Wednesday October 4 edition

Python Dance: Catholic Bishop knocks FG From BONIFACE OKORO, Umuahia

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ATHOLIC Bishop of Umuahia Diocese, Most Rev. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, says that the killing of defenceless members of the Indigenous People of Biafra

by the Nigerian Army cannot be justified. Most Rev. Ugorji, in a statement released in Umuahia Tuesday and made available to The Oracle Today, describe the action of the Federal Government as a breach of the tenets of

The

VOX POPULI SACRUM

true democracy.

In the three-page statement which he personally signed and titled: “Operation Python Dance II: A Tale of Terror, Blood and Tears,” the Bishop condemned the deployment of soldiers who

brazenly breached all known international rules of engagement.

The statement read in part: “We must express our disappointment that government decided to deploy heavily armed soldiers for a show of force in the South East

in a very volatile and provocative atmosphere. Rather than engage soldiers to eliminate non-violent agitators, government should urgently address the anomalies that are the root causes of agitations in

racle

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Today

Today

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WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 4, 2017

ISSN: 2545-5869

VOL.2 No. 41. N200

Oct 1 anxiety increases From BONIFACE OKORO (Umuahia), CHUKS EZE (Enugu), CHRISTIAN EZE (Yenagoa), EMMA OGOIGBE (Warri), CHUKS COLLINS (Awka) and JONATHAN AWANYAI (Asaba)

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rdinarily, October 1 every year is a day of merriment and flowery tributes to Nigeria’s Founding Fathers. This is because it was on October 1 1960 that Nigeria gained political independence from Great Britain after some 60 years of colonial rule.

But, as October 1 this year approaches, there is anxiety that what it may bring with it this time around may not be cheers and

Rivers Govt accuses APC, Police of plot to kill students

•FG silence alarms many •We expect no incident - Ohanaeze •Assurances too shallow – Prophet Chukwuma •There is still fear of the unknown – Tonjo West tributes to the country’s founding fathers but jeers and tears from ethnic and religious troublemakers and their victims.

In what many saw as a joke taken rather too far, a group under the aegis of Northern Youth Coalition on June 6 this year gave the Igbo in the North till October 1, this year, to vacate Northern

Nigeria or face the consequences of ignoring the quite notice.

The youths threatened to kill the Igbo who fail to leave and to cease or destroy all their property in the North, whether they leave or stay.

They said their action was triggered by the agitation for self-determination in the East by

pro-Biafra groups, adding that the activities of the groups not only threatened Nigeria’s unity but also the interest of the North.

Obviously aghast at the temerity of the agitators, the Coalition even went as far as asking the then Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo to initiate processes, using the instrumentality of the Unit-

ed Nations, towards conducting a referendum to allow the Igbo to leave Nigeria and form their Biafra.

Since then, there have been a lot of toing and froing on the matter by political actors trying to douse tension arising from the quit notice.

The youths themselves have re-

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•APC dismisses allegation as pedestrian propaganda From NATH OMAME, Port Harcourt

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IVERS State Government has alleged that it has uncovered plot by the All Progressives Congress, APC, and “some evil-minded Nigerian police officers to instigate the students of tertiary institutions in the State to embark on protest against non-payment of bursary and in the process, a few will be shot by the police to give the State Government a bad name and label the State as unsafe.”

The revelation was contained in a statement issued, Tuesday, in Port Harcourt by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Barr. Emma Okah. According to the statement, “This plot is part of the orchestrated plan by the opposition and some police officers to continue to create crisis in the State, create

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•CELEBRATION: Vice President Yemi Osibanjo with Gov. Udom Emmanuel at the 30th annivary of the creation of Akwa Ibom

•Finally, P-Square parts ways

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The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

NEWS

Oct 1 anxiety increases Continued from Page 1 canted and reaffirmed their commitment to enforcing the quit several times over.

Northern Elders, led by the fiery Ango Abdullahi, a former Vice Chancellor, who initially supported the quit notice have also assured that the Igbo are free to live in the North with any fear of molestation.

However, little or no reassurances have come from the federal government whose pronouncement on the matter is expected to douse much of the tension.

So, with October 1 barely four days away, there is panic in the land over uncertainties attendant to the foreboding date, which has become the nation’s albatross rather than its freedom day.

However, many who spoke with The Oracle Today on the date expressed optimism that even though there are no visible security preparations by the federal government to secure Igbo in the North against the uncertainties of October 1, there are enough assurances from the youths who gave the quit notice, the elders who supported them and many other Nigerians of goodwill and groups, that ‘October 1 is not likely to come.’

“We are not expecting any eventuality because the Northern youths have withdrawn the quit notice and I don’t think their threat to eject Ndigbo would still

be effective again,” declared Ogbonnaya Akoma, Publicity Secretary, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Abia State chapter. “More so, there have been reconciliatory moves by all sides.”

His advice: “We better remain united as one country. For Nigeria to be great, we should abhor corruption and kill nepotism in all ramifications and uphold merit by putting square pegs in square holes. Nigerians should learn to do the right things at all times.”

Similarly, Brother Ezenwa Odimuko, an elder statesman and currently, the coordinator of Abia Founding Fathers and erstwhile President of Igbo Cultural Association who resided in the North for decades believes that nothing untoward will happen on October 1.

“Nothing will happen but we rather be careful because the heart is deceitful,” he said. “We should all be clear that the reason for all that is happening is because of the agitation by the

Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and their agitation stems from dissatisfaction with the federal government’s marginalization of Ndigbo. If things are done orderly, decently and in the right way, there will be no agitations and no threats.

“The threat is a sign that they are afraid of Ndigbo and they know that no one can threaten Ndigbo and get away with it. The only snag is that Ndigbo don’t know what they have.”

Speaking philosophically, he said: “Nothing is permanent. Only God owns Nigeria. He created all the tribes in the country and located them in their respective regions. Let us turn to God and allow Him to lead the nation.”

For his part, Prophet Chukwuma, G.O of Christ Foundation Miracle International Chapel, Lagos said Ndigbo should not trust the shallow assurances being given by some northern leaders, noting that “there has been no official and categorical warning to Area

Youths and those they have brainwashed to foment troubles.”

“Moreover, you cannot trust anybody that cannot tell you the truth,” he added.

“I had earlier advised Ndigbo to return home. Danger is not yet averted. The only thing is that October 1 may be free. But, I advise those that are still there to be very vigilant. If possible, stay indoors till 6th and refuse to be provoked by any means.

“I saw a lot of scary revelations which I cannot make public now.

The country is so tense but our people are stubborn. They call it a protest, and it snowballs into something else. So, please, refuse to be provoked. Everything will be after October 1. But may God take control.

“I see more bloodshed; I do not know where it is flowing from; I do not know where it will start from.

May God take control” “The blood of the innocent is crying, and as long as that continues, this country will never know

•Peter and Paul apart

Finally, P-Square parts ways Get The Oracle Today delivered by the minute to you. Install app from Google playstore

To be serialised in The Oracle Today soon

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HE musical twins, Peter and Paul Okoye, P-Square Famous Nigerian music duo, Psquare appear to have finally parted ways with a video of their fights uploaded, and a letter already gone to their lawyer asking that the partnership be finally broken. The latest tiff is one in a series of disagreement between the brothers,

that the others lack is redeemable.

Festus Keyamo, SAN, their lawyer, is giving hopes that the matters would be resolved, but the personal matters that are being made public in the alternations may be the final nail on a relationship that produced fantastic musical performances on stage and videos.

Python Dance: Catholic Bishop knocks FG Continued from Pg 1

Read about the great Rangers story from next edition

resolved each time.

At the centre of their squabbles seems to be the marriage of one of the brothers and allegations of manipulations of their relations and their careers. Earlier quarrels had been with their brother, Jude, who was also their manager. There are no indications that the current fight that has assumed an ascendancy

the nation or at least pursue the path of dialogue to a logical conclusion.

“By trying to use excessive force to suppress agitators, who were peacefully voicing out their grievances, government showed contempt to the fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizenry in a democratic society.

Above all, deploying armed soldiers to unleash brutality on unarmed and defenceless agitators is totally against the tenets of a true democracy.

The statement added, “We are deeply saddened to observe that

in carrying out the Operation Python Dance II, the Nigerian Army displayed an abysmal lack of professionalism that has brought embarrassment and shame to our nation.

The engagement of the military must abide by the ethical standards and rules that safeguard the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the human person.

“Given the sanctity of human life, soldiers in self-defence or the defence of the nation may only kill an unjust aggressor during an armed conflict, if and only if that is the only way to ward off his unjust aggression.

“No matter how one looks at it,

nothing can justify the killing of unarmed and defenceless members of the IPOB nor the degrading and inhuman treatment meted out to some others. Even war prisoners are entitled to a decent and humane treatment. We also need to stress that the molestation and intimidation of law-abiding media practitioners by the members of the Nigerian Army is highly condemnable. The Nigerian Army must act within the confines of the law and should avoid arbitrariness and impunity.”

He called on Nigerians to “embrace a life of repentance and turn to God in prayer for an enduring solution to our nation’s distress.”

peace.”

Senior Special Adviser to the Bayelsa Governor on Niger Delta Youth Matters, Hon Kennedy Tonjo West also believes there is still fear of the unknown concerning the safety of people of Igbo extraction residing in the north, especially given the fact that the Coalition of Arewa Youths who issued the threats “were treated with kid’s gloves by the relevant authorities.”

He said though the youths later reneged on the threat, it is not enough guarantee that October 1 will be peaceful in the north.

“It is not enough to say we have reneged on our threats. If the police had arrested the people who had said it, then you know that is a more cautionary measure; then an undertaking that all the people who said it have gone for an undertaking. That could give a sigh of relief that they were probably pressured by their people,” he said.

Chief Tony Oraeki is a political analyst, believes there are very many legitimate reasons to nurse fears about the quit notice given to the Igbos to leave Northern Nigeria.

Personally, am saddened that all the fears most Nigerians had about President Mohammadu Buhari’s motive of pushing consistently to become Nigeria’s president for a second time was not out of love for the citizens or to put things right. It was merely to foist and restore the supremacist ideas of the Northern Nigeria’s “born-to-rule” mentality on all others,” he alleged, adding: “But, whether we like it or not, restructuring is a keg of gun powder everyone has been toying with, which must burst one day soon. It would be more pathetic if the North, even in their morbid fears about restructuring, ignites the conundrum of unrest in any part of the country.”

West however called on the northern youths to be true to their words rescinding their earlier threats, stressing that we should see ourselves as one Nigeria.

“Nobody else contributed more than the other. We have all contributed. If we have not contributed in numerical strength, you have contributed in policy strength, if you have not contributed in policy strength; you have contributed in economic strength, etc.,” he said.

“We are pleading with the north to immediately caution their people. If they can say it in their normal Friday prayers and pass signals to all Imams to please no matter what, they should exercise restraint and caution their people not to take laws into their hands because everybody is apprehensive of what could happen that day,” he said.

He carpeted the National Orientation Agency, NOA for remaining silent since the threat was made.

“The NOA is not doing enough.

One would expect that by this time, there will be jingles calling for unity, calling for tolerance and calling for more brotherly love.

They supposed to have done this now massively in the north because it is the north that has given

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The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

NEWS ACROSS THE NATION Lawyers want criminal justice system overhauled

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OME eminent constitutional lawyers have canvassed the revision and harmonisation of the various criminal laws in the country.

The lawyers, who spoke in Lagos, said a review of the criminal laws would give fillip to effective prosecution of cases and also add value to the nation’s administration of criminal justice system.

Mr Michael Dugeri, a human rights campaigner, urged that attention should be paid to issues bordering on speedy disposal of cases

in a bid to decongest the nation’s prisons. “There must be close attention to issues of decongesting the prisons which I think is fast becoming a national embarrassment.

“This should begin with a thorough reformation of the manner of administration of criminal justice in our courts. “There are provisions under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 on speedy criminal trials; however, the impact of the provisions of that law is yet to be felt as our prisons are still overflowing with in-

mates.

“More work needs to be done in ensuring compliance with laws that encourage speedy trials; there should also be partnership with the various state governments on initiatives that are necessary to bring about these desired reforms,” he said.

Also, a crusader for indigent prisoners, Mr Anthony Makolo, harped on an effective application of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act to promote speedy trials and rid the prisons of overcrowding filled with thou-

sands of awaiting trials and underage. He urged judicial officers to shun frivolous applications aimed at delaying trial of criminal cases and strictly comply with the provisions of the Act for speedy disposal of cases.

According to Makolo, judges must be inclined to giving meaning to criminal laws by granting favourable bail conditions to accused particularly where the law allows them to do so. In the same vein, Mr Justine Eliagwu called for a comprehensive review of the criminal laws.

According to him, the doctrine of plea bargain should be discarded from the criminal justice system to make accused persons to face trial.

“There is need to promote and enhance the laws as they relate to the criminal justice system in the country.

“For instance, the issue of plea bargain, in my view, should be discarded. From a lay man’s view point, it means to plead guilty to a lesser charge and one pertinent question here is why?

“This is simply because the

Nigeria losing bread winners to road accidents – FRSC report N IGERIAN families are increasingly losing bread winners to road accidents, according to a monthly `Road Traffic Crash (RTC) Report’ released by the Federal Road

geria is losing more bread winners to road traffic crashes.’’

Statistics presented in the report show that the country lost a total of 423 persons to road accidents in July, out of which 295 (or 70 per cent) were male adults.

This represents an average of nine male adult deaths daily across the country in July. The adult male death rate is three times more Amodeni said that the than that of the 91 female erection of the demolished structures contravened Urban and Regional Planning Decree 88 of 1992 and Section 9 and 17(7) of the Ondo State Building and Subdivision Regulations, 1984. “The control and enforcement unit of the Ondo State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development carried out the demolition exercise.

“The structures were demolished specifically because they blocked access roads in the GRA and did not follow approved plans.

“The state government will continue to monitor building plans and demolish illegal structures so that they do not disfigure the state,’’ he said. The commissioner said that The GRAs were among some cherished schemes of government in the state and that government would not fold its arms and watch it being disfigured. According to Amodeni, the demolition will deter people from erecting structures arbitrarily without approved plans.

He said that the town planners carried out the demolition in compliance with the town planning rules and regulations. Amodeni advised prospective property owners to ensure that their building plans received approval from the town planning authority.

“For the fact that you own the land does not give you total freedom to build anyhow on it; GRA is a model in the state where law of planning and building is strictly followed. “We will continue with monitoring building plans and demolition of illegal structures in the state,” the commissioner said.

Safety Corps (FRSC). The July edition of the report made available to the media in Abuja, said “Seventy per cent of deaths recorded in road traffic crashes in the month of July were male adults, indicating that Ni-

Ondo demolishes illegal structures in Owo GRA

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HE Ondo State Government has said that it had demolished illegal structures in the Government Reserved Area (GRA) in Owo Local Government Area.

The state Commissioner of Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Solagbade Amodeni, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Akure.

TINAPA woos businesses

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he management of TINAPA Business Resort Calabar has said it is encouraging local businesses to own shops and business outlets to boost activities in the resort. Mr Ayiba Ayiba, Managing Director of the Resort, said this was part of measures to resuscitate business activities in the resort.

“We are doing everything humanly possible to ensure that TINAPA works. We are trying to explore our local markets. “We are trying to encourage our local traders to come and rent our shops and do business with us.” He disclosed that there were 54 shops in the complex and not more than 10 were currently occupied. According to him, facilities at the TINAPA Water Point were also being resuscitated to make them functional, adding that a borehole had been put in place.

He blamed the lack of activities at the point to poor water and epileptic power supply. “We have sunk a borehole and water tanks are being installed as alternative water supply to the pool.

(or 26 per cent) of the total fatality figure in the month under review.

The remaining 37 deceased victims comprised 15 male children, representing 4 per cent of the total, and 22 female children, representing 5 per cent. However, the male adult fatality rate in July is lower than those recorded in May and June, which stood at 76 and 80 per cent respectively.

In May, the FRSC recorded

a total of 502 deaths nationwide, comprising 380 male adults, 87 female adults (17 per cent), 24 male children (5 per cent) and 11 female children or 2 per cent. Out of the 301 deaths recorded by the agency in June, male adults accounted for 80 per cent with 241 fatalities, and female adults 48 or 16 per cent. The FRSC called for more commitment from all stakeholders to stem the trend.

sentence of a full trial is far more severe than the lesser one he opted for. This again, in my view, does not serve the purpose of justice. “It is my submission that the doctrine be discarded as it encourages corruption; it is an escapist machinery to dodge the sledge hammer of the law put in place to punish such an offender. “Hence, Section 179 of the Criminal Procedure Act lends its support,” he said.

On his part, another lawyer and social critic, Mr Aondonenge Akaa, also wants a total overhauling of the criminal justice system. Akaa said: “A total overhaul of the criminal justice system is required for the anti-corruption drive of the present administration to succeed. “The doctrine of presumption of innocence should be made inapplicable in all corruption cases, especially high profile cases involving public funds. “With the congestion of our regular courts and the strict constitutional rule of trial within a reasonable time coupled with the presumption of innocence principle, the ACJA is merely fanciful.’’ He said constitutional amendment would also ensure a more proactive legal framework in the country.

LASEMA assures quick response

HE Lagos State EmergenT(LASEMA) cy Management Agency has assured resi-

dents that it is exploring various ways at ensuråing quick and adequate response to emergency in Apapa. An emergency is a situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment.

Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening of the situation. The General Manager of the agency, Mr Adesina Tiamiyu, gave the assurance in Lagos on Sunday while reacting to the traffc congestion in Apapa and its environs.

“The agency is looking into the possibility of setting up a temporary dispatched point for quick and adequate response to any case of emergency in Apapa and its environs. “While agency’s bikers has been dispatched for close monitoring and surveillance of the situation for necessary attention when required with the agency further looking at other avenues for periodic report in management of any situation in the area.”

“While assuring that the state government is alive to its responsibilities in ensuring adequate safety of lives and properties and will not allow any unfortunate incident to occur as a result of the bottleneck,” he said. He however advised especially residents of Apapa and its evirons to remain calm and to endeavour to call 112/767 for any form of assistance.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

NEWS ACROSS THE NATION

Flood sacks 12 communities, destroys 3,000 farmlands in C/River

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WELVE communities in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River have been flooded following two days of heavy rain, while more than 3,000 farmlands were equally destroyed. The incident, which occurred between the late hours of Sept. 18 and the early hours of Sept. 19, has rendered hundreds of residents homeless as properties worth millions of naira were destroyed.

Mr John Inaku, the Director General, Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), told NAN on Sunday, during an inspection of the affected areas that the economic survival of residents of the submerged communities had been seriously affected.

Inaku stated that more than 1,000 people have been displaced and are taking refuge in nearby communities. According to him, the state government has promised to address the plight of the people.

Some of the communities affected are Bago, Unu, Bagabo, Bakie, Bufua, and Kakwe-Beebo.

“The deluge of Sept. 18 and 19 has caused massive flooding in 12 communities in Cross River. “Properties worth millions of naira were equally destroyed in the process. “The flood also destroyed farmlands; crops such as banana, cassava, plan-

tain, yam, cocoa and others were also affected while some bridges were washed away.

“The worst aspect of the flood is that it also destroyed streams which served as the only source of drinking water for the people, while the main access road was washed away as a result of landslide,’’ he said. One of the victims, Mr Bette Obi, Chairman of Cross River Forestry Commission, told NAN that the flood had wreaked serious havoc on residents of the area. Obi, who said his cocoa and plantain farms were destroyed by the flood, appealed to the state and Federal Government to come to their aid.

“As we speak, our farmlands have been washed away by flood. The streams where we fetch water for drinking has been polluted. “We urgently need government’s assistance in our communities to ameliorate our plights,’’ Obi said.

Another victim, Mr Gabriel Ofre, traditional ruler of Bago community, said that the flood had displaced •EVC of Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta (second right) flanked by other members his entire household, and that his of the Nigerian delegates at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecom World 2017 Exhibition property and other vital materials and Conference Centre in Busan, South Korea. destroyed as well. Ofre appealed to SEMA and NEMA to come to their aid, saying that residents of the area were peasant farmers, who lived on the meagre earnings from their farm produce.

Educationist raises concern on impact of social media

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R. Adeleke Adewale, a retired principal, has said that the advent of social media has adverse effect on the reading culture amongst Nigerian youths and should be checked.

Adewale said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He said that most youths now watch videos and listen to audio clips rather than read and write.

“Nigerian children over time stopped reading books, novels and newspapers; they are more interested in watching television and playing video games. “The performance of students has also been affected with the ease at which technology and the internet are being accessed at the fingertips; people seem to have lost interest in reading. “Social media is now dominated with audio clips, videos and pictures with less space and interest for people to read write-ups,’’ he said.

Adewale said that the new blogging trend on social media was also not helpful to the poor reading culture. “Before social media became popular, there were a good number of blogs making the

rounds on the internet and some people made careers from it.

“Many students had been encouraged to write poems, articles, stories and blogs so as to develop their vocabulary, writing and reading skills. “Now, with the help of social media, people feel lazy to type out their words and would rather just speak it out by making audio recordings or video clips.

“Video blogging popularly known as `Vlog,’ a very attractive aspect of social media has also made young people become online celebrities thereby providing them with `a start-up career’.

He urged stakeholders in the education sector including Universities, schools, to put in place well equipped libraries for students to further promote reading in the school environment. “National Library of Nigeria as well as the state library boards should also upgrade their existing ones to meet up with the international best practices. “Parents should monitor the number of hours children spend watching television or playing video games so as to create more reading time for children,” Adewale said

Adamawa removes Deputy Speaker, 3 others

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he Adamawa House of Assembly has impeached four of the principal officers, including the Deputy Speaker, Mr Sunday Peter, and the Majority Leader, Alhaji Musa Mahmud.

Others removed were the Deputy Majority Leader, Mutawali Mohammed and the Minority Leader, Mrs Justina Nkom (SDP-Lamurde) State Constituency. The Speaker, Alhaji Kabiru Mijinyawa, presided over the first plenary after the house resumed from a six-week recess. The deputy speaker was immediately

replaced by Mr Emmanuel Tsamdu (APC-Madagali) while Mr Hassan Burguma (APC-Hong) was also elected new majority leader.

Mr Abubakar Hayatu (APC-Uba/ Gaya) moved the motion for the impeachment of the deputy speaker and was seconded by Abubakar Abdurrahman (APC-Mubi South).

The house elected Abubakar Isa (APC-Shelleng) new deputy majority leader while Mr Lamsumbani Dili (PDP-Demsa) took over as the minority leader.

Stakeholders bemoan large number of juvenile inmates in North East prisons

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TAKEHOLDERS in the NorthEast geo-political zone have called for the provision of separate prison facilities for underaged convicts, awaiting trial and suspects. They spoke separately in Maiduguri, Yola,Gombe,Bauchi, Dutse and Damaturu in a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The stakeholders that cut across lecturers, social welfare workers, Judiciary staff, non-governmental organisations, among others, in their responses, attributed the increase in number of juveniles in prison facilities in the zone to the current insurgency in the area.

Mr Peter Bwala, the Coordinator, Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, Borno Branch, said that security challenges in the state were responsible for the high juvenile inmates. Dr Kamal Dawud, an Associate Professor at the University of Maiduguri (UNI-

MAID), who expressed the same sentiment, said most of the juveniles were exposed to sexual violence, communicable diseases and trauma.

Dawud said that the consequences of such sexual violence in jails, mostly perpetrated by adult inmates on the juveniles, usually `turn them to public nuisances, upon their release.’ “Younger inmates are at greater risk of sexual victimisation, particularly if they are serving their first term in prison.

“We do not have juvenile courts in the state; we always advise that under-aged should have their own separate facility. “ I know a 13-yearold boy here in Borno who served jail term during the heat of Boko Haram crisis, and he is now a hardened criminal because of exposure to other adult criminals,” he said.

Dr Garba Yakwagang, lecturer, Department of Public Law, Uni-

Strike: ASUU promises to cover lost grounds

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he Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has promised to cover the academic period lost to its strike. The ASUU National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, gave the assurance in a media interview.

The lecturers in public universities, under the aegis of ASUU, had embarked on what they described as total, comprehensive and indefinite nationwide strike on Aug. 13.

The lecturers protested non implementation of the 2009 agreement and the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding it entered into with the Federal Government.

The union suspended the strike conditionally on Sept. 18 after dialogues with a Federal Government delegation headed by the Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige.

“We wish to assure our students and parents that they do not have any cause to worry over the lost period while the strike lasted.

“As we have always said, it is not our intention to be disrupting aca-

demic activities in our institutions.

“What we are pressing for is for us to have a better system for the benefit of our students and, of course, the nation at large. “We cannot continue with what we may call business as usual in the running of university system in our country,’’ he said.

“Now that the strike has been suspended, our lecturers are back in full force with renewed energy to cover the lost ground.

“Having said this, we will also like to state that the union is hopeful that government will faithfully implement the Memorandum of Action it entered into with union on Sept. 18, to avoid any other issues,” Ogunyemi said. He said that there was no evidence so far to show that the Federal Government would not keep its own part of the bargain.

“This is a government of change; we are watching and waiting patiently to realise the implementation within that time frame,” he said.

versity of Maiduguri, attributed the increase in number of juveniles cooling off in prisons, to the Boko Haram insurgency experienced in the state. He suggested that the authorities put in place mechanism of isolating inmates below 18 years, from the adults, as clearly provided by the law.

Another UNIMAID lecturer, Dr Abdulrasheed Haruna of the Department of Sharia Law, said children had no business staying in prisons meant for adults. He said that such arrangement violated their rights as enshrined in the 54-point Article of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. “The law guarantees respect for the dignity of the child and stipulates that children shall not be subjected to physical, mental or emotional injury, abuse, neglect and degradation, “he said.

Mr Hassan Bukar, the Director, Social Welfare, Borno Ministry for Women Affairs and Social Development, said the ministry had four rehabilitation centres, but destroyed

by Boko-Haram members at the heat of the insurgency. He said most juvenile offenders had to be transferred to the maximum prisons. “We have been appealing to the prison authorities in the state to be separating juveniles from adult inmates; unfortunately, because we have only two functional prisons, virtually everyone is mixed-up.’’

In Adamawa, authorities of state command of Nigeria Prisons Service said the command had no single juvenile in detention in its facilities across the state. James Richard, the spokesperson of the command who confirmed this development to NAN in Yola, said the rules and regulation of accepting any type of convict, was that the convict must attain the age of 18 years.

“The Nigeria Prisons Service does not accept for detention, convicts below 18 years. “In some cases, if such convicts are brought to us for detention, we immediately refer them to the state’s remand homes,” Richard said.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

NEWS

Lawmaker urges Nigerians to embrace unity

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House of Representatives member, Rep. Ajibola Famurewa (Osun-APC) has urged Nigerians embrace unity and continue to live together in peace and harmony.

Famurewa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja that God Almighty had reason for bringing us together as a country.

God meant well for Nigeria as the constitution did not also allow secession.

According to him, God, who in His infinite mercy and wisdom wedded us together, knows why.

“Again, unfortunately our constitution, the one we are operating today doesn’t favour secession.

“I read it in history books in 1954 or thereabout

• Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Dr. Alfred Achebe (3rd left) receiving a plaque as grand patron University of Nigeria Alumni Association, Onitsha branch from Anambra Chief Judge, Justice Peter Umeadi during their 57th Founder’s Day celebration.

Photo: Modestus Igudobi

when we were preparing Awolowo proposed that allow any part of this fam- Sokoto also supported the move but the late Dr for independence. in our constitution, let ily to go away.

“The late Chief Obafemi there be a clause that can “The Sardauna of Nnamdi Azikiwe kicked

against it.

“As fate would have it, Azikiwe’s position prevailed and that is what we have in our constitution today that nobody can go.’’

Famurewa warned that if anyone is making the move for secession he or she would be working against the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“So if anybody is making that move, you are working against the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“And whoever is in government at any particular time will have the responsibility of protecting this constitution and they can move against that person.’’ he said.

CHANGE OF NAME PUBLIC NOTICE OGBARU GOOD AND INFLUENTIAL PEOPLES ASSEMBLY This is to inform the general public that the above named has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) Abuja for registration under part “C” of Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE 1. Ejuh Peter chime -- Chairman 2. Ijomah Precious Nneka -- Secretary 3. Ezejiofor Nkiru Maryjane -- Member AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. To propagate and promote moral behaviour in peoples of Ogbaru communities and to make the entire Ogbaru community a home of hospitality.

2. To influence development to Ogbaru community 3. To promote good neighbor relationship amongst Ogbaru people.

Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

NEWS

Anambra guber candidates to be screened by farmers

By OLIVER UDEOGU

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andidates of political parties contesting the November 18 governorship election in Anambra State, are to be screened by farmers on Saturday, September 30 during the inauguration of the State’s Farmers’ Cooperative.

The farmers, who said they would gather to inaugurate their cooperative society, called Fagwod Farmers Multi-purpose Cooperative Society Limited, also noted that the group would use the opportunity to shop for a credible candidate in Anambra

State, who would have the interest of farmers at heart.

Speaking to journalists after their meeting at Dunukofia Council, the founder and International Director General of the group, Bishop Eberechris Agbakaizu regretted that farmers in Nigeria have been neglected by some leaders who don’t care about agriculture, stating that farmers will no longer be indifferent during elections at all levels.

“We see farming as what will redeem this nation from where they are and for this reason, we have interest in praying for anybody at all

levels of government that will protect farmers’ interest; somebody who will have farmers at heart, we won’t pray for someone who will come in and forget farmers and channel attention to other sectors,” he said.

“If you look at this nation today, you will notice that something will happen on the negative side if farmers are not assisted or sponsored and the implication is that this nation will weep at the worst time. So, we are believing that farmers will come together to pray for a governor or president that will come in to

assist farmers financially and in agricultural inputs.

“We have plan of raising over 2 million farmers each, across the 36 states of the federation. In Anambra state for instance, we have plans of inviting all the political parties and their candidates in the November 18 governorship poll to attend our inauguration on September 30, to tell us the plans they have for farmers.

“That will enable us know who amongst them that has exactly the vision we have. Once the person is identified, we now begin to moblise our members to campaign for the

person to win” he said.

Agbakaizu, however, debunked the insinuations that the group has earlier endorsed Governor Willie Obiano under the auspices of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, AFAN, saying it’s in the hand of farmers to determine who the next governor becomes.

“Our group has not endorsed anybody because we don’t know for now who the lord will lead us to.

What we are saying is that they will all be examined to tell us their plans for farmers in Anambra State.

Odenigbo Assembly cries out over menace of lunatics in Nsukka From OZOR KAMSIYO, Nsukka

I

ncreasing menace of lunatics in the university town of Nsukka, Enugu state has become source of worry to residents of the town and its environs as Odenigbo General Assembly (OGA) has cried out to Nsukka Local Government Council to rescue the community from the menace.

The president, Odeinigbo Geeral Assemly Chief Charles Anekwe made the plea in Nsukka during a courtesy visit to the new Transition Committee Chairman of Nsukka Local Council, Dr Ejike Asadu in his office by the executives of the Assembly.

He added that the recent incident in the area where a lunatic stoned a resident (Eddy Arts) to death was a warning that urgent steps need to be taken to avert future occurrence of such incident in the area.

“On daily basis, one will see new madmen and women roaming the area in numbers, which makes residents of the community wonder if Odenigbo has become a dumping ground for lunatics, migrating from neigbouring States of the northern axis that share boundaries with the university town,” Anekwe lamented.

“We are appealing to Nsukka Lo-

cal Government Council to come to our rescue and checkmate hazardous acts of lunatics who litter streets in the town with dirt and dump refuse into drainages,” he added.

He appealed to the council boss for a new high voltage transformer in Odenigbo to stem constant power outage in the area due to overload of the old transformer mounted in the area in the 70’s.

Responding Dr Asadu expressed appreciation for the visit by OGA and pledged that his administration would do its best to ensure healthy and clean environment by curbing the menace of lunatics in the university town.

“The present council administration operates an open door policy and welcomes constructive advice to move the locality to an enviable height in modern society.”

Among those present at the courtesy visit were HRH Igwe Herbert • Lady Alexandra Onyemlukwe, PDP governorship running-mate to Oseloka Henry Obaze, being presented to stakeholders in Awka.

Ukuta of Igga ancient kingdom, two-term Nsukaa Local Council boss Chief Tony Ugwu, former caretaker committee of the Council Chief Onyema Idoko, and one time supervisory councillor for education, Chief Iyke Oloto, retired superintendent of police and incumbent Special Adviser to the chairman on Special Duties, Okey Onyishi and lady Ekwy Ugwoke, among others.

By IBE NWACHUKWU Flanked by former chairmen of the to the background and as we were Bar, Maurice Efobi and Ben Okoko, being consoled by the fact that Preshe Nigerian Bar Association Chukwukelu reminded both the ident Muhammadu Buhari would va(NBA), Idemili branch in An- governors and the federal govern- cate office after his four-year tenure, tion of Nigeria (CAN) is compelled ambra State has carpeted ment that they must surely render but unfortunately, he kept abusing to raise a petition to protest against the South East governors for insti- an account of their stewardship human rights day-in, day-out”. the unrelenting plan of the Federal gating the proscription of the Indig- after their tenure and re-integrate According to Efobi, “former PresiGovernment of Nigeria to introduce enous People of Biafra (IPOB) and themselves into the same society dent Olusegun Obasanjo and GoodIslamic financing into a secular state, at the same time labelling it a terror which they are abusing today. luck Jonathan handled this kind of which is in violation of Section 10 of group, just because they wanted to Said he: “By virtue of Section 2 situation better than Buhari and it is the Constitution. protect their selfish political inter- (1) C of Terrorism (Prevention) Act, now very clear to us that this aggres“The Christian Association of Ni- est.

2011, as amended, it is only the Fed- sion is targeted at South Easterners geria (CAN) has been protesting NBA reminded them that they eral High Court upon the application (Ndigbo)”. against this aberration since the would not remain in the seat of of the AGF, followed by the approval Also speaking, Okoko, a repreOsun State government, under Gov- power permanently because their of the President that can proscribe sentative of the Bar at National Exernor Rafiu Aregbesola embarked tenure must surely come to an end any group. What was their reason ecutive Committee level of NBA, deon this violation of the Constitution. some day and they would come for such hasty action without inves- scribed the Abuja court order as an Rather than stand in defense of the back home to join the civil society. tigating the real or remote causes of after-thought action by the federal Constitution, it is disappointing to Chairman of the Bar, Samuel the problem?” government and urged government note that the Federal Government is Chukwukelu who stated these while He contended that since states to fish out the perpetrators of statepursuing what is completely a con- speaking to newsmen, in reaction to are autonomous to each other, gov- sponsored terrorism in Abia state firmation of an islamization agenda. the proscription order, expressed ernors from other states have no recently in the name of Operation “The recent floating of Sukkuk concern that the governors ‘con- right to proscribe something in an- Python Dance II and deal with them Bond by the federal government is spired with the federal government other state, like they did in the case drastically. not only sectional but illegal and a and sent trops to invade Nnamdi of IPOB, adding that besides, they According to Okoko: “They told violation of the Constitution. Every Kanu’s home with military weapons, did not investigate what happened us that Operation Python Dance II law that has been promulgated to killed many, injured others and sub- before taking such a hasty decision. would commence on September 15 back the Sukkuk issuance and pro- jected many to inhuman treatment, In his own contribution, Efobi but they started it before the time mote an Islamic banking system in after which they now labelled IPOB declared: “We have seen from the and subjected many people to such Nigeria is ultra vires, illegal, null and members terrorists and proscribed inception that South East has been a degree of inhuman treatment.” void.” them. grossly marginalized and relegated

CAN rejects SUKKUK, says it is unconstitutional

By THEO RAYS

T

he Christ Association of Nigeria (CAN) has rejected the move by the federal government to introduce Islamic financing into the Nigeria secular system by allowing financing of the establishment of SUKKUK, an Islamic school in any part of the country by Muslims declaring that it is contrary to the provisions of the constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.

CAN in a statement issued by its Secretary General Rev Musa Asoke noted that Section 10 of the Constitution, the Nigerian State is secular and government is expected to be neutral on issues involving religion, adding that by promoting a sectional religious financial policy, the government is violating both the spirit and the letter of Section 10 of the Constitution The Statement reads in part: “Once again, the Christian Associa-

NBA carpets S’East Govs for instigating IPOB’s proscription •Says the govs were merely protecting their political interest

T

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The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA www.cbn.gov.ng

8

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

News Enugu government sets up committee on waste-for-power generation From CHUKS EZE, Enugu

E

nugu State government has concluded arrangement for the utilization of the enormous wastes generated in the state for the production of electricity and fertilizer.

The State Commissioner for Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA), Mr. Chidi Aroh who stood in for the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Ogbuagu Anikwe, spoke to newsmen on the outcome of the State Executive Council Meeting held at Government House on Friday.

Mr. Aroh explained that the meeting which was presided over by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu state, deliberated extensively on this matter by considering “Serene Green Field and Portland Waste To Energy proposal to partner Enugu State Government in the management and waste disposal and ultimately to grow the waste and management to the extend to which we can produce power and fertilizer from it”.

Commissioner Aroh maintained that the council also considered the utilization of its coal deposits for the generation of additional electricity for the people of the state.

He said that this is in line with the report from the former Managing Director of Nigeria Coal Corporation on the proposal partnership between the state and the Saldin Planti Engineering Group from Italy.”

The commissioner further informed journalists of the proposed construction of judges’ quarters and a befitting Banquet Hall for the state as discussed in Exco.

He stated that the existing infrastructure was located at the Governor’s Lodge and has become outdated and inadequate for the present day event, adding that the erection of new ones would add value to the state.

The Exco further approved a memo from the SPA to the Governor on Small and Medium Enterprises on the collaboration with the state government and Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation for the procurement of hearing aid to people with hearing impairment in Enugu state.

This, according to him, was based on the current administration’s laudable decision to carry everybody along irrespective of their social status.

Approval of over N24m for the construction of a High Court Complex at

Awhum in Ojebe Ogene Development Centre, Udi Local Government Area was also made by the Exco, the Commissioner added, stating that construction of number two double 2.4 x 1.5 metres box culvert and 1 kilometre failed portion of road pavement at Awgu main town in Awgu local government area was discussed and approved to ease the difficulties being witnessed by the people of the area.

Aroh said this is in fulfillment of His Excellency’s promise to the people of the area when he paid an on-the-spot assessment of the failed facilities.

According Commissioner Aroh, the meeting also approved giving a face lift through immediate renovation and repainting of roads and signs in all major streets in Enugu metropolis at the total sum of N27,208,000 Other approvals made by the Executive Council include payment of monthly pension to the former elected governors and deputies in the state, payment of furniture allowance to Permanent Secretaries, Auditor General of the State, Local Government Accountant General and Statistician General of the state.

•From right former Gov Orji Uzor Kalu, Chief Amobi Ogah & Emeka Obi during the burial ceremony of Mr. Tochukwu Obi at Amankwo village Inyi Oji River LGA Enugu State .

Photo Oliver Udeogu

Alleged unlawful execution: NURTW sues Onitsha family, police for N135m

By IBE NWACHUKWU

M

embers of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Anambra State branch have dragged the Abomeli family of Onitsha and some police officers to an Ogidi High Court demanding a total sum of N135 million from them jointly and severally as compensation for allegedly levying an unlawful execution inside their motor park.

The defendants include Anuenyi Bridget Abomeli, Nnabuenyi Obiekwe Abomeli, her son, Abadom Casmir Ekene, Onykachi Anthony Egbunike, Augustine Nwaolisa, Obinna Ajaegbue (their relations), Ebele Mbamali and Chris Ekwenibe (Managers of Onitsha South Local Government Mass Transit Company) and Sunday Okpeh, Nwali and Obia Mbara (police officers from SARS in Awkuzu.

In a statement of claim filed on their behalf at the Ogidi High Court Registry, by their legal counsel, Chinedu Obodoeze, the plaintiffs are seeking a declaration of the court that the defendants’ self-help to attempt to eject them from their motor park, using fake writ of execution from a Magistrate Court in Onitsha to levy an execution in their motor park, destruction of the buildings and properties amounted to trespass to the plaintiffs’ right of peaceable possession.

They are also seeking an order of the court mandating the defendants to pay the plaintiff N50 million for the three buildings and one zinc house the defendants destroyed in the course of levying an execution inside their motor park on Sunday, July 12, this year, using fake writ of execution from the Magistrate Court.

The plaintiffs also sought an order mandating the defendants to pay them another N5 million for the economic trees they destroyed during the execution, N20 million for trespass to the plaintiffs’ right of possession and an additional N600 million as general and exemplary damages against them for their unlawful act and inconveniences caused to them.

The plaintiffs contended that the late Akunne Augustine Abomeli, husband of Anuenyi Bridget Abomeli, the first plaintiff and father to the second plaintiff, Nnabuenyi Obiekwe Abomeli had reached an agreement/understanding and lease-purchased a piece of land situated at Plot No 1 Awka Road, Onitsha in 1986 for a 50-year lease and has been paying them monthly rent.

Plaintiffs further contended that sometime in February, 2016, they went to pay their monthly rent of N10,000 to the second defendant but he refused to collect it, saying he would like to revoke the understanding reached between them and his late father to enable them sell the land.

They stated that while still pondering the attempt to revoke the understanding, the plaintiffs, armed the three police officers being the 9th, 10th and 11th defendants with the fake writ of execution and levied the execution on July 12.

Obiano, Okafor, disagree over IPOB From CHUKS COLLINS, Awka

T

he Anambra State governor, Willie Obiano has described the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as enemies of the State for calling for boycott of the coming November 18 governorship poll in the State.

But a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Prof Ilochi Okafor said the group had a right in law to agitate for what it believes in.

Obiano spoke through his Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the State, Anali Chude during the 2017/2018 legal year of the Anambra State judiciary held in Awka, the state capital during the week.

Pro-Biafra agitations and issues arising therefrom visibly dominated the discourse at the event.

Obiano who urged the electorate to go out en masse on November 18 to exercise their franchise without fear of any molestation, added: “Enemies of the State wanted to take the advantage to plunge Anambra State into chaos by directing that elections would not hold in Anambra State.

“It is the stand of the State government that elections must hold in Anambra State. We shall stand up to the occasion and refuse to allow people who do not wish Anambra State well to drag us to a situation whereby we will be turned into the guinea pig in Nige-

ria polity.”

But, Prof Okafor, SAN, said agitation for self-determination is recognized as a fundamental right in International law and the United Nations Charter.

He said the military has no role to play in quelling civilian demonstration where the police has not failed or acceptably overwhelmed.

Okafor said the Igbo had faced and lived down pogroms and threats of extermination for 100 years in the country.

Said the Senior Advocate of Nigeria: “There is nothing like military democracy. It is democracy pure and simple. We are practicing rule of law, where the security and welfare of citizens are paramount,

without discrimination against tribe, religion, sex or ethnic origin.

“Armies do not arrest civilians. Police do. Armies are not set against a peaceful people, or demonstration. Armies intervene where it is beyond the police, against insurrection, terrorism, and external aggression.

“The Igbo are a peaceful people.

Demonstrations towards realization of the right to self-determination are recognized as fundamental rights in International Law and United Nations Charter. Nigeria is bound by such law.

“Our people were issued with Civil Notice to leave the North or face very dire consequences. No person has been arrested. The

Army has not been stationed in the North. October 1 is the deadline and is around the comer. Who protects our people presently in the North; who has protected us from Fulani herdsmen?

“Despite the verbal violence and grandiose rhetoric of Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB is not a terrorist organisation. No person has been killed

by IPOB. Its rallies have been heavily crowded but it has not been shown that any person carried or discharged weapons during the rallies.”

In his address, the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Peter Umeadi assured members of the judiciary in the State of better working conditions ahead.

9

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

POLITICS

IPOB: Remove Python Dance II, reverse proscription, save Nigeria Pg 10

As war of words rages between PDP, APC over security in Rivers…

Aghast at the spike in criminal activities, despite the huge logistic support he has given to security agencies in the State, Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike drills down to security agents themselves as the major cause of the security challenges that Rivers faces, accusing members of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of involvement in armed robberies, kidnappings and extortions.

But, while APC accuses Wike ,PDP of playing politics with security matters, the Police High Command dismisses the governor’s allegation as “nonsense”.

From P/Harcourt, NATH OMAME, Jr. reports.

T

he rate of crime and criminality shot up, somewhat, in Rivers State in the first quarter of 2016. Violent crimes took a vicious turn and manifested in the rate of armed robberies and kidnappings. But, what fuelled insecurity most in the state were the violent clashes among rival cult groups, which led to the killings and gruesome beheading of rival cult members. In some instances, innocent people considered close family members of fugitive cult members who were perceived by other cult groups to have been involved in previous attacks on members of their groups became targets and bore the brunt of whatever crimes members of their families, or even friends, might have committed.

In some instances, violent clashes by rival cult groups made residents of some communities scamper for safety, fleeing far away from their homes. Some members of cult groups as stated by security agencies set up camps in the bush to evade arrest. Farmers were harassed, beaten up and their agricultural yields confiscated. Some women were raped on their farms. To avoid being subjected to indecent assault, some farmers chose to stay away from their farms. And these led to a hike in the prices of stable food stuffs like garri, palm oil, plantain, yam, maize, groundnut, among others.

In the vortex of the insecurity created by members of the rival cult groups, who also participated in armed robberies and kidnappings, Governor Nyesom Wike intensified his financial support for the Rivers State Command of the Nigeria Police when he took over the reins of government on Friday, May 29, 2015. In August 2015, he donated 64 operational vehicles with modern communication gadgets to the Police and other security agencies to facilitate effective patrol of the state. The Police got 34 of the vehicles while the joint security patrol including the army and the Navy got 30 vehicles. The Rivers State government continued to give financial and logistic support to the Police and other security agencies to enable them fuel their operational patrol vehicles and keep them in good shape for the onerous task of maintaining law and order in the State.

But the cordial working relationship between the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP)controlled Rivers State government deteriorated steeply during the December 10, 2016 legislative re-run elections ordered by the Court of Appeal, which nullified some National and State Assembly seats on the grounds of electoral irregularities perpetrated during the 2015 general elections. Governor Wike had two weeks before the legislative re-run elections accused the Police and the APC of colluding to rig the legislative re-run elections in favour of the opposition APC, in the state. The governor stated that he had a video recording of the Commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed, the Resident Electoral Commis-

•Gov. Nyesom Wike

sioner, Elder Aniefok Ikiowak, and leaders of the APC planning to rig the December 10, 2016, legislative re-run election to the detriment of the PDP. Expectedly, the governor’s allegation ratcheted up the already bitter relationship between the PDP and APC in the State. The APC’s governorship candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside had lost the gubernatorial election to Wike. Many members of the APC who contested for the state House of Assembly had also lost their elections to PDP candidates.

The PDP had also clinched the three Senatorial seats in the National Assembly including majority of the seats in the House of Representatives. The APC’s petition against Wike’s victory at the polls was upheld at the lower

tribunal. The APC also won at the Court of Appeal. But to the utmost disbelieve of the APC, Wike’s victory was validated at the Supreme Court, which gave legality of four-year tenure to Governor Wike of the PDP. Needless to say, the victory spewed a lot of bad blood between the PDP and the APC in Rivers State.

Wike had contested for the governorship of the state after resigning from the federal executive council as a minister of state for education, and later as the supervising minister of education. His closeness to former President Goodluck Jonathan, and his wife, Dame Patience, presumably gave enormous advantage to Wike. His strategic support for Jonathan’s second term ambition was also

‘Culture, hatred hindering inclusion of women in traditional rulers’ cabinets’

Pg 14

believed to have enabled him to reap, bountifully, from the might of the central government.

Before and during the 2015 general elections, former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was having a running battle with the Police. The then Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joe Mbu, was seen by Amaechi and the APC as deliberately working in sync with instructions from the then Jonathan administration and the then ruling PDP, to undermine his person and government for the sole aim of delivering the state to the PDP through Wike’s candidacy.

Now, the tables have turned: the APC that was in the opposition at the centre is now the ruling party at the centre, while the APC that was at the helms of affairs in Rivers State is now in the opposition in Rivers State. Instructively, the Rivers State Police Command has continued to dispel insinuations that it is working with direct instructions from the ruling APC at the federal level. To disabuse the minds of the public, Commissioner of Police, Zaki, challenged Governor Wike to make the said video tape, which showed the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), officials of other security agencies, APC top-brackets in the State, and himself, holding a clandestine meeting for the sole purpose of rigging the December 10, 2016, legislative re-run elections in the state. The governor is yet to avail the public of the video clip which he declared “will shock the world.”

Without doubt, the working relationship between Governor Wike and the Rivers State Command has been lukewarm, premised on suspicion and mutual distrust. Even at that, the governor has continued to support the Police essentially because of the shocking upsurge in criminal activities exacerbated by rampaging cult groups, armed robbery, and the vicious pattern of kidnappings that has flown off its fiendish tangent to laying ambush for motorists along routes into and out of Port Harcourt, abducting all passengers inside an interstate transport bus and forcefully marching all passengers into some dreaded forest, indiscriminately beating, cudgeling, intimidating the passengers and, in the process, dispossessing them of their cash, forcing them to release their ATM pin numbers, raping female passengers and demanding ransom for the freedom of victims.

On Sunday, September 10, for instsnce, Wike announced the donation of four Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), to the Rivers State Police Command, to strengthen the capacity of the Police to patrol major routes inside and outside the state capital, Port Harcourt, to effectively combat incessant ambush and abduction of travelers plying those routes. Some of these routes are federal roads.

He stated: “We have released four APCs for the Police as a way of strengthening their capacity along roads outside Port Harcourt because of the strong security network within Port Harcourt City; these criminals now operate on some routes outside Port Harcourt.”

However, on Wednesday, September 13, Governor Wike shocked journalists in Port Harcourt when he accused the Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS), of being responsible for serial cases of armed robbery and kidnappings that have plagued the state in recent months. He further stated that the Commander of SARS in the State, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Mr. Akin Fakorede and his operatives had been indicted by an official signal from the office of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, of being responsible for the series of deadly armed robbery and kidnappings that have occurred in different parts of the State.

Governor Wike further alleged: “The criminal activities of Fakorede were uncovered by the IGP’s X Squad, Abuja, deployed in the state after the team busted the attempted kidnap of one Mr. Azumana Ifeanyi, on Sep-

Cont’d on page 13

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The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

Bold ‘n’ Blunt

IPOB: Stop Python Dance II, reverse proscription, save Nigeria What is your take on the military occupation of the South East, especially the country home of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, and the subsequent proscription of IPOB by the Federal Government and South East governors?

Honestly, those steps are unfortunate.

They are very, very unfortunate steps which have created more tensions than there should be. What we should urgently do is to pray the federal government to reverse those steps, take the military and their weapons away from South East as quickly as possible, and also reverse the proscription of IPOB to give peace a chance and save the country. Our young people are agitating all over the country; it is better to listen to them than to try to strike them down.

They say they want to bring Crocodile Smile in the South West; there is no trouble in the South West. What is the need for such move? These people (federal government) are obsessed with the idea that they must show themselves and show that they are in control and enforce their presence on the rest of us. But that will not help them rather it will cause a problem for them. We, in the West, are not in trouble; there is no trouble to warrant military build-up here. There is no violence; there is no threat to security and peace in the South West. But if they insist on having their way, they will come and go, just as their government will come and go, obviously.

Some people have linked the current military occupations and show of might in various geopolitical zones to part of Buhari and APC’s strategies for 2019 general election. What is your take on this?

Oh… well… I do not know. But apparently; maybe it is part of their preparation for 2019. I do not know, and I do not see how it will contribute to anybody’s success in 2019. And if they continue in this manner, the people of Nigeria may roundly reject those in the present government, in 2019.

They need to make the federal government of Nigeria the friend of Nigerians and not an agency to be afraid of such that you mention federal government, we are all shaking in our boots. That is not what it should be; that is not what they should be aiming for.

With all the prevailing tensions in the country – grumbling, various agitations for restructuring, and self-determination among others, in the country, are there still have reasons to celebrate Nigeria’s 57th independence anniversary?

Yes, there are reasons to celebrate Nigeria because families will always celebrate birthdays no matter what is happening in the families. We should celebrate Nigeria’s independence. We need to appreciate God for keeping the country together for nearly 60 years, in spite of current tensions, agitations and disagreements. But it is a period we should really as: Why is our country still in this kind of emotional turmoil? What are we doing wrong? We need to find out what is wrong with us such that after almost 60 years of independence, we are still in disarray as a country. We still do not have a clear idea of what our country should look like; we still do not recognise the true facts of our existence as a country. We are still behaving as if we are total neophytes after – after nearly 60 years as if we are totally new at the game. But one thing is obvious: our ethnic nationalities cannot be wheeled away; they are too strong and have existed for thousands of years. And anybody who thinks that he can wheel them away in other to build Nigeria is kidding himself in a terrible way. He will also be kidding himself in a very dangerous way because he will

•You can’t force your Nigeria on Nigerians

•Restructuring: FG’s too heavy, inefficient, corrupt •Restructuring not about breakup but shapeup •El’ Rufai-led APC restructuring C’ttee can’t be trusted •There’re still reasons to celebrate Nigeria at 57 Elder Statesman, historian and former Oxford University lecturer, Prof. Adebanji Akintoye, is a frontline public analyst and Chieftain of Southern Leaders Forum, who believes that the only available option to save Nigeria is to restructure the country. The Second Republic Senator and Late Chief Awo’s associate, in this exclusive interview with CHUKS EZE declares military occupation of South East and proscription of IPOB by the Federal Government and South East Governors as “very unfortunate steps, which have created more tension than there should be”. He urges the federal government to urgently remove the military from the zone to give peace a chance and save the nation. He also believes that in spite of the current agitations and tense situation in the country, there are reasons to celebrate Nigeria at 57.

•Prof. Adebanji Akintoye be pursuing policies that cause confusion, conflict and discord. So, I am saying that we need to recognise that we have ethic nationalities, each of which is a product of a long history, and that each is proud of itself and has its own territory; and that each has its own way of doing things. Nigeria is

a marriage of many nationalities, and if we are to make a success of Nigeria, we have to recognise that, take it seriously and begin to handle the affairs of Nigeria seriously in that direction. Simply believing that we can suppress agitation by moving the army there, thinking that it would solve the problem is

wrong because it will not. It may frighten the people who are concerned today, but it will still be there tomorrow for us to deal with.

How should Nigerians celebrate the 2017 independence anniversary?

We should seize the opportunity to pray

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The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

Bold ‘n’ Blunt

not negotiable is absolutely saying nothing because those talking about restructuring are not talking about breaking up Nigeria but about shaping up the country. They are rather talking about making Nigeria an orderly country so that it can exist forever.

That is all they are asking for.

Does it seem to you that some people are bent on withholding the restructuring exercise from taking place?

Oh yes, it does seem so to me. But the people who are opposing restructuring because they are in power now and they are afraid of losing any of the powers they are holding, and so on; they are doing something that is very dangerous to Nigeria.

What is the best process to achieve this restructuring; is it by convoking another national confab?

It depends on whether the people in the federal government will be democratic enough to see that most Nigerians want restructuring, and that it is their duty to take the action that is needed. Jonathan called a national conference which produced some recommendations, but the present ruler said he does not want that. What then do they want? Let us see what they want. In 1953, in India, they set up a National Restructuring Commission which was charged with the duty of guiding the country, explaining to the country and guarding the country along the path of restructuring. Since then, the country has been the happier for it. So, it depends on the Buhari Presidency. They need to sit down, accept that the people of Nigeria want restructuring and provide the leadership for getting it done. It is the federal government that must get it done.

•Prof. Adebanji Akintoye to God. It should not be so much about eating, drinking, going to club and making merry. We should humbly go before our God and ask for grace and wisdom.

Let the Muslims go before their god, let the Christians go before their God, and let those of us who are neither Christians nor Muslims but are worshiping god in the old way do the same as well and ask that God may grant us wisdom, as a country, to handle the affairs of this nation in the ways that are appropriate, and in the ways that will bring harmony, productivity, prosperity, and reduce poverty in our land. Let God enable us to handle things in a manner that will increase chances for our children who we are breeding; who are going to schools and graduating but having nothing to do.

Let us ask God to show us how we can move forward as a people. May God give us the wisdom to accept what we are and to build upon it instead of trying to do some irresponsible things like forcing people into…I mean, you cannot force Nigeria into existence. We can only build in love, in order to have Nigeria. We cannot force Nigeria on the peoples of this country; it is not possible. But we can, with love, handle our affairs in such a way that it can become a county in spirit.

Being a front-liner in the current agitation for restructuring; what kind of restructuring are you and your colleagues pushing for, because it has been alleged that it is not really clear what proponents of restructuring are demanding for?

Those that are saying that Nigerians do not know the sort of restructuring they want are individuals that are out to throw

out confusion in order to thwart the course.

What is happening is that they do not want restructuring. That is why they go about saying ‘Oh everything is confusing,’ ‘nobody knows what they want’, and so on. Do not mind them; it is not true. Nigerians know what they want when they say restructuring.

What do Nigerians want?

What we want is this: One is that there is too much power accumulated in the military regimes in the central government.

In a country like Nigeria, with many ethnic nationalities and sections, you cannot accumulate all power, all resource control; development initiatives and decisions to the federal government in one centre. You cannot do that, and we are already seeing the result of such arrangement. The result of further advancing that will be that the central government will continue to be too heavy, become turgid and ineffective. It will be incompetent, corrupt and do little for the good of our country. All we have been hearing from the federal government is, ‘Oh tomorrow we are going to improve this and that; Oh give us another year and Nigeria will improve, education will improve and all that’. You cannot read a newspaper any day without finding some promises by the federal government. Those promises are products of deep down incompetency.

These people do not know that the great problem with what they are trying to do is that they have too much to do – they have taken too much upon themselves that they can never do well. So, the answer is to let the little things go and let the federal or heavier things stay with the federal govern-

ment. Such things like the defence of our country, our international relations, interrelations among the different federating units of our country, the high levels of the economy such as the currency, monetary policy and so on. Let those things stay with the federal government. Let our people manage their land, their agriculture, education and everything else so that the country can move forward; so that people can know that we do not have to struggle to be part of the federal government. Let it be a case of, ‘we have our own government here, we are doing well and we are Nigerians. That is just the way to do it. We did it before in the 1950s; let us go back to that and do it again.

That is the answer and that is what we mean by restructuring.

What about the question of whether to group the country into regions or federating units; what is your view on that?

That one is something that we will settle ourselves. The major thing is that the federal government is too heavy, too loaded, too inefficient and too corrupt. And we need to take a lot of things away from it and give it to the federating unites, let the federal government become smarter, tighter, more efficient and more capable of solving the needs of our county. And if we do not do it, there is a big danger. The big danger is that many young Nigerians who are educated and who are seeing all these poverty and so on, are now saying, ‘listen: there is no need for Nigeria, let us break it up and let each people go and manage their affairs. It will be good for us if we can keep Nigeria. But we need to find a good way to keep it together.

Simply saying that the unity of Nigeria is

What do you make of APC and Presidency’s unstable position about the restructuring issue, whereby they would say they do not want restructuring on one hand, and on another hand, they announce that they have set up a committee to that effect?

Well, they said they have set up a committee of their party to go around and collect the opinions of various Nigerian groups. I think it is a good step.

But many people have written off the party’s latest move calling it a charade; do you spot any sincerity in that committee?

We just hope they would be honest to reflect what Nigerian people really want, I say this because the danger in putting people like the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, in that committee is that we already know he does not want restructuring. No matter what he hears from people; no matter what respondents say, he would go and distort it to say that Nigerians do not want restructuring. That is the danger and it is difficult to trust that committee.

What would you advise the party to do to make the committee and its report acceptable to all Nigerians?

Unfortunately, the party is in the hands of people like Governor El-Rufai. But the important thing is that there are very many important personalities in APC who want restructuring. The National Leader of the party, (Asiwaju Bola Ahmed) Tinubu was in the newspapers yesterday; he wants restructuring. His explanation about why there should be restructuring was beautiful – very, very good. Another important member of the party who wants restructuring is former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar. If you meet him you would know that he really means it. He knows what this over-centralisation is doing to Nigeria – that it is destroying the country. Atiku wants Nigeria to survive, to prosper. And he believes that we need to restructure in order to move Nigeria forward. There are several other members of the party who want restructuring. El Rufai is not the only member of the party. Those members who mean well from the country should step up now that their party has set up a committee and speak to that committee because it was they who came to Nigerians and told us that they were going to give us change, and part of the change was that they were going to give us restructuring. It is now their duty to force their party to do what is right to Nigerians.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

POLITICS

2019: We need governorship candidate that will win election in Imo PDP – Hon Mayor Eze

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Executive Chairman of Orlu Local Government Area of Imo, formerly ALGON Chairman in Imo State and National Vice Chairman of ALGON, Ikenga Mayor Eze, has given his support for zoning the governorship of the state among the three zones of Orlu, Owerri and Okigwe. But, in this interview he insists that the PDP, being a party in opposition, cannot zone its governorship ticket.Ikenga Orlu who is also a former member of the House of Representatives said that what the parry rather needs in 2019 is a governorship candidate who will win the governorship of the state. From COLLINS UGHALAA, Owerri Congratulations, first on your declaration of your intention to be the next governor of Imo State and, secondly, for the victory at the Supreme Court of the Makarfi group?

Thank you, my brother. We give thanks to God Almighty. I hope my intention and the victory at the Supreme Court should gladden the minds of Imo people and the entire nation. I feel strongly that I have enough practical experience at the most challenging executive arm, the Local Government, and the highest legislative arm, the National Assembly, to bring real change in governance in Imo. Then our unanimous victory at the Supreme Court has excited Nigerians because a credible opposition/alternative is restored. It is a period of soul searching and rebuilding of our party. We have learnt a bitter lesson and have taken that as an experience that will better the lot of Nigerians going forward.

How is the party handling the Sheriff faction?

Politics has fair play rules more than any other sports. It is for noble minds. There is an elaborate programme towards reconciliation with those willing to come back to the party. You know I am not competent to talk for the party, but from what I hear from our party leaders at all levels, it is going to be a total reconciliation so that a new and real change will replace the old and clueless change of the APC. You are from Orlu Zone. Why are you aspiring for governorship now after long years of Orlu being in power?

For very honest and simple reasons.

A party in opposition does not zone because it wants to win elections. In so doing, they go for the best they have anywhere. Secondly, from our past interactions, you know I believe in zoning and you believe in zoning too, but can we enforce it? You know if God and Imo people find me worthy and elect me as the next Imo governor, I will not hand over to an Orlu person after my tenure. Morality and good conscience will return to the governance of the State. It is not impossible. We were all here in 2007 when Udenwa did it.

That common sense has not departed us.

In the absence of a one party system, it is the government in power that will muster the moral force to make zoning stick. So, I completely disagree with those who say there is no zoning. It ensures orderliness and peaceful coexistence, but you have to be in a sound constitutional position to influence it. Shouts alone cannot make it work. Then, any zone desirous of being a beneficiary should work hard and unite its people. Politics remains a struggle, but unity will encourage others from another zone to give them a chance.

In PDP, we want to progress beyond just producing a candidate, we want a candidate that will win elections and begin to erase the years the locusts have eaten and continue on the path of sanity.

So if Owerri Zone, for example, unites and puts their house in order today, will you stop?

Politics is a Science. It employs scientific

•Ikenga Mayor Eze

principles in problem solving. When that happens, we will all sit down as a family and revisit the issues again. It is a dynamic process. As we are working towards victory, nobody’s ambition is sacrosanct. If our calculations do not favour the available, we go fish out whoever will do it better.

That is the way noble minds work. Party before self.

But presently, nobody is more qualified than myself. That is why so many people are in joyous mood whenever they hear about my ambition. Civil servants in the state would ask their colleagues in Orlu LGA their experiences with me when I was the executive Chairman there. 2019 elections will pose a lot of questions the aspir-

ants must answer. Imo people are waiting.

Who are the others interested in governorship from your Party now?

There is no way I can know until they get to where I have gotten with the party. So far I am cruising to victory unopposed.

That is interesting. How do you intend to govern Imo State in the face of the financial challenges facing it?

That is where ingenuity and common sense come in. Government can achieve a lot without borrowing, if you understand how big the position is at leveraging things.

First, effective management of what you

have is key. We have demonstrated that under the Udenwa regime. He did not only refuse to borrow but insisted the Local Government Chairmen never borrowed.

Then with more experience and travels, there are lots of other avenues at home and abroad that I have discovered. I won’t give out a lot here because I heard the people are insisting on debates. That will give us the opportunities to say who we are and what we will do in the face of challenging administrative moments.

Thank you for your time, Ikenga. This is an ongoing discussion. We hope to talk more as events unfold.

Thank you. I will continue to talk to you when time permits.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

POLITICS

•Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris

•PDP Chairman, Markafi

•APC Chairman, Oyegun

War of words rages between PDP and APC ...

Cont’d from page 9 tember 11, 2017, in GRA, in Port Harcourt.

Most of the kidnappings and armed robberies taking place in this state are done by men of SARS and as the Chief Security Officer of the State, you (I) complain, but they choose to play politics with the crime.

“They fight crime in some States, but they refused to fight crime in Rivers State. We are done with the elections, but they are using the SARS to create insecurity in the State.

As I speak with you, they will deny. But SARS operative, who was killed, was among those who raided the Rivers East Senatorial District Collation Centre. This man can be identified in the video as one of those who invaded the collation centre with Fakorede. These deliberate acts of violence being perpetrated by the Police are part of the rigging planned for the 2019 general elections.”

Wike continued: “I have never seen a country where they politicise crime. It is very obvious that they want to give the impression that Rivers State is unsafe. They want to install fear preparatory to declaring during the elections that there are so many killings.

Authorities are deliberately trying to destroy a whole State and you want the people to be happy. I will no longer write to the IGP. Now is the time to take my case to the public for the whole world to know what is happening.”

The same day, Wednesday, September 13, the opposition APC in the state, issued a statement defending SARS over the allegations made by Governor Wike that SARS was behind the series of armed robbery and kidnappings in the state.

State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Chris Finebone, insisted that Wike’s allegation that members of SARS abducted some persons and forced them to withdraw N500, 000 was cooked up and aimed at smearing the image of the SARS in the state and its Commander, Mr. Akin Fakorede. Finebone stressed that Wike had never hidden his disdain for SARS, saying that the APC has also suffered consequences of false alarms raised by the governor, maintaining that such allegations had always turned out to be mere smokescreen to mask perceived real intentions. “ Finebone further stated: “Ordinarily, the

We have released four APCs for the Police as a way of strengthening their capacity along roads outside Port Harcourt because of the strong security network within Port Harcourt City; these criminals now operate on some routes outside Port Harcourt

”

APC has no business being involved in any matter between the governor and any other entity, but in the instant case and even in previous related cases, the governor has either alluded to or expressly stated that the APC benefited from whatever allegations he raised against the police or particularly the SARS. From all indications, the governor’s accusation Wednesday that members of SARS abducted some persons and forced them to withdraw N500,000 is manifestly cooked up to directly smear members of the SARS and their Commander, Akin Fakorede.”

Up to now, the Rivers State Police Command has not made an official statement in response to Governor Wike’s allegation. However, the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, gave a terse response to enquiries by journalists, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday, September 14, as “nonsense”. The IGP, who was reluctant to react to the allegation made by the Rivers State governor, said the governor has the right to freedom of expression, but, added that it was worrisome for a leader to constantly make unsubstantiated allegations against the Police.

The IGP stated: “He has the right to selfexpression. You know he is a governor. If a Policeman was killed you say he was involved in crime? I think you are mixing two different issues. Who is the person they were trying to kidnap? I just want you to read between the lines. If you have leaders making sweeping allegations obviously it does not make sense.”

The IGP’s comments have opened a floodgate of divergent views in the state. Pro-PDP supporters are wondering why the Police

boss was quick to dismiss the allegation made by the governor; they insist that he should have set up a committee or panel to investigate the allegation made by the governor to verify the authenticity of the governor’s claim.

While pro-APC supporters have taken sides with the IGP, insisting that Governor Wike has previously accused the Police of holding clandestine meetings with the APC, INEC officials and other operatives of security agencies without giving any proof, or, putting in the public space the video clip he claimed is in his possession that captured those that participated at the meetings where plans to rig the 2010 legislative re-run election in favour of the APC were hatched.

During the collation of results for the Rivers East Senatorial District at the Headquarters of the Port Harcourt local council, Governor Wike had arrived at the venue with some of his personal security details. Commander of SARS in the state, CSP Akin Fakorede, according to the Police command, was said to have been in the collation centre to ensure order and peace were maintained during the counting of votes. In the course of events that occurred at the collation centre, a video clip of a female collation officer holding Fakorede with both hands was recorded and shown to journalists by the governor’s media handlers.

A still photograph also taken at the centre, showing the female collation officer holding the SARS commander was also circulated to the media.

The Police High Command, in Abuja, set up an investigative panel with some members of the Department of State Security, DSS, in-

cluded in the panel, to look into what actually transpired during the highly contentious legislative re-run election and to identify areas of security breaches, if any. The Police investigative panel indicted six Policemen who had accompanied Governor Wike to the collation centre on the grounds that no armed security officer was supposed to accompany any politically exposed persons, to any pooling booth. The six Policemen were, consequently, dismissed from the Police and are currently being prosecuted in court.

Governor Wike has stated repeatedly that the six Policemen are innocent and were being victimised for preventing electoral manipulations from taking place at the collation centre. A vexed Governor Wike had declared, in the light of events that transpired during the legislative re-run, that he would no longer give financial support to the Rivers State Police Command. He asked the Rivers State Police Command to approach the Niger Development Commission (NDDC), henceforth, for financial support.

But with the spiraling in the State of crime wave and criminality, armed robberies and kidnappings fuelled by cult related activities, the governor was compelled to soften his stance and continue to give financial support to the Police. Early in the year, Wike had donated 10 operational patrol vehicles fitted with modern communication gadgets to the Police.

In the wake of Governors Wike’s latest allegations against the SARS, and its commander, it is in the interest of the public on the one hand, and the Police on the other hand, for the Rivers State Police Command to make a public statement intimating the public of what actually transpired, detailing the events that led to the death of the Policeman, a trained SARS officer, who Governor Wike claims was also in the said video that was recorded at the Rivers East Collation Centre, in the December 10, 2010 legislative re-run election. The Rivers State Police Command and the Police High Command, in Abuja, need to re-assure the people of Rivers State and Nigerians that the command in Rivers State, of which the SARS led by CSP Akin Fakorede is a critical part, is neither partisan nor working in sync with the opposition APC in the state, against the interest of the ruling PDP in the State.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

POLITICS

‘Culture, hatred hindering inclusion of women in traditional rulers’ cabinets’ BONIFACE OKORO, in Umuahia, encounters a women empowerment advocates and explains that, going by her views, a time-tested path to overall societal progress is through inclusion of all strata of the society, especially women, in the governance process.

I

N recent years, there has been an intensive drive by civil society organizations for integration of women into governance structures at the community level. Their advocacy focuses more on including women in various strata of community governance, particularly in the cabinets of traditional rulers, the highest decision making body at that level, in order to give them a voice.

However, Mrs Egodi Igwe, the Programme Officer of Women Aid Collective (WACOL), one of the CSOs spreading the gospel of women inclusion in the South East, says the campaign is ridden with challenges, pointing out that the twin forces of culture and hatred are erecting barriers on the road to success.

In an interview with The Oracle Today, Egodi, as she is popularly called, explained why WACOL, a non-governmental organization, is partnering Christian Aid Nigeria through the latter’s Voice to The People (V2P) Project to promote women inclusion.

“Actually,” she said, “in the V2P project, we have, through research, understood that women at the community level are still not included in governance processes.

“They are being excluded in decision making by traditional rulers and their cabinets and at the youth level and other groups where leaderships exist in communities.

Even though women have demonstrated the skill, ability and sincerity to lead, still, they have not been given their pride of place in the leaderships of the communities, especially at the traditional rulers’ cabinets,” she noted.

Speaking further, Egodi says some times, there exist some harmful cultural practices that are against women in these communities which prohibits from sitting in meetings where issues relating to these cultural practices that are anti-women are discussed.

This has led to a situation where “sometimes, when women have problems, it is men that are discussing the issue,” she submits.

“So, these are some of the areas we looked at and we said no, it is high time women are given voices to, it is high time women voices are amplified at that level; it is high time we bring up women that are already in governance at the state and national levels to interact with these community women and show them the way; show them how to begin to demand for inclusion, how to demand for their issues to be heard in the communities,” she says.

Their mutual interest in promoting human rights, good governance and giving women a voice brought WACOL and Christian Aid Nigeria together on the campaign train.

WACOL works in four thematic areas, including Human Rights, Peace Advocacy and Conflict Resolution and provision of library and information services to people and good governance “which is the area that brought us to partner with Christian Aid in the V2P, a rights-based project through which we are supporting communities to become active, learn governance processes and begin to demand for services or projects from duty bearers, using some tools like Charter of Demand, issue identification, power mapping, etc,” she says.

The V2P project revolves around four outputs, namely, building active citizenship, creating Safe Space (which dwells on issues concerning women and other marginalized groups); fostering institutionalized relationship between government and citizens, and learning.

Realizing that getting women to sit in the cabinets of traditional rulers in Igboland is like a taboo and perceived as cultural imperialism, how have the women and the communities welcomed the advocacy?

•Mrs Egodi Igwe “The reactions have been massive,” she explodes, brimming with smiles, revealing that testimonies that flow from the women during review meetings indicate that their confidence is growing.

She adds: “They told us they have confidence now to engage or discuss their issues without feeling that, may be, they are stepping on their husband’s toes. They now have confidence to begin to even think of looking for a way to improve their economic standing.

“For instance, there are some groups now forming cooperatives so that they can source for agricultural and other loans from federal government. So their voices are being heard now and they are asking questions.

“In fact, some of them are even thinking of contesting for local government leadership positions because they are being encouraged by fellow women and V2P partners to seek for political offices, to seek for appointments.”

On the impact of the campaign, she explains that the V2P Safe Space Women group WACOL established in all the focal communities in Abia, Imo and Enugu where the NGO was currently working were encouraging one another, sharing their learning from V2P, through giving referrals to their fellow women who have problems.

Has the advocacy been successful in terms of getting traditional rulers to integrate women into their cabinets, she was asked.

Her answer was in the negative but she was very optimistic that this objective was achievable with time.

“In the communities we are working, women are not in the cabinet of the traditional rulers,” she says, adding that the

women have said that they are not even “invited.”

Since some have said that “they will love to be there (Eze’s cabinet), the CSOs would work assiduously to bring that about, but gradually.

“This is not something that you come and begin to impose on communities. It is something that we want to come from them and it is going to be a gradual thing. We show them the way, then they begin to drive it.

“But for now, we have not really had any woman being included in the traditional rulers’ cabinet but that is an agenda the Safe Space women have,” she adds.

The human rights activist was hopeful that if women constantly share with the traditional rulers the outcomes of their meetings, the royal fathers would have greater understanding of issues affecting them and establish closer ties with the women.

She identified culture; and hatred among women themselves, as big challenges to actualizing inclusion of women in community governance. “The barrier is cultural, the norm; that, in fact, this is the way it has been, they status quo must remain. So, we think that it is the mindset combined with the cultural barriers,” she notes.

Things would change for the better if “the men or the culture” begin to look at things from the prism of the 21st century and do away with obnoxious idiosyncrasies.

Egodi is miffed that women are enemies to themselves and equally reveals why some men kick against trusting women with political offices.

“Women hate each other; they don’t like to support each other,” she says, adding, “some men we have interacted with feel

that some women are not generous and when they are given political positions, they care only for their families.”

Does the exclusion of women mean that the Beijing, China, 1995 affirmative action which stipulates that 35 per cent of leadership positions should be reserved for women has failed in Nigeria? Egodi responds with an emphatic “no.”

“Well, I will say that affirmative action has not failed. What I think is happening is that we have not given it the type of impetus it deserves,” she says.

She notes that progress was made in including women in governance in Nigeria during the Goodluck Jonathan administration because he supported his wife who identified with it.

“But as it is now, it looks like we have gone many steps backward and it is really worrisome because when you look at the level of investment the Civil Society Organizations and donor agencies have really made in this regard, it looks like none of the efforts is yielding result,” she laments.

She opines that if the federal government was seriousness in implementing the 35 per cent affirmative action, its chain reactions would see states and local governments replicating same.

“In fact now, we are no longer talking about the 35 per cent affirmation, we are now demanding for 50-50. We can take it if we put our strategies right,” she says but was quick to assure the men who may be scared about the women’s quest for inclusive governance, saying “our demand is not to topple the men but to complement each.”

15

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

POLITICS

At New Yam festival, monarch weeps over poor state of Arochukwu road •Begs FG to fix road to boost agriculture

Ata Igbo-Ukwu Umuzomgbo, an agrarian community in Arochukwu local government area of Abia State played host to people from all walks of life as the people celebrated their 2017 New Yam festival. Traditional Ruler of the community, Eze Linus Nto Mbah, lamented that lack of access roads to Arochukwu and to their farms were militating against the resolve of his people to feed the country. BONIFACE OKORO reports have not been touched for many decades and made them passable so that our people can have easy access to their farms,” said the billionaire business mogul.

The royal father who is a farmer said he and his people derive pleasure in celebrating their cultural heritage as represented in the New Yam festival and explained that the New Yam ceremony was one of the ways to appreciate God for giving the people life and energy to plant and be alive to enjoy the fruit of their labour.

“We invited ours friends, well-wishers and in-laws to come and join us in thanking God for His mercy that has enabled us to plant our yams few months ago and we are alive to harvest and enjoy it,” Eze Mbah said penultimate Saturday.

In Ata Igbo-Ukwu tradition, New Yam celebration is a month-long event. This year, the festivities peaked on August 26, 2017 with the cutting of the yam (Iwa Ji).

It was preceded by other ceremonies, including the cutting of old yam tubers and sharing them to friends and relations, a special Afor day set aside for evacuating harvested yam tubers from the farm, among others.

The New Yam festival, Eze Mbah maintained, was not evil as many erroneously believe. “Men of God do come to chair the occasion. We don’t celebrate anything evil, it is our culture and tradition that we are trying to sustain. The new yam festival is one of the most important cultures in Igbo land because every year, after few months of planting, God keeps you alive to harvest it. It calls for celebration,” he said.

One of the significance of new yam celebration, he said, was to draw people’s attention to agriculture.

According to him, in the old days when there was no white collar job, everybody took to farming for survival, a culture the Ata Igbo-Ukwu people have preserved to date.

“In this village, every man has a farm he cultivates to feed his family. We farm without using fertilizer. So, even if one does not have any other thing doing, farming can help in taking care of your family,” he said.

To save Nigeria from experiencing famine, he joined the league of Nigerians calling for a return to agriculture to feed the population.

“It is very important that we should go back to the farm,” he instructed.

Using himself as an example, he said “I have a modern farm with over 100 hectares of land. Last year we cultivated about 20 hectares of cassava and, this year, we added about 25 hectares of cassava and potatoes.

It is a pure, organic farm. The International

•Eze Linus Nto Mbah

lease help us tell government to come and fix this road, mostly from Ohafia to Arochukwu,”he appealed, adding “I also want to beg the Abia state governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, to come to our rescue and help fix the Obinto/ Umuzomgbo/ Okpo /umuchiakuma ring-road, which is in a deplorable state currently.

“

T

HERE is no more a pressing need for an Arochukwu man today than a smooth, motorable road to the ancient kingdom known for its Long Juju.

The road to Arochukwu local government area of Abia State, is unarguably, the worst in God’s Own State. Several efforts to rehabilitate the less than 30 kilometre-Ohafia – Arochukwu road have often hit the brick wall, just as rehabilitation or palliative works are hardly durable.

A prominent traditional ruler in the local government, His Royal Majesty, Eze Linus Nto Mbah, brought to the fore, the importance of fixing the federal road as he celebrated the 2017 New Yam Festival in his Ata Igbo-Ukwu Umuzomgbo Autonomous Community.

The community bubbled with life as it brimmed with people from many walks of life who thronged the agrarian community to share in their joy of being alive to plant and harvest their yams in another glorious year.

Even in the midst of the festivity, Eze Nto, could not help but bemoan the suffering of commuters plying the dilapidated OhafiaArochukwu road.

“Our problem remains that we don’t have good road. It takes about four hours from Arochukwu to Umuahia, the Abia State capital, a journey that should ordinarily last for less than one hour on a smooth road.

“We are begging the federal government to come to our rescue. This road has been like this for over 40 years, after the collapse of the one built by late Dr Michael Okpara, the Premier of the defunct Eastern Region.

Nothing has been done to repair it. Every year, they (government) tell us that the road is in the budget and thereafter, nothing happens,” the monarch lamented.

“Please help us tell government to come and fix this road, mostly from Ohafia to Arochukwu,”he appealed, adding “I also want to beg the Abia state governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, to come to our rescue and help fix the Obinto/ Umuzomgbo/ Okpo / umuchiakuma ring-road, which is in a deplorable state currently.”

Eze Mbah noted that if the road is fixed, his subjects who are predominantly farmers would easily evacuate their farm produce to the cities.

“Here, in our area, we have a lot of farm produce but we have no roads to take them to nearby towns. We have fertile land here that can grow crops without fertilizer, but our weak point is that we cannot take cash crops to the markets because of bad roads.

“Sometime this year, I personally hired caterpillars to grade roads to our farms which

Institute for Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan has set up a demonstration farm in my farm because we have a fertile land here.”

In her contribution, Ugoeze Grace Nto Mbah, wife of the royal father, urged women of the community to remain steadfast and supportive to their husbands, adding that they should not be tired of playing their enormous background roles in ensuring peace and progress in the area.

“We know that the men are there, but most times the women do a lot from the inside to help the community to stand. The role that women play in the community is so much that if we leave everything to the men, it will be very hectic for them to handle,” the Ugoeze said.

The queen explained why the royal family maximises the opportunity of the New Yam celebration to carry out empowerment pro-

gramme for the womenfolk, saying it was a way of demonstrating their love for them.

“It is because of the love we have for our women and we want them to remain strong and we want to encourage them to be economically independent because some of them are widows who have nobody to take care of them.

“So we see it as our responsibility to care for them and their children. We encourage our women to always come around for the New Yam festival because we do a lot of meeting during this period; we settle cases as women and handle other issues concerning the women,” she said.

Many who graced the occasion commended the people for upholding their rich cultural heritage and added their voice to the call on the federal government to expedite action in rehabilitating the Arochukwu road.

16

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

POLITICS

Anambra Poll: Why traders are rooting for Obiano -- Nwankwo

•Says governor saved Onitsha from commercial ‘death’ Chief Jude Nwankwo is the Chairman/CEO De-Jolity Ventures Nigeria Limited and the current President of the largest Building Materials Market in Anambra State, which is located at Ogidi in Idemili North Local Government Area of the State. Popularly known as Jolity, Nwankwo who is a native of Umuawulu in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State, is a product of Federal Government College, Owerri, Imo State where he was born and brought up. In this interview, the market leader who is also the Ochendo of Umuawulu tells THEO RAYS the story of his life, speaks on his achievements as the market leader and explains why traders in Anambra are likely to vote again for the incumbent Governor Willie Obiano in this November 18 Anambra governorship election.

FROM Government College Owerri to business in the commercial city of Onitsha; how did the transition happen?

I would say that my being a businessman was an act of divine providence. I came from a poor background, even though my parents were able to see me through secondary school. After my secondary school, I looked at the situation of things in our family and being the first son in the family, I told my parents that I had to find my way to do business so that I could take care of the younger ones in the family. I felt that doing business could see me in a better position to earn a living and also take care of my younger ones in the family, so I decided to go for trading apprentice in Onitsha. I left Owerri to serve my uncle in Onitsha and after five years of service, my uncle did the needful and settled me to be on my own. And here I am on my own, courtesy of the special grace of God. By the special grace of God, I am not doing badly. I have made my mark in business because God has been very kind to me and forever I will be grateful to Him. What gives me the joy of my life is that I achieved my set goal to earn a living and take care of my siblings.

How you were able to dodge some funny traps from the boss and probably his wife and overcome the temptation of not stealing from huge amount of money around you and how did such situations equip you for the challenges of the future?

First, it was a wonderful experience trying to adapt to the system of daily competition to make sales. Competition to outsmart your competitors and age mates too, to make sales and impress your boss. I became happy as the days went by because I was making progress in terms of knowing what I came to do and doing it to the satisfaction of my boss. I refused to fall into temptations because I had my target fixed into the bottom of my heart and I didn’t give the devil a foothold. What mattered to me was learning how to buy and sell. How best to convince a customer to buy and give accurate account of sales at the end of day and how best to make purchase. So, I was focused and never gave room for distractions. I tried to be honest and I succeeded in being honest. Secondly, I closed my eyes to beer parlours and girls. I endured fun and disciplined myself against falling

•Chief Jude Nwankwo titution, interest in politics for government jobs and passion to make money through drug business became more attractive to young people than Igba boyi. In most cases a boy may decide on his own that he wants to go to Onitsha or Nnewi to do business after secondary school but the parents would object to his decision and insist he must go to the university. In the villages, parents now compete to produce university graduates. So, all these factors combined to relegate Igba boyi to the back seat.

into temptation. As a school leaver, I was mature enough to use cash in certain things. I could feature in clubbing and razzmatazz and things like that but I was committed to my set goal.

Thirdly and most importantly, I put my trust in God and my boss too believing in strong terms that if I played my part well enough they would also do their part. I succeeded in playing my part Could you highlight your achievements so far well enough and God and my boss didn’t disap- as the man in charge at the Building Materials Market at Ogidi? point me either.

Well, I think this question is better referred to Quite an interesting story. How did you attain someone else because I can’t be the judge in my own case or sing praises for myself. Neverthethe height as a market leader now?

Well, as a trader in the market, people do less, I think my administration is not doing badly. observe what I do and what I say. As a passion- My team is working. And we have brought sanate advocate of truth and peace, I try to air my ity, peace and unity to the market. On assumpviews and opinion on issues of interest to the tion of office, we inherited some problems here traders in the market at the right time and so and there including litigations but by the special that truth and peace could prevail. Consequent- grace of God, we have been able to enthrone ly, I was often consulted by people that matter peace and unity among all and sundry through in the market to have my say on certain issues reconciliation processes. You will agree with me that bother on the welfare of the traders. Along that in a big market like this, the most important the line, I was asked and pressured to contest thing is peace and unity among the traders and election as the treasurer of the market by those believe you me, we have that at the moment who believed in me. I succumbed to pressure courtesy of the present administration. I am and contested for the position of treasure and grateful to God, my team and the entire traders won. I served for four years as the market treas- for giving me the opportunity to serve and for urer and was re-elected for a second term of according and my executive unflinching supanother four years, so I served as the treasurer port. I promise to continue to deliver on the of the market for eight years. After that, I was promises I made during campaign for my elecelected the president of the Market this year. tion.

This is how I made it into the market leadership.

In two months time Ndi Anambra will go the Most of you in the Market made it through the poll to elect a new governor. Let’s hear from platform of apprenticeship. In fact, for about the horse’s mouth: is it true that traders in the three decades, from 1970s - 1990s, apprentice- State have thrown their weight behind Obiship, which is Igba boyi was a platform for hu- ano’s second term interest?

Yes, it is true. And I make bold to say without man development in the in Igbo land. But, the platform and its value have seemingly disap- apology that no right-thinking trader in Anampeared because the younger ones no longer bra State would vote against Obiano because take to it. How and why in your observation did he saved our businesses from collapse by giving us adequate security. Obiano saved the comthe Igba boyi system practically collapse?

No, Igba boyi hasn’t disappeared completely mercial value of Onitsha from collapse. People because we have some boys under apprentice like us who deal on building materials suffered here in this market and other markets too. The setback because kidnappers and armed robissue is that it is no longer popular like in those bers were driving both residents and visitors days when people craved for it like my humble away from Onitsha. Not only that people won’t self. Things like football, computer program- buy land and build houses in Onitsha and its enming, development in the entertainment in- virons again but customers from outside the dustries like home movies, show biz and video State were also scared of coming to buy goods games including quest for university education in the city. However, Obiano’s security measwith interest in white collar jobs, cultism, pros- ures restored stability by giving the daredevil

criminals a good fight.

Secondly, Obiano doesn’t joke with the welfare of the traders and their markets. As we are taking now, different types of projects are going on in all the markets in the State under what is called N20Million Government Intervention Projects for Markets. In our market here, we are rounding off the first phase of the project, which is estimated at the cost of N10Million. We are fixing a flood prone area with drainage channel courtesy of the Obiano intervention project. The second phase of another N10Million is on the way. Thirdly we are also indirectly benefiting from the government service delivery in paying workers promptly.

Our chances of making sales could be brightened when workers earn their pay and attracting local and foreign investors in the State. The fourth reason why we want to retain Obiano is the fact that we believe in the political ideology and manifesto of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the party of our political father, the late Ikemba Ndigbo, Dim Chukwuemeka Odogwu Ojukwu.

Lastly what is your message to Ndi Anambra ahead of the election?

My message to the people is that peace is the key to the success of everything we do, therefore we should endeavour to give peace a chance during the election. In Anambra, we believe that we are mature enough to stand against election rigging. The overall leaders of traders in the State Chief Okwudili Ezenwankwo has made it abundantly clear that the market leaders in the State will mobile force to resist any attempt at rigging the November 18 governorship election. So those banking on rigging the election should better forget it because it is not going to be possible.

Who is Jude Nwankwo in a nutshell?

Jude Nwankwo is native of Umuawulu in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra. I was born and brought up in Owerri, Imo State. I attended Anambra Imo River Basin Development Authority Primary School Owerri and Federal Government College Owerri too. I am a businessman dealing on building materials under my Company name the De-Jolity Ventures Nigeria Limited. In this markets I am popularly known and called Jolity. Currently, by the special grace of God, I am the President of Building Materials Market Traders Association Nigeria Limited located at Ogidi in Anambra State. Married with children, I have two Chieftaincy titles of Ochendo and Chinweude of Umuawulu.

The Oracle Today

17

Wednesday October 4, 2017

BU$IN£SS •Energy •Finance

•Stock

•Insurance

•Aviation

•e-Platform

Uncertainties becloud telecoms business future – Deloitte •As Nigerian telcos lose 16m subscribers in 6 months

By SAMSON AKINTARO

W

ITH the evolution of disruptive technologies, future of telecommunications business globally remains cloudy even amidst fears that the business might be losing steam to new technologies, research firm, Deloitte has said. According to the research firm, the uncertainties surrounding the telecom business has made it impossible to predict its future, but it believes that “the boom years are either over or coming to an end very fast for most telcos”.

This came as telecoms operators in Nigeria are discovered to have lost not less than 16 million subscribers between January and July this year. According to statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the subscriber figure across all platforms in the country, which stood at 155 million by January end had dropped to 139 million by end of July.

Deloitte in its latest report titled: ‘To be or not tobe: the future of the telco business model’, noted that most of the trends that telcos are exposed to display a high level of uncertainty, adding that they could turn out to be disruptive, lead to exponential change over the next decade, or sink without trace. “Shifting customer behaviour, with ever-increasing expectations and pressure from both existing and new players in the game, affects their business, while more and more revenue streams either face strong decline or are being taken over by other players such as over-the-top (OTT) players and tech giants, challenging the telcos’ traditional business model” Deloitte said. It added that the transformation of telcos core business, coming sooner and faster than foreseen, is pushing the telcos

to step outside of their traditional thinking and become innovation drivers. “In this uncertain environment, industry stakeholders such as telco companies, vendors, and other investors are asked to consider long-term assets, and the decisions they make today will have a major impact on users, companies, and the economy in the future. As

CBN EXCHANGE RATES SEPTEMBER 22, 2017

we have seen, traditional analyses struggle with forecasting, since no amount of research can remove all the uncertainties affecting the successful outcome of a decision over decades” it said.

Reacting to the steep fall in subscriber numbers, the Executive Commissioner Stakeholders Management at the NCC, Mr Sunday

Summary

Buying(NGN) Central(NGN)

Selling(NGN)

US DOLLAR

POUNDS STERLING

304.85

305.35

305.85

413.6815

414.36

415.0385

EURO

364.814

365.4123

366.0107

SWISS FRANC

314.6027

315.1187

315.6347

YEN

2.7211

2.7256

2.7301

ASI DEALS VOLUME VALUE CAP

CFA

0.5342

0.5442

0.5542

WAUA

431.8414

432.5497

433.258

S/N

YUAN/RENMINBI

46.2445

46.3208

46.3971

RIYAL

81.2868

81.4202

81.5535

23.0075

23.0453

23.083

DANISH KRONA

49.0199

49.1003

49.1807

SDR

434.2183

434.9303

435.6422

Energy

Nigeria’s recovery hangs on OPEC cut exemption P20 e-Platform

FG developing ICT policies for States

P22

Aviation

Concession: FG has no money for airports –Sirika

P27

Insurance

Insurers pay N5b claims to flood victims P28

Stock Market Highlights As At SEPTEMBER 25, 2017

Currency

S/AFRICAN RAND

Dare, said the telecom regulator was also worried about the situation. He however blame it on circumstances beyond the operators and regulator’s control, such as the current economic recession in the country (though government figures indicates the country is out), SIM churning and OTTs. According to him, due to the recession, many Nigerians are cutting costs and making smart decisions on spending. “A lot of people that were using two phones before are now using one and they would have to drop SIM” he said. Mr Dare added that with the Over-the-top (OTT) services such as whatsapp, Facebook, and others, Nigerians are dropping multiple SIMS and sticking to one, using multiple OTT avenues to reach out to people.

Earlier, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) had raised the alarm over the threats of OTT services as they erode their revenues. According to ALTON Chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, core voice and SMS revenues are decreasing continuously due to impact of OTT players who offer voice, video and messaging services free of charge to their users.

“The increasing adoption of OTT applications by telecom subscribers negatively impact on incoming international traffic as well as SMS at huge cost to the Telcos but revenue to OTT” Adebayo said. ALTON in their request that the telecom regulator bring the OTTs under control, cited and Independent analyst and consultant body, Ovum’s report, which predicted that “the growing adoption of OTT services by customers instead of traditional telecoms services will occasion global revenue loss of $386bn over a period of six years (2012 – 2018) for the traditional telecom operators, thus endangering network development.”

•Tourism

35,358.73 2,848.00 107,148,175.00 1,367,125,616.28 12,188,920,116,808.13

Coy (By Volume) Volume

MEYER FCMB NIGERINS FBNH TRANSCORP

Value

20,005,000 14,003,650.00 9,570,735 9,921,352.24 8,399,851 4,199,925.50 8,094,385 45,313,978.66 5,457,683 6,835,542.23

5 Top Gainers Symbols Last Close Current Change TOTAL 225 231 6 GLAXOSMITH 21.4 22 0.6 AIRSERVICE 6.82 7.16 0.34 CUSTODYINS 3.46 3.63 0.17 ETERNA 3.3 3.46 0.16 5Top Losers Company Last Close Current Change NESTLE 1230 1225 -5 NB 171.01 168 -3.01 WAPCO 51.48 50 -1.48 UBA 8.97 8.7 -0.27 GUARANTY 39.6 39.5 -0.1

The Oracle Today

18

Wednesday October 4, 2017

BUSINESS

Investments exit Nigeria on insecurity

H

OSTILE and uncertain operating environment in Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa are changing the direction of global investment capital to politically stable and peaceful nations like Ethiopia and Kenya. According to Africa Risk-Reward Index which provides synthesis of risks and opportunities across the African continent economic giants, Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt, no longer provides investors the right mix of indices to compel business domiciliation.

According to the newly released Africa Risk-Reward Index developed

by Control Risks and Oxford Economics, despite recent recovery in Nigeria and South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia might soon outshine these heavy-hitters in the competition for investment.

According to the report, rising security risks and political instability in Egypt, economic downturn and militancy in Nigeria and escalating political risks in South Africa led to doubts whether the balance between risks and opportunities in these markets is still favourable for businesses. Key findings of the report have it that Nigeria and its energy sector still lead Africa in reward appeal, scoring 6.0 out of 10 points, ahead of South Africa and Egypt; but the attraction of the petroleum industry whittled down by country’s risk score which stood at 7.3 of 10 points.

The Nigerian economic woes are attributed to President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic and political blunders in the first term. Also, a fall in oil prices and lower production due to insurgent attacks in the Niger Delta have slashed growth from 6.3% in 2014 to 2.7% in 2015 followed by a sharp contraction of 1.6% last year. Economic indicators for this year are more favourable, but still the report forecasts a real GDP growth of only 1.1% in 2017.

South Africa’s risk score of 5.0 remains below the region’s aver-

age, but the reward score of 4.6 is also low. Whilst the country enjoys a deserved reputation as Africa’s pre-eminent constitutional democracy, several of its key institutions have gradually weakened over the past decade. Economic prospects are closely linked to the outcomes of the ANC’s national conference in December. The forecasted real GDP growth of 0.5% for 2017 is below population growth and certainly insufficient to reduce South Africa’s staggering 27.7% unemployment rate.

Egypt will test the most ardent optimist. President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi’s political position is stable, despite a series of economic and security chal-

By JEROME USHAKANG

tion while leveraging on strategic synergies and technologies to drive market participation.

The 2017 agenda will address market-data related challenges and present opportunities to learn new methods of gaining business insight and making informed investment decisions. It will also bring together other African Exchanges and members of the Media to explore new and innovative ways of collaborating together and disseminating market information that will sustain and enhance an informed investor community According to the Executive Director, Market Operations and Technology, NSE, Mr. Ade Bajomo, “The conference brings to fore the critical application of market data in making sound investment decisions whilst highlighting the various data products available in the Nigerian marketplace, thereby allowing investors to maximize their wealth creation opportunities.” According to the statement, some of speakers expected to speak at the occasion include: Mr. Mounir H. Gwarzo – DG, Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Bismarck Rewane – Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Ekow Afedzie – Deputy Managing Director, Ghana Stock Exchange, Mr Euvin Naidoo- Head of Financial Institu-

lenges, reflected in the country’s risk score of 6.0. Socio-economic grievances, a government crackdown on opposition and Islamist groups and persistent militancy will continue to have an impact on the business environment. The tourism sector remains depressed. The country’s reward score of 5.5 reflects the measures the government has taken since mid-2016 to address its fiscal problems. Real GDP growth is expected to slow in 2017 (to 3.8%, from 4.3% in 2016) owing to a slowdown in government and private consumption.

On the other hand, Ethiopia outperforms every African peer with its high reward score of 8.0. Notably, it

P

period of strong GDP growth amid relative political stability: real GDP growth averaged at 6.0% in 2010-16.

The 2017 growth forecast is at 5.4%.

The country’s reward score is 6.7.

A well-educated workforce and an innovative service sector, the government’s continued investments in upgrading critical national infrastructure, and deepening integration with its neighbours through the East African Community (EAC) all allow the country to act as a gateway into the larger East Africa region.

Current fiscal concerns and a political system that remains closely tied to ethnic affiliation contribute to a risk score of 5.6 and reflects considerable room for improvements.

Paul Gabriel, Senior Analyst for Africa at Control Risks and lead-author of the report comments stated that, “Experienced investors – not only in Africa, but around the world – know that risk and reward are close companions. While no serious investor should overlook the economic giants of the continent, real competitive edge can only be achieved when investors manage to stay ahead of the pack in knowing what’s next.

The Africa Risk-Reward Index helps investors to identify some of the more hidden investment opportunities in times where the heavy-hitters are struggling.”

NCC to sustain collaborations against cyber crimes

By SAMSON AKINTARO

• Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Council member; Mr Oscar Onyema , CEO ; and Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, President, all of Nigerian Stock Exchange at the 56th NSE AGM in Lagos.

Thomson Reuters partners NSE on data workshop REPARATIONS are at advanced stage by The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in collaborations with Thomson Reuters and other capital market participants, to host the second edition of the NSE Market Data Workshop.

The NSE in a statement said the workshop whose theme is: “Market Data the bedrock of wealth creation”, will bring together investors, market data aggregators, Exchanges, market regulators, government agencies, broker dealers and capital market stakeholders, will create a convergence of informed and educated players in the capital market.

The workshop themed “Market Data: The bedrock of wealth creation”, will bring together investors, market data aggregators, Exchanges, market regulators, government agencies, broker dealers and capital market stakeholders, which will create a convergence of informed and educated players in the capital market.

The underlying objective of the event scheduled to hold on Wednesday, October 4, 2017 at The Civic Center, Victoria Island, Lagos is aimed at Increasing awareness on the critical role of Market Data as a fundamental pillar for wealth crea-

attracted $3.2bn of foreign direct investment in 2016 – more even than Nigeria, and double the figure for Morocco. The East African nation is one of Africa’s fastest growing economies and continues to offer strong prospects. Growth averaged 10% from 2010 to 2015 and although 2016 growth was slower at 6.5% the expansion remains impressive.

However, the omnipresent role of government in the economy raises concerns relating to public sector efficiency and financial management. External debt is expected to increase to 38.7% of GDP by the end of this year, leading to a risk score of 5.8. Also, Kenya has achieved a

tions for Africa- Thomson Reuters, Mrs Titi Odunfa Adeoye- Founder and Managing Director of Sankore Investments and others. The Nigerian Stock Exchange in partnership

with Thomson Reuters is collaborating with Sankore Investments, Elev8Media, ARM Securities, Infoware, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Zanibal Solutions, ZagTrader, Globaltrybe, NTEL and other FINTECH institutions and stakeholders that thrive on market data, technology, and innovation to meet their business needs.

FIIRO develops blueprint to create 5m jobs

T

he Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) in Oshodi Lagos has said it has developed an industrial blueprint that can create five million jobs annually. FIIRO said that the jobs would be created through processing and value addition to the nation’s raw materials.

Prof. Gloria Elemo, its DirectorGeneral, made the assertion when the House of Representatives’ Committee on Science and Technology paid an official visit to the institute.

According to Elemo, the blueprint is designed to reduce unemployment and stimulate economic activities through value addition to raw materials of relative advantage in the nation’s 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs).

“We have carried out a comprehensive survey on raw materials of relative abundance in all the 774 LGAs in Nigeria; we have identified FIIRO technologies that are suitable for processing the raw materials for establishment of micro, small, me-

dium and large enterprises. “FIIRO has developed over 250 technologies in its 61 years of existence and these technologies could create about 5 million jobs annually directly and indirectly.

“This will ensure economic independence through drastic reduction in imported goods, thereby saving foreign exchange,” Elemo said. According to her, the institute is prepared to deploy its technologies to support the realisation of the objectives of the government’s Change Agenda.

“Ours is a total technology package including development of process, technologies, machinery and equipment,” she said. The FIIRO boss said that the institute would ensure effective technology diffusion through effective collaboration with relevant stakeholders including the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Fabricators Association of Nigeria (AMEFAN).

T

he Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said it would continue to collaborate with other government agencies and international partners towards stemming the tide of cybercrimes.

NCC’s Executive Commissioner (Stakeholder Management), Mr Sunday Dare stated this recently at the Commission’s Headquarters during an interactive session with representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC. The UNODC eLearning Project Officer, Kamal Toure; and Cybercrime Expert, Patrick Boismenu, were at the Commission’s Headquarters as part of their assessment mission to West Africa to gauge how well Nigeria, Senegal and the Gambia are able to fight cybercrime.

Mr. Dare noted that the Commission performs its regulatory functions in a way that ensures that its licensees take the steps necessary to combat cybercrimes. He explained that “The role of the NCC here is to do an audit and make sure that we have all the ISPs having active databases and meeting the six months (data retention requirement) as stipulated in the license provision.”

Responding, Patrick Boismenu stated that UNODC is willing to provide assistance in needed areas to ensure that ISPs comply with requirements for data retention because of the crucial role data plays in fighting cybercrimes.

“Our goal is to ensure that cybercrime investigators have access to the tools they need to do their work,” Mr Boismenu explained.

The Oracle Today

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Wednesday October 4, 2017

BUSINESS

Misconduct: SEC sanctions Ogiemwonyi for life …Fines board, others N.8m

By JEROME USHAKANG

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HE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has banned the Managing Director of Partnership Investment Company Plc and Partnership Securities Limited, Mr. Victor Ogiemwonyi for life, for engag-

ing in unprofessional conduct in the Nigerian capital market. The Commission said following the gravity of his offence, Ogiemwonyi is also banned for the rest of his life from holding directorship positions in any public company in Nigeria. And, the operating licenses of the companies have

been withdrawn.

The SEC, in a statement said five of the members of Board of Directors of the company: Mr. Ojetunde Taiwo, Mrs. Ogiemwonyi Olufunke, Mr. Ogiamien Frank, Mr. Adeusi Aladejola Alexander and Mrs. Arese Ugwu, were also suspended for a period of Five years from engaging in capital market activities in the Nigerian Capital Market, and banned from

ACCOBIN pledges to collaborate with NSE to deepen market

holding directorship positions in any public company in Nigeria during the said period.

In addition, they were ordered to pay a penalty of N100, 000.00 each for breach of Rule 1(iii) of the Code of Conduct for Capital Market Operators and their Employees as contained in the SEC Rules and Regulations made pursuant to the Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2007. Accord-

By JEROME USHAKANG

T

he Association of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria (ACCOBIN) has promised to partner with the Nigeria Stock Exchange(NSE), in deepening the financial market in the country.

The Chairman of ACCOBIN, Mr Opeyemi Adojutelegan pledged their commitment at the floor of the Exchange, during courtesy visit of the body to the exchange. Adojutelegan commended the management of the NSE for receiving the leadership of ACCOBIN, and believed there were great opportunities for strengthening the synergy to ensure stability in the financial market.

The Chairman emphasised that corporate governance is the bedrock of any institution, which underscored the need for support from regulatory bodies. He added that the body maintained a level playing field in corporate governance code for the financial market,and setting standards for banks. Responding, Doyen of the dealing members of the Exchange, Mr Samuel Ndanta in his remarks commended the association for its efforts in the financial market, and advised the leadership to be more visible in its engagement with stakeholders.

The Chairman of ACCOBIN accompanied by his council members, also performed the closing gong ceremony for the day.

•From left: Ade Ewuosho, Head, Market Service, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Pai Gamde, Acting Head, Corporate Services Division, NSE; Laure Beaufils, British Deputy High Commissioner; Ade Bajomo, Executive Director, Market Operations and Technology, NSE and Favour Femi-Oyewole, Head, Information Security, NSE at the Close Gong Ceremony at the Exchange recently.

WAEC standardises NNPC annual quiz competition

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HE West African Examinations Council, (WAEC), has said that standardisation of questions and integrity of test administration, are the critical value addition it has brought to bear in the on-going yearly national quiz competition of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Head of WAEC Office, Nigeria, Mr. Isaac Olu Adenipekun, who spoke in Ado Ekiti, over the weekend at the Zonal final of the quiz competition for states in the South

West comprising Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Osun and Oyo, explained that three layers of subject specialists worked on the five subject areas of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English, set for the on-going nationwide competition.

According to Adenipekun, who was represented at the event by Deputy Registrar, Test Development Division of the examinations body, Mr. Ayo Oyejide, respective external subject specialists devel-

Aig-Imoukhuede, Dangote, others exit as Council members of NSE

By JEROME USHAKANG

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he President of the National Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, CON Alhaji Aliko Dangote GCON, and ten others whose three-year tenure expired, bowed out honourably at the 56th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos.

Names of other Council members who exited are: Engineer Mohammed Dagash, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo, Mr. Oladipo Aina, Alhaji Umaru Kwairanga , Mr. Kayode Falawo, Mr. Michael Osime, Mr. Oluwole Abegunde and Mr. Dunama Balami.

New members elected as members of the National Council of the NSE at the AGM are: Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo, Mr. Oscar Onyema, Mrs. Catherine Nwakaego Echeozo; Erelu Angela Adebayo; Chartwell Securities Limited (Represented by Mr. Oluwole Adeosun); Equity Capital Solutions Limited (Represented

ing to the statement, Ogiemwonyi, the Chairman of the company,Mr. Henry Omoragbon and Mr. Eseha Augustine Enejeta, a Manager in the company were ordered to pay a penalty of N100, 000 .00 each for breach of Rule 1(iii) of the Code of Conduct for Capital Market Operators and their Employees as contained in the SEC Rules and Regulations made pursuant to the ISA Act 2007.Thus bringing the total penalties to N800,000.00. Omoragbon was also suspended for a period of five years from engaging in capital market activities in the Nigerian Capital Market while the suspension of Enejata would last for a period of One year from engaging in capital market activities in the Nigerian Capital Market The statement read: Pursuant to Section 38 (4) of the Investments and Securities Act 2007 and Rules 34 (1), (a) of the SEC Rules and Regulations made pursuant thereto, the certificate of registration of Partnership Investment Company Plc is hereby cancelled without prejudice to the recovery of all existing liabilities due to the Complainants and penalties payable to the Commission. Although, the apex regular of the Nigerian Capital market didn’t give details of the crime committed, however, it stressed that pursuant to Section 304 of the Investments and Securities Act 2007, all information on possible criminality in the matter would be referred to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.

by Mr. Kamarudeen Oladosu); Fortress Capital Limited (Represented

by Mr. Yomi Adeyemi); Pilot Securities Limited (Represented by Mr. Seyi Osunkeye); Planet Capital Limited (Represented by Mr. Chidi Agbapu); Woodland Capital Markets Plc (Represented by Mr. Patrick Ajayi) and Katsina State Investment & Property Development Co. Limited (Represented by Mrs. Fatimah Bintah Bello–Ismail) as members of the National Council.

The National Council is the governing body of The Nigerian Stock Exchange and it is currently made up of twelve Members. The National Council directs The Nigerian Stock Exchange’s business and financial affairs, strategy, structures and policies; monitors the exercise of any delegated authority; and deals with challenges and issues relating to corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and corporate ethics.

Speaking at the Annual General Meeting, the President of the Na-

tional Council of the NSE, Aig-Imoukhuede, stated that despite the economic headwinds in 2016, the NSE remained profitable with an operating surplus of N27.45 million.

Aig-Imoukhuede stated that the Exchange generated N4.46 billion as revenues, however, dropping by 31 percent compared with the previous year, reflecting bearish sentiments prevalent in the market in 2016. He commended the Council and Management of the Exchange for their cost containment efforts and their diligent approach to budgeting which saw total expenses decline by 12 percent during the year under review without affecting the Exchange’s high operating standards and service quality.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of NSE, Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, OON, the NSE demonstrated resilience through the economic and market downturn as investors reacted to prolonged macro-economic uncertainty.

oped the questions, which integrity, he added was further enhanced by another set of specialists who moderated them.

Adenipekun said WAEC internal subject area specialists were the third layer of specialists which edited and compiled the questions.

At the end of the South West zonal final, two states, Ogun and Ondo, with a score tie, emerged first, with Lagos technically coming third. The three would knock horns with their counterparts from other five zones in Abuja in October.

Speaking further on the value addition that WAEC had brought to bear on the quiz competition, Mr. Adenipekun said WAEC had boosted the credibility of the exercise, saying no participant had access to the questions prior to each of the zonal competition.

He expressed delight on the collaboration with NNPC over the competition, saying it was the beginning of fruitful future partnership.

Delivering a speech during exercise, NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division (GPAD), Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, said the increase in monetary value of the scholarship awards to N300,000, N250,000 and N200,000 for first, second and third place winners at grand finale respectively, to cover every year of an awardee’s tertiary education, as well as the one-off N100,000 grant to state winners, was the additional innovation introduced at this year’s edition of the competition.

Ughamadu, who was represented at the event by Mr. Gboyega

Bello of GPAD, stated that given the imperative of science, technology and engineering as necessary tools to conquer the universe, NNPC was encouraged to foster the learning of these branches of knowledge through the competition, as the fulcrum of the Corporation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project aimed at nation-building.

Also speaking at the occasion, Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Professor Olusola Olubunmi, expressed appreciations to NNPC for giving the state the opportunity to host the South West arm of the competition, stressing that the state attached premium to education and was ready to collaborate with any institution or individual who shares this position.

Olubunmi, who was represented at the event by Dr. Mrs. Folu Ayoleso, Director, Technology, Technology Ministry of Education in the state, said the state had invested heavily in education in recent times which had in turn made its candidates to emerge best in National Examinations Council (NECO) examinations for two consecutive years, starting from last year, adding that they had also recorded 75 per cent pass in their WAEC examinations.

So far, the zonal level competition had been concluded in SouthSouth, South East and South West zones, with the rest to be executed next week, starting with North East.

The 15th NNPC National Quiz Competition would culminate in a grand finale slated for October this year in Abuja..

The Oracle Today

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Wednesday October 4, 2017

ENERGY

Nigeria’s recovery hangs on OPEC cut exemption

By SOPURUCHI ONWUKA

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UT for the success of the country’s delegation to a meeting with the joint monitoring committee of members and non-members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on implementation of glut reduction in the oil export market, Nigeria’s economy would have headed straight back into recession.

It is beyond argument that Nigeria owes immense gratitude to the committee for the highly celebrated but very fragile oil driven economic recovery that saw the country a thin line above recession.

Those closely monitoring the nation’s economic palpitation were heads up weekend when Nigeria’s delegation went to discuss the country’s oil production outlook with the committee to determine if the country would be stripped of exemption from the group’s obligatory production cut agreement.

The agreement, which went into force January 1, calls on 14 OPEC and 10 non-OPEC producers, led by Russia, to cut a combined 1.8 million b/d in output through March 2018 in order to rebalance the market and induce draws of oil in storage.

Most OPEC members are in full compliance with the agreement, though exemptions for OPEC members Libya and Nigeria have complicated the effort. Both countries are embroiled in internal crisis and were exempted from production cuts to enable them earn more oil revenue for national security efforts.

When the decision was taken last year, major export pipelines and terminals in the country were shut down on security concerns, while oil firms served notices to trading partners over cargo lifting breaches resulting from uncontrollable circumstances. Nigeria posted average daily production of about 1.5 million barrels per day (1.5 mbd), down from nominal 2.2 mbd.

Half year 2017: security situation in the Niger Delta has since improved while production volumes continue to record upsides as oil firms re-enter production sites, fix facilities and resumed operations.

Following production recovery to over 2.3 million barrels of hydrocarbon liquids per day expectations were that Nigeria would join rest members in cutting production in a group effort to tame supplies and

rescue prices.

But the obligation to cut production and export volumes as agreed among members and non-members of OPEC in 2016 would have severe economic implications on the country which has been struggling with economic recession since the assumption of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as president.

Just this month, the country notionally exited recession on papers with thin margins eventhough suffering and unemployment figures seriously contend with the recovery statistics interpreted widely as political credibility gift to the present administration by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

According to NBS, Nigeria’s economy returned to clumsy growth in at the end of the first half of the year with total index of 0.55 percent following positive figures from the petroleum industry where both prices and production volumes have shown significant upside.

The latest figures which measured indicators from several sections of the economy also showed that the oil sector also went up 1.64 percent year-on-year to record the first expansion since the third quarter of 2015, following an upwardly revised 15.60 percent drop in the previous period.

The country produced 1.84 million barrels of crude oil per day, up from 1.81 mbpd a year earlier, and consequently accounted for 8.89 percent of GDP compared to 8.79 percent in the same period last year.

The non-oil sector contribution to the gross domestic product fell from 0.73 percent increase in the previous period to 0.45 percent.

On the positive streak, electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning jumped from -5.04 percent in first quarter to 35.50 percent; public administration improved from -2.07 percent to 1.63 percent; while finance and insurance rose sharply from 0.67 percent to 10.45 percent.

The rest sectors of the economy recorded negative growth.

According to the report growth in the manufacturing sector dipped from 1.36 percent in Q1 to 0.64 percent in Q2, indicating a sharp drop in activity. Growth in construction also showed a drop from 0.15 percent in to 0.13 percent.

Related services including water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation also fell

• Qua Iboe terminal from 12.63 percent to 3.45 percent; while agriculture also fell from 3.39 percent to 3.01 percent.

Other sectors that suffered decline in production include transport which went down from 10.55 percent to --18 percent. Trade appreciated from previous negative of -3.08 percent to new negative of -1.62 percent.

Further on the negative note, accommodation and food services improved from previous negative of -3.96 percent to -4.05); information and communication fell from 2.73 percent to current negative of -1.15 percent; while arts, entertainment and culture plunged from 11.67 in the previous quarter to a negative of -0.62 percent.

Real estate, according to the report also further dipped from previous negative of -3.10 percent to new negative of -3.53 percent.

Eexperts converge on the fact that growth in the economy is driven mainly by petroleum sector the contribution of which in the gross domestic product (GDP) is less than 10 percent in the period.

These facts wipe smiles off the faces of keen observers.

“The petroleum industry which single handedly pulled out the economy from recession is monoproduct that doesn’t offer much to the GDP, and companies that play in the upstream sector of the industry are not listed in the local stock market, except Seplat and probably Oando whose shares have also been affected by the developments in the domestic economy as reflected in the stock market.”

In a recent podcast Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Kachikwu, suggested that Nigeria’s production was close to full capacity, linking the rise in output to increased activities in response to relative calm in the Niger Delta.

In a separate event, Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, had declared that the country’s oil output had crossed the 2.0 mbd threshold, adding that more ambitious production figures were underway as more re-commissioning are delivered.

Nigeria lifted force majeure on loadings of key export grade Bonny Light in August. Production ramp ups are ongoing at several oilfields currently re-streamed after protracted export pipeline outages in the Niger Delta.

Besides, developments are underway in the deepwater offshore Niger Delta where key multinational operators drive integrated production projects to optimise commerciality at a time of low oil cycle.

Trading sources told The Oracle Today that more production volumes are visible from re-entry programmes activated by independent and marginal field producers.

Expectedly, Nigerian crude oil production in August was the highest it’s been in two years, pushing OPEC’s collective output for the month to about 630,000 b/d above the group’s declared ceiling of about 31.9 million b/d.

It is not clear whether Equatorial Guinea, which joined OPEC in May, has been captured in the group’s output cuts, or whether Indonesia which suspended its membership in December is also captured in the calculation.

According to OPEC’s crude oil export figures compiled by the Platts, Libya and Nigeria who are exempt from the group’s production cut agreement posted combined overproduction of 480,000 b/d in August above their benchmark on which OPEC based its production cuts and quota.

However, the rising production volumes which pulled the country out of recession exposed Nigeria to production cut commitment at OPEC where the country has been exempted from shut in obligations to enable it overcome production deferments imposed by militant attacks on the industry.

Speaking from Vienna, Russian Energy Minister, Alexander Novak, hinted that, “Nigeria is ready to reduce production at the level of 1.8 million barrels per day and join the agreement once it reaches the target.”

OPEC economists pointed out that Nigerian economy during the second quarter grew 0.6 percent from last year, after registering a

contraction in the first quarter.

Thus, Nigeria’s rising production outlook had prompted OPEC members to consider capturing the country into the movement for production cuts. This led to Kachikwu’s invitation to the September 24 meeting of the OPEC/non-OPEC monitoring committee to explain Nigeria’s production outlook.

Government declared after the meeting that Nigeria is to sustain the prevailing gains in oil and gas production recovery despite the concert by producers around the world to control the supplydemand balance in order to glean out more revenue from the export market.

The committee of OPEC and Non OPEC Countries granted Nigeria’s request that the exemption granted it at the November 2016 Ministerial Conference and extended by the May Ministerial Conference should be sustained until it stabilizes its crude oil production.

Dr. Kachikwu who led Nigeria’s delegation to the meeting had argued that whereas Nigeria’s production has recovered since October last year, the country is not yet out of the woods. He said the production recovery so far recorded by the country does not support production cut obligations.

He however stated that Nigeria would be prepared to cap its crude production when it has stabilized at 1.8 million barrels per day.

The meeting noted that overall compliance by OPEC and Non OPEC participating Countries to the Agreement on crude oil production cut for the month of August was 116 per cent, the highest since the agreement came into effect on January 2017.

It further noted that the objectives of the accord were steadily being achieved with the gradual draw-down of inventories by nearly 50 per cent since the agreement came into effect.

With the committee’s eyes fixed on oil production pumps in the country, concerns are high that the highly trumpeted economic recovery of the country would heavily hinge on decision of the new cartel on Nigeria’s output.

The Oracle Today

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Wednesday October 4, 2017

ENERGY NNPC deploys IDSL to inland seismic mapping

By SOPURUCHI ONWUKA

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IGERIAN National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is working to launch renewed exploration of inland sedimentary basins in the northern parts of the country.

Already, the corporation has procured aeromagnetic data on the Sokoto basin from the Nigerian Geophysical Survey, and awarded contract for the mapping and procurement of apt samples to further the understanding of the area.

The development came just as Sokoto State government, Usman Dan Fodio University and Petroleum Technology Trust Fund (PTDF) convene an industry conference to determine prospectivity of the Sokoto basin.

Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, told a delegation led by the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, that the corporation has launched exploration of all inland basins in the country including the Sokoto basin.

Dr. Baru hinted that Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL), a unit of NNPC, has been mandated to carry out various geochemistry investigations to boost the gathering and integration of all relevant data ahead of the planned procurement of seismic 2D data position which would in turn determine various prospects.

He said the NNPC technical team would share technical analysis on existing data at the forthcoming seminar on the Sokoto basin, noting that the Corporation would use the platform to update and also share its knowl-

edge of the basin with relevant stakeholders.

Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, expressed the desire of his state for NNPC to activate oil and gas exploration campaign in the State, pointing at hopes that the sedimentary basin could hold hydrocarbon deposits.

Governor Tambuwal who cited existing exploration records as the basis for his demand said renewed search for oil in the basin might yield discoveries that would increase the nation’s oil reserve.

“We are here more on an advocacy visit to your office, Mr. GMD, to kindly request for your intervention and attention for the office in charge of frontier exploration to pay attention to Sokoto basin just the way attention is being paid to other basins in the country,’’ he said.

The governor invited the NNPC GMD and Top Management to a conference in Sokoto sometimes in October 2017 which is being facilitated by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF in collaboration with the Usman Dan Fodio University.

The appeal actually exposed the governor’s little regard to the commercial arrangements that govern oil and gas exploration as there is no known active or dormant exploration license awarded to any company in the area.

Besides, the nation’s petroleum exploration acreage allocation are awarded to commercial operators by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) which administers oil blocks and regulates the operations of oil companies in the country.

SNEPCo’s hosts forum on Nigerian Content

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HELL says its forum on Nigeria’s oil and gas industry held in Aberdeen, Scotland, could be a model for regulators in the industry.

The company stated that players in the Nigerian oil and gas industry described the annual Global Nigeria Forum (GNF) on Enabling Competitive Local Content through Sustainable Partnerships as a model worthy of emulation by the country’s local content regulator.

The forum, a brainchild of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), the deepwater arm of Shell companies in Nigeria, aims to strengthen local content in offshore exploration by opening the opportunity space to Nigerian professionals in Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom.

In his keynote address, Executive Secretary, Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Wabote, described the annual event as a huge success. “I am happy to see growth in a partnership that has continued to build capacity without compromising standards.”

Chairman of the Local Content Committee of the House of Representatives, Mr. Emmanuel Ekong,

who led some other members of the national assembly to the 2017 forum, proposed the takeover of the organisation of the forum by NCDMB. According to Ekong, saddling the local content agency with the ownership of GNF will ensure ‘inclusion of other international oil companies for greater impact and access to support from the Nigerian parliament’.

“This forum is unique and germane particularly at this time of the low oil price regime, and it aligns with the recent NNPC policy to increase participation of the private sector while attracting the right people with the right technology into the Nigerian oil and gas industry,” said the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Exploration Manager, Mr. Marcel Amu, who represented the national oil company.

In his remarks, President of Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Mr. Kashim Ali, pledged the continued support of his organisation to the forum and asked participants to take advantage of COREN’s new accreditation procedure for Nigerian professionals outside the country.

• Switch gear panels and cables replaced by Ikeja Electric during major rehabilitation work at Ogudu Injection Substation

FG plans annual petroleum summit

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IGERIA’S strong capabilities in the oil and gas sector and the investment opportunities available will be highlighted at the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) in Abuja from 19th to 23rd February 2018.

This First Federal Government of Nigeria’s official oil and gas industry trade show event will undoubtedly be the Africa’s largest and most important industry platform and linkage to the world where engineering and technological breakthroughs, bid rounds, bid sign-off, major contract signing and sites conferences would meet other developmental and economic diversi-

fication initiatives of the country.

The Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof.

YemiOsinbajo, unveiled the official launch of Nigeria International Petroleum Summit 2018 in the presence of 19 African Ministers of Petroleum and delegates who attended the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) meeting in Abuja, Nigeria recently.

Dr.IbeKachikwu the Nigeria Minister of State for Petroleum Resources said, the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) will be held annually as a platform to highlight Nigeria’s long history of oil and gas production, substantial reserves and

Mobil lauds Akwa Ibom @ 30

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obil Producing Nigeria (MPN) Unlimited has lauded the developmental strides achieved by Akwa Ibom state, since its creation on September 23, 1987.

Chairman and Managing Director, Paul McGrath, stated in a message that “This milestone provides an opportunity for the people of Akwa Ibom to reflect on the vision of the state’s founding fathers and celebrate the progress achieved over the years.”

The company acknowledged the support it has enjoyed from the people of Akwa Ibom since the state’s creation in 1987 and restated the joint venture’s commitment to long term operations and mutually beneficial relationship with the state.

“We have enjoyed relatively

peaceful relations with the people of Akwa Ibom state over the years. Our commitment is to ensure more social and economic benefits from the joint venture business accrue to the communities near our operations and across the State”, said McGrath.

“We are proud of our contributions to the development of Akwa Ibom state and look forward to working together for greater achievements.”

Mobil Producing Nigeria commenced operations in Nigeria in 1955 and operates a Joint Venture with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The joint venture has made substantial contributions in the areas of health, education, and empowerment projects in its operational bases in Akwa Ibom.

status as a leading global player in the sector.

This will be reinforced through the attendance of key Nigerian political decision makers, government officials and industry’s specialists from the National Oil Company(NOC) and other relevant government bodies on the one part and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of National and international oil companies, multinationals and multilateral organizations, the academia and other relevant stakeholders et cetera.

Nigeria’s petroleum industry is the largest in Africa with proven Oil and Gas reserves of 37 billion barrels (bbl) and 192 trillion cubic feet respectively. The sector contributes about 10% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product and accounts for 95% of all exports.

Given that Nigeria’s Gas reserves have remained largely untapped, the country is expected to make a shift towards becoming a major producer and exporter of Gas which the summit provide with an excellent business environment to interact, crosspollinate ideas and to make deals happen.

‘We are excited about the potential possibilities of hosting for five days at the International Conference Centre (ICC), located in the heart of Abuja’s business district, Africa largest oil and gas international exhibition of economic operators, national and international companies and potential investors coming together to present new technologies and know-how in the petroleum sector in Nigeria’, Dr.Kachikwu said.

The Oracle Today

22

Wednesday October 4, 2017

e-Platform

FG developing ICT policies for States

Stories by SAMSON AKINTARO

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HE Federal Government has said it is poised to achieve equal and fast growth of ICT across the 36 states of the federation, hence, the development of policies for the states. The Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, who disclosed this, said government through the Ministry has already developed ICT policies for over 13 states to foster growth.

According to the Minister, the government has recognized ICTs as one of the key drivers of the

economy, thus, it has been factored in all national long-term development blue-prints that aim at transforming Nigeria into a knowledge economy by 2020. “We have developed a National ICT strategic Roadmap whose aim is to provide a systematic approach to harnessing the power of ICTs across all sectors of the economy” he added.

To foster use of technology in the country, especially, in provision of government services to the people, Shittu said the government was working towards having at least 80 per cent of all public services provided through digital platforms by

2018, adding that at the moment, a good number of key services leverage on ICTs for their delivery.

Along that line, the Minister said said efforts are on to expand the number of Data Centres in the country as part of government’s plan to expand its presence on a digital platform, 1-gov.net. The platform, apart from consolidating existing government ICT infrastructure, also enables MDAs to exchange data in a seamless manner while allowing each other to remain independent and maintain its privacy and the security of its operatives.

The minister said through the

1-gov.net, government has become more participative and accessible where citizens can participate in policy process through discussions, suggestions and online-polls. “Various Government Departments are using this platform for seeking inputs on a wide range of issues.

Using the 1-gov.net Platform, Government has been able to save 30 per cent of what it would have expended on a unit per unit cost.

As at date 90 per cent of all MDAs within Abuja are linked with fiber backbone and 3,500 locations of different MDAs have been touched across the country. About 270 MDAs websites and applications

NCC pumps N133.4b to Federation Account T he Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said it has in the last two years, remitted a total sum of N133,426,062,786 (one hundred and thirty three billion, four hundred and twenty six million, sixty two thousand, seven hundred and eighty six naira) to the consolidated revenue fund of the Federal Government. Although NCC’s primary role is not to generate revenue for the government, but to nurture and regulate the industry, figures obtained from the commission show impressive remittance of funds to the coffers of the consolidated revenue of the Federal Government, especially in the last two years.

For instance, the Commission’s last remittance to the consolidated revenue fund, which was on June 30, 2017 was N12,705,154,120 and it came just less than 10 days after the NCC remitted the sum of N1,282,453,138 to the account. In the same vein, the NCC last year, transferred N20,000,598,873 and another N15,000,000,000 in March before remitting N29,475,867,407 and N16,500,000,000 in December

of the 2016.

In 2015, however, the commission remitted N23,512,316,450 in October after paying N6,856,182,132 in September of the same year. It is noteworthy also that the quarterly contribution of telecom sector to the GDP has been consistently impressive in the last two years.

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, recently said that the sector contributed N1.549 trillion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2017, representing 6.68 per cent increase from the first quarter of the year (N1.452 trillion).

The National Bureau of Statistics report has confirmed that the telecommunications sector, during the second quarter of 2017, contributed 9.5 per cent to the GDP in contrast to 9.1 per cent contribution in the first quarter of the year. “We are very proud of the remarkable contribution the sector is making.

Even at the recent times when the whole economy was facing challenges, the sector had remained re-

•Prof. Danbatta, NCC EVC. silient and stable,” said a happy.

Similarly, the nation’s quest for attainment of 30 per cent broadband penetration by 2018, has received a major boost as ITU-UNESCO Broad-

band Commission for Sustainable Development confirmed last year that Nigeria had achieved 21 per cent level of penetration from less than 10 per cent 2 years earlier.

are being hosted on the network, adding that “government has recorded success in 1-gov.net, we now focus on some services that have direct bearing on the present administration’s priorities, and we determined to continue with the shared ICT infrastructure and services initiative in the MDAs. The 1-gov.net is promoting Whole-ofGovernment approaches in the information Age based on shared services. This approach will enhance productivity of government officials, increase experience of patrons of government services, enhance security and drive out the menace of corruption.”

He said the government recognizes the urgent need to increase efficiency and transparency, improve and align processes, smart government and smart cities, attract new investors, bridge the digital divide, transform government transaction services, data-driven government, better access to and management of information, thereby enhancing citizen satisfaction and trust, meeting the needs of rapidly changing demographics and balancing costs while optimizing efficiency.

According to him, digital government is a vision statement that seeks to bring about citizen empowerment by harnessing the potentials of ICTs as well as seeking to transform government into digitally empowered society and knowledge economy in a manner that government is available on the palm of every citizen, where - The Government is open and the Governance Transparent. Digital Government, he said, does not comprise the digital architecture alone, but it encompasses digital delivery of citizen-centric services, and ultimately, digital empowerment of the people.

He said, “Internet users in Nigeria have crossed 90 million. The mobile users have also crossed 156million mark. The smart phone users are more than 60 million. Today, from booking of train tickets to payment of fees and taxes, from post office and banking transactions to issue of digital documents, online registrations to online applications and e-services, Digital Revolution is seen everywhere and touches almost every aspect of life of a common citizen.

Shittu disclosed that government is investing in shared ICT Infrastructure to secure the benefits of lower cost, increased security, increased innovation and faster service delivery, adding that government is supporting the development and sustenance of ICT applications that are driving cost effectiveness and transparency in Government Service Delivery. He added that applications supporting the Treasury Single Accounts (TSA), IPPIS, Budget Portal and BVN verifications among others are already resulting in huge savings. The Ministry of Communications, he said, has expanded the Open Government Data Portal which is a part of the Federal Government Open Data Initiative, stressing that many civil servants have been trained across MDAs on the use of the portal.

The Oracle Today

23

Wednesday October 4, 2017

e-Platform GSMA to deploy big data against challenges Stories by SAMSON AKINTARO

T

HE GSMA has pledged the commitment of its members to providing critical mobile big data to help address the world’s most pressing challenges. This came as the association announced new developments in its Big Data for Social Good initiative, which was launched in February 2017 to leverage mobile operators’ big data capabilities in addressing epidemics and humanitarian crises.

Megafon, Safaricom and Telenet are said to have signed on to the initiative, joining previously announced operators Bharti Airtel, Deutsche Telekom, Hutchison, KDDI, KT Corporation, Millicom, MTS, NTT DOCOMO, INC., Orange, SK Telecom, Telefónica, Telenor Group, Telia, Turkcell, Vodafone and Zain. The Big Data for Social Good initiative is now backed by 19 companies with a presence in 124 markets around the world.

Additionally, the GSMA has established an Advisory Panel to provide guidance to the initiative, as well as coordination and integration with the broader ecosystem. The Panel is comprised of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD), the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) and Data2X, as well as leading big data experts from UN agencies including Be He@lthy, Be Mobile (a joint initiative by WHO and ITU), OCHA, UN Global Pulse, UNDP, UNHCR and WFP. The Advisory Panel will play a fundamental role in identifying where, when and how mobile big data can best support health and humanitarian efforts.

Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA, while speaking at the just concluded United Nations General Assembly said “the GSMA and our

S

•Mats Granryd, GSMA DG mobile operator members are committed to working with UN agencies and national governments to provide critical mobile big data to help address the world’s most pressing challenges,”. “This marks the first time the mobile industry and such a range of UN agencies are collaborating on a single broad initiative. This unique approach will enable us to create a holistic Big Data for Social Good framework that spans the agencies’ varied re-

quirements from the outset, ensuring that decision makers have the necessary information, when and where they need it” he said.

According to GSMA, initial trials of Big Data for Social Good for epidemics and environmental pollution are currently underway with Bharti Airtel in India, Telefónica in Brazil, and Telenor Group in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand. “In the trials, operators are capturing

anonymised, aggregated mobile indicators in a consistent output format to provide insights into human movement patterns. These insights are then layered with third-party data sources, such as disease prevalence, infrastructure and resource locations, pollution and weather data, to support agencies as they make decisions on when, where and how to deploy resources” the association said.

in Nigeria, MDXi has continuously innovated to surmount the power and connectivity challenges peculiar to the country. According to him, “MDXi is the only operator in Nigeria with direct and dedicated connection to the national grid guaranteeing 24/7 Power availability to customers beyond any other in-country data centre provider. As internet traffic increases and performance improves, the opportunities for data center growth are enormous given the upsurge in the use of ICT services and a largely young population immersed in content creation and consumption. MDXi is well positioned to

handle this demand and has expanded its colocation offering to Ghana, while building another Tier III data centre close to the Sagamu- Lagos Interchange off the Lagos-Ibadan expressway” he acquiesced.

Oghene-Ruemu highlighted the role MDXi plays in ensuring open access and carrier neutral connectivity to colocation customers hosted in its Lekki and Accra data centres. “With a target of 80% of internet traffic exchanged locally by 2020, MDXi’s hosting of the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), and its new OpenConnect interconnection service will facilitate increased intercon-

nection, collaboration and peering for telecom operators, ISPs and content providers within its data center.

This service would enhance local internet performance, lower costs and minimize traffic bottlenecks for Internet traffic in Nigeria and West Africa.

Since inception, MDXi as a subsidiary of MainOne has established a strong reputation as the preferred provider of data centre and interconnection services in Nigeria. The company owns and operates the Lekki Data Centre; the only Tier III certified colocation facility in West Africa with combined PCI DSS, ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certifications.

MDXi leads data centre providers at Capacity Africa W est Africa’s premier Data Center Company, MDXi, a MainOne company reinforced its position as the leading data centre provider in the West African market at the just concluded Capacity Africa Conference which held in Kampala, Uganda. The Capacity Africa conference is the largest networking event in Africa for global carriers and provided the platform for MDXi to showcase to the community, its commitment to enabling a robust digital ecosystem with its investments across the region. In acknowledgement of its pioneering work, MainOne’s CEO, Ms. Funke Opeke was recognized with the “People’s Choice Award” for her achievements in expanding data centre facilities and connectivity in the West of Africa at this year’s event.

During the conference, Vremudia Oghene-Ruemu, Product Manager, MDXi, joined a panel of experienced data centre thought leaders to analyse the growth potential of the African data centre market as well as discuss challenges peculiar to the continent. The panelists highlighted expensive connectivity and epileptic power supply as significant constraints to the uptake of data centre services and the participation of more operators on the continent.

In his comments, Oghene-Ruemu asserted that despite the limitations

Google strengthens hardware business

earch giant, Google, is set to play big in the hardware segment of technology as it signed a $1.1 billion cooperation agreement with HTC. The hitherto rumoured acquisition was announced by Google in a statement after trading of HTC shares were halted on Taiwan’s stock exchange.

The Google hardware exec Rick Osterloh said in a company blog post: “With this agreement, a team of HTC talent will join Google as part of the hardware organization.”

“These future fellow Googlers are amazing folks we’ve already been working with closely on the Pixel smartphone line,” Osterloh said.

Separately, Google also signed a nonexclusive license for HTC intellectual property. The companies did not disclose the financial terms or length of that deal. This, however, is not the first time Google has made a major investment in smartphone hardware development.

Google bought Motorola in a $12.5 billion deal in 2011, only to resell it to Lenovo for $2.91 billion three years later (Google had sold off other parts of Motorola earlier). At the time, Google said it deemed the overall operation to be a “success,” as it retained Motorola’s most valuable asset, its patent portfolio.

Lately, Google has shown signs of taking an Apple-like strategy toward its products. With its new devices, it’s taking care of both the software, Android, as well as the hardware. The search giant hired Osterloh, who had been Motorola’s chief operating officer, as its first hardware czar in April of last year and formally put together a hardware team under his leadership.

That resulted in the first solelyGoogle-branded phone, the Pixel (as well as the larger Pixel XL), and also the Daydream View virtual reality headset. Earlier this year, the Google Home smart speaker followed. Google is rumored to be interested in chip manufacturing, which could allow it to compete even better with deeply integrated systems like Apple’s iPhone without having to rely on third-party companies like Qualcomm.

When the first batch of made-byGoogle devices was unveiled, Osterloh said that hardware was an important component of the tech titan’s business and that the company would be in it “for the long run.” The acquisition of the HTC team looks like further proof of this commitment.

Microsoft backs TEF with tech support

M

icrosoft, through its 4Afrika Initiative, has collaborated with the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) to provide entrepreneurs in the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme with technology-based tools, resources and mentorship. Through this support, which will benefit TEF entrepreneurs across the continent, the two organisations will help entrepreneurs effectively use ICT to modernise their businesses, enrich their offerings and reach new customers.

“Microsoft 4Afrika and the Tony Elumelu Foundation share a com-

mon goal to accelerate economic and social development by promoting entrepreneurship,” says Akin Banuso, General Manager, Microsoft Nigeria. “As we enter into an era of digital transformation, it’s vital that we help all entrepreneurs develop relevant technology skills and integrate ICT into their businesses. Technology can help SMEs reach customers outside their local markets, generate powerful business insights and improve their customer retention. We have found that SMEs who adopt this kind of modern IT have seen 15 per cent

faster revenue growth than those not using it.”

Microsoft 4Afrika will provide TEF entrepreneurs with: Access to cloud-based software, online support and technology through BizSpark; Access to information and markets through the Biz4Afrika platform, where SMEs can trade with similar-sized organisations; Technical training on Microsoft technologies and platforms during the 2017 TEF Forum; Online business and technology training through the Microsoft Virtual Academy , to support entrepreneurs through their start-up, growth and

acceleration phases; and Access to Microsoft experts for virtual and in-person mentorship through the MySkills4Afrika programme.

“Every year, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme provides 1,000 entrepreneurs with business training, mentoring, access to seed capital funding and membership into the TEF Africa-wide Network,” said Parminder Vir OBE, CEO, Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Through this partnership, we are supporting each other’s mission to enable Africa’s entrepreneurs to drive their businesses forward.”

24

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

ISSN: 2545-5869

EDITORIAL

T

HERE is a major difference between 1 October 2017 and the ones that preceded it. The National Day, for the first time, has become a day that should be approached with trepidation, a new low in our national history.

AREWA Youths, three months ago, asked the Igbo to leave the North latest by October 1.

They promised death to any Igbo that defied their order. This statement was made in Arewa House, Kaduna, a facility that the North’s elite uses when it wants to say important things, or say things importantly.

ON June 6, 2017, Nastura Ashir Sharif (Arewa Citizens Action for Change); Alhaji Shettima Yerima (Arewa Youth Consultative Forum); Aminu Adam (Arewa Youth Development Foundation); Alfred Solomon, (Arewa Students Forum); Abdul-Azeez Suleiman (Northern Emancipation Network), and Joshua Viashman, of the Northern Youth Vanguard, signed a statement to that effect.

ABDUL-AZEEZ Suleiman, who addressed the press, blamed the actions of “the Indigenous People of Biafra and its overt and covert sponsors” for the decision. “With the effective date of this declaration, which is today, Tuesday, June 6, 2017, all Igbo currently residing in any part of northern Nigeria are, hereby, served notice to relocate within three months and all northerners residing in the South East are advised likewise.”

MORE from the statement: “Recently, people from eastern part of this country, specifically Igbo, were busy calling for the Sovereign State of Biafra and from all indication their leaders including governors are behind them.

The persistence for the actualisation of Biafra

VOX POPULI SACRUM

www.oraclenews.ng

Finally, it’s October 1 by the unruly Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria has lately assumed another alarming twist, which involved the forceful lockdown of activities and denial of other people’s right to free movement in the South East by the rebel Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its overt and covert sponsors.

“Emboldened by the apparent indifference of the Nigerian authorities, the Igbo secessionist tendency is widening in scope and action at every stage, with adverse effects on the law-abiding people of other regions residing in or passing through the East, while the Igbo leaders and elders by their utterances and direct action or inaction appear to support and encourage it.

“While these provocative acts of aggression persist and grow in dimension with each new move, leaders of the North whose people are at the receiving end of the threats, appear helplessly unperturbed.

“Without pursuing a resolute action-plan, these northern leaders have adopted and have been dragging its people into a pitifully pacifist position in order to sustain an elusive national cohesion that has long been ridiculed by the Igbos.

“The North hereby openly calls on the authorities and other national and international stakeholders to acknowledge this declaration by taking steps to facilitate the final dissolution of this hopeless union that has never been convenient to any of the parties.

“As a first step, since the Igbo have clearly abused the unreciprocated hospitality that gave them unrestricted access to, and ownership of landed properties all over the North, our first major move shall be to reclaim, assume and assert sole ownership and control of these landed resources currently owned, rented or in any way enjoyed by the ingrate Igbo in any part of Northern Nigeria.

“Consequently, officials of the signatory groups to this declaration, are already mandated to commence immediate inventory of all properties, spaces or activity in the north currently occupied by the Igbos for forfeiture at the expiration of the ultimatum contained in this declaration.

“We are hereby placing the Nigerian authorities and the entire nation on notice that as from the 1st October 2017, we shall commence the implementation of visible actions to prove to the whole world that we are no longer part of any federal union that should do with the Igbos.

“From that date, effective, peaceful and safe mop-up of all the remnants of the stubborn Igbos that neglect to heed this quit notice shall commence to finally eject them from every part of the North.

“And finally, all authorities, individuals or groups are hereby advised against attempting to undermine

this declaration by insisting on this union with the Igbos who have thus far proved to be an unnecessary baggage carried too far and for too long.”

ANGO Abdullahi, former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, who is also the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, supported the youths. “I am disappointed in the decision taken by Northern Governors’ Forum disowning and condemning the agitation by this young agile and progressive youth groups. Let me ask these Northern governors, whom are they representing, are they representing spirits, ghost or people of the North?” he said.

THERE have been various efforts to douse the tension. The Arewa Youths even recanted. The fact is not lost on those who protested the threat of the youth and their determination to execute it.

OFFICIAL responses have been at best lethargic.

The supposed justifications have included the claims that Nnamdi Kanu was threatening the North with his call for self-determination, actually a referendum on whether Ndigbo wanted to be part of Nigeria, under encumbering circumstances that place them below the rights and privileges of other citizens of Nigeria.

IPOB has been banned, proscribed, and there is a manhunt for its leadership. The South East is under a military siege via Operation Python Dance, with all manners of explanations being made for the militarisation of the area. Yet there is no plan to arrest those who made the October 1 threat, or their supporters. Whatever happened to the evenness of the scales of justice?

IT is not too late for the Federal Government to call the threatening Arewa Youths to order. Their action limits rights of Nigerians to free movement, residence, and ownership of property in any part of the country. Wavering responses to these threats are inadequate.

WHATEVER happens, October 1 has added another precedence to our tortuous history.

Our Vision TO BE among the top five newspapers in Nigeria and, in due course, the Numero Uno; to be a newspaper of records that effectively caters to the information needs of all segments and sections of the Nigerian society as well as all social classes and cultures. Essentially, we want to be a responsible corporate citizen, a commercially viable, properly organised media business, which meets its obligations to society, government and the workforce.

Mission WE INTEND to contribute to the development of an inclusive Nigerian society, with a view to getting rid of the dark sides of our national life (slothfulness, greed, corruption, nepotism, totalitarianism, etc); to continually engender and sustain national debates that would ultimately lead to the enthronement of healthy national values--hard-work, justice, equity and fairplay, transparency, good governance, resulting, in themselves, the egalitarian Nigerian society of our dream. We will give voice to the voiceless and at all times, strive to be balanced, objective, honest, truthful and fair to all sides; so that through The Oracle Today, our people, the Nigerian 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 trust in God who blesses good intentions.

25

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

OPINION Bishop Kukah as a Reason to believe D

By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

ivisive designs are all the rage across the country today. Pulling together is neither here nor there in higher places and on the lower fronts. It is as though the nation is at war with itself. Nigerians appear to have totally missed the essence and fallen in love with the accident. Against this dire background, one cannot but heave a heavy sigh of relief when the vista of hope is seen in certain circumstances. The picture staring back at me from the newspaper on my table as I write now shows Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah bringing together in peace the erstwhile warring duo of Prof. Pat Utomi and Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan. It is, indeed, in the Kukah character of peacemaking given that he was back in 2005 appointed by the Federal Government to serve as Chairman of the Ogoni-Shell Reconciliation.

As the Good Book states in the seventh verse of the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” Many may not want to read much into Bishop Kukah’s brokering of peace between Utomi and Uduaghan, but it is very instructive that leaders do have followers who may escalate fiendishly any unresolved schisms involving their principals. The art of nipping trouble in the bud can never ever be praised highly enough. For instance, if the mutual suspicions that led to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo had been stopped in time, the First World War would not have happened.

Nigerian leaders need to emulate Bishop Kukah in striving after peace instead of the unnecessary display of raw power all the time.

The common touch of Kukah comes with no airs whatsoever. I can bear witness to that.

By ROY IWUALA

I

nterestingly, the first Chinua Achebe International Conference held on May 23 this year, at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka is still too fresh not to be recollected. The theme of the Conference was, “Chinua Achebe and the Convolutions of Immortality.” At the said conference, the former governor of Imo State, Dr Ikedi Ohakim delivered a lecture captioned, “The Igbo and the Leadership question - The Achebe Example,” in which he posed two strikingly beautiful questions. First, he asked, “why are we not engaging with our first eleven?” The second question was, “should we continue to fly birds with clipped wings and still hope to be competitive?”

In a similar development, Senator Hope Uzodinma addressed a dazzling array of officers and leaders of Imo PDP on August 16 at the State Secretariat on Okigwe Road. In his message of “Good Hope,” Senator Uzodinma declared that the next governor of Imo State must be “a driver with driving licence.”

The hopeful Senator concluded that the era of “a driver with learner’s permit or provisional licence” is over. Methinks that the questions raised by Dr Ohakim and the satirical answer offered by Senator Uzodinma were actually and emphatically pointing to the quest for professionalism in governance, which is expected to address the leadership question in our polity.

Unarguably, increased professionalism in governance changes the polity radically. This is why a political leader that makes good use of professionals will be able to deal with the problems in governance with considerable expertise. Certainly, it is the only way that one’s performance can exude confidence and excellence. In this way, the political leader can deliver public good, which is the goal of governance.

Acceptably, professionalism is the antithesis to amateurism. Indeed, amateurism is not what the society needs in this fast developing world of the 21st century. If I am permitted to take a cue from Senator Uzodinma, a learner driver is an amateur. Most learner drivers do not leave the motor vehicles the way they found them. Most times, such motor vehicles, which are badly mishandled, fall into disrepair. Thus, more often than not, we see that a learner driver is won’t to cause hiccups when driving a motor vehicle.

However, a learner driver is used as a political satire on Imo politics. If I actually understood Senator Uzodinma’s satirical declamation very well, a learner driver translates into a learner governor. Well, that may actually explain why a learner governor is known for being clearly inconsistent and inconsiderable. No wonder, the learner status in general is, at best, crude or amateurish.

Significantly, this amateurism is exemplified

When my mother died, a cousin of mine close to the bishop, Dr Arthur-Martins Aginam, divulged the news to the revered prelate, and I was shocked out of my skin when my phone rang and the soft voice introduced himself as Bishop Kukah. He gently rendered his consolations, prayers and condolences, and when he was done, I felt unimaginable elation.

Words can indeed heal and uplift. I somehow believed that my dear mother, an esteemed Catholic organiser in her days, also heard Bishop Kukah’s prayers even in her repose!

It is little wonder that everybody wants a piece of Bishop Kukah who the respected Africanist Richard Dowden describes as “Nigeria’s spiritual guide and confessor”. A prominent Northern Muslim once complained that Kukah should not just be addressed as the “Catholic” Bishop of Sokoto because that title excluded non-Catholics like him! Even as a Muslim, the man stressed that Kukah was his Bishop too! Given our ethno-religious suspicions in Nigeria, the example of Bishop Kukah should be given pride of place in the country’s scheme of things.

The talk of marginalisation in Nigeria places Bishop Kukah’s homestead of Anchuna in Ikulu chiefdom of Zangon-Kataf Local Government Area, Kaduna State, at the extreme of the margins. When he served at the Catholic Secretariat in Lagos, Kukah had cause to celebrate that a second person from his home place had secured a job in Lagos – as a cook!

Even so, he does not bear the badge of marginalisation but continues to work for the growth of a nation where no man or woman

would be oppressed or denied justice based on primordial sentiments.

Born on August 31, 1952, Bishop Kukah has since being ordained a priest on December 19, 1976 packed so much work into this life as though having many lifetimes jammed together as one. After serving as a member of the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission of the Federal Government of Nigeria, otherwise known as the Oputa Panel, which looked into the many violations in the locust years of military rule, Bishop Kukah authored the epochal book Witness to Justice: An Insider’s Account of Nigeria’s Truth Commission.

Let’s take a quote from the book to illustrate the Kukah essence: “Here in Nigeria and at international forums, despite my protestations and clarifications through media interviews, many masters of ceremonies at public events continue to introduce me as the former Secretary of Oputa Panel! I am not exactly sure why and how this came about but it may perhaps not be unconnected with the fact that I was the only member of the Commission that carried a micro laptop on him during the entire public sittings. What is more, it was much later that I realized from public comments that many individuals said they often had to pay special attention whenever I took up the microphone to make a comment in the course of the public sittings. In addition, the Chairman (who always insisted I sat beside him), and I were in consultation during the public sittings especially when there was a need to clarify an issue. Indeed, retired Col Belo Fadile, who had earlier appeared as a petitioner but later re-

cycled as a lawyer to both General Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar made a sensational and an exaggerated claim by stating that the Final Report of the Commission should better be called Father Kukah’s Report.”

Of course, the regime of President Olusegun Obasanjo chickened out of formally releasing to the Nigerian public the monumental report of the Oputa Panel but Bishop Kukah feels gratified nonetheless - true to his eternal theme of the promotion of peace - that the Commission engendered reconciliation and embraces from erstwhile sworn enemies such as “President Obasanjo and Bello Fadile (over the 1997 coup plot); ACP Zakari Biu and Chris Anyanwu (allegations of torture during detention); Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and Mr. Osinowo; Great Ogboru, Major Bilyaminu Mohammed and Professor Odekunle (allegations of torture during detention); Brigadier General Sabo and Chief Chuma Nzeribe, Brigadier Sabo and Lieutenant General Ishaya Bamaiyi (allegations of torture and defamation of character) or General Theophilus Danjuma and Alhaji Umaru Dikko (over the issue of his being transported back to Nigeria in a crate) among so many others that were less dramatic.”

In forging the way forward for Nigeria, Bishop Kukah founded The Kukah Centre (TKC), a policy research institute based in Abuja. Very noteworthy is that a centre founded by a devoted Christian has initiated groundbreaking initiatives toward training the Almajiri on vocations. That is the way to go. Bishop Kukah is a reason to believe in the workable ility of the pan-Nigerian project.

Okorocha: Still learning how to be Governor? in the ramshackle way in which the affairs of Imo State are handled. With due respect, His Excellency is given to a kind of learning from terrible mistakes and unpleasant experiences that have disillusioned Ndi Imo. Do you ever wonder why most of his projects and programmes are executed in a haphazard fashion, and often abandoned abruptly? Have you tried to discover the underlying cause of His Excellency’s mean streak of indiscriminate demolitions state-wide? It is in consideration of the details inherent in these and other issues that I was spurred to adopt this question: “Okorocha: Still learning how to be governor?”

The first attempt by His Excellency to justify his bad policies and actions was when he said, “I am here for a mission, and the mission shall come to pass. Don’t see me as a conventional Governor, but a radical Governor. That is why I don’t observe protocol.” Similarly, he reiterated that, “In Rescue Mission, there is no protocol.” Also, he was reported to have boasted that his words and actions are laws. He may be saying the obvious since he made the Imo State House of Assembly to be his footstool.

Revealingly, these profound statements of His Excellency in rare moments of frankness exposed his problems of learning how to be governor. Without mincing words, such public utterances do not bode well for the high office of a governor or servant leader. And, this is part of what has raised the issue of a learner governor. In this vein, how can one comprehend this lack of protocol that metamorphosed into lack of due process of the law or a kind of recklessness?

I want to believe that the sheer awfulness of learning how to be governor may have influenced His Excellency’s overpowering personality, mountain of unfulfilled promises and barrel of wry smiles. Others include the incurable addiction to doublespeak, and the inclination to dance to the gallery. In addition, there were accusations bothering on intrigues, deceits, vendetta, and cruelty being exhibited in his rescue imbroglio. Given these sordid issues, Ndi Imo have found it difficult to hide their disappointment following the way everything is going so disastrously wrong in the State. Sadly, Ndi Imo have been put in a spin for the past six years, having suffered many hardships from playing the political version of “spin the bottle.”

Without prejudice, I wonder if there is “onye Imo” that has not been badly affected by the direct consequences of having a governor who savours highly emotive issues (rather than rational thought) with obvious relish. Let’s take a trip down the memory lane as we ponder over the systematic impoverishment of Ndi Imo by a learner. The following questions will suffice to

illustrate the point. Where are the beneficiaries of 10,000 jobs, 30,000 local government temporary workers, Community Speakers, CGC members, 25,000 Imo Youths Must Work beneficiaries, street sweepers, Imo Security Network, Imo Civil Guard and countless others that were tossed around like poker chips on the bargaining table? Have we given a hoot to the government workers in Adapalm, ITC, Imo Concorde hotel, Imo hotel, Imo Water Corporation, Avutu Poultry Farm, etc that the government abandoned to their fates? How about the downsizing of the ministries and the rightsizing of the parastatals, which further reduced the lean workforce of the government drastically?

The learner governor’s mistreatment of government workers can only be likened to the manner in which a learner driver mishandles a motor vehicle.

The worst case scenario in Imo State is the “nkuda nkuda,” or rampant demolition without any iota of compensation. Since, we couldn’t give a damn, the learner governor goes ahead to mess us up. Apart from destroying our education with the politics of free education, and the health sector with the phantom health at our doorsteps, now, His Excellency has set off to destroy our only factories and industries, which are the various Eke, Orie, Afor, and Nkwo markets that have cultural, social, economic, and political considerations for Ndi Imo. It must be overemphasised that markets are the greatest means of livelihood for Ndigbo in general, and therefore, should not be a theatre of learning how to be governor.

Where lies the rescue mission? Here, I want to gloss over the government’s warning signal to the landlords and property owners in the World Bank, Imo and Federal Housing Estates, Owerri. The government wants them to cough out some millions of Naira for revalidation of their Certificates of Occupancy and annual development fees or in the alternative face the consequence of having their buildings demolished. I am glad that demolition has become a fearful weapon or threat for compelling Ndi Imo into doing the government’s bidding. This is an issue for another time because this dangerous trend will trickle down to the other estates in the other parts of Owerri. And, it is a ploy to learn or grab because the learner Governor still thinks that he has not learnt or grabbed enough.

In view of the latest in the spate of “nkuda nkuda,” it was reported that the learner governor swore with his index finger by picking saliva from his tongue and raising it to high heavens to make such frantic gesticulations as “mmechaa Ndi Imo ihe, ha ga ama onye m wu.” This reminds me of the Igbo adage, which

says, “Onye kporo nna gi ugwo, enwegh ike ihu gi n’anya.” Instructively, this is a lesson on the importance of identifying who one’s real enemies are, and who one’s true friends are. From the lesson, we can see how Ndi Imo in 2011 and 2015 crucified their true friends, and chose to celebrate their common enemy of today. By this strange twist of fate, Ndi Imo found what they actually looked for - an omen of disaster.

Presently, Ndi Imo are weeping and mourning with pangs of hunger and regret. Given the woebegone expression on their faces, who will listen and assuage their cries of outrage? Is it the Imo State House of Assembly, a tortuous assembly of tortured minds? I mean our assembly of Hooray Henries whose only opportunities to sit, are for them to dwell endlessly on how they can’t legislate against their bad luck. Having gone the whole hog, does any one need to be told that His Excellency is still learning to be governor? Happy birthday, our learner governor, our learner governor at 55 that caused a splash of birthday funfair, which made Ndi Imo gaze hungrily at the display of countless sizeable cakes. Odiegwu oooo.

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 Head, Graphics & Designs Nnamdi Alex Chukwu Advert Manager Andrew Udeh Circulation Manager Felix Oti

The Oracle Today

26

Wednesday October 4, 2017

Travel & Hospitality

Nigeria Travel Week to corner 40m domestic travellers in 5 yrs

• NTW team at the media unveiling event (L-R): COO, NTW, Toni Ukachukwu, CEO, NTM, Efetobo Awhana, Head, Partnerships, NTM, Folakemi Idowu, Legal Adviser, NTM, Opeyemi Orioye and Head, Creatives, NTM, Muyiwa Ojo. Stories by VICTOR NZE

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HREE firms; the Avantgarde Tours Limited, Afro Tourism West Africa Limited and Rewards Travels and Tours Limited, have concluded plans to lift Nigeria travel and tourism sector as they unveil a novel initiative, tagged: , the Nigeria Travel Week (NTW), a platform for promoting domestic market set to hold at end of the year.

Speaking during a media forum to unveil the project, at the NANTA House, Lagos, Managing Director of Avantgarde Tours Limited, Efetobo Awhana, who is also the CEO of NTW and arrowhead of the project, said the initiative is designed to lift the country’s waning domestic

tourism by helping Nigerians see the need to patronise Nigeria’s numerous domestic tourism products s even as the event targets 20 per cent of consumers in the next five years with over 20 million direct and indirect jobs set to be created.

NTW will be is a multi – day tourism event platform that aims to drive the Nigeria tourism sector by bringing together buyers, consumers, travel technologies, tourism/travel service providers and the media to network, review and discuss the development of tourism in Nigeria,” Awhana said.

The over one-week event, billed to hold between November 20 and 29, including pre and post event hosted buyers familiarisation tours, according to him, is further aimed at achiev-

ing the following: To help nurture healthy leisure lifestyles and change the ‘Nigerian’ perception that travel is luxury; To promote domestic tourism in Nigeria and thus ensure a proper balance in the ‘Africans travelling Africa’ campaign on the continent; and To change the media and general narrative of Nigeria as a “Boko Haram and Corruption Country” to a Rich Ecotourism and Cultural Tourism Destination.

“We want to corner 20 per cent of the Nigerian market involving the travelling category in five years and to create 2,000,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2022 as we seek to impresses it on the Nigerians that travel increases creativity, boosts health, improves satisfaction and happi-

Kaduna to boost employment through tourism K ADUNA State Government has assured that it would create employment opportunities for its indigenes in every nook and cranny of the state through its development of its tourism sector.

Commissioner for Industry and Tourism, Mr Manpo Maipar, said in Lagos that the state was endowed with enormous tourism assets that could create employment for its indigenes.

According to him, the government is working on developing a friendly tourism policy, review its tourism master plans and documentation of its tourist sites.

“The idea is to attract local and foreign investors to invest in the rich culture and tourism potential of the state.

“It will also serve as an opportunity for indigenes to get employed. It will also help the state to have a proper tourism map, through which it could show-

case its tourism potential to the outside.

“A good tourism framework has to be in place for investors to have confidence in the state’s tourism sector,’’ he said.

He mentioned some of the tourism assets as :Kajuru Castle, Kamuku National Park, Polo Club, Museums, Amusement Parks, the Nok Village, Gurara Falls among several others.

The commissioner said that the government would create an enabling environment and a good tourism infrastructure for tourism sector to thrive in the state.

“The role of government is to create an enabling business environment while investors are to invest in the business opportunities provided.

“Government is not a good business manager; their role is to create enterprise in every sector of the economy. The Kaduna State Government will create a business enterprise in the area it has a comparative advantage especially in the area of culture, commerce, industry and tourism.

This will fast track development in the state and boost government revenue earnings,’’ he said.

Maipar said that the government targeted 100,000 tourists to visit its rich tourism sites in the last quarter of this year.

He said that the security challenges in the state were under control by the government.

“No more insecurity threat or challenges in the state, the situation is under control. The state is safe for tourists to visit,’’ he said.

ness; Nigeria as a destination should be the first consideration for leisure and short breaks and that travelling across Nigeria and Africa helps fight poverty in Nigeria and on the African continent even as it shows the international community that Nigeria as a destination is endowed with unique tourism attractions and an array of tourism investment opportunities,” he added.

Continuing, Awhana stated that ‘the project, is expected to attract about 5, 000 people over the dura-

tion with youths and adult as the target audience, will among others generate buzz and discussions on domestic tourism; get Nigeria trending for the right reasons over 10 days; publicise destinations around Nigeria; help in data collation of travellers and tourism statistics in Nigeria and create awareness of the benefits of travel in-country and on the continent.’

He also disclosed that activities slated for the platform, which include media tours integrating both radio and television, familiarisation tours, a travel roundtable, a Tourism competition (Golf), village square, travel hangout and Nigeria Tourism Awards, would all hold at different locations, such as the Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Freedom Park, Lagos, Ikoyi Club, Lekki Leisure Lake as well as the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

He, therefore, urged corporate bodies and Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government (MDAs) to take advantage of this historic platform to expose their products and services to the international market, besides Nigerians as over 50 international delegates from 24 countries have already signed up as hosted buyers.

According to him, some of the countries are: Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Ghana, Hungary, India, Israel, Zambia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States.

Thereafter, Awhana and his team expressed confidence that the forthcoming NTW ‘has the ability to transform Nigeria and its tourism landscape. Everything possible would be done to ensure that this first outing sets the tone and pace for the platform and would form part of the country’s tourism calendar.’

FTAN approves 8 National Working Councils

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MBRELLA body for travel and tourism practitioners in the country, the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) has formally approved eight National Working Councils to facilitate its tourism initiatives and development agendas across the six geopolitical zones as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The councils were approved following the conclusion of the association’s bi-annual Council Meeting, where the new FTAN executive members presented a Working Plan for the years 2017 to 2019, an event which took place, Thursday, at the Eko Hotels, Victoria Island Lagos.

Over the years, FTAN Council Meetings have been the decisionmaking event of the Federation.

The just-concluded Council Meeting provided the platform far-reaching decisions, and ended with a twoyear rolling plan built around some newly created FTAN National Working Councils.

Newly-elected FTAN President, Alhaji Saleh Rabo, who chaired the Council Meeting - in his opening speech charged the Council Members to “join the New Order of friendship and camaraderie in FTAN that began since the election of the new FTAN Executive Members in June 2017,” further restating that:

“I believe that FTAN Council meetings are moments ‘to put our heads together’, and our differences apart, to come up with action plans towards a robust and sustainable tourism economy in Nigeria.”

Rabo further called on FTAN members, and Nigeria tourism stakeholders, not to be lethargicand to ‘rise up to the needs of the moment, and give our best to both sanitize and grow the business environments of tourism in Nigeria.’

FTAN Council accepted the Working Plan for years 2017 to 2019 and, immediately also, setup eight National Working Councils, whose membership include Associations’ Presidents, Associations’ Secretaries and other capable members within the Associations.

This is the first time FTAN is activating the Federation’s constitutional provision to establish some National Working Councils, also known as ‘Working Committees’, to oversee the implementation of FTAN’s strategic decisions towards a sustainable tourism industry in Nigeria, and professionalism in hospitality enterprise management. More so, FTAN constitution stipulates the establishment of such standing national working councils to serve as operations, services and business agencies.

The Oracle Today

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Wednesday October 4, 2017

AVIATION

Concession: FG has no money for airports – Sirika Stories By VICTOR NZE

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INISTER of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, said, Thursday, that the Federal Government does not have the money to maintain or invest in the Lagos and Abuja airports which informed the recourse to the concession option of the facilities.

This is also as the Minister disclosed the sum of N45 billion has been approved by the government for the settlement of entitlements of former workers of the defunct national carrier, the Nigeria Airways.

Sirika who said this after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, also conveyed Federal Government’s regret over the reported deaths of some workers of the defunct Nigerian Airways occasioned by the delay in the payment of their entitlements.

“We don’t have the money to invest and develop these airports. In our opinion as a government and the policy has been done that we will go through concession to give some individuals who would build; who would operate; who would maintain, sustain, make money and government will also make money in the process and return back to government after certain number of years (20 to 25 years).’’

Sirika disclosed that the concession of airports had since been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari as well as the Federal Executive Council. A move which also dismisses the series of protests

•Director General NCAA, Capt. Usman Mukhar handing over the ICAO Aerodrome Certification to Managing Director FAAN, Engineer Saleh Dunoma , Monday. that has trailed the concession plans by governments led by aviation sector workers’ unions.

Sirika who also dismissed social media reports that he “stole or intend to spend N635 million’’ on the concession project, noted that government would not be able to fund infrastructure in the aviation sector, as such it would continue to partner with the private sector in financing such facilities in the sector.

He, however, assured that the process would be transparently

carried out and the workers would be fully engaged in the process.

The Air Transport Service Senior Staff Association and the National Union of Air Transport Employees have vowed to resist the plan, saying, if necessary, the workers would mobilize and buy over the airports themselves.

On the defunct Nigeria Airways workers’ entitlements, Sirika said: “Governments, in the past, decided just to liquidate Nigerian airways without tending to the issue

of the entitlements of the workers and they have been struggling to get that paid and we came in government and we took it very seriously.

“I’m happy to announce that Mr President has approved N45 billion which has been confirmed to be the entitlements of these workers and Ministry of Finance has been instructed to pay and the ministry has written to me last week, to say that they have received the instruction to pay these workers,

and therefore, they are setting up the modalities to pay.

“You should know it won’t pay through my ministry before somebody will say I take some of it. It will be paid by finance through a process, and that process will commence very soon,’’ he said.

The defunct national carrier was liquidated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo regime in 2005, and since then the workers had held series of protests over their unpaid entitlements.

MMIA gets ICAO’s aerodrome certification

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HE Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has now certified the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, following months of refurbishing and upgrading of the airport’s facilities to meet global aviation standards as set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

This is also as the Nigeria Metrological Service (NiMet), has bagged the International Standards Organisation (ISO) 2015 certifications for its compliance with international best practices.

The development makes the airport the first to be certified, out of the 22 airports managed by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

The certificate was formally presented to the Managing Director of FAAN, Mr Saleh Dunoma, by the Director- General of the NCAA, Capt.

Muhtar Usman, at a ceremony at the NCAA’s headquarters in Lagos.

Remarking, Usman who stated that the certificate was valid for a period of three years, further called for all hands to be on deck to ensure that the certification was sustained, even as he stressed that the current drive toward certification of Nigerian airports was significant not only as a requirement by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and Nigerian civil aviation regulations but even more im-

portantly as one of the critical safety targets of the Federal Government.

Usman said that the declaration which was made in July 2012 mandated all African countries to certify their international airports, further describing the certification as an enabler for the attainment of a regional hub, which Nigeria desired for Lagos and Abuja.

“Aerodrome certification can be defined as a process by which a state can demonstrate that airports in its territory meet regulatory safety requirements on a continuing basis.

It is providing uniform conditions for safe and efficient operation of aircraft from all other states as required by Article 15 of the Chicago Convention.

“Aerodrome certification is therefore, an ICAO strategy for the standardisation and harmonisation of airport services, facilities and procedures as well as ensuring uniformity in safety of critical aerodrome elements, irrespective of the differences in ownership and management of such aerodromes.”

Usman said the objective of the certification was to assist states to effectively implement the critical elements of a safety oversight system in accordance with Annex 14 Vol. 1and other relevant ICAO specifications.

He stressed that the NCAA was committed to the certification of

all Nigerian international airports in line with its regulations, ICAO safety and recommended practices as well as the Africa-Indian Ocean Regional Safety Targets.

“In furtherance of the above objective, the certification of Abuja airport is in the final stage, while strategic measures have been put in place by the NCAA and FAAN to ensure the certification of Kano, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kaduna international airports by July 2018,” he said.

Also speaking, Mr Mohammed Odonowo, Director of Aerodromes and Airspace Standards of NCAA, said the certification, which was done in five phases, was of immense benefit to aviation stakeholders and the travelling public.

“The expected benefits of aerodrome certification include enhancement in the provision of safety critical aerodrome facilities, services, procedures and personnel.

It also includes enhancement in collaborative decision making amongst airport stakeholders, especially between the aerodrome operator and the NCAA. On his part, FAAN boss, Dunoma expressed delight that the certification of the Lagos airport which took two and a half years had finally been achieved, adding that focus was now on getting certification for the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and other airports in the

country.

“We are going to make sure that this certification is sustained. We have come up with a sustainability programme which was accepted with a few corrections. I want to thank the technical personnel of FAAN and the NCAA as well as ICAO Western and Central Africa for making this certification possible.”

Meanwhile, Director-General, NiMet, Prof. Sani Marshi, while formally presenting the International Standards Organisation (ISO) 2015 certifications for compliance with international best practices to the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, in Abuja, Tuesday, stated that the achievements recorded in the aviation sector have made it a pacesetter to other African countries.

According to Marshi, Nigeria has recorded a giant stride to be the first African country to have met the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) and the World Metrological Organisation (WMO) for quality management system.

“In line with that, we in the ministry of aviation have given the Met services sector that urgent necessary importance it deserves.

The two bodies that are regulating the activities of Met agencies in the world, the ICAA and the WMO made it clear that any Met agency in the world that is supposed to be offering services must be certified by

the International Standard organisation.

“We set the ball in motion, did all we are supposed to do, put the necessary infrastructure, met all our requirements and then we invited the auditors from the ICAA and WMO. They came to Nigeria and they looked at what we had and as a result of this, they have issued the certificate to us. By this, it means we are now certified by the two bodies to be offering best services in the aviation sector,” Marshi said.

Remarking, Sirika said that the International Certification of NiMet as well as the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos was in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s mission of securing the country and boosting economic development.

Sirika said that NiMet’s certification was a huge one as the only agency to achieve the 9001 certificate in Africa p, which is a pride to Nigeria, adding further that both certifications would increase the value of the nation’s airports and boost economic activities.

“Our mission and vision in line with Mr President is to ensure that our institutions are working very well, strong, efficient and dynamic and to make them better for tomorrow. Once that is achieved, it means we are managing the country well. Strong institutions will definitely beget a strong nation.”

The Oracle Today

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Wednesday October 4, 2017

INSURANCE & PENSION Insurers pay N5bn claims to flood victims

AXA Mansard reiterates commitment to community health project

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• From left: Sanni Oladimeji FCA, DGM/Head, Risk Management and Compliance, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Ugochi Odemelam, ED, Marketing and Business Development, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Olaotan Soyinka, MD/CEO, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Isma’ila M. Zakari, FCA, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Mrs. Ajayi L. Halimat, FCA, Chairman, Lagos Island District of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, and Kayode Adigun FCA, GM, Finance and Corporate Services, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, during the Institute’s courtesy visit to the Corporate Head Office of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc. in Lagos.

Stories by CHRIS EBONG

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S the flood continues to cause havoc across the country, owners of properties affected by the deluge and storms in Lagos and Benue States have been compensated by insurers to the tune of about N5billion, according to report.

While insurers have paid most victims who had earlier submitted the necessary documentation in Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki, Ajah and other areas of Lagos, others who processed their claims later are on the verge of getting their claims.

And with the rainy season still here, there are serious indications that more claims on flood insurance policy might still come before the year runs out.

Report noted that there was a huge increase from about N200 million claims made by flood policyholders in 2016.

Market observers said this increase was the effect of climate change which is increasing ocean surge and water levels, thus making rivers overflow their banks, reigning havoc on people and properties along river lines.

And with insurers willing to pay the claims despite that it is huge, analysts believe underwriters are now alive to their civic responsibility of paying genuine claims as and when due, while also believing there is a gradual increase in the number of insurance subscribers.

It was gathered that the reason for such high claims in Lagos could be connected to the fact that the areas affected are housed by educated and informed people who value insurance.

It was also learnt that most of the claims made are on household items and buildings, while companies made claims on damaged buildings, expensive machines and office items affected by the flood.

The story is, however, different in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, where the flood took place almost the same time, as majority of houses and farmlands affected have no form of insurance cover.

Only few farmlands, according to

findings, have agric insurance purchased from Nigeria Agriculture Insurance Commission (NAIC) and some insurance outfits.

To this end, there was not much claims from those areas even as majority of them are unaware of the existence of flood insurance policy.

Speaking in an interview with a national newspaper in Lagos, Mr. Pius Apere, Managing Director of Linkage Assurance Plc, was quoted as saying that while those properties affected by flood in Lagos have insurance cover because most of the property owners were elitists, most of the flood victims in Benue State are poor people who may have never heard of insurance or don’t value insurance.

He urged insurance companies to increase awareness, especially at the grassroots so that people will not have to be waiting on government for assistance whenever disasters like flood occur.

Apere said, “Insurance companies have to do more to increase awareness because most people always affected by flood and special perils are not elitists, they are poor people. Everybody always believes it cannot happen, but now it has happened.

“So, insurers need to go to the grassroots to increase awareness in this regard. People must be aware that they are going to get certain amount when they insure with a small premium compared to the claims that will come out of that policy”.

On his part, the national president, Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria (ARIAN), Mr. Gbadebo Olameru, said while the activities of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is commendable during flooding among other mishaps, insurance remains the only viable risk mitigation mechanism as it returns the victims back to the position he was before the disaster struck.

Government assistance, he pointed out, is only meagre compared to what insurers would pay as claims, advising Nigerians to always insure their assets and lives, because

natural disasters don’t announce when it will strike.

Olameru said his association is embarking on an insurance awareness across the country to sensitise Nigerians on Fire insurance and Special Perils, which includes riots and flood.

“If government, NGOs or individuals assist victims of natural disasters, they will only give them meagre that will not be enough, but insurance will return you back to the position you were before the flood, with a token premium”, he pointed out.

For the Managing Director, Law Union and Rock Insurance PLC, Mr. Jide Orimolade, the rates charged on flood insurance varies from one area to the other, noting that the rate which insurance companies will charge residents of Victoria Island would be higher than that of people residing in Ikeja area of Lagos.

Earlier, the Chairman of Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), Mr. Ed-

die Efekoha, had confirmed that insured victims have started turning in their claims to the insurance companies where their properties were insured.

He said flood is often an extension of fire cover, adding that most insurance companies do offer the cover for free, especially in areas not prone to flood.

According to the 2015 NIA Insurance Digest, over 20 claimants filed flood claims in 2015, amounting to over N168.44 million. The report revealed that International Energy Insurance Plc, paid the largest claim of N23.11 million, followed by Ensure Insurance Plc, which paid N22.56 million.

Meanwhile, insurance firms are now increasing premium rates for flood insurance by 50 per cent in response to increased flooding incidences across the country.

The increase is connected to the massive claims that besieged insurance operators, especially after floods in Lekki area of Lagos.

Global telephony insurance market to reach $ 20.5b in 2017

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IVEN the increasing prevalence of expensive household goods, cars and consumer electronics, insurance has become an unavoidable and often necessary cost in modern life.

Mobile phones, and smartphones in particular are no exception to this trend.

Report has it that most major mobile operators, insurance specialists, retailers and even banks now offer insurance plans that cover theft, loss, malfunctions and damage of mobile phones.

Many policies now also integrate enhanced technical support and additional protection features such as data backup facilities, allowing users to securely backup their phone data online.

The Researcher estimates that the global mobile phone insurance market is expected to account for $20.5 billion in revenue

by the end of 2017. The market is further expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of approximately 10percent over the next three years, eventually accounting for more than $27 billion in revenue by the end of 2020.

The “Mobile Phone Insurance Ecosystem: 2017 – 2030 – Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts” report presents an in-depth assessment of the mobile phone insurance ecosystem including market drivers, challenges, opportunities, value chain, future roadmap, case studies, ecosystem player profiles and strategies.

The report also presents market size forecasts from 2017 through to 2030. The forecasts are segmented for 3 sales channels, 5 regions and 25 countries.

XA Mansard has reiterated its commitment to the development of community health insurance system in the country.

Tope Adeniyi, the Managing Director made the commitment at the commissioning of the Nathaniel Idowu Community Health Centre at Eni Osa, Lagelu/Akinyele Local Government Area in Oyo State.

He said the company through its HMO would bring technical supports on health insurance by partnering with community health centers and University College of Medicine in Ibadan.

Adeniyi said: “At AXA Mansard, we support community health insurance system, we have an HMO (AXA Mansard Health) that focuses on building community health to make sure that they have better health care at an affordable cost.

In order to ensure the sustainability of this initiative, we partner with community health centers, providing them with customized packages and technical support that enables persons requiring health attention from these centers pay little token in accesses health attention”.

Explaining why AXA Mansard chose to impact on community health by undertaking this initiative, Adeniyi noted that one of the company’s critical objectives is to develop and empower people to live better life.

His words, “In throwing our weight behind this initiative, we developed a model that will ultimately help in achieving universal health care for the nation. “We do not intend to stop here but to extend this service to all teaching hospitals throughout the nation, making them to partner with community health development centers for sustainable health care delivery system across the country”, he added.

In his remark, the chairman of the occasion and the chairman senate committee on health, Senator, Lanre Tejuosho lauded the initiative and said it has been the plan of the federal government to introduce 10,000 primary health care centres across the country but this could not be achieved due to lack of funds. “We are very happy that individuals, organizations are taking it upon themselves to fund and establish health care centres. Lack of primary health centres made it compulsory for teaching hospitals to take up the services of primary health care centres, we are working at the senate to collaborate with other stakeholders in the health sector to establish more health centres by the end of 2018 so that the centres can take back its roles as primary health care centres in the country”.

The representative of the Minister for Health and Medical Director of the University College Hospital, Ibadan (UCH), Temitope Alonge in his remarks said that primary health centres serve as the preventive health centre and are needed to be established.

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Wednesday October 4, 2017

INSURANCE & PENSION

IEI-Anchor Pensions’ AUM hits N58b Stories by CHRIS EBONG

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EI-ANCHOR Pension Mangers limited, said it is fully positioned for the envisaged industry’s transfer window, even as it witnessed a 23.4 per cent growth in Assets Under Management (AUM) moving from N47 billion in 2015 to N58 billion in 2016.

Managing Director of the company, Glory Etaduovie, disclosed this at the firm’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Abuja, noting that the gross revenue grew by 21 per cent, from N451 million to N544 million for the year under review.

He said the firm returned to the path of profit from the previous loss position of N17 million after tax to a profit after tax position of N81 million, stressing that this represents a massive leap, and that earnings per share rose to 37k from negative 8k position in 2015. The company, he said, also recorded a 20 per cent growth in Retirement Saving Account (RSA) PIN generation, which moved from 8,000 to 10,000.

“Our RSA Unit price grew from 1. 7706 to 1. 9411(Year on Year), while our Retiree Unit prices also grew from 2.0079 to 2.2331(Year on Year). As at June 2017, we have moved to 2.0727 for the RSA and 2.3939 for the Retiree funds respectively,” he said.

Etaduovie maintained that the firm’s Customer satisfaction has been on the rise, adding that this is to ensure that the transfer window does not hurt the organisation, but repositions it to attract more clients. “Consequently, everyone is

a Customer Service personnel – it is an attitude thing.

We have also deployed the IVR which is an enhanced Customer Service Software, amongst other benefits,” he said.

According to him, the company’s goal is to establish a new order where, at the mention of its corporate name, people, our Clients, all stakeholders will feel a sense of peace. To achieve this, he said the firm’s concentration has been on: Driving quality staffing and motivation; Strong ICT infrastructure; Strong Customer service culture and Constant processes review.

“Our branches received more attention more than ever before.

They are better equipped and motivated. Office ambience and outlook has continued to improve for customer comfort and confidence.

Consequently, their outputs have improved and are impactful.

“Due to the observed ICT gaps for efficiency and competition, we sought and got approvals for a number of ICT projects in 2017.

Replacement and purchase of computer hardware became a necessity, amongst other things. We have also powered our ICT for 24/7 Customer Service; our Website was reviewed and now more interactive and customer friendly. Consequently, our social media is also very active,” he added.

The Chairman, Senator Jonathan Zwingina, said despite the economic state of the nation, the company had to grapple with an increase in operational costs, but was able to deliver on its main goal; which was

•From left: Ade Bajomo, Executive Director, Market Operations and Technology, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) presenting a gong to Opeyemi Adojutelegan, Chairman, Association Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria (ACCOBIN) at the Closing Gong Ceremony in commemoration of its 10th year anniversary at the Exchange recently.

to satisfy its customers and make profit in 2016.

He noted that the firm being a service delivery industry, it has continued to improve on her customer service delivery by leveraging on technology via the infrastructures put in place.

“A myriad of challenges still face the company and the industry.

Some of these include the nonfunding of accounts by employer’s due to state of the economy and

Linkage ‘SME comprehensive insurance plan’ solution to growth of Small Businesses

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NDERWRITING firm, Linkage Assurance Plc says it’s committed to helping small and medium enterprises survive business challenges and grow into the future.

The company through one of its newest products ‘SMEComprehensive Insurance Plan’ provides financial protection to small and medium sized businesses against an array of insurable risks in order to ensure their business continuity.

“Linkage Assurance PLC’s SME comprehensive Insurance allows business owners to run their companies without having to worry about unexpected events that can slow them down or bring them to a complete halt”, the Company said in a statement.

“Whether it is water damage from leaking pipes, money lost in transit theft, or a fire at a warehouse, these are liabilities that cannot always be anticipated. Linkage Assurance PLC provides you the confidence you need to keep moving with the knowledge that your assets are covered from loss and other legal liabilities. The Plan is available with 5 different optional section and flexible enough to cater for the insurance needs of SMEs across diverse sectors of the market.”

According to the Managing Di-

rector/CEO of the Company, Dr Pius Apere, Linkage Assurance understands that Nigerian SME businesses operate in a tough, rough and often fast changing harsh economic environment.

“SME businesses are still held to the same standards of corporate governance, employee welfare and liability as the larger companies and they often have to manage their risks with fewer resources and less time to spare on distresses other than those relating to day to day business.”

Dr Apere said SMEs therefore require an affordable, well packaged insurance policy which will protect their assets, liabilities and employees from the risks associated with operating a business.

Linkage Assurance PLCSME Comprehensive plan covers a wide spectrum of SME customers from a small single office premises for self-employed business owners to a multi-dimensional retail companies with a material damage/business interruption exposure spread across multiple locations. The cover is for hotels, hospitals, water bottlers, publishers/printers, drycleaners, haulage, furniture, logistics and cottage manufacturers, etc.

Features of the plan the Company listed includes damage to buildings as a result of fire; theft

of contents, with the following options to cover; occupier’s liability; personal accident for employees; professional indemnity and motor (including own goods).

the cost of regulatory compliance which seems to continually be on the increase.

“Our focus in 2017 would be on strategizing and implementing such goals as the company will set to realize the aspirations of our shareholders and customers,” he

NAICOM urges CIIN to check unprofessional practices

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he National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has urged the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) to complement the commission’s efforts at eradicating unethical practices in the industry.

NAICOM spokesman, Rasaaq Salami, in a statement said that the Commissioner for Insurance (CFI),

C Re, one of industry’s best – SE

C

ONTINENTAL Reinsurance Plc has been commended as one of the best companies in the underwriting industry that has performed well on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and for its consistency in payment of dividend to its shareholders.

The commendation was given when the Group Managing Director, Continental Re, Femi Oyetunji, led a delegation of the Company’s management to ring the bell at the closing gong ceremony on the NSE in Lagos.

The event was also part of activities to mark Continental Re’s 30th anniversary.

Executive Director, Market Operations and Technology, NSE, Ade Bajomo, said that the Exchange was delighted to have Continental Re as one of the companies to ring the bell on the NSE. Oyetunji said that the company had a good interaction with the management of the NSE, to complement how far it had moved since it got listed on the NSE. According to him, since Continental Re’s listing, the company had continued to create wealth for its shareholders by paying them dividend every year.

said.

Zwingina noted that the Board, Management and Staff of the Company will continue to deliver on innovative and qualitative service in conformity with efficient and value driven planning.

“We have been listed on the stock exchange since 2007, we have consistently paid dividend over the years, and we have put things in place to ensure that we continue to do so,” he said.

The group managing director noted that over the years, Continental Re had grown to become the largest privately owned reinsurance company in Africa, with offices across all the regions to serve its clients.

Continental Re is a composite reinsurer, writing business in more than 50 countries across the African continent.

Established in 1985, Continental Re provides support to over 200 insurance companies in Africa with its main offices in Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Tunisia and Botswana.

It also has a specialist subsidiary –Continental Property and Engineering Risk Services –registered in South Africa.

Continental Re is rated B+ (good)

by AM Best, London, a world authoritative insurance company. The rating affirms the ability of Continental Re to meet its ongoing obligations.

Alhaji Muhammed Kari called for the support at the just-concluded Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) Professional Forum in Abeokuta. The statement quoted Kari as saying “I congratulate Mrs Funmi Babington-Ashaye on her ascendance to the leadership of CIIN, as the President and Chairman of the Governing Council. “As I earlier assured, you can count on the support of the Commission at all times in your drive to lift the Institute higher.

“In my message at the investiture of the new President on July 25, I challenged the Institute on the urgent need to reinvent itself as a professional body. “There is need to update the institute curriculum to either adopt contemporary best practices. “By a simple exercise, we can ask ourselves how many of the CIIN’s certified and qualified members have exhibited and sustained the spirit of the profession.

“How many insurers conduct businesses in line with the ethics, standards and principles that guide the practice of an insurance professional?,’’ Kari asked. He said the conduct of some professionals is appalling. He, therefore, urged the Institute to take a critical look with a view to coming up with measures to arrest it. “We look forward to a day when a professional will be de-certified by the Institute for unprofessional conduct. “Cases are abound around us in other professions where the privileges of a practitioner is withdrawn for some unacceptable act. “If there is institute to complement the efforts of the commission to crush the abysmal acts, it is CIIN,’’ Kari said

30

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

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31

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

Crime

Illegal Arms: Customs orders more investigation Stories by XAVIER NDAH

F

OLLOWING increase in the number of arms seizures in recent times, the Customs Area Controller of Tincan Island Port ordered a detailed profile of all imports, especially those coming from

the same source with previous seizures.

Our source gathered that the action was necessarily to unveil those behind importation of arms in the country, more so to determined the motives behind such importation.

It was gathered that the presidency has warned the headship of the Nigerian customs to be very vigilant particularly at this time of agitations from different sections of the country particularly the IPOB who is being placed under watch by

security agencies.

Last week the Comproller of Customs, Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali had disclosed that all the profile of containers from Turkey eventually narrowed down to one 20ft container No CMAU189817/8.

Terminal Operator was consequently directed to quarantine the flagged container for stricter analysis which was later transferred to the enforcement unit where about 100% examination revealed that 470 pump action rifles as against elbow plumbing materials on its bill of lading.

Importer of this deadly cargo is Great James Oil and Gas Ltd, while the vessel is MV Arkas Africa owned by Hull Blyth.

However, p02671 is total discovery of seized rifles within last eight month in 2017.

According to him, the audacity of these criminals think that they can succeed in smuggling dangerous weapons into the country successfully it remain worrisome because leaving the consolation is that, the new Nigeria Customs Service is now more responsive and

capable of meeting the challenges posed by these criminals.

“This is what the present Government requires of all citizens. We must rise up and remain vigilant to deal decisively with the enemies of the Nation.

“Our seaports have become increasingly impenetrable, we suspect they may want to try other entry points but i want to assure Nigerians that the Service is presently at CRITICAL red ALERT following my directive to all Customs Area Controllers.

“We will do all possible best to bring down security challenges pose in this country minimum level” he explained.

Hameed said the policy of reward for good deeds and punishment for those who compromise will continue in the Service under his leadership.

“Since this container belongs to the same importer of the 1100 rifles the ongoing investigation will be reinvigorated to fish out all those directly or remotely connected with these dangerous importers”.

Four underage girls arrested •Some of the seized weapons

Lagos impounds 6 vehicles, 68 motorcycles for traffic violation

T

he operatives of the Lagos State Task Force impounded six vehicles and 68 motorcycles for driving riding/ driving against traffic (One-way) on-top of Apongbon bridge at Lagos Island.

Chairman of the Lagos State Task Force Superintendent of Police (SP), Olayinka Egbeyemi, who led the enforcement operations disclosed that the 6 vehicles and 68 motorcycles were caught driving / riding against traffic on top of the Apongbon bridge which is an offence under the Lagos State Road Traffic Laws of 2012.

He disclosed that he was surprised that motorists and motorcyclists could be driving/riding against traffic on top of a long Apongbon bridge without any

•The impounded motorbikes

fear of imminent collusion with upcoming vehicles.

Egbeyemi stated all illegal commercial motorists and traders operating under the bridge at Apongbon including those collecting illegal fees must vacate immediately.

He stated further that the present government is working round the clock in ensuring adequate security and free flow of traffic around all bridges across the state.

The Chairman warned all illegal commercial activities, traders, mechanics, miscreants and hoodlums to immediately vacate under Apongbon bridge as anyone arrested by the agency after this warning will be prosecuted.

“We are issuing a final warning to all those concerned including illegal touts with uniform collecting fees

from motorists and traders under the Apongbon bridge to vacate immediately” SP Egbeyemi hinted that the state is investing huge amount of money in constructing ‘Bus Terminals’ across the State for the benefit of every members of the public.

He said the on-going construction of ‘BRT Corridor’ from Oshodi to Abule-Egba by the present administration is meant to decongest traffic gridlock around that area.

The Chairman however confirmed that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police (CP) Mr. Edgal Imohimi has directed that all those drivers/riders arrested during an the enforcement operations carried around at Apongbon, be charge to court immediately.

• The girls

F

our underage girls, whose ages range between 10 and 13, were among the 13 suspected cultists arrested by the police in Ogun State early this week.

They were arrested along with other male members of the suspected group who were in their early teens while their leader is 19- years of age.

All the suspects were, as at time of their arrests, residents of Mosunmore Village near Kobape in Abeokuta, the state capital.

Stunned by the worrisome development, the Baale of the community was said to have alerted the police, sequel to the alarm raised by one of the suspected girl’s mother.

True to the allegation, it was gathered that detectives attached to Owode-Egba Police Divisional Headquarters, led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Shehu Alao, swung into action and succeeded in smoking them out of their camp during initiation of another set of girls.

Speaking on the ugly incident, the state Police Commissioner, CP Ahmed Iliyasu, disclosed that “on Monday, August 28, 2017, at about 6:30 pm, a woman raised the alarm to the Baale of Mosunmore Village near Kobape, here in Abeokuta, that her daughter has developed the habit of going out late.

“Apparently disturbed by the said outing, the woman pestered her daughter who later confessed that she was initiated into a cult group, a de-

velopment the woman found difficult to conceal to herself and alerted the community head who, in turn called in my men.

“Consequently, officers of OwodeEgba Division stormed the area and successfully apprehended the 13 youngsters in the process of initiating yet another set of underage girls”, CP Iliyasu said.

According to the police, the girls, all primary six school leavers, have confessed to being lured into the group by the boys.

Leader of the group known as “Penalty Guys”, 19-year-old Tunde Adio, said he was initiated by one Tosin, also a resident of the community in January, 2017, adding that they came about their own group name during the last Easter celebration when his third-in-command, 13-year-old Adewale Raphael’s church was organizing a picnic.

Adio, said “we decided to do customized vests, with the inscription “Penalty Guys”. This was what attracted the girls and agreed to be initiated”.

Adio’s second-in-command, Silas Sunday, 15, was also arrested during the police raid.

Meanwhile, CP Iliyasu has ordered that the suspects be transferred to the Anti-Kidnapping and Cultism Unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for further investigation and prosecution of the suspects.

32

racleToday

The

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33

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

Love and Living

...With Ireto Temofeh

Model of the Week

LOVE NEWS

Oxford student avoids jail for stabbing her ex-boyfriend

A

Name: Dimma Tel: +234 810 561 8531.

• If you want to be our next ORACLE MODEL, e-mail or forward your photos/data to ireto007@yahoo.com. Call 07031028714.

ODD NEWS

Man caught with kilo of gold hidden in rectum

n Oxford student said to be “too clever” to go to jail has been given a 10-month suspended prison sentence for stabbing her ex-boyfriend.

Lavinia Woodward, 24, who has aspirations to be a heart surgeon, attacked her then partner after a drinking binge at her university accommodation at Christ Church College, Oxford Crown Court heard.

Woodward, of Christ Church, St Aldate’s, Oxford, had pleaded guilty to unlawfully wounding her partner at an earlier hearing.

Woodward stabbed her then boyfriend in the leg after punching him in the face and then threw a laptop, glass and jam jar at him during the attack on 30 September 2016, the court previously heard.

The court had also heard the student has already had articles published in medical journals and a prison term could have resulted in her being barred from working as a doctor.

Last May, Judge Ian Pringle QC told Woodward she was unlikely to go to prison after he imposed a restraining order on her and delayed sentencing.

He told her at the time: “If this was a one-off, to prevent this extraordinarily able young lady from following her desire to enter the medical profession would be too severe.”

On Monday Judge Pringle handed Woodward, who faced a maximum of three years in prison, a 10-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, and told her: “There are many mitigating features in your case.

“Principally, at the age of 24 you have no previous convictions of any nature whatsoever.

“Secondly, I find that you were genuinely remorseful following this event

and, indeed, it was against your bail conditions, you contacted your partner to fully confess your guilt and your deep sorrow for what happened.

“Thirdly, whilst you are a clearly highly-intelligent individual, you had an immaturity about you which was not commensurate for someone of your age.”

The judge continued: “Fourthly, as the reports from the experts make clear, you suffer from an emotionally-unstable personality disorder, a severe eating disorder and alcohol drug dependence.

“Finally, and most significantly, you have demonstrated over the last nine months that you are determined to rid yourself of your alcohol and drug addiction and have undergone extensive treatment including counselling to address the many issues that you face.

“In particular, you have demonstrated to me since I adjourned this matter in May a strong and unwavering determination to do so despite the enormous pressure under which you were put and which has been referred to me by your counsel.”

College dean the Very Rev Professor Martyn Percy, said afterwards: “We are concerned for the welfare of all our students and it is clearly a matter of regret and sadness when any young person blights a promising career by committing a crime.

“Ms Woodward is not currently studying at Oxford, having voluntarily suspended her medical studies.

“The question of her future will now be decided by the university, which has procedures in place when a student is the subject of a criminal conviction.”

SKY NEWS

Romantic Joke Wrong Revenge

A

man has been arrested by Sri Lankan customs authorities after being spotted attempting to smuggle, with “difficulty”, close to a kilo of gold hidden in his rectum.

The 45-year-old India-bound passenger was seen behaving “suspiciously” in the departure lounge of Colombo airport, spokesman Sunil Jayaratne said.

“He was called for a thorough screening after customs officers noticed him walking with difficulty and appearing to be in pain,” Mr Jayaratne said.

A close examination revealed the man was hiding 904 grams of gold wrapped in black plastic sheets, including seven yellow “biscuits” and six chains, he said.

The haul was worth more than

£22,000.

Mr Jayaratne said the contraband was seized and the man fined 100,000 rupees - just over £1,000.

The suspect was described as a courier for an organised smuggling ring.

SKY NEWS

A wife comes home late one night and quietly opens the door to her bedroom. From under the blanket, she sees four legs instead of just her husband’s two. She reaches for a baseball bat and starts hitting the blanket as hard as she can. Once she’s done, she goes to the kitchen to have a drink. As she enters, she sees her husband there, reading a magazine. He says, “Hi darling, your parents have come to visit us, so I let them stay in our bedroom. Did you say hello

34

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

True Confession ‘He is gay, but he makes me feel like a real woman’ My love, if only you could listen to my heart,You’ll hear it saying: “I love you more than yesterday.”

E

very woman wants a man who would treat her like an egg. One who would respect her and not disregard her feelings. That’s why I’m happy I met a man like Hilary.

I met Hilary in a wonderful way several years ago. I had just closed from work at Victoria Island. I was stressed out and decided to sleep at a nearby friend’s place.

But before, then, I had to cool off by spending some time at the Bar beach. As I walked towards the waves, I noticed a man sitting on the shore silently, oblivious of my presence.

He was very handsome and seemed to be enjoying the soothing music of the waves and the cool beach breeze. I bent slightly and gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder and asked what he was doing on the beach all alone.

He removed his hands from his pockets and placed them on the sand. Then he glanced up at me and gave me a most romantic wink. We talked and danced together on the Bar beach seashore.

And as we danced, he shuffled his legs in such a hilarious way, making me scream with laughter. The first time we slept together was also funny, yet wonderful.

I ran my hands up and down his back as if I was playing a musical instrument, pushing him into me. We moved our heads closer at the same time, and when our lips met, we laughed and kissed, and laughed and kissed again.

We found great fun and humour in romance. Hilary brought love, joy and laughter into my life.

Falling in love with Hilary was comedy, lying in his arms was wonderful. I had never had a sweeter experience. When we were together, we always kept our eyes focused on each other.

And whenever Hilary took me in his arms, I saw something glint in his eyes. It was like a twinkling star of love.

A star had fallen into the pools of his big brown beautiful eyes, and that gave me the assurance that he was forever mine.

I married Hilary without knowing much about his past. I didn’t care about knowing about his past, anyway.

I had two boys and two girls for him in quick succession and he was glad because he had always said he wanted a family where both sexes were in equal measure.

However, since we installed a family computer in our home, I noticed that my husband liked browsing gay web sites.

Sometimes he would call me to come and look, saying: “Queen, see how those two men are embracing each other.” One day, my husband called me to see a photo on the internet of two European men who had just wedded each other.

We both laughed at the photo of two gay men posing as husband and wife. It was funny but I wondered why my husband took special interest in such things.

I decided to observe him closely especially in his relationships with his male friends, and it didn’t take long for me to find out that my husband and majority of his male friends were gay.

“However, since we installed a family computer in our home, I noticed that my husband liked browsing gay web sites.

Sometimes he would call me to come and look, saying: “Queen, see how those two men are embracing each other.” One day, my husband called me to see a photo on the internet of two European men who had just wedded each other.”

I haven’t yet confronted my husband over my discovery and I don’t think I’m going to ever ask him why he’s gay. That’s because he treats me so well that I feel there’s simply no need for me to bother

She said I shouldn’t destroy my marriage about his homosexual pastime.

My elder sister advised me to let sleep- just because my husband is gay. I think ing dogs lie. She said that as long as he she’s right. My husband may be gay, but acted responsibly towards me and the still, he makes me feel like a real woman. children, I had nothing to worry.

35

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

Relationships and Love Advice

‘We now sleep in separate bedrooms’

Love Search Women seeking relationship/ marriage Victoria, 30, from Akwa-Ibom, in Lagos, tall, big, single mother, wants a tall, responsible, working or business man for marriage.08153598363.

Busola, 43, tall, chocolate, with big breasts, living in Lagos, wants a mature-minded man for a relationship with benefits. 09090517882.

Comfort, tall, dark, big, with a heavy backside and good in bed, living in Lagos, wants a man that can take good care of her. 08062720819.

Faith, 35, works and lives in Port Harcourt, needs a decent guy of 36-40 years. 09037846643.

Monica Ono, 35, beautiful, single mother of one, needs a handsome man of 38-41 years for marriage. 08036844539.

Dear Love Doctor, I cheated on my wife with another woman some months ago and she found out. She later moved out of the bedroom we share and moved into the guest room. Since then I’ve been trying to get her to move back into our room but she has bluntly refused. My wife now insists that we sleep in different rooms. What can I do to change her mind and make her move back into the room we’ve always shared?

Thanks, Robert.

Love Doctor’s Advice: Dear Robert, If you and your wife have started sleeping in separate bedrooms, that’s a clear sign that your relationship or marriage is in serious trouble. Your wife may actually be over-reacting and may therefore need sufficient time to get over her anger or experience at having seen you cheating, before she can come back to sleep with you in the same bedroom and on the same bed again.

On the other hand, she may have made up her mind to quit the relationship or marriage, as a result of which she moved into the extra bedroom. Some broken marriages usually begin that way - with both parties sleeping in separate bedrooms or on separate beds.

Blessing, 33, from Imo, in Lagos, fat, busty, single mother, needs a matured man of 45years+ for marriage.

08025117116, 08053407885. *Mature Singles Party is a romantic event for mature single men and women which will take place in December to help you find your Mr. Right or Miss Right. To register for the Mature Singles Party, call Diana on 08034033167.

Call Love Doctor: 07031028714, 08131161840, 08077821830 for Counseling, infertility & Direct Hookup.

Men seeking relationship/ marriage

You need to realize that you must have deeply hurt her feelings, which resulted in her moving out of your bedroom and into the extra bedroom. And since she seems to be deeply hurt, merely asking for her forgiveness might not work. Even if it works, it might not work according to your plan.

Donald, 37, tall, dark, Igbo, handsome, in PH, needs a female lawyer or working class graduate lady between 24-34 years for marriage. 07014061373.

If you have cheated on her before, or if that wasn’t the first time she is catching you cheating, it might only make your case worse this time around. And as a result, your wife may have been traumatized by the experience and may need therapy/counseling to get over it.

Uche, in Lagos, needs a matured woman from 40 years and above for friendship. 08077821830.

You obviously need a mediator in this matter. I suggest you see a counselor, psychologist or your spiritual director and/or family members/in-laws to help you reach out to her and achieve peace and reconciliation. On your own part you have to be truly committed to changing your unfaithful ways.

Remember that any reconciliation without you changing your attitude or mending your ways will only be a temporary one. Reconciliation without change will not work in the long run. And the possibility of your wife leaving you will always be there if you cheat on her again. True peace and reconciliation can only be achieved in marriage when there is mutual fidelity, love and commitment.

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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David wants a beautiful, mature, working class lady for friendship.

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Kenneth, 40, wants a responsible woman for marriage. 08143002139.

36

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

It happened to me:

‘I became a prostitute after my boyfriend abandoned me’ I started working as a prostitute when I was 19. I was in my second year of college and struggling to make ends meet. Then, I had a boyfriend who was sponsoring my education because my parents were too poor to afford my school fee.

All my love was for Henry, my banker boyfriend. He was working in a new generation bank and earning lot of money. So he was comfortable and able to help me pay for my studies.

I looked forward to marrying Henry after graduation but he broke my heart when I was only in my second year at the university by getting married to another girl without even telling me.

I lost contact with Henry after he suddenly relocated without letting me know his new address. I was heartbroken and I didn’t know how I was going to survive through my remaining two years in the university. The only option I had was to go into prostitution.

Becoming a prostitute turned out to be pretty easy work for me, because I only needed to see clients one or two days a week to cover my expenses at school.

In my first few months of working as a prostitute, I was met with enough raised eyebrows, grimaces of disgust, and looks of pity to last a lifetime. Sometimes I received lectures about how I was promoting hatred and violence against women by choosing to be a sex worker.

I was derided and called selfish for choosing a line of work that encourages sexism against women, and I was accused of being a traitor to the feminist cause.

On many occasions, I was asked intrusive questions like “has a client ever hit you?” and “what’s the most disgusting thing you’ve ever had to do for a client?”

One friend – or someone I thought was a friend, at the time – told everyone in my social circle that there must be something psychologically wrong with me, because nobody in her right mind would ever choose to be a prostitute.

She said she had read that people in the sex industry are only there because they’ve been forced into it, or because they were sexually abused as children and then make warped decisions about their sexuality as adults.

Soon the rumour in my extended group of friends was that I had been sexually abused as a child and that I was mentally unstable. People pitied me. I was humiliated.

The reality is that I had a happy childhood that was completely devoid of abuse of any kind. I grew up in a very ordinary middle class family.

My parents cooked dinner for me every night, helped me with my homework, and told me they loved me every single day.

My older sister lent me her clothes and let me hang out with her and her friends. I believe I had an incredibly fortunate upbringing. I was just about the best any child could possibly hope for.

But everyone in my social circle came to think of me as deranged and messed up. I eventually grew apart from those friends.

As I met new people, I kept my work a secret.

I had become uneasy around strangers. I didn’t trust them. Experience had taught me that people would judge, pity, or lecture me if I was open and honest about my life, and after years of enduring these reactions, I didn’t have the energy to cope with them anymore. So I withdrew.

Today, people are shocked when I tell them I used to be an extrovert. In secondary school and my first year of university, I was always the life of the party and the center of attention. I

was the person who introduced people to other people.

I cracked jokes and goofed around. I sang out loud, laughed raucously, and danced wildly. I was outwardly happy and I felt free to express myself. I was never self-conscious.

Now, I go out of my way not to draw attention to myself. I try to blend in, fade into the background. I don’t want to have to explain myself. I don’t want people to know who I am, to find out my secrets.

These days, people describe me with adjectives like “quiet” and “shy.” I keep to myself a lot. In my isolation, I am bombarded with negative images about sex work in the media, and that only makes me feel worse.

Sometimes I can choose to forget or shrug a lot of this off. It’s not like I’m depressed all the time. I have three really supportive friends in my life who know what I do and accept me the way I am. I also have a handful of work friends that can empathize with my struggles and offer helpful advice.

I can go months at a time without being depressed about any of these things. But lately, I’ve really been struggling with the stigma, and I’ve been feeling hopeless and uncertain about my future in life.

I think I’ve absorbed and internalized the societal hatred of sex workers. I am embarrassed to be a sex worker, even though I like my job, I’m good at it, and I think I’ve made exceptional progress in my career over the past few years.

Despite all my accomplishments, I feel like a loser. Sometimes I jokingly refer to myself as a “whore” or a “hooker” to try to re-claim these derogatory terms, but I often find myself thinking of myself as “just a whore.”

After almost a decade of doing this work and hearing all the negative messages about sex workers and getting bad reactions from people, I sometimes wonder if there is something wrong with me. Maybe everyone is right. Maybe I am deranged.

The terrible irony is that I am a graduate of Sociology. I, of all people, should know better than to think like this. I spent years of my life learning about how socialization works.

I am intimately familiar with how social norms develop and change over time, and how and why discrimination occurs against various groups of people.

I guess it just goes to show how intense social conditioning really is. All the book-learning in the world is not enough to combat the weight of social norms.

I wish I could feel proud of who I am and what I do. I’m tired of feeling embarrassed and ashamed. I wish other people could see me for everything that I am, and not focus so much on this one aspect of my identity.

There are so many things that make me who I am. I love animals, horror movies, and going on road trips. I’m passionate about gender equality and LGBTQ rights. I’m interested in politics and current events.

I do yoga, I read a lot, and I stay in close touch with my family. But these traits are overshadowed by the fact that I am a prostitute.

I don’t feel like anybody cares about any of these characteristics – all they would see is a whore.

Lately, I’ve been wondering how I could ever date someone again. It’s been three years since my last relationship. My ex-boyfriend knew me before I became a prostitute and my work was never an issue with him.

Now, I’m afraid to tell potential partners about what I do, because I’m nervous that they will make all kinds of awful assumptions about me. I worry that they will think I’m some kind of hyper-sexual nympho (I’m not), that I’ll sleep with them on the first date (I prefer to take it slow), or that I’m damaged and need to be treated like I’m fragile (which would be terribly patronizing and unpleasant).

I also wonder what any potential boyfriend would say to his friends and family about his relationship with me. How would the conversation go?

“I’m dating this girl I just met. She’s pretty great.”

“Oh, cool. How did you meet?”

“Mutual friends.”

“Nice. And what does she do?”

“Oh, you know. She’s a prostitute.”

I know I don’t have to come out as a sex

worker. I do have a mainstream part-time job. I use it as a cover, so that I don’t have to reveal my occupation as a prostitute unless I feel comfortable doing so.

The job is loosely related to my academic field of study. But the fact that I pretend this parttime job is my full-time job makes me feel like a liar. I hate lying. I’m a very honest person by nature, and I desperately want to connect with people in a genuine and authentic way.

When I do muster up enough courage to tell people about my work, I notice myself glossing over it very quickly and hurriedly steering the topic of conversation toward my graduate degree instead. I hype it up and draw attention to it, as if to say, “yes, I’m a whore, but I’m also smart and normal, really, I promise!”

I find it pretentious and annoying when other people talk excessively about their university education, and I hate it that I have become one of those people. However, I feel an urgent need to communicate that I am more than “just a whore.”

In my darkest moments I am desperately overwhelmed with feelings of despair, and fear that I have made myself unlovable.

Sometimes I think the only way out of this mess it to stop working as a prostitute and leave the sex industry behind. It would be hard to quit, though, because the work is relatively easy, my schedule is flexible, and I make twice as much money doing sex work as I could doing any other job I’m qualified for.

Besides, I can never take back what I’ve done.

I will always have a history as a prostitute. I will always be seen as damaged goods, whether I am a current sex worker or a former one. So I might as well just keep going, right?

I don’t feel strong enough to cope with society’s condemnation, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. I wish I’d known what I was getting myself into before I jumped into this line of work. But most of all, I wish I’d never become a prostitute in the first place. *Do you have a story or comment about this confession? Call 07031028714.

37

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

Love & Living

W

E hear stories of secretaries who sleep with their bosses but truly the stories told are only. a small fraction of many such cases in reality.

Recall when it was widely reported in the media that in the course of a bitter disagreement with a top female politician, the first lady of a certain State in Nigeria was accused of killing her husband’s first wife. The story had it that the said first lady was the man’s secretary at the time and they were allegedly making out, they got married after the death of the first wife. While this account is not authoritative, these sorts of tales are not unheard of in our society full of desperate women who can go to any length to wholly claim the man they desire.

I am currently following an interesting soap opera on TV titled “Industreets” and there is this enterprising young man who works as an artiste manager.

His very supportive wife goes to the length of borrowing millions to enhance his business but surprisingly, the man in question has got a sexretary who is more like his “first” wife. Strangely too, he was already involved with Miss Sexretary ever before he settled down with another, yet they could not pack up, then the sexretary gets knocked up and insists on keeping the baby. I am yet to see the last...

So, is it wrong for one to have an aide, secretary or PA of the opposite sex?

Not at all. It could even prove beneficial, healthy and interesting since you both can approach things differently, yet jointly, making for better results.

But what is dangerous about this sort of arrangement is that a natural emotional attachment and fondness could grow over time as you get used to be-

Oga, sexretary official collabo ing around each other and in most cases unrestrained sexual relationships follow leading to more expectations that may not be readily fulfilled.

Truth be told, it is a highly unethical practice, but we do know that emotions hardly bend to any rules. It is also the prerogative of any two consenting adults to decide what suits them since it is presumed that they are well aware of the consequences and can handle any outcomes. How is it then that some men watch the sparks come, encourage them and even fan the embers and when they become huge flames, they refuse to put the pot on fire? In clear terms, some men lead their sexretaries on only to refuse to marry them after the whole thing. That is when they remember that they have wives at home and cannot marry another and even go ahead to say that they never promised anything.

But surely, there should be nothing wrong with getting a second wife since you already showed that the one you had was inadequate by sleeping with another. And most importantly, men should stop thinking that the fact that they made no promises means that a woman is not expectant. For the most part, sleeping with a woman is enough to put all kinds of happily ever after thoughts in her head especially if she is desperate or sees you as her ideal man.

To be candid, any secretary turned sexretary is a disgrace to womanhood especially in cases where the man in question has a wife. It is tantamount to being a covetous lady and there is always a

Ify ARONU ifyaronu@gmail.com grave price for such ignoble acts in the future. For the Ogas involved, you enjoy it while it lasts but it will always end ugly.

It is wicked and evil to expose your wife to a battle she is probably unaware of.

Desperate secretaries can go diabolical just to create their own space since your wife appears to be a problem. It is sad too that some men eventually marry their secretaries even when their wives died mysteriously.

Knowledge and wisdom remains the best defence for women especially in our society where she is not expected to complain about a cheating husband but rather to endure and pray for him to change. Here, women are taught to feel privileged, happy and content to be considered fit for the home while he “wifes” others outside. Women are never to request faithfulness from a man since he is a man.

While not being unnecessarily paranoid, women should be watchful and careful of secretaries that may in fact be unapologetically desperate sexretaries. Nothing to be anxious and overly agitated about though but just to be on the safe side. Sexretaries can act nicely and friendly while still actively acting wife towards your man. They can pretend to like you a lot, even strive to earn your confidence and then strike innocently. Even when you are sure she is aiming for your spot, there is no point being confrontational but do exercise extra caution and stay alert so you would not be the victim. It is you the woman that actually needs prayers for safety so do the needful.

•Please send your comments, commendations, and condemnations to ifyaronu@gmail.com

Rewriting Niger Delta narrative I

n the cardinal directions, we have the East, West, North, South. Nigeria is divided into six geopolitical zones, North Central, North East, North West, South South, South East, and the South West.

According to Wikipedia, “The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is typically considered to be located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitical zone, one state (Ondo) from South West geopolitical zone and two States (Abia and Imo) from South East geopolitical zone.

Of all the States that the region covers, only Cross River is not an oil-producing State, after boundary adjustments that cost it wells.

Niger Delta is a very densely populated region sometimes called the Oil Rivers because it was once a major producer of palm oil. The area was the British Oil Rivers Protectorate from 1885 until 1893, when it was expanded and became the Niger Coast Protectorate. The Delta is a petroleum-rich region, and has been the centre of international controversy over pollution, corruption, and human rights violations.”

A couple of days ago, I was on Google carrying out some search on Niger Delta, and one of the searches involved a fisherman at sea with his nets and his catch, but I was stunned at the discovery I made and became heavily bur-

M

e& ore

Maureen Alikor maureenalikor@gmail.com

dened with it.

All I saw were images of militants, oil spillage, riots, and various forms of youth restiveness and killings of various levels and this is worrisome.

Of every 10 images shown 9 were not telling good stories of the Niger Delta and this is alarming and hugely embarrassing, since I am of the Niger Delta Region and I happen to know quite a number of persons who are of the same region as I, who are making positive impact in the Niger Delta.

I also know that there are talents and creatives who are not miscreants and wayward as the Internet seems to portray us, and it is sad enough that we are all lumped into the crop of unproductive indigenes and residents of the Niger Delta region.

People always flinch twice when

you introduce yourself as a Niger Deltan and often times they go as far as calling you a “militant”, though they painstakingly infuse laughter into the sentence to make it end on a lighter note, but deep down somewhere in the inner crevice of their minds, they already have a preconceived conclusion or idea of you and they do business with you with less trust and unhealthy suspicions.

I am an indigene of Rivers State and I know how sad I become when I introduce myself to be a resident of Port Harcourt and silly remarks with an undertone of prostitution and laziness would be made, thereby making me wonder how that impression came to be.

I believe this is one of the problems of the single story and gruesome generalization, and I can say

it is a huge problem which should begin to receive attention in a bid to debunk, rewrite this story or in majority of the cases, bring the true story or narrative to light - to the view of our neighbouring communities and the world at large using the medium available to us, the world wide web.

On rewriting the Niger Delta narrative, all hands has to be on deck, we have to wipe off the bad image we have as a region on the internet if we are to attract investors and more business oriented individuals and organizations.

Truth be told, if we do not tell our own stories, those who do would not always tell good stories of and for us as we have seen.

The Internet is a very vital tool and whatever is been said of someone or something or a group of persons on the Internet is widely believed, true or not. And this has left a mark, which could take so much effort to erase.

We all should contribute towards rewriting the Niger delta.

Assuage your curiosity; take a trip to Google, key in on the Google search space “Niger Delta”.

I belong to the Niger Delta Region by social or national stratification, I am a thinker, I am a creative and I am not lazy, I get offended when I hear the direct opposite being said about us.

•Please send comments to maureenalikor@gmail.com

38

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

The Law and You

With Barr. Ken Akpom 08162016410

1999 Constitution: Citizen’s right to fair hearing III Continued from the last edition

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baseki, J.S.C. noted in the case of Iyere v. Duru that while the court appreciates that a police officer may detain an accused, cognizance must be taken of the provision of section 36 of the 1999 constitution.

This confirms that there is a constant abuse of power by the police which has ended in the deprivation of the accused’s right to liberty and an infringement of his right to fair hearing, sometimes at the end of the day the accused may be found to have committed no offence at all.

THE CHARGE Section 2 of the Criminal Procedure Act defined the ‘charge’ as being the statement of offence(s) which the accused is charged in a summary trial.

For one to be charged for an offence, it must be one which is provided for in a written law creating the offence as provided for in section 36(16) of the 1999 constitution. By virtue of the statutory and constitutional provisions, some of the decrees promulgated in 1983 which were retroactive law should therefore be null and void.

This is because, such laws were not in existence when the alleged offences were committed and as such could not have committed any offence at all.

Such decrees like the miscellaneous offence Decree No 20, 1984 which was backdated, caused a man his life after been convicted for exporting hard drugs. The penalty was not in force when the offence was committed, also Decree no 5 of 1997 which was backdated to 1975 saw many people in jail for offence which did not exist when the act was committed.

It is submitted that these enactments of the Military Government cannot be questioned since their power was not derived from the constitution. The charge however must be read to the accused and the court must satisfy itself that the accused understood the charge read to his, where he is led by errors or omissions in the charge, the accused can raise an objection.

In most cases, the accused are not granted bail of freedom to be prepared adequately to defend itself through his legal representative. Bail is necessary by are being denied. Bail is the detention for the procurement of the accused, the necessity to procedure medical or social report pending final disposal of the case. In Uzazurike v. Attorney General of the Federation, the courts have over the years established criteria or guidelines that should be taken into consideration in an application for bail. The criteria to be followed in taking a decision in determining whether to grant bail by the court includes: The evidence available against the accused; availability of the accused to stand trial; the nature and gravity of the offence; the likelihood of the accused committing anoth-

er offence while on bail; the likelihood of the accused interfering with the course of justice; the criminal antecedents of the accused person; the likelihood of further charge being brought against the accused; the probability that the accused may not surrender himself for trial; the detention for the protection of the accused; the necessity to procure medical or social report pending final disposal of the case.

In Suleiman v. Commissioner of Police per Tobi JSC said: “The most important consideration in the bail decision is the determination of what criteria the court use or invoke in granting or refuse bail. The bail ability of the accused depends largely upon the weight the court attaches to one or several of the criteria open to it in any given case. The determination of the criteria is quite important because the liberty of the individual stands or falls by the decision of the court. In performing the judiciary function, the court wields a very extensive discretionary power, which must be exercised judicially and judiciously. The main function of bail is to ensure the presence of the accused at the trial. That is the cynosure of all criteria it is the centre-piece, so this criterion is regarded as not only the omnibus ground of granting or refusing bail, but the most important.”

Note you can contact any lawyer around you or text my phone numbers or email for further assistance if need be. Please stay away from crime

Should military delve into civil matters?

Dear Lawyer, Please, is it the role of the military to delve into civil matters such as the one in Abia State titled ‘Python Dance II’?

Eno-Obong, Calabar with the approval of the Act of Parliament. I don’t think these processes were in place and the Dear Eno-Obong, presidency has not owed up reThanks for your concern about sponsibility of the invasion of the peace and unity of this coun- Abia State by the military. try. The simple answer to your On the aspect of Python Dance, question here is NO. the military can practice but to Base on my assessment of the me their practice at this very happening in that area, the Ni- time ink a no war or war-like gerian Police Force which we zone and without pre-notice of believe have even been properly this practice to the villagers who trained to tackle the civil disor- some of them have not even ders are the ones the constitu- seen soldier physically in their tion of Federal Republic of Nige- lives except on television or films is wrong. ria empowered to do so.

ANSWER

The military has its own role which is merely for ‘war’ or ‘warlike’ situation and must be authorised by the President of Nigeria

men as stranger and a spirit that must be destroyed. Pythons are usually found in thick forests and I am of the view that that ‘Python Dance’ by the military is better done in Sambisa forest with Boko Haram terrorist group that is armed, violent, unidentified and un-located and not with a mere armless, violent agitating group who are only expressing their grievances and trying to draw attention of government to the needs of their zone.

Bias and tribal judgments on these issues is not the best for the interest of this our great The villagers might be terrorised country and this is what my top- Dear Lawyer, by their presence and took them ic on fair hearing and fair trial is Please, the military tagged the proscribed IPOB as terrorist group and some two lawyers in a telethe way some villagers during all about. vision interview on a television station on Sunday evening said that for the fact that there is the the colonial era took the white use of ‘threat’ that the military is right. Secondly, can the State Government sue the Federal Government if it errs?

Is IPOB terrorist group?

Nonso, Abuja.

ANSWER

that each person has its own perception of the meaning of Dear Nonso, terrorism, but to my mind I am of the view that their percepFirstly, I don’t think it is the du- tion of a mere threat is terrorties of the military in a civilian ism without other elements of dispensation where there is terrorism identified is wrong. the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary to pronounce Can one then say that the asor determine for the country pect of the ‘Quit Notice’ given terrorist group and on their by some youths in the North own accord embark on attack- to the South Easterners which ing and killing armless civilians. threatened them to start ‘running’ for their own lives and These three arms I mentioned which some of them died in have the power to do so in the the process is also terrorism principle of separation of pow- and should be treated so. Husers and checks and balances. bands and wives during doOn the aspect of declaring the mestic quarrelling use threats proscribe IPOB as a terrorist on each other, so they are organization, I am of the view terrorists? Let justice be seen

to done and done in this issue than giving the dog a bad name to kill it. I am of the view that the proscribed IPOB is a mere ‘Armless Agitating’ group like those that had been the cases in some other tribes in Nigeria before and who even formed vigilante groups.

On your second question, yes, the State Government can sue the Federal Government in a court of competent jurisdiction if it errs in laws affecting their states. The best option out just like the vastly experienced and highly respected former president Olusegun Obasanjo advocated is DIALOGUE.

• 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 October 4, 2017

Entertainment With Douglas Omoyooma

I never believed I would be celebrated as a world class model – Olajumoke Orisaguna From hawking bread and butter on the streets of Lagos, the model known as Olajumoke Orisguna was discovered after she photo-bombed the set of celebrity photographer, TY Bello. In this chat with Oracle Today, the bread seller turned world class model says she never believed she would be what she has become today.

“I never expected it. I had a small dream which was to live a quiet life with my family so what happened was a total transformation to my reality even though I have always secretly loved acting.”

According to the mother of two girls, it was all like a dream to her and it took a while for her to come to terms with her reality.

She continues: “I was yet to understand what was going on really but I knew whatever was going on it had to be good. I was excited though I didn’t know who a model is or what a model does but I was willing to do whatever was asked of me as long as it is not negative “I think I’m settling in good now, at first I was overwhelmed and basked in the euphoria for a really long time. But now under Qtaby Events, my new management, I’ve come to realise you need hard work to maintain the glitz and glamour and that I can be anything with consistency and determination.”

Indeed her transformation made headlines all over the

• Olajumoke Orisguna

world and she clinched multi-million naira deals and at a point, she was interviewed by one of the most dynamic news platforms globally, CNN. How has she managed stardom, what has changed about Olajumoke Orisaguna?

A smile breaks her features as she responds: “Hmm big question. But nothing really except I’m more focused and determined because I have a greater purpose. I have my fans who I must not let down and my family to take care of. It’s still the same humble, respectful me that was selling bread, nothing has changed about that.

“However, stardom has denied me freedom and easy access to certain things. Before I could walk freely to buy vegetable by the roadside, eat in a buka, even use public transport but I can’t do any of those.

“Now I can’t get into the street without getting attention from fans. I still check on my friends and they still check up on me. They’re all excited about my transformation.

“From bread hawker I am now a model of world repute.

The transformation has been overwhelming! When I look back did I ever see yourself going this far in life?” the light complexioned beauty asks rhetorically as she adds: “I had ambitions to be great in life but not this. All I wanted and pictured for my life was a quiet life with my family until God stepped in and assigned me to a greater purpose.”

Today, she is fill of gratitude to TY Bello, the celebrity photographer who discovered her. She says in appreciation: “No amount of words can quantify how grateful I am to TY Bello, she indeed is my personal God-sent-angel.

If not for her, I won’t be where I am now. She could have decided to kill the search for me or not even bother to use my picture but her kind heart made it possible. I’m forever indebted to her and I love her so much.”

Dream “I have a dream to be a helper to many other helpless, a hope for the hopeless, just as TY Bello was my helper.”

How to save your marriage – Olu Jacobs

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creen veteran, Olu Jacobs, has been married to his wife, Joke Silva for over 30 years.

The thespian who is older than his wife by 24 years recently opened up on reason why marriages are crashing all over.

He said: “I think it’s important for people to know what their thresh hold of pain and acceptability is. I think sometimes we tend to say ‘Oh, you must stay in the marriage no matter what he does to you.’

“You will hear of some women who have stayed with their husband right through the difficulty and when the husband dies, they’re so bitter because it seems as if they wasted their life and this is something that the younger gen-

eration doesn’t want to go through.”

Proffering solutions he continued: “I think there is a little need for both sides to see each other as human beings. Our boys are raised from when they’re babies to be king of kings and not servant leaders so when a woman all of a sudden insists that this man should become responsible and take a leadership position where he is a servant leader but how will he do that when he has been raised as King of Kings?

“So, there needs to be a paradigm. It’s difficult but it’s something we have to do and that is why we are seeing what we’re seeing.

That is why the marriages are not making it.”

• Olu Jacobs & Joke Sylva

40

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

Entertainment

The Voice Nigeria: Bayelsa Government congratulates Idyl

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he Bayelsa Government has applauded the sterling performance of Daniel Diongoli, 22, popularly known as Idyl, in the just concluded TV reality show ‘The Voice Nigeria’ Season 2.

A statement by Mr Jonathan Obuebite, Bayelsa Commissioner for Information, said Idyl’s victory was a morale booster for other teeming youths in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the talented 22-year-old singer, who was mentored by award winning musician, Timi Dakolo, was announced the winner of the keenly contested music reality show on Sunday.

He defeated his close rival, Ebube, to clinch the star prize of a recording contract, an SVU worth seven million naira and a four-night trip to Dubai.

He said IDYL, with his scintillating performance, had shown to the world that Bayelsa is a state to reckon with.

Obuebite also lauded Idyl’s coach, Dakolo, and others, including Yemi Alade, Waje, and Patoranking, who at one point or the other helped him achieve the victory.

He thanked Nigerians for voting for him as well as the judges who were not political in their decisions.

Obuebite, urged youths in the state that have one talent or the other to always pursue their dreams, irrespective of whatever challenge they faced in achieving them.

IK Osakioduwa, who hosted the show alongside Stephanie Coker, attributed Idyl’s victory to his teeming

T

he end is here for the dynamic group known as PSquare which consist of Peter and Paul Okoye as a letter terminating their contract as a pair has been served which now confirms their split.

Peter Okoye (one half of the pair) has taken the final step to confirm the split of the group after he sent a termination letter to the chambers of prominent lawyer, Festus Keyamo requesting that he be set free from whatever contractual agreement that binds him with his twin brother, Paul Okoye.

Moments after serving the letter,

Peter said; “Psquare is no more. I have nothing against my brothers. I saw Paul’s post on Instagram about blood being thicker than water.’

‘Who is water and who is blood,’ Peter asked, adding that his nuclear family (wife and kids) are very important to him and he has decided to move on with his personal brand.

In the last two weeks, the pair of Peter and Paul have been posting messages on social media suggesting they may have both parted ways as a group, and Peter’s latest move now confirms their breakup.

• P -Square

I’m dating Anita Joseph so what!-Charles Okocha

• Idyl fans who voted for him.

He explained that more than 10 million Nigerians cast their votes in this year’s competition which started on June 18 with Patoranking, Timi Dakolo, Waje and Yemi Alade as

coaches.

Idyl, an undergraduate of the hat recent pictures of Nollystate-owned Niger Delta Universiwood bad boy, Charles Okocha ty, Amassoma, is from Kolokuma in aka Igwe Tupac posing with Kolokuma/Opokuma local govern- sex bomb Anita Joseph has gone viment area of the state. ral is no longer news. What is news is that Charles Okocha has lashed out at those speculating if he was dating actress arfter the pictures went viral.

“It is quite embarrassing. Can’t you take pictures with your female colleagues in the industry and share on social media anymore. Those pic-

T

I’m honoured receiving award for grooming talents in Ajegunle

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ctresses and talk show hosts, Mabel Oboh whose brother, John Oboh a.k.a Mighty Mouse created what is now known as Ajegunle beat, has expressed profound gratitude to the organizers of the Ajegunle to the World Concert, which recently held at the Landmark Event Centre, Oniru, Lagos, for recognizing the role she played in grooming music stars that came out of Ajegunle.

“I never knew it would come to this. When I gave that financial support to my brother for me , it was a forgotten story,” Mabel said, expressing her gratitude. “Believing in my brother and his dream, I felt that something was going to come out of it. But now that they have recognized my contribution, I am really honoured. The support I was giving to my brother then, led to the grooming of great musicians in Nigeria. I am glad that I am alive to give this recognition award,” Mabel, who recently announced her decision to stage a comeback to her first loveacting said.

On how the Jahoha Studios was established, Mabel disclosed that in 1991, her brother. Mighty Mouse approached her for financial assistance, saying he had a dream about AJ music.

“He told me that he needed to set

Game Over as Peter of Psquare break-up

Olamide, DJ Jimmy Jatt to headline Providence

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n Friday, September 29, all roads will lead to Eagle Hall, Providence Centre, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital for a concert christened Live at Providence featuring Olamide, DJ Jimmy Jatt and Gongua Aso singer, 9ice.

Speaking, the organizer of the show, Alhaji Teju Kareem, boss of ZMirage said: “It promises to be an evening of fun and excitement as Nigeria’s music stars take Abeokuta by

• Mabel Oboh up a studio and with that studio he would be able to produce all AJ musicians. And truly, when that studio started, the artistes were trooping into the studio to actualize their dreams. I decided to sponsor him. It was his dream that I stood for. I im-

tures had scarcely gone online when I started getting calls from people asking me about our relationship.

Right now I am so angry and my only response to them is just to leave us alone. I am dating Anita Joseph, so what,” the actor quipped in anger.

Currently, the pair are working on the same set in Asaba, Delta State and they took time off to take some pictures which have gone viral.

ported all the equipment he had in his studio from Ireland.”

Mabel, who studied Criminology at Bucks new University Buckinghamshire hit the limelight in the 80s, producing popular sitcoms, Victims, which ran on NTA for years.

• Olamide

storm. Music buffs should watch out as providence, a concert that will redefine entertainment in Ogun State takes centre stage.”

According to him, Red Carpet kicks-off at 5pm while the grand opening of the show is 7pm.

Also expected to thrill are the likes of Dr. Smile & Bash, ATM, DJ May, Remate and DJ Move among a host of others. The event is powered by Ogun State Signage Agency

• Don Jazzy

41

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

News Insecurity on waterways ups From CHRIS EZE, Yenagoa

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arely three days after militants attacked a tugboat at Ekebiri in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, killing a police officer, a personnel of NSCDC and a civilian, two persons were on Monday shot dead by gunmen suspected to be sea pirates in an attack on a passenger boat along the Brass waterways.

About three weeks ago, a soldier and a civilian were killed in an ambush on a military houseboat at Letugbene in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the State.

The Chairman of the Bayelsa State chapter of Nigeria Maritime Workers Union, Lloyd Sese who confirmed the Monday incident said five persons were injured in the process.

According to community sources, gunmen numbering about four opened fire on the passenger boat at Okoroma axis and killed two of the passengers, a young man and a middle aged woman and injuring other passengers.

It was gathered that the passenger boat was traveling from Yenagoa to Okpoama in Brass Local Government Area when the pirates struck and also collected all the valuables belonging to the passengers.

The Police Spokesman in Bayelsa, Mr Asinim Butswat (DSP said that one police operative was still missing following Friday’s attack.

He, however, said the report of Monday’s incident was yet to reach the Command headquarters in Yenagoa as at the time of this report.

“You know the nature of the terrain and distance is also far, we are yet to be notified,” he said.

The Bayelsa State government has described the series of attacks by suspected pirates and militants as pure act of criminality, deliberately carried out to rubbish the security and peace efforts of the government by some disgruntled elements operating under the guise of sea pirates.

Group tells Gov. Umahi to seek re-election From CHINEDU NWAFOR, Abakaliki

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group of politicians under the aegis of Ebonyi Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) has asked the Governor of the state, Engr. David Umahi to consider the popular requests of Ebonyians calling on him to seek re-election come 2019 general elections.

Briefing Journalists Monday in Abakaliki in company of other members of the group, the leader, Chief Hyacinth Nwode said they aligned themselves strongly with the popular resolution having painstakingly visited all the projects embarked upon by Governor Umahi across the state, saying: “What we saw the government is doing is quite amazing and a reflection of a responsible government.”

LGAC lauded the governor for his developmental strides within a short while in office and noted that he had lived up to the dreams of the founding fathers of the state.

They highlighted that the administration of Umahi has successfully built three flyover bridges and pedestrian bridge in strategic places within the capital city.

They also commended his giant strides in the construction and reconstruction of both federal and state roads across the state that were hitherto death traps.

They noted that the installation of street lighting, landscaping of street roads, standard drainages and other aesthetic values in the capital city and other sub cities have made the entire state beauties to behold.

East West Road has no completion date – Minister From ANIEKAN ANIEKAN, Calabar

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HE Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Usani Uguru has disclosed that the East West Road has no completion date due to paucity of funds as well as competing needs of other projects his ministry is embarking on.

The minister who made this remark in Calabar also disclosed that to try to address this challenge, the ministry is seeking extra funding outside budgetary provision to ensure the proper funding of the road.

“The East West Road cannot be completed even if they give us 50 billion now because the outstanding certificates is already in excess of 30 billion. I will not deceive any member

of the public. Recession has led us to where we are and we must be truthful to members of the public. And again don’t forget that the ministry is not synonymous with the East West Road. There are several other projects that the Ministry is embarking on and which we are making progress.

So, let people not think that the East West Road is another identity of the ministry.

“Up until this moment, the 2017 budget for my ministry I have not received money. And if you have been watching, you will know the efforts we have been making to get outside budgetary provision for this project.

“The road was awarded in 2006 and between then and 2016 is ten years.

Within the period this government

has been in place, determine the revenue sources that this government has had. Beyond that, consider the collapse of infrastructure in this country between then and now. It will suggest to you that the government has a responsibility for national infrastructure not just the East West Road.

“In two years, the efforts we have put so far we have completed section one of the road. The road is divided into five sections and I want to inspect section one which is from Warri to Kaiama and we are attending to it based on the availability of funds”.

The Minister announced that his ministry has attracted five million Euros from the NEPAD Infrastructural Fund Forum, which will be used to revive and equip two skills acquisition centres.

•Pastor Paul Alexander Udofia, Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Education receiving the keys to a block of classrooms from Kufre Ekanem, Corporate Affairs Adviser, Nigerian Breweries Plc during the commissioning of the block of classrooms at the Special Education Center, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State in honour of Mr. Imoh Essien, the 2016 Maltina Teacher of the Year.

Maiden agricultural festival set to take off in C/River From ANIEKAN ANIEKAN, Calabar

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he Cross River State government has announced plans to flag off a maiden agricultural festival in the state called Northfest or the Northern Cross River State Festival.

The festival, which is scheduled to kick off at the end of September this year is intended to bring to global limelight, the abundant agricultural potentials and en-

dowments that have largely remained unpublicized.

Speaking during a media parley in Calabar, the chairman of the organizing committee, Ntufam Peter Ojie stated that Northfest seeks to compliment the tripod of festivals that subsists in the state.

He disclosed that this festival is meant to identify with the people of the people of the Northern part of the

Okowa orders removal of over 140 workers from payroll From JONATHAN AWANYAI,Asaba

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elta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa has directed that the names of 145 members of staff of the State Post Primary Education Board (PPEB) be deleted from the payroll.

The affected staff members include 52 who have either abandoned or absconded from their duty posts, while 93 have been confirmed dead and nine others who were found to be irregular in attendance at work.

A statement endorsed by the Head of Service, Mr. Reginald Bayoko stated that

the measure was part of efforts by the state government to check the ghost workers’ syndrome, sanitise the payroll system and rid the state public service of truancy.

The statement said that those who have been receiving salaries after absconding or abandoning their duty posts would be reported to the police and be made to face the full wrath of the law.

It added that for the nine staffers who were irregular in attendance at work, appropriate disciplinary action would be taken against them, according to relevant extant regulations.

state and showcase its rich agricultural potentials.

“Northfest will seek to find relevance to the means of livelihood of the people.

“It seeks to expose other crops in the area and this is consistent with the agricultural revolution taking place in the state.

“The cultural festival is seeking to ensure that not just yam is being celebrated in the state but other agricultural products.

The idea of this festival is to ensure that other agro based products of the people of the North is brought to the fore.”

He also disclosed that in order to avoid a clash between this novel festival and other festivals in the state, the government has engaged with the traditional rulers in the state to ensure that a conducive date was chosen and this is how the end of September was agreed as a preferred date for this festival.

Also speaking, the commissioner of Information who is also serving on the committee disclosed that the government aims to use this festival to unite the state, expose its agricultural potentials and also complement existing festivals in the state.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

INTERNATIONAL NEWS UN Human Rights Office criticises situation in Crimea

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he UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has accused Russia of serious human rights violations on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014.

“Grave human rights violations, such as arbitrary arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, illtreatment and torture, and at least one extra-judicial execution were documented,’’ the report said.

Presented on Monday in Geneva, the report also found that under Russian rule, the Mejlis, a body representing the interests of the Crimean Tatar minority, has been outlawed.

According to international law, the OHCHR classifies Crimea as a temporarily-occupied territory, which implies that, Ukrainian laws should continue to apply in the region.

“This is contrary to the view in Moscow, which considers Crimea to have become part of Russia and thus governed by Russian laws,’’ it said.

In a list of recommendations, the OHCHR states that Russia should get to the bottom of violent attacks by security agencies, and ensure freedom of assembly and of expression for local residents.

High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said Crimean residents who did not accept a Russian passport should also not be discriminated against.

“The citizenship issue has had a major impact on the lives of many residents of Crimea.

“Persons holding a residency permit and no Russian Federation citizenship do not enjoy equality before the law and are deprived of important rights,’’ he said.

However, Ukraine was also asked to make travel to and from Crimea as easy as possible.

Berlin worker sacked for reading ‘Mein Kampf’

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n employee at a Municipal District Office in Berlin has been summarily dismissed after he was found reading an original copy of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf’’ in a break room during his shift.

The local state labour court on Monday ruled that the man’s dismissal was legally valid.

The man had sued the state of Berlin over his sacking because he had not been cautioned first.

The presiding judge found that the state authorities were not obliged to warn an employee after such a serious offence, and were within their rights to summarily dismiss him.

“The employee appears in uniform as a representative of the State of Berlin and is thus especially obliged to advocate for the principles of the free democratic constitution, as outlined in the German Basic Law, at all times,’’ said the judge.

By publicly displaying a swastika, which was emblazoned on the book’s cover and which is a symbol prohibited by Germany’s constitution, the man had waived his right to a prior warning before dismissal.

The local labour court ruled out an appeal to its federal counterpart.

SDGs implementation: Nigeria ahead of many developed countries – Orelope-Adefulire

TRCN inducts 252 graduates in Enugu

he Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Ms Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, says Nigeria is ahead of many developed countries in the implementation of the SDGs. Orelope-Adefulire told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York that Nigeria had received global commendation on the progress it has recorded in implementing the global goals.

“In Nigeria today, we have completed the mapping exercise on SDGs, we’ve done the baseline survey and we have identified 126 targets, localising SDGs,” she said.

“I’m sure we are far ahead of some developed countries in the implementation of SDGs and we were commended at the launch of the Voluntary National Report in July.

“That what Nigeria has done is

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very commendable and we were lauded for the progress we have made so far,” she said.

The presidential aide explained that the SDGs came in three dimensions – the social, the economic and the climate change and environment.

According to her, the social aspect of the SDGs still deals with the unfinished business of the MDGs. She explained that road and rail infrastructure were currently ongoing in almost all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

“In agriculture, we are doing well and it has contributed a lot in getting us out of recession. Half of the rice we eat in Nigeria now is being locally-produced.

“So we are now eating what we produce and no longer depend on foreign food. We are planting our foods and the farmers are happy.

“The Federal Government through the Central Bank has given loans to farmers to make farming more attractive.

“We would continue in that direction for the government to provide job opportunities for the people and to provide food security and make sure that people can eat and live decent lives.”

Orelope-Adefulire said Nigeria still had a lot of time as it was just two years into the 2030 agenda out of the 15 years life span.

“We’re not going to rest on our oars, we’re going to work hard and we are working now with the state governments; we are coming to the Local Governments too.

“So that together we can jointly work on SDGs, make life more meaningful to the people of Nigeria and we would try not to leave anyone behind,” she said.

• Anambra State Commissioner for Education, Prof Kate Omenugha (2nd left) receiving Zik award of Aku-luo-uno Investment policy on behalf of Anambra state governor, Chief Willie Obiano from Dr. Mrs. Pat Okeke (right) during the University of Nigeria Alumni Association, Onitsha branch 2017 Founder’s day celebration Photo: Modestus Igudobi.

Good governance, re-balancing of federation essential for peace – Scholars

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enowned scholars from some higher institutions have called for good governance, accountability and re-balancing of the federation, saying they remain essential ingredients for national integration and peace.

The scholars made this known in a communiqué issued on Tuesday in Enugu after a conference of some eminent academicians organised by the African Heritage Institute (Afri-Heritage) in Enugu at the weekend.

They stressed the need for evaluation and re-evaluation of the ideas of true federalism and accountability to ascertain their impeccability.

“No idea is so sacrosanct to be above questioning. Therefore, the idea of Nigeria’s unity can be examined and re-examined to arrive at the best option.

“Nigeria must settle for a truly

balanced federation in all ramifications of that concept,’’ they said.

The academicians further stressed the need for proper restructuring to create a sense of belonging in Nigerians, saying “it is highly necessary now’’.

“There is an urgent need for proper restructuring and change and to entrench peace and national integration,’’ they noted.

The communiqué said that the problems facing Nigeria were too important to be left to politicians alone.

“The scholars have a vital role to play in ensuring that the lines and details of the debates and policy are focused appropriately, hence the need for the conference.

“Nigeria is a seriously divided country. Regrettably, there are tremendous divisive pressures everywhere.

“It seems that Nigerians are often so focused on the things that divide them that they are unable to identify and appreciate the things that bind them,’’ the communiqué quoted the scholars as saying.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Prof. Elochukwu Amucheazi, a renowned Professor of Political-Economy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), was the keynote speaker at the conference.

Prof. Okwudiba Nnoli, a Professor Emeritus in Political Science Department in UNN was a major contributor to the theme and Prof.

Ufo Okeke-Uzodike, the Executive Director of Afri-Heritage gave a welcome address.

The conference was themed: “Peace Building and National Integration: The Political Economy of Separatism’’.

he Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) on Monday inducted and certified two hundred and fifty-two (252) graduates of the Enugu State College of Education (Technical), Enugu, as professional teachers.

The graduates, who participated in the 6th induction of the college, are from three categories of educational qualifications, which included: Masters (7); Professional Diploma in Education (234) and National Certificate of Education (11).

The Registrar of TRCN, Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, said that the induction and its laid down procedures the inductees had passed through made it easier for them to be recognised anywhere in the World as a bona fide, trained and qualified teachers.

Ajiboye, who was represented by Malam Adamu Bello, Deputy Director Professional Operation of TRCN, said that soon within a space of months, no unprofessional teacher would be allowed to teach in any Nigerian school be it public or private.

He noted that the TRCN was on course according to its statutory mandate to fish out and prosecute all teachers not certified and professsionlised by the council.

“Very soon, those people that think it is a joke for these 17 years we have been drumming it for them to professionalise through the council’s criteria, will be arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned.

“People cannot continue to reap where they did not sow.

“The council will go after them with the full weight of the law even as we seek state governments’ co-operation to rid the country of quack and unqualified teachers,’’ he said.

He, however, urged the new professional teachers to keep the flag flying and continue to display clear cut distinction as they carry on with the noble profession of teaching.

“I must congratulate you and remind you that your professional certificate stands you out anywhere in the world and you must display that rare comportment and discipline expected of a professional teacher always,’’ he advised.

Earlier, the Acting Provost of Enugu State College of Education (Technical), Prof. Ngozi Nnamani, admonished the inductees to live up to the high expectations expected of a professional teacher in the society.

Nnamani also thanked the TRCN for the council’s hard work, vision and determination in projecting the image and status of the teaching profession to the highest quality standard and discipline.

She thanked the TRCN Zonal Coordinator, Mrs Nneka Onyebuchi, for carrying the college along in all TRCN programmes and policies; adding that the college would continue to work closely with the council.

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Wednesday October 4, 2017

SPORTS Eagles’ inconsistency worries me – Gombe

Stories by MADUABUCHI KALU

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ORMER member of the Nigeria Football Association and the pioneer chairman of Gombe Football Association, Alhaji Ahmed Shuaib Gara-Gombe, popularly known as Gara Gombe has expressed worry over what he called the inconsistency of the national team going into the crucial World Cup qualifier against the Chipolopolo of Zambia who are placed 2nd in Eagles’ Group B pairing.

According to Gombe, he is worried that most Eagles players are not playing regularly in their various clubs oversees which according to him calls for worry, as the country rely on them to be in Russia next year.

He explained that inasmuch as the Eagles have three points advantage against the 2nd placed Zambia, the Gernot Rohr coached side need to trade with caution.

The former SA on Sports to the

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fter leading Nigeria’s national Men Basketball Team to silver at the just-concluded AfroBasket in Tunisia, the team’s coach, Alex Nwora, has declared his intention to remain as the gaffer of the team going forward.

Nwora made his intention known after returning from the championship in Tunisia where Nigeria, lost the trophy they in Mali in 2015 for the very first time. The Nigeria men Basketball team lost to Tunisia 77-65 at the final played in Tunis penultimate Saturday.

The American based basketball coach who went to the championship with entirely different squad except for the team captain, Ike Diogu explained that he has all

immediate past governor of Kano, Rabiu Kwakwanzo explained that every hand must be on deck to ensure that Eagles do not fluff the opportunity of being in Russia for the game’s biggest party.

Gombe exclusively bared his mind on the national team quest for a World Cup to the Oracle Today Sports during the week.

“Well, as far as I am concerned, the inconsistency of the Super Eagles worries me,” Gombe began.

“My worry is that most of our players are not consistent in their various club except for a few of them while we need all of our national team players to be on top of their games by playing regularly for their clubs which will in turn rob off on the national team when they are called upon to don the colours of the country.

“Like I used to say, I will not be deceived with their heroics against the Indomitable Lions of Camer-

oon. We are yet to have team. The players are yet to blend. There is a great difference between a team and individuals who rely on their skills to get the job done.

“We need the national team to become a team so that when they file out, you will certainly know that a team have filed out,” Gombe explained.

Speaking further he said: “Our next opponents Zambia are a force to reckon with if you looked at the way they played against Algeria both home and away.

“On their threat or what you called boast that they are coming to Uyo to shock us, I don’t think that it should be taken for granted.

I mean we should take that threat very serious.

“We must be very careful going into the encounter if we must avert a disaster. Everybody who has anything to do with our next World Cup Qualifier in Uyo must be at his

best. There should be no room for laxity as far as the Zambian match is concerned if we really serious of going to the World Cup next year,” Gombe warned.

Continuing he said: “When you look at it critically, Zambia are not in any form of pressure rather we are the ones who are under serious pressure because as it stands, we are the group leaders with three points advantage. God forbid, if anything happens against expectation, we will be in a very precarious situation.

“So, I advise that we should not take the Zambian threat lightly because they are a very formidable side at the moment. Beating Algeria home and away is a clear indication that they are very serious and that effort has revived their spirit and it has sort of enforced their believe of achieving a World Cup dream for the very first time and we shouldn’t give them that opportunity.

I want to remain as D’Tigers’ coach – Nwora takes to continue to steer the affairs of the team going forward even as he declared that he has the pre-requisites credentials to be the man in-charge of the D’Tigers particularly as a Nigerian.

“I want to state that I want to continue to remain as the coach of the Nigerian Men Basketball team, the D’Tigers,” Nwora began.

“I have all it takes to steer the ship of the national Men Basketball team. I am technically qualified and more importantly I am a Nigerian.

“The fact that I am a Nigerian should even give me edge over

other because no foreign coach will love this Nigeria more than a patriotic Nigerian.

“I went into 2017 AfroBasketball Championship with relatively new players and I ensured that out of the 12 players in the team, six are home based which is unprecedented in the history of the country’s participation in the championship.

“The reason for that is that I want to give confidence to good home based players by telling them that the national team is open for everybody provided you are good. Inclusion into the national team should be based

on merit and not based on playing abroad,” he explained.

“We didn’t do badly at the tournament considering the fact that we only used two weeks to prepare for the championship while our opponents used a minimum of six weeks for their preparations for the same tournament.

“I praise the performance of the boys; they did well in the competition considering the circumstance under which they operated. It is true that we had wanted to retain the trophy but we lost to host, Tunisia in final.

As far as the game is concerned; it is not a bad result from any

•Alhaji Gara Gombe “We should also forget about what happened in Ndola last year.

The game in Ndola is history, we are now faced with a very crucial game that will determine whether we will be in Russia or not. Every hand must be on deck until the ticket is delivered,” Gombe warned.

standard,” Nwora explained.

Meanwhile, a member of the board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBF) Col. Sam Ahmedu (retd) said no discussion has been held on who will be the coach of the country’s Men Basketball team, the D’Tigers and as a result, no decision has been taken on who coaches the team.

He said until when discussions has been held by the board on who will heads the team as coach and decision taken, the team have no coach at the moment saying when the time come, the Federation will discuss and take a decision on who coaches the team even as he said if a Nigerian is found worthy of occupying the position they will gladly give him the opportunity.

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Wednesday October 4, 2017

SPORTS Swimming clinic Enyeama can only return to successful – Williams Eagles’ squad on my terms – Rohr T N Stories by MADUABUCHI KALU

ATIONAL team gaffer, German Gernot Rohr has sensationally declared that former Eagles’ captain and keeper, Vincent Enyeama can only return to the team on his own terms and not on the former Enyimba goalkeeper’s terms.

According to the Franco-German tactician, Enyeama can’t give him any condition for him to return to the national team set-up.

The Eagles’ Technical Adviser explained that he cannot substitute John Obi Mikel with any player as the leader of the team. Rohr described the Anambra State-born national team and Tianjin TEDA Captain as “Our Leader” both on and off the pitch.

From Rohr’s declaration, it is like Enyeama gave the Franco-German condition for his possible return to the Eagles but the former Bayern Munich defender will not take any of that from the Akwa Ibom-born goal tender.

It is recalled that Vincent Enyeama took over as the captain of the Eagles from Joseph Ikpo Yobo as the Rivers State-born defender retired from national team duties and had to quit the team following a spat with former captain and coach of the team, Sunday Ogochukwu Oliseh who ignored the Vice captain of the team then, John Obi Mikel and appointed Ahmed Musa as Eagles’ captain after Enyeama announced his retirement.

But luck smiled on Mikel following the appointment of Gernot Rohr in August last year after Oliseh surprisingly resigned from his duties sensing he would not be able to qualify Eagles to the last Nations Cup which Cameroon later won.

Ordinarily, Mikel ought to have naturally stepped in as the captain of the team after Enyeama’s retirement but Oliseh exercised his powers as the manager and overlooked him

and appointed Musa as the captain of the team.

Everybody knew that it was not the right thing to do but since he has the powers to do so. Even the country’s football governing body, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in order to allow sleeping dog lie said nothing until Oliseh resigned. When Rohr replaced Oliseh, Mikel was appointed Captain and since then he has really discharged his responsibility well.

It is also important to give kudos to Ahmed Musa, who voluntarily vacated his position to allow Mikel take what naturally is his position going by national team tradition as the most senior player in the team.

Meanwhile, it is important to note that Nigerians had already moved on with their lives over the retirement of Vincent Enyeama after the discovery of Carl Ikeme but for the ill-health of Ikeme that threw

up South Africa-based Chippa United goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi.

The clamour for Enyeama’s return came as a result of the poor performance of Akpeyi in the Africa Nations Cup Qualifier against the Bafana Bafana which Eagles lost 2-0 in Uyo. Nigerians attributed the lost to Akpeyi’s poor goalkeeping as he wasn’t convincing during the encounter hence the insistence by stakeholders and fans to recall Enyeama to the national team set-up but Rohr has said he will not accept any condition from the former keeper to return to the team. It is now left for Enyeama to decide whether he would return or not but many Nigerians said it was better for him to remain retired as his coming back will rubbish all that he achieved with the team.

Tammy Abraham embarrasses Nigeria

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t was a big embarrassment and a big shame when on Thursday, England Underage International of Nigerian decent, Tammy Ibrahim, denied taking a decision to change his nationality and allegiance from England to Nigeria.

Ibraham made the denial following the much publicized Amaju’s claim in interview with thenff.com that suggested that the England youth International has agreed to switch his nationality and allegiance to Nigeria but the Chelsea striker who is on loan to Swansea said there was nothing like that saying he can’t deny meeting Pinnick in England after his side’s game against Tottenham at Wembley because Amaju happened to be his father’s childhood friend.

Hear him: “Contrary to reports in the media today I would like to clarify that I have not agreed to switch my National team allegiance.

“I can confirm I met the President of the NFF after our last game against Tottenham at Wembley on Saturday given he is a friend of my father.

“However, any suggestion that I have made a decision to change my international representation is incorrect and wide of the mark.”

The Amaju’s statement which was taken to have suggested that Nigeria is inching closer to securing the services of the Chelsea forward, Tammy Abraham, was published by the Federation’s website last Wednesday.

Pinnick told the Federation’s website, thenff.com on Wednesday of his meeting with the tall striker, who has represent-

•Denies changing his nationality, allegiance ed England at junior level but is eligible to wear the green-white-green for the Super Eagles having never played for the Three Lions.

In Amaju’s words: “Most recently, there was a meeting with Tammy, which Tammy’s agent, Neil Fewills also attended. It was a useful meeting, and I can say the talks are at an appreciable level now and all is looking good.

“Tammy is like a son to me, because his father was my childhood friend. I believe he is a good prospect for the Super Eagles and the effort is well worth it.” It is on basis of the above statements by the NFF president that Tammy Ibraham responded to last Thursday to assure the English FA that he has not taken any decision to change his nationality and allegiance to Nigeria.

Rohr recalls Iwobi against Chipolopolo

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UPER Eagles’ Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr, has recalled Arsenal and Eagles’ striker, Alex Iwobi to the national team as he prepares for the crucial World Cup Qualifying date with visiting Chipolopolo of Zambia come October 7th.

The in-formed Arsenal striker, who missed out of the Eagles’ World Cup double header against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon due to injury but has received invitation for the game by the team’s gaffer, Rohr.

It is recalled that the Anambra State-born striker was a part of the Eagles’ squad that defeated the Chipolopolo in their first leg encounter in Ndola. Iwobi did not only make the squad that prosecuted that match in Ndola, he also scored one of the two goals that gave Eagles 2-1 victory over the Zambians last year.

There is no doubt that the inclusion of Iwobi in the Eagles’ squad is value addition to the team that needed its best legs to prosecute the all-important World Cup Qualifying game against the Coach Wedson Nyirenda handled side.

It is true that Rohr has not released the list of players that he hope to use to prosecute the game but he has already extended invitation to the Arsenal player and indication he has very high regard for the talented striker.

The Franco German football tactician who recently declared his intention to led Eagles to pull a defeat on his home team, German at the 2018 FIFA World Cup has snubbed CSKA Moscow and Super Eagles’ striker, Aaron Samuel for the game against the Chipolopolo of Zambia that will hold on October 7th, at magnificent Godswill Akpabio Statdium Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

The World Cup Qualifying game against the Chipolopolo of Zambia is so important that Nigeria’s hope of being at the football biggest party depends on it. So, Eagles and their handlers are aware of the onerous task ahead of them.

he President of the Nigeria Aquatics Federation (NAqF), Mr. Babatunde Fatyai Williams, has described the just-ended board of the Federation organized Swimming Coaches/Teachers Training Clinic as very successful.

Williams made the description in exclusive telephone interview with the Oracle Today Sports in respect of the Training Clinic which held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

According to him, the swimming training clinic was organized in order to teach swimming coaches and teachers in private schools the technical rudiments of swimming so that they will be able to impact the right knowledge to their students and others who would need their assistance in that regard.

“Yes, we had swimming coaches and teachers training clinic.

We had participants from various private schools from the South West zone of the country in attendance.

“Of course the swimming coaches/teachers training clinic was conceived by the board after discovering that many swimming coaches and teachers are not impacting the right swimming knowledge to the students and other individuals who are at their disposal, hence the need to organize swimming training for them for them to get the right technical knowledge as it concerns swimming,” Williams explained.

“This is the first phase of this training and it was organized purely for swimming coaches and teachers in the South West Zone of the country. The training clinic will be organized in other zones like South South and North West. The South South swimming training clinic will be held in Port Harcourt, while that of the North West will take place in Kaduna later in the year.

“We had 17 participants that took part in the swimming coaches/teacher training clinic at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, the venue of the training programme.

“We had five training officials or coach lecturers who handled various aspect of the training clinic and the coach lecturers include Mr. Steve Onyeacholam, who came from Benin City, two of the lecturers, Mr. Jimmy and Dr. Odenwe from Ibadan, while two came from Lagos and they are Reverend Samuel Eseobong Jesimiel and Coach Goody Emefuna.

Speaking further, Williams explained that the rationale behind the Federation preference to private school teachers for the training clinic is because they private schools teachers are the ones who have shown genuine interest in developing the interest of student in swimming.

He explained that many private schools promote swimming because many of them have their own swimming pools unlike public schools where you hardly find any swimming pool.

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Wednesday October 4, 2017

SPORTS

Ghana humiliate Nigeria in WAFU Nations Cup final •Retain title with 4-1 thrashing of Eagles Stories by MADUABUCHI KALU

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HANA on Sunday took their revenge over arch-rival, Nigeria at the final of this year’s West Africa Football Union (WAFU) football championship which was decided on Sunday. A determined Ghana pummelled Nigeria 4-1 to retain their WAFU Cup title which they won last year.

It was a sweet revenge for the Black Stars, who had lost 2-0 to the same team in a group game last Monday.

Stephen Sarfo opened scoring for Ghana a minute to half time when he turned sharply inside the box to fire past goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa for the first goal the FC Ifeanyi Ubah will concede at the championship. The goal against Ezenwa was the third of the Ghanaian striker at the competition.

Ghana doubled their lead in the 58th minute, when substitute Patrick Razak caused a penalty and Atingah shot past Ezenwa.

The dribbling Razak will then get Stephen Eze to cause another penalty in the 77th minute and Man of the Match, Sarfo stepped forward to put away his fourth goal of the championship.

A blunder by Ezenwa eventually led to Cobbina also registering his name on the score board.

Rabiu Ali netted a consolation goal in stoppage time with a superb free kick, which beat goalkeeper Joe Addo hollow.

Also in stoppage time, Ghana’s Atingah was sent off after a second booking.

After a scrappy start by both teams, Ghana poured forward with a lot more purpose.

Reacting to the defeat of his

‘Tough for Africans to win Ballon d’Or’

F

ormer Bolton Wanderers and national team skipper, Austin Jay Jay Okocha, otherwise known as “Emperor’ says it will be very difficult for an African to win the most prestigious individual football accolade, FIFA Ballon d’Or. According to the Delta State Football Association Chairman, African players are constantly under pressure unlike their counterparts from Europe and South America.

He said African players are under enormous pressure because people or their employers want them to even play beyond their limit whereas that is not the case with players from Europe and South America Speaking further, Okocha, who twice won BBC Africa Footballer of the year while plying his trade with Bolton Wanderers of England explained that an Africa player needs to do twice what their counterparts from other climes do for them to be recognized. He, therefore, under this circumstance does not see the possibility of any of the African players winning the most coveted individual accolade.

Okocha, who came close to winning the continental equivalent of Ballon d’Or stated this while fielding questions on Cable Newtwork News (CNN) last week.

It is recalled that the only African to have won the FIFA World Footballer of the Year Award is Liberian George Weah, who is currently a senator in his native country of Liberia. Weah won the award in 1995 while playing for AC Milan.

Kenya stripped of 2018 CHAN hosting rights

K

boys at the final, Super Eagles Team B gaffer, Salisu Yusuf said he was disappointed at the score line. He, however, said he was satisfied with the performance of his charges as they didn’t prepare adequately for the competition.

He explained that the last time the team played together before the tournament was about a month ago when they played against the Squirrels of Benin Re-

public and immediately after that the players returned to their various clubs and started playing their club’s pattern.

Speaking further Yusuf, assistant to Gernot Rohr said he equally took positives from the championship saying it was a good preparation for the team for the Championship of Africa Nations tournament.

enya has been stripped of the hosting right to the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) after a CAF executive committee meeting in Accra.

The decision was announced at a media conference after a one-day gathering of the African football “cabinet” headed by CAF President, Ahmad Ahmad from Madagascar.

CAF said the slow preparations for the January 12/February 4 tournament led to a decision widely anticipated for several weeks.

“It was decided to withdraw the hosting rights of the (CHAN) competition from Kenya in the light of accumulated delays from reports of the various inspection missions conducted in the country,” a CAF statement said.

Nations wishing to replace Kenya have until October 1 to submit bids with the new hosts to be named next month.

It is the second time the regional economic powerhouse has lost the right to stage a CAF competition after being replaced by South Africa as 1996 Africa Cup of Nations hosts.

Kenya would have been the second successive East African country to stage the CHAN after Rwanda in 2016.

Other hosts since the 2009 inception of the Nations Championship were the Ivory Coast, Sudan and South Africa. Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia have qualified for the 2018 finals.

Bola Ige gets age group swim-ming championship

T

he maiden edition of late former Minister of Justice, late Bola Ige Memorial Age group Swimming Competition holds September 30th at the swimming pool complex of the University of Ibadan.

The age group swimming competition is being powered by the son of the late Minister of Justice, Architect Muyiwa Ige, who is the current

Chairman of Oyo State Swimming Association.

The tournament which will see a number of board members of the Nigeria Aquatics Federation (NAqF) in attendance is organized in memory of the late former governor of old Oyo state made up the present Oyo State and Osun State and at the same time create the awareness of the aquatics sports in that state, south-west and the country at large.

This much was disclosed to the Oracle Today Sports by a member of the board of the Nigeria Aquatics Federation, Rev. Samuel Jesimiel in telephone chat.

According Jesimiel, the Board of the Nigeria Aquatics Federation led by Mr. Babatunde Fatayi Williams are happy with the effort of Architect Olumuyiwa Ige to develop aquatics sports in Oyo State

which is in line with vision and mission of the current board.

According to Jesimiel, the competion is the first ever age group swimming competition in Oyo State. He said that the Nigeria Aquatics Federation was in full support and appreciate the guesture. Rev. Jesimiel explained that the competition is for children from the age group : below 8years, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-16 years saying that the explained competition will be highly competed for by children from various schools in Oyo State.

“There is going to be a one day age group swimming championship in Ibadan on the 30th of this month. The championship is tagged “Bola Ige Memorial Age Group Swimming Competittion” and it is powered by the chairman of the Oyo State Swimming Association who incidentally is the son of

the late former Minister of Justice, Bola Ige, Architect Muyiwa Ige,” Jesimiel began.

“The one day age group swimming championship is in honour and remembrance of the former governor of old Oyo State made up the present Oyo State and Osun State. It is also a way of developing the aquatic sports in that State, south west and the country at large.

“For the board of the Nigeria Aquatics Federation, we are delighted with the effort of Architect Muyiwa Ige to develop the sports in Oyo State that is why we will not spare any effort in helping him to realize his dream of developing swimming in Oyo State, South West and Nigeria in general,” Jesimiel assured.

“We are seeing this championship becoming a south west competition in a couple of years

to come and finally, we see it becoming a national competition where every part of the country will be taking part in.

“So, personally, I want to commend Architect Muyiwa Ige for his vision and commitment to the development of aquatics sports in Oyo State and I will like to use this medium to call on other states Swimming Association chairmen to emulate the good example of Architect Olumuyiwa Ige so that the vision and mission of the Federation will be actualized in the nearest possible time,” Jesimiel said.

Architect Olumuyiwa Ige was the former commissioner for Lands, Physical Planning and Urban Development in Osun State and presently the Chairman, Oyo State Swimming Association. It is expected that this competition will kick start swimming culture in the State.

46

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

T

HERE was, once upon a time, a company called Ferdinand Group. An African phenomenon, what with its pioneering role in rural industrialization in this part of the world, the group, owned by a man called Ferdinand Anaghara who hailed from Urualla in Ideato North Local Council of Imo State, had its hand in practically every business pie. And was it successful!

As there was Ferdinand Group (Enterprises), so was there (pardon the pertness of ‘was’) Ekene Dili Chukwu. And so was there was Hardel and Enic. And so was there Bilante, a local construction giant that constructed one of the flyovers in Enugu.

In the Harbour Industrial Layout in Onitsha, Achebe’s Eagle on the Niger, for instance, there are factories that are so big they each spend between N20 and 40m a month on ‘NEPA’ bills alone. Elsewhere east of the Niger, there are the Chikason Group, the Innoson Group, the Peace Group and many more concerns that are belt out products and services in sprawling industrial yards.

Indeed, at the risk of repeating oneself over and over again, I recall that in 2000 or thereabout, the monumental Dr. Pius Okigbo, the late Ojoto, Anambra State-born economist, shortly before he died, had delineated four industrial zones in the country: the Lagos-Ibadan Industrial Zone; the Kaduna-Kano Industrial Zone, the Onitsha-Nnewi Industrial Zone and the Aba-Port Harcourt Industrial Zone. From the foregoing, it means that only the East has two industrial zones. In point of fact, despite the obvious attempts to stanch industrial growth in the East through denial of vital socio-economic infrastructure such as good roads, adequate power supply, ports and financial lifelines, there is still a lot of production going on in the zone, thanks largely to the people’s spirit of derring-do and sheer determination to succeed.

Yet, the downside of most Eastern biggies is that they run on a business model that hardly grows and or sustains business: the over-centralization of control. There is no corporate culture worth its name. You are not likely to find many a world-class company located in the East, with a professionalized, transparently recruited management team supervised by a functional board of directors.

To that effect, you are also not likely to find companies in the East with Harvard MBAs recruited to run such companies. In most cases, it’s all in the family, as it were, a reason most otherwise big companies in the East hardly survive their founders’ death or non-active old age.

“We reach out to the companies, to educate their owners on the benefits of listing on the stock exchange,” says Oliver Achugbue, manager, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Onitsha branch. “But, we have not been very successful and one of the major reasons is the fear of

The CEO Report With Oguejiofor

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Why businesses east of Niger scarcely outlive founders loss of control by business promoters.”

“People here fear that if they allow other people to invest in their business, they would lose ownership. And it’s a strong fear, indeed,” Achugbue added. “Business promoters here are also scared by preliminary expenses involved in listing processes such as stockbrokers’ fees, advertising and sundry publications costs, among others.”

Indeed, for most admirers of the famed industriousness of Easterners’, which is evident in competitive merchandizing and in-

When a company is listed, it is most likely to go on when the founder dies... you cannot but agree that businesses east of the Niger need the stock exchange as fish needs water

”

•Oliver Achugbue

dustrial production, the concern has always been how to sustain businesses founded in the East and by Easterners, from generation to generation. As can be seen from the examples above, the history of eastern business is littered with carcasses of hitherto booming companies that are now dead, no thanks to poor corporate governance, the bane of most one-man or family businesses, which constitute the backbone of Eastern Nigeria’s business culture.

What it, then, means is that, to save east-

ern businesses from themselves or from the devastating consequences of the provincial inclinations of their promoters, a way has to be found to get them to embrace the capital market as the most viable path to sustainability and good corporate governance. And to make that happen, to make the capital market culture gain a strong foothold in the East, after the crippling 2008 meltdown in which people lost a lot of money, that fear of loss of control or ownership by business promoters-and associated fears--must be eliminated or, at least, weakened.

“As part of measures to reassure business promoters about the safety of their investment, we have even said they could own their listed companies up to 90 per cent,” Achugbue further explained. “In other words, let them release just 10 per cent of the equity for the public to subscribe to, and keep the other 90 per cent to themselves. The idea is to get them to taste the beauty of the capital market. Once they come in and see how beneficial the market is to their businesses, they will embrace it fully.”

And the benefits of the capital market, the NSE Onitsha branch manager added, are many, to be sure. For instance, quoted companies have very few, if any, succession squabbles unlike privately owned/family businesses many of which have completely gone under as a result of succession squabbles. Other benefits include free funds and free publicity (during listing), good corporate governance practice and tax relief, among others, all of which in turn result in the competitiveness of the quoted company.

“Capital market is free money made available for a business to operate with, unlike money market and bonds,” Achugbue stressed.

“When you talk about return on investment, capital market is still the best and business promoters here are advised to embrace it. As they say in capital market parlance, it is better to eat an expanding cake with people than to eat a diminishing one alone.”

The point, however, must be made that not all the problems militating against the growth of the stock market in the East are traceable to the seeming apathy of business promoters to the market. Others are due largely to some institutional impediments to such growth.

For instance, The Oracle Today gathered that of the 17 broking firms registered to operate in Onitsha Stock Exchange zone (which covers Delta, Edo, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Benue and Imo), only two have resident stockbrokers. The rest are based in Lagos.

Which means that the customers of the other 15 can only have transactions on their behalf done in Lagos. Were all of them to have resident stockbrokers in Onitsha and environs, there would be an avalanche of professional hands to help deepen the market as the stockbrokers would canvass for clients more aggressively, if only to keep their jobs, thereby promoting the capital market in a manner that would attract the interest of business promoters and or investors in this stock exchange zone.

That notwithstanding, Achugbue said efforts are on to make the capital market culture take firm roots in these parts more than ever before.

“We are doing a lot of quotation drives,” the Onitsha Stock Exchange manager further told The Oracle Today. “We reach out to the companies to educate them on the benefits of listing, one of which is using other people’s money to run companies. The stock exchange is the only platform where companies can raise money to expand or consolidate their operations. We reach out to them through market unions, associations, clubs, teachers’ fora, churches, etc.”

“Problems can be solved through listing,” he emphasized. “Succession plan, for instance, as I have earlier mentioned. When a company is listed, it is most likely to go on when the founder dies. Compare that with the situation with most hitherto householdname companies in the East, which have almost completely disappeared just because their founders died, and you cannot but agree that businesses east of the Niger need the stock exchange as fish needs water.”

“So, we recognize the need for intensive education of investors and or business promoters and we are doing just that. And we are going to sustain the campaign,” Achugbue surmised.

47

The Oracle Today Wednesday October 4, 2017

News

Maltina honours 2016 Teacher of the Year

SARS engage in shoot-out with armed cultists

By EBELE NWANOLUE

From NATH OMAME, Port Harcourt

N

IGERIAN Breweries Plc has commissioned a newly built block of classrooms, library and toilet facilities at the Special Education Centre for Exceptional Children in Uyo, Akwa lbom State in honour of Imoh Eno Essien, the 2016 Maltina Teacher of the Year. The construction of the facilities in the school where Mr. Essien teaches was part of the prize for emerging as the 2016 Maltina Teacher of the Year.

Essien, who beat nine other finalists to the coveted prize last year, also got one million Naira cash prize, an oversea training plus another one million Naira to be paid to him annually for five years. Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc., Mr. Johan Doyer, who was represented on the occasion by Mr. Kufre Ekanem, the company’s Corporate Affairs Adviser, explained that the idea of the school-based project was to ensure that when a teacher wins, the community where he/she teaches also wins.

Doyer noted that the Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative was hinged on a realisation that teachers hardly get the recognition they deserve in spite of the pivotal role they play in determining the quality of our

education and the future of our country.

“We set out with an aspiration to recognise, celebrate and embolden teachers. So far, the Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative has produced 42 State Champions and two overall winners selected by an independent panel of judges,” he said.

While thanking the Governor Udom Emmanuel for accepting to commission the facility for use by the school, he congratulated Akwa Ibom State on its 30th Anniversary celebrations. “It is a unique time to have His Excellency commission this project which has further drawn attention to our collective responsibility of nurturing our children with special needs in a conducive learning environment,” he said.

Doyer also expressed gratitude to the Federal Ministry of Education and other stakeholders for the support and partnership with the company since the commencement of the Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative.

Governor Emmanuel, who was represented on the occasion by the Honourable Commissioner for Education, Pastor Paul Udofia congratulated the winner, Mr. Imoh Essien for making the state proud and lauded Nigerian Breweries for the worthy

initiative aimed at celebrating exceptional teachers in Nigeria.

In her remarks, the principal of the school, Pastor (Mrs.) Deborah Benjamin expressed great appreciation to Nigerian Breweries for what she described as an unparalleled support for the cause of education in the country. “This singular gesture is a significant milestone in the entire reward system adopted by Maltina Teacher of the Year organisers by bringing the school that produced the champion into their scheme of activities,” she said.

An excited Essien equally praised Nigerian Breweries for the gesture, adding that it takes commitment on the part of the company to appreciate the great sacrifice and contribution of teachers to the development of the nation. He enjoined his fellow teachers all over the country to rededicate themselves to the profession and deepen their passion for their calling.

The Maltina Teacher of the Year is an initiative of the Nigerian Breweries/Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund. NB established the fund in 1994 with a takeoff capital of N100m, to assist the company to play a more active role in the development of education in Nigeria.

• Owerri under water

We expect no incident - Ohanaeze Continued from Pg 2

the threat.

“The words the north said were even more grievous than the IPOB issue. But nobody talked. They did not use soldiers to apprehend those people. But IPOB they were in their own domain. They did not say northerners should go.

“However, as way forward, we should dwell more on the unity of this country. The Igbo, the Yoruba, the Niger Deltans, we have all sacrificed so much for the unity of this country and going back now shouldn’t be the best direction. What we don’t like, and what the Igbo don’t also like is weak institutions and weak principles. In the center, why won’t an Igbo man be president of Nigeria? What is the fear of an Igboman being president of Nigeria? Is it not the same fundamental human rights?

“So for me I will advise the Igbo residing in the north to be more careful as we advance towards October 1, to be more vigilant, stay out of trouble; not to use any words that will be provocative within their environment.”

“Whoever believes that all is well over the October 1 quit notice is receiving himself. Some people are talking about property and investments and I ask what property? The life of a single Igbo is worth more than hundreds of property. It is better that they come home alive than for them to be brought back in pieces,” declared Professor Obasi Igwe of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

“We all saw how the Youths exhibited brazen effrontery by announcing suspension and not withdrawal of their threat, even after President Buhari’s national address, and nothing happened.

That was an insult on Ndigbo.”

Onyisi Ndigbo Delta South/Central Eze (Sir) Peter Chukwu has advised Ndigbo not to entertain any fear over the quit notice given to the Igbos to leave the North by the Arewa Youths, insisting that the issue has since been resolved.

In his words: “There is no fear at all since the Arewa youth have since withdrawn the quit notice handed down to Igbo in the North, since both the President Muhammadu Buhari, eminent Northern leaders and well meaning Nigerians, especially Igbo leaders, have all intervened

in the hitherto worrisome issue.”

On his part the Special Assistant to Governor Okowa on non-indigenes matters, Hon Francis Onuorah, added: “ No more fear, though all is not well with the nation.”

In the same vein, a university don, Dr. Philip Nkwuda of the department of sociology, Delta State University encouraged the Igbo in the North to remain calm ahead of October 1.

He stated that the withdrawal of the quit notice by the Coalition of Northern Groups has been accepted and is a welcome development as it has helped to douse tension ahead of the day.

“We appreciate the withdrawal of the anti-Igbo declaration and as we countdown to October 1, it should be a day for sober reflections on the way forward for the country,” he said.

“However, he opined that the Igbos should be allowed to hold a referendum to decide their future either as Nigerians or as Biafrans. Nigeria is a signatory to various international conventions that entrench the right of a people to self-determination; it should also allow the Igbos explore the option.”

RESH controversy have ensued in Rivers F State following a shoot-out between operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad,

SARS, and armed gang members of a cult group, in Rumuohoudi community, in Emohua Local Government Area, on Monday.

A SARS operative, Sergeant Gift Okoroma was fatally wounded while one of the cultists died from gunshot injuries he sustained during shoot-out between the SARS operatives and members of the cult group.

Rivers State Commander of SARS, CSP Akin Fakorede in confirming the incident stated, “This morning, SARS operatives who were on patrol had an encounter with members of a cult group in Emohua. The cult group fired at one of the SARS operative and a gun battle ensued which led to the death of one of the cultist. No arrest has been made but we are on the trail of others members of the cult group. We have recovered some of the weapons and ammunition.

“We rushed both the SARS operative and the injured cultist to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital UPTH. The injured cultist died at the UPTH. The SARS operative is currently in the intensive unit and the doctor told us that a series of surgeries will need to be performed on him to save his life.”

However, some taxi drivers and non-indigenes who are residents of Emohua have denied the claims made by the SARS commander. The taxi drivers and some members of the community, who went on a protest to the SARS Base at Ogbakri Junction, Emohua, said the man killed by SARS was an innocent taxi driver. They also accused SARS operatives of extra-judicial killings.

Caretaker Committee Chairman of Emohua Local Government Area, Godspower Nwoka, who called for calm following the tension the killing of the man generated at the Rumuohoudi community, said that he was investigating the matter to ascertain the true identity of the man that was killed in the exchange of gunfire between operatives of SARS and the cultists in Rumuohoudi community in Emuohua Local Government Area.

“I am appealing to all aggrieved parties to maintain peace. I am pleading with members of the Yoruba community who are claiming that the deceased is a Yoruba man and a taxi driver residing in the community where the incident took place. I am investigating the incident and what led to it to ascertain the true identity of the person that was shot by SARS operatives. I don’t want to jump into conclusion.”

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racle Today

VOX POPULI SACRUM

ISSN: 2545-5869

GUEST COLUMIST Dr. Alex Otti

Python Dance: Killing a fly with a sledge Hammer

I

T has been one hell of a week or two particularly in the South Eastern part of Nigeria. Prior to this time, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, had assumed such a larger than life image that it could order a sit-at-home strike and people would comply strictly. The jury is still out concerning the reason why the order recorded that kind of total compliance.

There have been debates about Nigerians loving public holidays and that the order coincided with another public holiday and that people actually complied out of fear of attack, if they were found on the road on the said day. The one I found most ludicrous is the argument about Nigerians loving public holidays. May be they were right about civil servants who were hardly committed to their jobs, since there was hardly any demand on them, but I also know that majority of businesses in the South East are private sector concerns and this is the sector that hates public holidays with a passion. In essence therefore, there must be something else that made the people comply with the sit-at-home order.

Fast forward to mid-September, I read that the army was launching what it codenamed “Operation Python Dance 2” in the South East and part of the South South. I was worried as my understanding of the situation was that this operation may trigger hostilities with IPOB. I reasoned that others would see it the same way and warn them to steer clear of the Python even if for some strange reasons, it is a dancing one. Some of the governors who I had thought had agreed with the President on the operation were as shocked as I was. They didn’t seem to be aware! They heard it the same way, we lesser mortals, heard it. But, they are known as the Chief Security Officers of the States in question. May be this was not security enough to require their attention.

The first “dance” took place around Kanu’s house. It was widely reported in the media that the military shot rather indiscriminately at civilians who could only retaliate by throwing stones and in the process, several people, including military men, were injured. The military promptly denied these reports, explaining that they were merely test driving their armored truck, which had just come back from repairs. Very chilling pictures and reports of the attacks were being circulated daily in the social media. I must confess that I could not withstand the sight of some of the gory pictures and could not continue to watch them. There were subsequent reports about the military declaring IPOB, a terrorist organisation and warning that anyone with the Biafra flag or insignia was going to be “dealt with”. The Governors of the South East States were to emerge from their Governor’s forum meeting to proscribe IPOB and asked aggrieved people to articulate their issues and forward through their representatives in the legislature.

We may never know the actual number of casualties since some of the corpses may never be recovered, but the reports and images were horrible. The primary job of the military has to do with waging war with enemies of the state, and ward off external aggression. It is only in situations of a violent breakdown of law and order, which the police is unable to contain that the attention of the military is considered an option.

The situation in the South East did not look anything like that. It is also important to state that like the carpenter whose solution to any problem is nail and hammer, so also

is the military, who thinks first of the gun and bullets whenever it is confronted with any challenge. Under Obasanjo, the military was sent ostensibly to restore peace and order in Odi, a little town in Bayelsa State. By the time the dust settled, except a church, there was nothing standing in the whole town.

The number of young people that respond to Nnamdi Kanu’s call can only be explained by the fact that they cannot see a future in this country. Their description of Nigeria is anything but dignifying. Wishing those away or approaching them with brute force can only drive them underground.

If that is what we intend to achieve, then we have recorded success. I, however, don’t agree that the solution is to muscle the young agitators and send them underground. And that was the reason I heaved a sigh of relief when the governors of the South East started to engage with them before Python Dance.

I thought it was the right thing to do, rather than the hitherto ineffective strategy of ignoring them. The “ignore-them-strategy” lasted too long. It is instructive that Nnamdi Kanu’s base was his father’s residence and palace in Afaraukwu Ibeku, Umuahia. This place is a stone throw from the seat of government of Abia State. I had thought that the government of Abia State should have on its own, opened a dialogue with the leader of IPOB in the spirit of good neighborliness, but alas, nothing was done. Having had the first meeting, which, according to the elder statesman Prof. Ben Nwabueze, was successful, I had expected that subsequent meetings would consolidate on the gains of that first meeting.

Sadly, subsequent meetings did not hold as brute force was now introduced instead. This left me with a lot of questions. Was the Federal government actually aware and being briefed about the meetings with the group? Were the governors aware that Operation “Python Dance” was in the works?

If they knew, what was their response? Could they have stopped it, if indeed they considered the engagements with Kanu and his group, serious? After the killings, the governors had another meeting where they proscribed IPOB. Now, I do not know how decisions are made by the governor’s forum, but this particular decision left me very confused.

I don’t want to go into the legal technicality of whether the Governor’s Forum which in my understanding, is a forum for peer review, has powers to make that kind of pronouncement or not. I was wondering, if the governors considered that just a few days before, they were negotiating with the leadership of the body that they had just outlawed? In fact, negotiations were still ongoing as the next scheduled meeting was September 18.

Now to IPOB, my position is that in a participatory democracy, agitations are normal to the extent that they are non-violent and in accordance with the laws of the land. Listening to some arguments, people have alleged that Nnamdi Kanu set up an army and a Biafran National Guard. I must also say that I saw some of the pictures on the social media. What I did not see was that they were armed even with clubs and sticks! In my own estimation, I thought this was just a joke. An army that is not armed is but a group of people standing in a line.

Once you remove arms from an army, they become ordinary people. In any case, the government has its own ways of getting information and if it had information about arms, I would have expected the suspects to be invited for a chat either by the police or other security agencies. That this did not happen points to only one fact, that they were not armed. The group had also maintained its stand against violent confrontation.

Having said that I also have some issues with the whole thing about secession of Biafra.

I had argued in the past that history is replete with situations where people called for referendum and lost. The most recent was Brexit, which led to the breakaway of Britain from European Union. This referendum did not only ensure the unfortunate breakup of the EU, but the early resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron, who, when he set up a date for the referendum was not only confident that the ‘Nos’ would win, but that remaining in the EU was good for Britain. I had

also drawn attention to the two referenda held in Quebec region of Canada that had been seeking self-determination for a long time. The proponents kept losing the votes and the people voting were those who secession should ostensibly benefit. Clearly, they didn’t want to secede. It is therefore important to note that the fact that you seek self-determination does not mean that a referendum for it would succeed.

Secondly, granted that the Igbos have been given the shortest end of the stick in several decades, (a matter for another day), I have been an advocate of alternative strategies to achieve equity, justice and fairness in our nation. And I believe that it is possible to achieve these in a restructured and united Nigeria.

It is also my considered view that the problems that we are grappling with today, would not go away, if Biafra, Oduduwa or Arewa were to become sovereign nations. Why do I say so? If you take Biafra for instance, the problems of ethnicity will not go away, even if the language is the same. There is no guarantee that the Abia man would not discriminate against the Imo man. Just like the Enugu man and the Ebonyi man may be at each other’s throat when there is no perceived external enemy. After all, after the creation of States in the South East, some States dismissed civil servants who were then from other states as a result of the creation. That problem lingers on till date.

Still on IPOB, there is a saying that charity begins at home.

A good place to start the agitation is the states in the South East. Other than Anambra, there have been consistent cases of bad governance and brazen stealing of public funds by thieving leaders in the zone. I single out Anambra because it was lucky to have an Ngige who dismantled godfatherism and Peter Obi who worked very hard for the people and now Willie Obiano who combined Strategy with brilliance and skills to make the state a theatre of development.

Meanwhile, Anambra has no oil and no derivation. The state of other parts of the South East is marked by decay, de-industrialisation, failing infrastructure, squalor, insecurity and debt. It is, therefore, my opinion that we should hold our leaders more accountable and actually channel our agitation to how the resources that have accrued to the states have been used without losing sight of the bigger picture. They should also show leadership in moments of crises.

To the Federal Government I will like to suggest that it is time to begin a process of healing and easing of tension in the polity. We should resist the temptation of using the army to quell every little protest. If we must remain a democracy, we must increase our tolerance level of alternative views and actions. It must be a conscious effort made to reduce the conflicts in the system. The government should promote dialogue and intelligent debates in dealing with disagreements.

The government should take a look at its prisons and release citizens that are neither criminals nor convicted inmates. In this list would be members and leaders of IPOB and other agitators who have been detained in the last two years, including the ones recently arrested in Abia State.

The government should also release religious prisoners including El Zakzaky and his followers and others who have been incarcerated for holding different views. The government should not spread the army too thin and open many flanks of war and operations. The government has enough in the fight against Boko Haram and corruption. I have no doubt that if the government does these, the tension in the land will be considerably reduced and the government will focus on reviving and diversifying the economy, creating jobs, and fixing infrastructure. This in itself will reduce agitations and productively engage our youths who will cease to be idle. It will also solve the hunger problem, which has spiked in the recent times. Our true enemies remain hunger, corruption and docility, not our citizens.

Dr. Otti was Managing Director of a bank, and a governorship candidate in the 2015 election in Abia State

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