in a game that set the tone of what to expect as the 2017/18 English Premier League season.

Nigeria and Chelsea striker, Victor Moses, who was red-carded during the FA Cup final game at Wembley last season gave the Stamford Bridge side the led in the 74 minutes of the game, but the Arsene Wenger boys who suffered an emphatic 3-0 defeat in the hands of their West London neighbours in preseason game refused to given up until they restored parity in the 82 minute via Sead Kolasinac after Pedro was sent off.

The game stood at 1-1 at regulation time before it was decided via penalty. While Arsenal scored their penalties, Chelsea fluff off theirs thereby

Coe conceded it was “not the perfect script” for Gatlin to triumph on what many hoped would be Usain Bolt’s night.

“Sport rarely settles upon the perfect script. Life’s just not like that,” Coe said.

“It’s not the worst result ever.

I’m hardly going to sit here and tell you I’m eulogistic that somebody that has served two bans in our sport would walk off with one of our glittering prizes, but he is eligible to be here.”

Coe said that as head of the IAAF he would have to congratulate Gatlin if their paths crossed in London.

“I think the journey to that point is not a comfortable one for me.” He added: “It’s not the perfect script.”

Gracious in victory, an emotional Gatlin knew his achievement was not the crowd’s will.

After embracing Bolt, he let his rival soak up the adoration and gave up his right to a lap of honour. “It’s still Usain Bolt’s night,” said Gatlin, who has no intention of retiring. “He has done so much for the sport. Win or lose, he’s the man. The first thing I did when I crossed the line, I paid homage to him. Bolt is an electrifying character who has run sizzling times, mind-blowing times.

I have nothing but respect for him.”

Moreover, the American was booed by fans whenever his face appeared on the giant screen at Wembley suggesting that his victory was despised by the fans who felt that somebody who had served two bans does not deserve to dent Bolt’s career.

“Per had a cut on his forehead. It is nothing bad. It was just bleeding and open, but it is not bad.”

Ozil (ankle) and Ramsey (calf) are doubts for Arsenal’s opening Premier League match at home to Leicester City on Friday.

Asked if any of the players who missed the Community Shield would play, Wenger added: “Overall, we will see.

Jamaican favourite Thompson, who had looked peerless in winning her semi-final earlier in the evening, had a start even worse than Bolt’s and appeared to lose her stride twice as she faded into fifth.

Ivory Coast’s Ta Lou initially thought she had it won, but her personal best of 10.86 was good enough only for silver, the Netherlands’ Schippers coming through for bronze in 10.96.

Having won gold in both the 100m and 200m in Rio, Thompson came to London Stadium as the fastest woman in the world in 2017.

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Ozubulu: Oddities of nothingness

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M I human enough? How different am I from other members of the human race. Why does the sight of blood, the source notwithstanding, disturb for days?

Why do I still consider the shooting at Ozubulu odd? Is something wrong with me or am I wrong with something?

Sunday, 6 August was marked in my mind as a lazy Sunday. No visit, no work, just relaxing and as the spirit moved, some calls, some chats and the day would have been spent. A different script awaited me.

The speed with which we made Ozubulu, unsure of where St. Philip’s Catholic Church, Ofufe Amakwa, Ozubulu, in Ekwusigo Local Government of Anambra State, was remains incomprehensible to me. There was no need to bother about the direction.

Anyone you asked in the Ozubulu-Nnewi Road axis described the place perfectly. People ought to know. The fanfare that preceded the dedication of the newly finished church last May stood the community out. Today the extent of the tragedy made knowing St. Philip’s almost mandatory.

My mind was on other things--how people decide to shoot, to kill, the intensity of the matter that would result in these decisions.

Individually, we can become important, big, popular, rich, famous, so much so that any impingement of our status would qualify for a massacre that defied sanctity of a place of worship.

Our nothingness enveloped my mind. The dead had their plans for Sunday. Being an early service most would have arrived without breakfast, other things had to wait. Their empty stomachs eager for nourishment that was expected after mass went to eternity empty because someone was angry beyond reason.

As they worshipped, placing their worries and cares before the Almighty, gunmen stepped up fired, emptied their mission through hot lead that interrupted lives and the future of more lives. They left mission accomplished, satisfied, at least partially.

If they missed their target, they at least an impression of their capacities, their anger, their vaulted emotions, that would remain incomprehensible to the likes of me. They are probably somewhere celebrating their mission, as we concentrated on the dastardly actions. All these seem very confusing to me.

My mind kept wondering. As I looked at the splash of blood on the fore door of St. Philip’s, a contribution from the dead, the injured, I wondered what the Almighty was thinking as He watched the desecration of a place of worship, as He beheld the death of worshippers that Sunday morning, as He looked on the gunmen, His creation, descending on His other creations.

Was it a father’s love that made Him allow them get away? He is a merciful God. Was that why the gunmen, whoever sent them, whoever planned the attack with them, reckoned that the Almighty would not intervene? How do human beings muster such effrontery that they live above fear, respect, for their Creator?

Could they have ventured such performance in a shrine? I imagined that whoever their target was, had chosen Sunday to worship in any of the frightening shrines around.

Osinbajo’s pretence

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•Osibanjo Would they have trailed him there, looking in the shrunk hollowness of those places and fire shots at the followers of the deity?

Something told me that they would not.

Are those not the same deities they subscribe to their powers? Are they not emboldened by the powers of the deities? Do they not believe in the instantaneity of the judgment of the deities?

Lives have been lost. Fortunes have turned to misfortunes. Families that knew nothing, had nothing to do with the life and death business that brought death to church would suffer. Hardly anything would ameliorate the losses and the new fears that have become items of the community’s life.

It is not true that nothing shocks Nigerians any more. Ozubulu shocked us-- the shocks are still reverberating. I am not out of that shock; I may not be for a long

time. Not after I saw that woman dying in the emergency award at Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi. Not with the image of that young girl, swinging her legs, unaware of the fate of her mother, whose wounds from St. Philip may never heal – if she survives. Nothing after the trivialisation of the killing as a community feud, a way of confessing that nothing would be done about it. Not after the debate over the number of the dead seems to suggest that not enough people died for the incident to qualify as a tragedy.

Ozubulu throws up oddities about the emptiness of life, the nothingness of our bigness, the futilities of our tomorrows and the sorrows that chasing after the winds of life are.

I wish I didn’t visit the scenes of the bestialities. They have refused to leave my mind.

HE acting President, Yemi Osinbajo has human rights surrounding his entire career. I am constrained to add politics as one of his careers. There would be few debates about how he has excelled in all of them. Not many lawyers become attorney general, a senior advocate and a professor of law, in one life. Law, I would speculate, centres on rights of humans, which may be different from human rights. An essential ingredient of that right is freedom of speech.

He is also a pastor who rose through the power rungs of his church, to points where the General Overseer, with his many sons, knew this son very well. Right of humans, their well-being is an important consideration for religious organisations. I only hope that I am not speculating.

Then he is a politician, a profession where the practitioners keep telling the people, “I am here because of you”, a vacuous statement that may refer to the fact that your “votes” earned them the position. It is not affirming that they would serve you. Those images of service on the streets are pre-election issues, as the courts would say about election disputes. Where our handshakes with politicians go beyond the elbow, we have rights to remind them that Section 14 (2) b of the 1999 Constitution states that the security and welfare of the people should be the primary purpose of government.

I was at last convinced that Pastor, Professor, Politician Osinbajo, SAN, acting President of Nigeria, had arrived when he made his remarkable speech that cast anyone with a complaint as an “appointment seeker”. He had supporters, as all men and women of power have. He was telling us to “shut up, no matter your condition”. His position was a clear departure to the pretences that government had patience for our petitions.

No complaints about my ward who would not be admitted to a federal government school for, since he scored 135 instead of 139, he would wait until his compatriots who were so brilliant that they scored 20, instead of benchmarks of 4, 6, 10 set for them, had been admitted. If I said a word, if I complained, it’s because I wanted an appointment, which, it would appear, is a crime, coming from me.

A businessman was complaining that he was spending an extra N20m freighting his raw materials from Lagos to the Calabar Free Trade Zone. He would have saved more than three-quarters of that money, which could pay the salaries of more than 200 of his workers, if the ports in Calabar, Port Harcourt were working. The man too is a hustler.

Professor Osinbajo has moved to the final phase of pretence. Some say it is his own contribution to the hate speech that is dominating the country. At least I know where he stands as professor of law, a pastor, a politician who dazzled us not too long ago with promises of a better Nigeria.

Freedom of speech is not part of a better Nigeria. Aspirations are ruled out and expectations to be appointed to serve Nigeria are not in the bargain.

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